Tag: Startup

The Winning Pitch: Reimagining the Food Truck Experience

People want to patronize food trucks more; however, there are too many obstacles to overcome to figure out where the trucks are, what they serve, and how to pay them. GrabGrubGo will bring so many more options to everyone’s fingertips. People will finally be able to see all of the food trucks in their vicinity. And food trucks will have a streamlined way to accept orders and payments from their customers.

A conversation with Kelly and Tiffanie, Founders of GrabGrubGo, following their winning pitch at Umu Igbo Unite 2021 Convention where they won $10,000.

Ozii: Tell us a bit about your different backgrounds. 

Tiffanie: I have been running small businesses since I was a little girl. I sold candy, I babysat, and I even made and sold keychains. If there was a way to make money doing something, I was going to do it. But, more than the money, I loved seeing my ideas come to fruition.
Kelly: I grew up taking things apart and putting them back together. It was not as much of a drive to develop a business; it was a desire to learn why things work. I took computers apart at eight years old, built websites in junior high, and took IT certifications before starting high school. Going through college and realizing then that I could use my skills to make money was very rewarding and put me on this path to monetize anything that could be tedious for anyone else. I’ve built a lot of businesses while looking for a pathway to truly expand into something great!

O: Tell us how you came up with the idea of GrabGrubGo? What’s the significance of solving the identified problem for all the stakeholders impacted (food truck owners, customers, and the community)

T: At work, we often had food trucks that come to the office to serve food. Everyone would always be super excited because food trucks always meant a break from the ordinary bologna sandwiches we were bringing to work. Once the truck would arrive, everyone would naturally flood the lots. There would be a long line, and we’d be standing out in the hot sun. It was an interesting experience. The food was good, and you got to talk to your coworkers in a way that you wouldn’t typically talk to them in the office. However, the overall experience was pretty bad. We would all be so hot and would spend the entirety of our lunch hour, if not more, waiting in line for the food. So one day, I sat back and wondered if there was a better way to do this?
K: Tiffanie and I briefly worked together and became fast friends. Sharing our various work struggles and entrepreneurial efforts was tremendous and, if nothing else, presented an opportunity to discuss ideas and offer help to one another. In one of these discussions, she described her food truck experience, and I instantly told her, I can build that, and I know it can be game-changing. Fast forward to today, and we have grown relatively quickly in our quest to solve this problem. We welcome you all to follow our journey on Instagram @grabgrubgohtx or email us at tiffanie@grabgrubgo.com or kelly@grabgrubgo.com
T: I think our application is a win-win for everybody involved. People want to patronize food trucks more; however, there are too many obstacles to overcome to figure out where the trucks are, what they serve, and how to pay them. GrabGrubGo will bring so many more options to everyone’s fingertips. People will finally be able to see all of the food trucks in their vicinity. And food trucks will have a streamlined way to accept orders and payments from their customers.

O: What was your pitch preparation strategy? What resources did you find most helpful, and why?

K: The biggest thing that we did to prepare was to make sure we understood the task at hand and had a good grasp of our strengths and weaknesses early based on the guidelines that UIU presented. We binged a lot of SlideBean videos to understand better what works and what doesn’t. We went through multiple deck iterations to clarify our vision and answer questions that we thought the judges could ask. Going through our journey prepared us for the competition and further fleshed out our product, and pushed our creativity well past our preconceived notions. Understanding how to tell a good, concise story was our goal.

O: You seemed very confident on stage; tell us about your experience delivering your pitch in front of the judges and audience? What did that feel like and what’s your advice for startup founders pitching for the first time?

