Castiron Acquisition
Castiron has officially been acquired by Good Soil & TDJ Enterprises!
What does this mean for sellers?
This means that Castiron will soon have more resources and distribution channels to
potentially generate more demand and, by extension, sellers using the Castiron platform will
have greater access to the benefits that come with being part of a larger organization with
an extensive, expanded audience.
Is the Castiron platform going away?
No! Castiron is remaining an independent platform. We will continue to maintain and
improve the platform and the seller experience as well as build and release new features.
More amazing features (like deposits) will continue to be released in the coming days and
months ahead.
Why did you want to sell the company?
Mark started this company with a mission to support and elevate the under-represented,
under-appreciated, and under-resourced entrepreneur. The playing field is not level, and he
wanted to put a thumb on the scale to make it easier for you all to be successful. He did not
set out to sell the company. Rather, he set out to find the right path to ensure that we could
execute on this mission forever and in a bigger way. He had a bunch of options, and we
believe this one is the best path to fulfill that mission. So, we've chosen this path and we believe It's
all goodness.
What happens to Mark? And what is he doing next?
I did not expect to be out of work after this deal. Honestly, I put myself at the back of the list
behind you, our artisans, my world-class team, and our investors. It just so happens that
what is best here for you all, means that I’m not coming with you on the next stage of this
journey. And that is ok. Honest.
I am going to remain a passionate advocate for each of you and will be a loud voice for your
benefit. I’ll be in The Kitchen and the mods might have to mute me!
While I’m not exactly sure what my next steps are going to be, I do know that I will be
spending a lot of time with entrepreneurs, helping them navigate the most critical moments
in their journeys. I love to coach. I love to help.
Finally, thank you for all the joy you’ve brought to my work and my home. I’m rooting for you
and remain your biggest fan.
Will this affect the cost of using Castiron?
We will be evaluating pricing as our strategy shifts from a venture-funded company to a
sustainable, long-term business. What we will commit to now, is that all artisans on the
platform today will always have pricing that is at most 50% of what we charge new sellers
going forward.
Who is this new company that is running Castiron and why did they want it?
Good Soil, a division of T.D. Jakes Enterprises, is a platform dedicated to helping
under-resourced entrepreneurs thrive. Our goal is to get 1 million under-resourced
entrepreneurs to $1 million in revenue by 2033. We provide education, networking, events
and tools to help grow businesses. We want to continue to build and improve Castiron for
the artisans.
We also are building a second marketplace leveraging the Castiron technology that will
focus on a wide variety of products like apparel, home decor, sporting goods, art, books
games and more. Over one-third of our members tell us that they want to sell online, but
don’t know where to start.
TDJ sounds like it’s run by a religious figure. What if I’m not religious or I don’t always support what the church stands for?
T.D. Jakes Enterprises is a separate entity from the Potters’ House and has existed as a
business dating back to when Chairman Jakes’ father operated a janitorial company. We
have investments in media, real estate and social enterprises.
While our founder and many of our team are people of faith, we are a secular entity that is
focused on doing well by doing good. You won’t be seeing any religious material from us on
the platform. We have a diverse team of all beliefs and orientations.
Good Soil looks like it is just focused on Black entrepreneurs. Is that the case?
We support and welcome all entrepreneurs. Our focus is on entrepreneurs who are
under-resourced whether that is because of race, gender, orientation or any other
background factors.
Will the people working at Castiron be the same? Will anyone new be hired?
Except for Mark, we have retained the entire team. We may hire more people as we grow.
We will also leverage the Good Soil team to help out where needed.
What is the upside of the acquisition for sellers?
The biggest is reach. Good Soil has 26,000 entrepreneurs in its network and using its app
on a daily basis. The T.D. Jakes organization has a monthly national audience of more than 10
million people. This may draw more artisans, which makes for a more robust marketplace.
But more importantly, it will bring many, many more customers to your stores. In addition to
investing in marketing to find buyers, we will use the reach of the Jakes organization on a
regular basis. We will also leverage our other marketplace to drive traffic to your stores.
There will be a major announcement to hundreds of thousands of motivated fans of T.D.
Jakes on November 17th, encouraging them to shop with Castiron and our new marketplace
over the holidays.
Will this mean problems/bugs/glitches will be fixed faster?
The Castiron engineering team will remain dedicated to maintaining and improving the
Castiron platform. We are more dedicated than ever to ensuring a great and seamless seller
experience.
What is the goal of the new company and how will it benefit me?
Castiron and Good Soil are mission aligned. We both have the goal to help entrepreneurs
start and grow their businesses. As one entity, our goals remain the same - we exist to give
access to tools and to empower all entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.
By joining Good Soil, Castiron is better positioned than ever before to help artisans reach
their full potential.
Also, we will be using the new marketplace to drive traffic back to Castiron.
It sounds like the goal is to expand the marketplace. How is that supposed to help me and my customers?
With expansion comes more opportunity for both existing customers in the form of better
buying experiences and for new customers in the form of better discovery and access to
more things they love to buy and artisans like you who they want to support. It also means
more new distribution channels and marketing tools for artisans, which can all help sales
efforts.
How will we find out about updates as the company expands?
Subscribe to our emails, join The Kitchen, and always feel free to reach out. We’ll keep in
touch with you as we always have and look forward to a continued long, successful
relationship with you - growing together!