The concept of 'lean' is learned better through experience than through books. While Eric Ries did a commendable job of putting the concept into 300 pages, there is no teacher better than the real world.
I've sunk a lot of money into Morph. We'll keep it general, but many thousands of dollars have been my own, and no meager amount has come from my faithful family. I've invested financially, committed professionally, and pained emotionally over this company. It's been so fun and worth it all, especially as I learned one major lesson: I could have been leaner.
Our technology works, but is currently sitting and gathering dust. We don't need it, and don't use it. The first 4 months of operation has been more of a business play than anything technological. That right there would have been over $8,000 and a few points of equity saved.
Knowing that I could have been smarter gives me perspective about future actions. This is a lesson in the value of bootstrapping. Having limited resources makes you understand your business model in a way that massive free cash flow cannot. Investment dollars may put a thick green bandage on problems, but never address them fundamentally. Moving forward, I can use this past experience to be leaner, smarter, and faster than before. All of this will serve to put us in an exquisite position once we begin to look for investment.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Friday, December 4, 2015
Every conversation counts
A year ago, when Morph was Morphood and we were still aiming for an A in Chris Mumford's class, I would walk up and down Franklin street, popping into restaurants to interview managers about their delivery. I talked about that a bit in this post.
One restaurant manager I spoke to was Charlie, day manager at McAlister's Deli. The first time I met him, we talked a lot about their current delivery situation, and what it would take to make it better. A few weeks later, I popped in to see Charlie with some more questions. Then some weeks after that, I showed him our wire frames. We'd chat at least once a month for the past year, as I provided him updates on our build-out and he provided insights into managing a restaurant and dealing with delivery.
In one conversation with Charlie, I learned that McAlister's does a lot of catering orders. Customers place their order online or on the phone, and McAlister's delivers it. Seeing as these are pre-scheduled orders, McAlister's can't send them off to a third party delivery service like Takeout Central. They have one of their managers leave the store to deliver it. So the store is left without a manager for 30-60 minutes as he brings the food to his car, delivers, drives back, parks, and returns to the store.
"How much would it be worth if we were to do that for you?" I asked.
"That would be huge," he replied. "I'd give up most of our delivery fee, if it were up to me."
And so, we began that conversation. First with Charlie. Next with JD, the regional manager. Then with the McAlister's corporate office.
And finally, we've got ourselves our second customer, in a way that my white board plans would never have anticipated. The McAlister's manager emails me dates and times for their catering order. I send a driver over (usually Danny or myself) to pick up the food, and deliver it. And the McAlister's manager can stay in the store to manage it, like he's supposed to.
And so far it's been great. It is all within Chapel Hill, so drives are no more than 10 minutes. Since catering orders are often in the hundreds of dollars, the tips have been fantastic. And, most importantly, McAlister's seems to be happy.
So two lessons learned here. One- it's a startups job to solve customer problems, not to stick to a business model. We're accepting orders (and making money) in a different way than our business model demanded of us previously, but it remains as unquestionable growth for Morph. Two- every conversation counts. If I hadn't walked into McAlister's to meet Charlie a year ago to ask his opinion on Morphood, I could never have had the opportunity to work with them today.
One restaurant manager I spoke to was Charlie, day manager at McAlister's Deli. The first time I met him, we talked a lot about their current delivery situation, and what it would take to make it better. A few weeks later, I popped in to see Charlie with some more questions. Then some weeks after that, I showed him our wire frames. We'd chat at least once a month for the past year, as I provided him updates on our build-out and he provided insights into managing a restaurant and dealing with delivery.
In one conversation with Charlie, I learned that McAlister's does a lot of catering orders. Customers place their order online or on the phone, and McAlister's delivers it. Seeing as these are pre-scheduled orders, McAlister's can't send them off to a third party delivery service like Takeout Central. They have one of their managers leave the store to deliver it. So the store is left without a manager for 30-60 minutes as he brings the food to his car, delivers, drives back, parks, and returns to the store.
"How much would it be worth if we were to do that for you?" I asked.