T: It’s funny you say that because I was so insanely nervous, I thought my ankles were going to crumble into ash. I remember trying to go through the slides in my head before getting on stage and remembering nothing. My brain felt like an Etch-a-Sketch that had been shaken. But, once we got on stage, something changed. There was just something about the energy in the room. There were so many smiling, warm, and welcoming faces in the crowd. It felt like people were genuinely interested in hearing what we had to say, so the words just spilled out.
K: I had to block everything out mentally. When the first presenter went on stage, I had to close my ears, say a little prayer, and rap some lyrics to a Notorious BIG song to keep my head in the game. Once it was our turn, everything else was automatic. My practical advice for founders pitching for the first time is not to psych yourself out. No one knows what your product or service offering is, and therefore, no one will know if you make a mistake. Honorable mention would be to keep it simple. Understanding what we needed to say and then building our story around it allowed us to stay on task and put out the best parts of our story.
T: The other advice I would offer to founders in pitch competitions is not letting the fear of what you don’t know to keep you from moving forward. I had a lot of trepidation being a non-technical founder. I thought, who am I to present this idea when I can barely operate my computer. These concerns made me feel like an imposter in the space. I’ve since discovered that people found many tech companies without technical expertise. Having the vision and ability to communicate it to others is more important. The truth is there are plenty of resources out there, and everyone is so supportive. The best thing to do is dive in and get the experience.

O: You won the grand prize of $10,000. How do you intend to invest the $$ in your business? Why are these the most important investments to make at this point in your company’s journey? If someone wants to start using your solution, when/how can they get started?

K: Still very excited and honestly humbled to not only have been in consideration but ultimately awarded the grand prize of $10,000. We intend to use the winnings to get our platform into the Beta stage to get testing in place with live data. We are confident that we can get our pilot going early next year and fine-tune our application to get us ready for launch.
For GrabGrubGo, at this stage, the most critical investment that we can make is in the infrastructure. So making sure that the foundation is solid is the most important thing at this point so that we can have the platform and view and validate the interactions so that we can plan for expansion and get our platform in as many hands as possible by launch.
T: We will also invest the winnings in establishing strategic alliances with food truck vendors. This alliance will allow us to involve them in building the app so that it best serves their needs. Users can email us at info@grabgrubgo.com or follow us on Instagram @grabgrubgohtx.

O: What is the best piece of actionable advice you’ve received that continues to be a source of inspiration in good times and challenging times?

K: Stay the course no matter how tough things may seem in the interim. If you want success, eventually, you will find it. Keep learning and continue putting yourself in difficult situations and drive that momentum forward.
T: I’ve been told that you only fail when you quit. There will be trying times, and people will not believe in your dreams and your vision. Regardless, don’t quit, just keep going.

Self-care could get you a hat-trick

Last week Monday, I exhausted every means possible to get a hold of a client involved in a deal I was spearheading. I emailed, called, texted, and left a voicemail, but he did not respond.

The next morning, he replied to my text apologizing for being unreachable since he was stuck in back to back meetings. He then suggested we set up a call for 5pm later that day. I asked for an earlier time in the day, but he was firm that he was only available at 5pm. This was a problem. I had a soccer game starting at 5:10pm, and knew our conversation would take at least 30 minutes. There was also a looming deadline, so it was critical we spoke soon. I had to decide whether to take the call at 5pm and risk missing the soccer game or reschedule the meeting to a different day and risk missing the deadline. Playing soccer brings me a lot of joy, and I also thrive on going above and beyond for my customers, so this was a difficult situation.  




This dilemma reminded me of a conversation I had a few weeks back with my mentor. He encouraged me to prioritize self-care as part of my daily routine to live a more balanced life. He shared that more than exercising regularly, self-care is any activity that we deliberately do to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. According to Forbes, neglecting self-care means not knowing your worth. By making time for self-care, you “maintain a healthy relationship with yourself as it produces positive feelings and boosts your confidence and self-esteem.”

The common challenge with self-care is making adequate time for it. Tchiki Davis, Ph.D, author of Outsmart Your Smartphone, recommends twelve strategies to get started with self-care. To resolve my earlier dilemma, I relied on her “say no to others, and say yes to your self-care” strategy. Below is how she explains it:

Learning to say no is really hard; many of us feel obligated to say yes when someone asks for our time or energy. However, if you’re already stressed or overworked, saying yes to loved ones or coworkers can lead to burnout, anxiety, and irritability. It may take a little practice, but once you learn how to say no politely, you’ll start to feel more empowered, and you’ll have more time for your self-care. 

I told the client that 5pm wouldn’t work since I had a soccer game starting at 5:10pm. I suggested we reschedule for the next day, and he accepted. In parallel, I worked to ensure we had enough runway so we could still meet the deadline.

