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Tom West
Owner, Vague Clothing Pty Ltd
Professional Background
Tom West is an accomplished entrepreneur and leader in the technology and mobile payments sectors, known for his innovative approach to business and his deep understanding of startups. He kicked off his remarkable career when he founded Vague Clothing back in 2004 at just 22 years of age. This venture not only laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey but also provided him with invaluable experience in running a business.
After successfully selling Vague Clothing, Tom made a strategic shift and launched LOKE, a mobile payments company focused on enhancing customer loyalty and streamlining ordering processes through technology. Under Tom's leadership, LOKE raised significant capital in Australia and successfully expanded its operations to key international markets, including Singapore and London. His ability to navigate different markets and adapt to diverse consumer needs highlights his expertise in international business expansion.
In 2015, Tom took his passion for supporting fellow entrepreneurs to the next level by founding Hyper, a Technology Incubator designed to help aspiring founders validate their ideas, commercialize their products, and secure funding. This initiative has been incredibly successful with the founders associated with Hyper raising a total of $49 million and achieving a combined valuation of over $157 million. Tom’s vision for Hyper underscores his commitment to fostering innovation and empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Education and Achievements
Tom's educational journey began at Prince Alfred College, where he acquired foundational skills and knowledge that would serve him well in his entrepreneurial endeavors. While specific details about his academic achievements are not widely publicized, it is evident that the experiences and environment he was exposed to during his time at the college played a role in shaping his entrepreneurial spirit and leadership qualities.
Throughout his career, Tom has also served as an investor and advisor for various startups, demonstrating his keen eye for potential in burgeoning companies. His involvement with organizations such as Magic Mountain App, Socialbasehq, RIDE, LOKE, and Aston Club showcases his belief in collaborative growth and the importance of mentorship in the technology ecosystem.
Notable Achievements
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Founder & CEO of Hyper: As the founder of Hyper, Tom has nurtured numerous startups through critical early phases, guiding them toward successful fundraising and market entry.
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Innovative Expansion with LOKE: Tom's leadership at LOKE exemplifies his ability to innovate within the mobile payments sector, successfully expanding into international markets and enhancing customer engagement through technological advancements.
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Successful Entrepreneurial Track Record: His first venture, Vague Clothing, laid the groundwork for his knowledge of business operations, helping him understand market demands and customer relationships at an early stage.
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Investor and Advisor Roles: Tom's experience as an investor and advisor for various startups has not only enriched his understanding of diverse business models but also allowed him to share his expertise with other entrepreneurs.
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Impact on Startup Valuation: The collective achievements of Hyper’s founders, resulting in a combined valuation exceeding $157 million, stand as a testament to Tom’s effective mentorship and support within the startup environment.
In summary, Tom West is a visionary entrepreneur and leader with a proven history of building successful businesses and supporting the growth of innovative startups. His journey from founding Vague Clothing to spearheading the Hyper incubator, along with his extensive investment experience, positions him as a key player in the technology and mobile payments landscape. Tom’s achievements reflect his dedication to entrepreneurship, innovation, and mentorship.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.