"That would be huge," he replied. "I'd give up most of our delivery fee, if it were up to me."
And so, we began that conversation. First with Charlie. Next with JD, the regional manager. Then with the McAlister's corporate office.
And finally, we've got ourselves our second customer, in a way that my white board plans would never have anticipated. The McAlister's manager emails me dates and times for their catering order. I send a driver over (usually Danny or myself) to pick up the food, and deliver it. And the McAlister's manager can stay in the store to manage it, like he's supposed to.
And so far it's been great. It is all within Chapel Hill, so drives are no more than 10 minutes. Since catering orders are often in the hundreds of dollars, the tips have been fantastic. And, most importantly, McAlister's seems to be happy.
So two lessons learned here. One- it's a startups job to solve customer problems, not to stick to a business model. We're accepting orders (and making money) in a different way than our business model demanded of us previously, but it remains as unquestionable growth for Morph. Two- every conversation counts. If I hadn't walked into McAlister's to meet Charlie a year ago to ask his opinion on Morphood, I could never have had the opportunity to work with them today.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Pitch Party Part Deux
A year ago, the Morph team competed with fervor in the Carolina Challenge Pitch Party, a competition uniting startups, usually in the idea and pre-revenue stages, with the chance to earn up to $1,000 in prize money. A year ago, the Morph team came in confidently. A year ago, the Morph team didn't make it into the top 10- we weren't even close.
But this year, we're so much further ahead, and so much more confident than we were even last year. While last year we had an idea (not even a good idea, as it seems), this year we've got proof. We have thousands of dollars in revenue, hundreds of completed deliveries, and some fairly complex technology. I am confident beyond a doubt that we are the furthest along company competing this year. I'm even confident that we're further along than almost all of the companies that finished in the top 10 last year.
It seems, however, that my confidence and the Pitch Party don't mix well. Just like last year, I came in sure of a top 10 finish. Just like last year, I spent time writing and memorizing my 2-minute pitch for the finals, because I assumed, and perhaps with good reason, that I would be on that stage at the end of the night. And just like last year, we fell short.
I could think of excuses. There were only 2 of us (myself and Danny), so our exposure to judges was smaller. We were in the middle, so fewer judges came around than for the teams on the sides. Too many judges knew me and were either uncomfortable giving me votes, or just wanted to hang out and chat.
But none of those really matter. They don't even almost matter. We couldn't move on to the money round because 10 other teams were, in one way or another, better than us.
That hurts quite a bit. It feels bad to be told that you're bad. It feels worse because I've spent well over a year of thought and painful effort, and many thousands of dollars on Morph, while other teams were old if they'd started the idea in September and advanced if they had a PowerPoint slide showing what their app to order beers faster at sports bars might look like.
But, lessons continue to be learned. Don't get overly confident. Don't expect things before you've earned them. Don't underestimate competition. There is always more to do and more to learn, and this Pitch Party, which puts me at a world record 0-2 for the same idea, is proof of that.
But this year, we're so much further ahead, and so much more confident than we were even last year. While last year we had an idea (not even a good idea, as it seems), this year we've got proof. We have thousands of dollars in revenue, hundreds of completed deliveries, and some fairly complex technology. I am confident beyond a doubt that we are the furthest along company competing this year. I'm even confident that we're further along than almost all of the companies that finished in the top 10 last year.
It seems, however, that my confidence and the Pitch Party don't mix well. Just like last year, I came in sure of a top 10 finish. Just like last year, I spent time writing and memorizing my 2-minute pitch for the finals, because I assumed, and perhaps with good reason, that I would be on that stage at the end of the night. And just like last year, we fell short.
I could think of excuses. There were only 2 of us (myself and Danny), so our exposure to judges was smaller. We were in the middle, so fewer judges came around than for the teams on the sides. Too many judges knew me and were either uncomfortable giving me votes, or just wanted to hang out and chat.
But none of those really matter. They don't even almost matter. We couldn't move on to the money round because 10 other teams were, in one way or another, better than us.