The soccer game started promptly at 5:10pm, and by the end of the first half, my team was down 1 – 4. During the half time break, I encouraged the guys by reminding them we were better than our first-half performance. All we needed was to focus on getting one goal at a time. Within the first 5 minutes of the second half, I scored our second goal, getting us to 2 – 4. We made some technical changes, which allowed our team to score three more quick goals within ten minutes, putting us ahead at 5 – 4. I then added another goal with five minutes left in the game, putting the score at 6 – 4. Our opponents got a quick break and scored a goal with two minutes left, putting the score at 6 – 5. Knowing they would increase the pressure, I reminded the guys that offense is the best defense. Since our opponents committed more of their guys to attack, it left their defense vulnerable. We took advantage, and my teammate provided a perfect through pass. I then dribbled past two defenders before hitting the ball past the goalkeeper on his left side. The score was now 7 – 5, with twenty seconds left in the game. When the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the game, we had managed to come back from three goals down to win the game 7 – 5. I thought to myself, had I taken the call and missed out on the game, I wouldn’t have been in a position to help my team and be a part of such a memorable comeback story. 

The next day, the client asked about the soccer game, and I relived the drama all over again. Even better, we met the deadline, deepened our connection, and progressed our discussions. This experience was a reminder to prioritize self-care because it earns trust with clients and it is good for business.

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#SuperEagles




How to Sell to Technology Startups: Sprint Faster

Selling technology to technology startups is an adventure. Imagine this; you’re selling cutting-edge technology to technologists trying to disrupt the cutting-edge technology you’re selling them. Wow. I find this exciting because there’s always an opportunity to learn something new and discover a different or more strategic way of solving complex problems. So how exactly should you approach selling to these technology startups?

 

One thing I discovered about selling to startups is they move fast, so you have to move faster. As a salesperson, you need to define what “faster” means to you and your organization. If you feel your organization or team isn’t moving fast enough, then you need to be the catalyst that disrupts the inertia by exemplifying speed and results. If the internal process is taking too long, find new ways for it to be streamlined and share it with the different stakeholders within your organization. If your extended team has a “can’t do” attitude, don’t stop until you find someone with a “can do” attitude willing to partner with you to accelerate success for your customer.

If the only thing constant in business is change, the only thing not constant is time. Time keeps moving whether you’re standing, walking, jogging, or sprinting. When next you’re selling technology to a technology startup, make sure you’re sprinting even if they may be walking or jogging. And if they’re sprinting, get some lighter shoes and sprint faster!

Happy Selling! I’d leave you with these parting words…

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” – Christopher McDougall

F.I.V.E Questions with Ade Adesanya, Co-Founder of Moving Analytics

Multiple studies show that 90% of startups fail. As the co-founder of Moving Analytics, Ade Adesanya takes on this hard truth every day. He calls it “de-risking” his startup. He does this by having a laser focus on solving his customer’s problems while drawing inspiration from the impact his company is having on many lives. I met Ade during a talk about technology and entrepreneurship hosted by the Umu Igbo Unite chapter of Los Angeles. Ade was named a Forbes 30 under 30 and his company has raised $2M in VC funding. We invite you to get into the mind of Ade in this F.I.V.E questions feature:

1. Briefly describe your background and how you got started.

I grew up in Lagos and came to US in 2007 to study Electrical Engineering at the University of Houston. I always had a passion for building things and caught the technology bug early in my college days. In my junior year in college, the Social Network movie detailing Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s story came out. The movie inspired me and my friends to find more problems in our community that technology could solve. We agreed to tackle a problem many college students battle with every semester, buying textbooks. We founded a company called Givepals to serve as a marketplace for students to trade textbooks with each other. The idea expanded to other items including, DJ services, cars, boats, and much more. At its peak, Givepals had over 3000 active users at UH; however, the company closed after we graduated and were unable to expand to other campuses due to engineering challenges.

