GOAT TALES #19
Ali Linz - Co-Founder, GroupTogether
4 APRIL 2025, WRITTEN BY JACKIE BARON
Neon Beginnings: In the spirit of Neon Goat's vibrant energy, could you share a moment when your teen/tween son brought an unexpected splash of colour into your life or business?
Let me share my favourite "mum of the year" moment. For six months – SIX MONTHS – I dutifully dropped my twins at Kumon for maths lessons. I'd rush around doing errands and then collect them. Until the day I called the teacher to apologise for running late, only to hear: "Mrs. Linz, I haven't seen your boys for at least 3 months." Turns out they'd been playing soccer outside the classroom the entire time. Who needs maths when you can perfect your penalty kicks, right?
The Teenage Perspective: Living with a teenager can be like riding a roller coaster in the dark. What's one challenge you've faced while living with your teen son, and how did you turn it into a positive experience?
Picture this: you've already logged 120 hours of learner driver time with two kids, and now you're facing round three and four with the twins. Each twin has four soccer practices a week, all 45 minutes away, in different locations. The solution? I hired a pretty young girl to sit in the passenger seat while I stayed at my desk getting work done. Jack got his driving hours, I kept my sanity, and someone else got to experience the joy of white-knuckle driving instruction. I call that a triple win. I’m all about outsourcing and no, I don’t think I missed out on quality time.
Time-Travel Tips: If you could step into a time machine and visit your teenage self, what cheeky piece of advice would you give yourself about navigating the future, especially knowing what you do now about business and life?
I don’t believe in telling my old self things. I’d never have listened! But I know what I tell myself and my kids now.
1. Inspired by Finding Nemo - Just keep swimmin'. Just keep swimmin'.
2. Progress over perfection
3. The winner is the person who gets back up one more time.
They're all part of the same - grit!
Oh, and that hairstyle? Still no.
Laugh Out Loud: Share a hilarious or face-palm moment you've had with your teen son that still makes you chuckle or shake your head in disbelief. That typical teen-moment or habit!
My twins brought their own special brand of neon to my life long before I knew I'd be writing about group gifting. They were (are) a force of nature – think hurricane meets comedy show. When other startup founders were doing meditation retreats, I had my own built-in reset button: two mini chaos agents who could make me forget about investor meetings by turning our skinny staircase into a face-down slide.
The 'Goat' Legacy: If your teen son were to take over Neon Goat for a day, what innovative or outrageous product do you think he would create, and why? ?
If my boys took over Neon Goat for a day? Lord help us all. They'd probably create something like "Extreme Sport Sweat Shield: For When You're Playing Soccer Instead of Going to Math Class™" or "Stealth Mode: The Deodorant That Makes It Look Like You're Somewhere You're Not."
Ali Linz is the Co-Founder of GroupTogether. "You know that last-minute birthday party panic? The one where you're racing through stores, throwing money at yet another Minecraft plushie that'll end up in the "regift" pile? That was me, every weekend until I had my lightbulb moment. GroupTogether was born from pure parental desperation – a way to chip in for one awesome gift instead of twenty mediocre ones. Now over a million people use GroupTogether to organise a group card with the option to chip in for a gift as well. They use it as teachers’ gifts as well as for work farewells, thank you’s, congrats and baby gifts. It’s probably because they're also tired of being that person texting "Who's got the card?"
Let me tell you about running a business while raising four kids under five – including twin boys who my friend kindly described as "pure oxygen." (Translation: They're like Red Bull personified, minus the wings, plus an endless supply of questionable decisions.)"
GOAT TALES #19: ALI LINZ
SHOP THE STORY
Read More