That hurts quite a bit. It feels bad to be told that you're bad. It feels worse because I've spent well over a year of thought and painful effort, and many thousands of dollars on Morph, while other teams were old if they'd started the idea in September and advanced if they had a PowerPoint slide showing what their app to order beers faster at sports bars might look like.
But, lessons continue to be learned. Don't get overly confident. Don't expect things before you've earned them. Don't underestimate competition. There is always more to do and more to learn, and this Pitch Party, which puts me at a world record 0-2 for the same idea, is proof of that.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Meeting David Gardner
David Gardner is one of the nation's most successful angel investors. By combining an excellent due diligence team, heavy hands-on involvement, and a keen sense for what it takes to make it, Gardner has found returns in angel investing that first draw in, and then inevitably escape the thousands of others who decide to try their hand at the art. The man knows what he's talking about.
So I was stoked to meet him. I drove into Cary on a rainy Wednesday morning, excited to share Morph's plans, visions, and progress. I've had such positive feedback from everyone and on everything these past months that my confidence was high that this meeting would go similarly.
I walk into his office, shake his hand. Before my butt even touches the chair, he turns and says, "so, you're the guy who's competing with Uber."
No supportive smile, no compliments- straight to business. I make my point that Uber's recent arrival into the delivery space makes things harder, but could be a great opportunity for a quick exit, if we scale quickly enough.
He's not having any of it. It was the most efficiently negative meeting I've ever had. Immediately, without hearing anything about what we've done (which, admittedly, is not much) he says that it's time to drop the idea and move on. More than a pivot- a complete hop in another direction. He starts throwing around ideas- like getting into the cooler industry to sell to Uber. No advice on competing. Nothing about scaling. Not a single "good job so far" that I had come to expect.
I walked out of that meeting defeated. Here was one of the most astute investors in the country telling me that all that Morph is, all that I've spent 14 months working on, all that I've invested thousands of dollars I don't have into is less than worthless- it's detrimental.
Hearing such criticism after months of positive feedback is painful. It hurts because I've never had it before. Sure, Jim Kitchen critiqued my pizza delivery idea a year ago, but that was 2 weeks into a class project, with nothing committed. This was different. This was personal. This hurt more than I might admit. But it was also, in some screwed up ways, refreshing.
The next 30 minutes of dramatic lonely walking through rainy, bleak Cary was a hard self-reflection. It hurt. But, I realized- why bother being down? Who would it help, and how? Nobody, and not in anyway, is the conclusion I came to.
So I brought myself to Caribou Coffee, ordered the most sugary, candy-esque coffee I could find, and started writing. I wrote everything I knew about delivery. I listed problems, existing solutions, communication issues. I put stakeholders, weak points, and uniquities of the industry. I created a few small business plans, got excited about one, and wrote it out.
There's something fun about being well dressed in a coffee shop, latte in one hand, pen in another, writing business plans. Kinda like a boring transition scene in a low budget indie film.
Point is, I came out of it with a plan. Maybe not a good one. Maybe even a dumb one. But a bad decision is better than indecision. I need to remain positive. Aware enough to respect the advice of people like David Gardner. Confident enough to believe in myself and the company. Optimistic enough to defeat adversity, in my mind if not yet in reality.
I'll keep you updated, internet.
So I was stoked to meet him. I drove into Cary on a rainy Wednesday morning, excited to share Morph's plans, visions, and progress. I've had such positive feedback from everyone and on everything these past months that my confidence was high that this meeting would go similarly.
I walk into his office, shake his hand. Before my butt even touches the chair, he turns and says, "so, you're the guy who's competing with Uber."
No supportive smile, no compliments- straight to business. I make my point that Uber's recent arrival into the delivery space makes things harder, but could be a great opportunity for a quick exit, if we scale quickly enough.
He's not having any of it. It was the most efficiently negative meeting I've ever had. Immediately, without hearing anything about what we've done (which, admittedly, is not much) he says that it's time to drop the idea and move on. More than a pivot- a complete hop in another direction. He starts throwing around ideas- like getting into the cooler industry to sell to Uber. No advice on competing. Nothing about scaling. Not a single "good job so far" that I had come to expect.