 

 

The experience at Givepals inspired me to move to California and immerse myself in an environment where I could learn how to commercialize technologies and improve my project management skills. I enrolled in the Engineering Management program at University of Southern California (USC) and I also got a job at the USC’ Stevens Center for Innovation where I worked with researchers to commercialize their intellectual property into startup companies. Through my job at Stevens, I met my business partner Harsh, who was a postdoctoral fellow who had secured 2 patents for tracking and improving physical activity for chronic disease management. Harsh was looking to commercialize his patent into a commercial product and was looking for some business help in identifying a customer, fundraising and forming a team. Through our research which consisted of interviewing over 200 clinicians, hospital administrators, and non-profits like the American Health Association we discovered a business opportunity in the cardiac rehabilitation industry.

For those lucky to survive a heart attack, cardiac rehabilitation is a program designed to help patients improve their physical fitness, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, quit smoking,  and improve other cardiovascular-related risk factors. Research shows patients who do rehab double their 5-year life expectancy and cut their risk of a second heart attack by up to 50%. The challenge is less than 15% of patients enroll in CR programs because there are very few programs which are located far away from people’s home and work.  As a result, health systems are also shuttering their brick and mortar CR programs due to the high operating costs and unprofitability. This leads to more cardiac patients dying and getting readmitted within 12 months. Our team realized that there was an enormous opportunity in delivering cardiac rehab digitally through telehealth. This is how we founded the company, Moving Analytics.

2. Flashback and then fast forward to the present, what has surprised you the most about your journey (with Moving Analytics) thus far?

What has surprised me so far is the long sales cycles in healthcare. Our customers are large health systems. When you start, you have this conviction that since you have a solution to such a big problem, they would want to move fast to make something happen. That is unfortunately not the case since our sales cycle takes about a year, and could be longer for more complex agreements. It can be challenging at times because you still need to keep the business going while negotiations are progressing. Managing your expectations for the type of business you are in is important to your long-term success. Activities like the hundreds of demos we used to do when we first started that we thought weren’t working back then are now leading us to get more qualified leads and slowly chip away at the length of the sales cycle.

 

 

3. Why is the cause you are pursuing or problem you are solving the most important for this generation? 

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death. 1 in 10 people die from heart disease – more people die from heart disease than cancer. However, heart disease doesn’t get as much attention. Our platform and program help reduce the risk of dying from heart disease. As millennials, we live for experiences and want to continue to do that for a long time. If we can solve this problem, it means we would live longer and our parents would live longer. We would spend more time with our loved ones. The fact is there is a benefit to being healthy and there is a cost associated with it as well. Heart disease and heart failure are expensive diseases, and we are committed to fighting and preventing it with our platform.

4. Reflect on all of the key sacrifices and trade-offs you’ve had to make to get to where you are today. Which of these would you say was the most pivotal and why?

Running a startup is a huge commitment of your time, and personal relationships could suffer. We’ve been running the business for 4 years and in those 4 years, I’ve had some special personal relationships that didn’t work out. I’ve had to learn to manage my personal relationships better and realize it’s marathon, not a sprint. I’ve also started paying a lot of attention to my physical and mental health. When it comes to mental health, I try to share what’s going on in my life so my family and friends can help. It’s like you’re bringing them along on the journey.

 

 

5. What is the best piece of actionable advice you’ve received that continues to be a source of inspiration in good times and challenging times?

“Don’t build your idea in a vacuum.” Get out of the building and get in front of your customers.

A lot of people have ideas they want to hoard and not talk about for various reasons. The reality is most people do not care about your idea. Knowing this, I always try to socialize my ideas and in the process, I often determine what it is I need help with to take the idea to the next level. It’s interesting because when I share my ideas and where I need help, people would find ways to help me.

 

 

For more details, contact Moving Analytics.

3 Things A Startup CEO Looks For Before Taking A Sales Meeting

I had coffee with the CEO/Co-founder of a Silicon Valley based tech startup that has raised well over $50M and asked him:

 

“What needs to happen before you take a meeting with a salesperson for the first time?”

 

He said he looks for three things:

1. The salesperson was referred to me by someone I know and trust

2. The salesperson intends to share something new and innovative that could help me accelerate my roadmap

3. The salesperson needs me more than I need them

I was struck by #3, so I probed further.

He went on to explain that it’s always good taking a sales call when you’re not desperate for the solution/service they’re offering. He only takes meetings with salespeople representing something that is a nice to have. He prefers to have ‘must have’ conversations under his explicit control.