I walked out of that meeting defeated. Here was one of the most astute investors in the country telling me that all that Morph is, all that I've spent 14 months working on, all that I've invested thousands of dollars I don't have into is less than worthless- it's detrimental.
Hearing such criticism after months of positive feedback is painful. It hurts because I've never had it before. Sure, Jim Kitchen critiqued my pizza delivery idea a year ago, but that was 2 weeks into a class project, with nothing committed. This was different. This was personal. This hurt more than I might admit. But it was also, in some screwed up ways, refreshing.
The next 30 minutes of dramatic lonely walking through rainy, bleak Cary was a hard self-reflection. It hurt. But, I realized- why bother being down? Who would it help, and how? Nobody, and not in anyway, is the conclusion I came to.
So I brought myself to Caribou Coffee, ordered the most sugary, candy-esque coffee I could find, and started writing. I wrote everything I knew about delivery. I listed problems, existing solutions, communication issues. I put stakeholders, weak points, and uniquities of the industry. I created a few small business plans, got excited about one, and wrote it out.
There's something fun about being well dressed in a coffee shop, latte in one hand, pen in another, writing business plans. Kinda like a boring transition scene in a low budget indie film.
Point is, I came out of it with a plan. Maybe not a good one. Maybe even a dumb one. But a bad decision is better than indecision. I need to remain positive. Aware enough to respect the advice of people like David Gardner. Confident enough to believe in myself and the company. Optimistic enough to defeat adversity, in my mind if not yet in reality.
I'll keep you updated, internet.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The Pitch
I was raised without fear of public speaking. Speaking in front of an audience is not just non-threatening to me. It's exciting.
It seems that that would make me an exception. Last Thursday, I got the chance to attend two pitch events. The first was an Idea Pitch hosted by IDEA Fund at Launch. Representatives from three startups came by to pitch their ideas. The first was delivered by pros- it was concise, well expressed, and impressive. A second was a well rehearsed pitch by an inexperienced entrepreneur, but a strong speaker. The last was a mess. He was a middle-aged entrepreneur who had been part of an accelerator for 5 months and, in theory, had the chance to be critiqued and coached on his delivery. He bumbled and stumbled on so far over the time limit, and with so little direction, that the judges were forced to interrupt him and say, "I have no idea what you've said, but I don't know a single thing about your company."
Lesson learned: be concise, well rehearsed, and have a framework for your pitch. Skills that many, apparently, do not have.
Later that evening, I volunteered at the Startup Grind's event at which they brought in big time angel investor David Gardner for a talk and a Q&A. My job was to sit at the registration desk and sign people in. I was also told to recruit guests for an impromptu 30-second pitch-off, the winner of which gets a private conversation with David Gardner. A chance for The Triangle's entrepreneurs to pitch their ventures in front of the region's top investor and 50 other entrepreneurs? To earn a chance to practice their pitch, invite guests to ask questions, and get feedback from and placed on the radar of the region's top investor? Sounds like an easy pitch!
But try as I might, no one seemed up for it. 50 entrepreneurs, each with their own startup, and no one could be convinced to make the pitch. "We're not ready," or "we won't win," or "I'm not in the right mindset," or "I don't know, I haven't really practiced." All of these excuses bounced off of my disbelieving ears. When else might any of us get the chance to pitch David Gardner?
Finally, after dozens of flat out 'no's, a few hesitant declines, a couple nervous laughs, and one person who eagerly signed up, then nervously crossed his name off, then came back to sign up again, then returned 10 minutes later to remove his name off the list once more, one brave soul signed up. He was clearly not prepared or well practiced. He had not done anything like this in the past. But I convinced him of the worth of the opportunity- both as a self-development exercise and a chance to pitch his venture.
So, as he was the only one who had agreed, I would join him. He and I go up to pitch. He delivers his written out word for word on a piece of paper, reaching a minute in length, and in-concise, but nevertheless brave pitch. I give mine- a 30 second hot points of our value, our market size, and our traction to date.
I won, but I was more proud of the man than of myself. He did something difficult. He challenged himself. He put himself in an uncomfortable situation which no one in the entire room was brave enough to do.
Lesson learned: Public speaking really does seem to be America's greatest fear. I am grateful to my upbringing that I am invigorated by speaking instead of turned off. It won me a private meeting with Gardner tomorrow morning, that I look forward to taking advantage of.
To anyone who hasn't spoken in public at least once- go get on stage and preform stand up comedy. If you bomb, you'll never be afraid of speaking again. And if you do well, you'll be addicted.
It seems that that would make me an exception. Last Thursday, I got the chance to attend two pitch events. The first was an Idea Pitch hosted by IDEA Fund at Launch. Representatives from three startups came by to pitch their ideas. The first was delivered by pros- it was concise, well expressed, and impressive. A second was a well rehearsed pitch by an inexperienced entrepreneur, but a strong speaker. The last was a mess. He was a middle-aged entrepreneur who had been part of an accelerator for 5 months and, in theory, had the chance to be critiqued and coached on his delivery. He bumbled and stumbled on so far over the time limit, and with so little direction, that the judges were forced to interrupt him and say, "I have no idea what you've said, but I don't know a single thing about your company."
Lesson learned: be concise, well rehearsed, and have a framework for your pitch. Skills that many, apparently, do not have.
Later that evening, I volunteered at the Startup Grind's event at which they brought in big time angel investor David Gardner for a talk and a Q&A. My job was to sit at the registration desk and sign people in. I was also told to recruit guests for an impromptu 30-second pitch-off, the winner of which gets a private conversation with David Gardner. A chance for The Triangle's entrepreneurs to pitch their ventures in front of the region's top investor and 50 other entrepreneurs? To earn a chance to practice their pitch, invite guests to ask questions, and get feedback from and placed on the radar of the region's top investor? Sounds like an easy pitch!
But try as I might, no one seemed up for it. 50 entrepreneurs, each with their own startup, and no one could be convinced to make the pitch. "We're not ready," or "we won't win," or "I'm not in the right mindset," or "I don't know, I haven't really practiced." All of these excuses bounced off of my disbelieving ears. When else might any of us get the chance to pitch David Gardner?
Finally, after dozens of flat out 'no's, a few hesitant declines, a couple nervous laughs, and one person who eagerly signed up, then nervously crossed his name off, then came back to sign up again, then returned 10 minutes later to remove his name off the list once more, one brave soul signed up. He was clearly not prepared or well practiced. He had not done anything like this in the past. But I convinced him of the worth of the opportunity- both as a self-development exercise and a chance to pitch his venture.
So, as he was the only one who had agreed, I would join him. He and I go up to pitch. He delivers his written out word for word on a piece of paper, reaching a minute in length, and in-concise, but nevertheless brave pitch. I give mine- a 30 second hot points of our value, our market size, and our traction to date.
I won, but I was more proud of the man than of myself. He did something difficult. He challenged himself. He put himself in an uncomfortable situation which no one in the entire room was brave enough to do.
Lesson learned: Public speaking really does seem to be America's greatest fear. I am grateful to my upbringing that I am invigorated by speaking instead of turned off. It won me a private meeting with Gardner tomorrow morning, that I look forward to taking advantage of.
To anyone who hasn't spoken in public at least once- go get on stage and preform stand up comedy. If you bomb, you'll never be afraid of speaking again. And if you do well, you'll be addicted.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Strife
It wouldn't be fun if it weren't hard, I guess.
Over a month ago, we had our initial test- and it worked. It led to the first and only blog post I ever publicly published. We were ecstatic, the customer was pleased, and the future seemed bright.
Somehow, that seems to have been our peak. While we've done at least a test run a week since using the Morph app the first time, problems keep arising. Orders are getting inexplicably reassigned. The app continually crashes. Glitch after glitch keeps us from being able to expand the way we need to.
Last Wednesday, we gave it another shot. We were confident that we did everything we needed to make it work. Everything was seamless in test mode- live was going to go great. Until it didn't. Minutes into the first order, our system reassigned the order from Danny to driver 0. The second order (supposed to go to Ellis) switched back and forth between the two of them, leading to confusion.
The frustration is that our limitations are currently technical, not on the sales end. We cannot build until we have foundation, and it seems that our foundation is soggy and full of holes. My feeling of helplessness in this situation is a whole other post that I'm sure will come soon.
However, I remain optimistic. I know our potential is enormous, and I'm confident our technical talent can solve the issues we're facing. We took out the excess ruffles in the server and simplified what we've got across each layer of code. The app update was pushed yesterday, and it will hopefully be approved by tomorrow, which would give us a chance to try it. If this doesn't work...well, why bother thinking like that? Let's assume it will work, and deal with the alternative if it arises.
Over a month ago, we had our initial test- and it worked. It led to the first and only blog post I ever publicly published. We were ecstatic, the customer was pleased, and the future seemed bright.
Somehow, that seems to have been our peak. While we've done at least a test run a week since using the Morph app the first time, problems keep arising. Orders are getting inexplicably reassigned. The app continually crashes. Glitch after glitch keeps us from being able to expand the way we need to.
Last Wednesday, we gave it another shot. We were confident that we did everything we needed to make it work. Everything was seamless in test mode- live was going to go great. Until it didn't. Minutes into the first order, our system reassigned the order from Danny to driver 0. The second order (supposed to go to Ellis) switched back and forth between the two of them, leading to confusion.
The frustration is that our limitations are currently technical, not on the sales end. We cannot build until we have foundation, and it seems that our foundation is soggy and full of holes. My feeling of helplessness in this situation is a whole other post that I'm sure will come soon.
However, I remain optimistic. I know our potential is enormous, and I'm confident our technical talent can solve the issues we're facing. We took out the excess ruffles in the server and simplified what we've got across each layer of code. The app update was pushed yesterday, and it will hopefully be approved by tomorrow, which would give us a chance to try it. If this doesn't work...well, why bother thinking like that? Let's assume it will work, and deal with the alternative if it arises.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Do whachya gotta do
Our plan was to launch in Chapel Hill with the Morph app on August 31st. Well, didn't that just go to shit.
Getting Takeout Central to implement our software took weeks longer than expected. One, two three, four App store updates have not been enough to solve the bugs we find. I'm sure a few more are crawling around the software, waiting to cause us heartaches. The design quality of the website and app...let's not even go there.
On top of all the technology issues, Takeout Central just went on a hiring spree in Chapel Hill, and doesn't need us here. They won't need us for at least a month, by which time their drivers will start getting bored of their jobs and start quitting. Then, finally, we can start working in Chapel Hill. Probably. Hopefully.
We could wait until we've got everything fixed to start working. We could wait until they really need us in Chapel Hill to do things. But that's boring, its slow, and it's impossibly inefficient.
Our customer has problems, and our job is to solve them. Sure, it would be great if it happened our way. But for now, we do it whatever way we can.
Hiring in Durham has been difficult for Takeout Central. Most days, especially the rainy ones we've had this week (thank you startup gods for those), their drivers they have can't handle the influx of orders. That's where the first few dedicated Morphers come in. Danny, Brandon, Will, Ellis...the dream team of Morph delivery drivers that does whatever it takes to solve customer problems.
Instead of using our own app, we've been using Takeout Central's. Instead of driving in Chapel Hill, we're focusing on Durham. Instead of paying drivers $3 per delivery, we're paying $4. But we're not waiting to solve problems until we're ready to do so. We do things now.
That is what got us to $1,000 in revenue. Our first stack! We're not popping champagne (yet) and know that we have little to celebrate beyond a mostly meaningless bottom line number. But we're learning every day. Our customer is learning that they can- and might need to- rely on us. We're proving our commitment and our value. And- more importantly- we're having a ton of fun.
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