Someone on responded to the above post on LinkedIn with the following:

“Interesting…smells of “group think” and “yes men” mentality. Would you like feedback? If there are any sales folks feeling a bit discouraged, here are my thoughts: #1 Um no. I’ve worked directly with C-suite execs for a long long time. They’ve all been open to meeting me for the first time without a personal referral…unless I count some great EA’s who’ve booked us meetings. #3 Wut? A bit creepy. Good thing I’m a sales professional who works with buyers who need solutions, because I’m a horrible co-dependent. Here’s the rub…startups need to do a lot of selling themselves to make good on their funding…most veteran sales professionals will pass on calling a startup based on their employer count (easy to find online). Who “sells” on the first meeting anyway? 🤔 Don’t worry, I’ll wait…😴 That said, Veteran C-suite execs understand #2, because this is where a conversation/dialogue starts to establish whether a solution is worth evaluating.“

 

Below is my response to their comment.



Thanks for taking time to read this and reply with your thoughts. You make some very good points. I believe one should feel inspired rather than discouraged. Here’s why:

In the book “Selling to the C-Suite” by Nicholas AC Read and Stephen Bistritz, their research confirms that “a full 84% of Executives said they would usually or always grant a meeting with a salesperson who was recommended internally.”

On the other hand, “Cold calling ranked the lowest, with only 20% of participants (Executives) saying they would usually grant a meeting as a result, while 44% said they would never respond to cold calls.”

The idea is not to feel discouraged but to use research to increase your odds of getting a meeting with CEOs. Also, it’s a better experience to work smarter than harder. The #3 point is not about co-dependency; it’s about control. To your point about “who sells on the first meeting anyway?” many have, and many will continue to do so. Every interaction is a “selling” opportunity…you’re selling an idea, a service, a reason for them to take a second meeting…you’re always selling, from the first meeting to the last meeting to the next meeting… 🙂

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Send me an email (ozisco at gmail.com) or a tweet @ozisco

Happy Selling!

F.I.V.E Questions with David McMenomey, Owner of Redemit 1

I’m excited to launch the “Find Insights Via Engaging™ (F.I.V.E) Questions with an Entrepreneur” series. The series will feature answers to 5 unique questions posed to an entrepreneur. Their answers will enable every reader to learn how they got started in their venture, discover how they mastered their unique set of skills, and gain from any piece of advice that has continued to deliver dividends. It will be fun, insightful, and inspiring. The goal is that you are able to take at least one actionable tip from each conversation.

My first conversation is with David McMenomey, Digital Strategist at Redemit One.

profile-photo

 

1. Briefly describe how you got started and what is the most exciting or rewarding aspect of what you do?

It was early 2012 and my very pregnant wife was at the store getting groceries for the week.  I received a phone call that no one wants to get, the kind of call that stops your heart.  “David, I am in the line to check out and none of our credit cards are working. Do you know what is going on?”  You see at this point, I had been nursing along a startup that had zero revenue for 8 months, in the heart of the Silicon Valley.  Every credit card was maxed and we had a baby on the way in a few short months.  To say I was desperate would be an understatement…

The one thing I did right while starting my first company was I focused on the digital side of the business.  I knew that growing a business online would be better than going door to door as I had done to start my career.  So I started devouring Internet marketing training for hours on end, reprogramming the way I thought about marketing and scalability.  The 2 trainers I had been listening to were Jeff Usner and Hans Johnson and you will never guess who called me just about a week after we hit rock bottom financially…Jeff Usner.  I had met him a few times at some business training / personal development events but didn’t even know he remembered me.  He offered me a job in Texas and I took it.

This was the start of my career in the Internet, but I started at the bottom making almost no money.  To me it didn’t matter, anything was better than what I was making with what I was currently doing, and I would get to learn the skill I passionately wanted to learn, Internet Marketing.

I worked with Jeff for 3½ years and created multiple online products, marketing funnels, and web properties that made millions of dollars.  I received hands on experience, and built valuable confidence and belief in my abilities to take an idea and bring it to life online.

In October of 2015 I was laid off from my work with Jeff’s company as they moved out of Texas and back east to Pennsylvania.  After a few months of consulting for companies, I decided to launch my own agency, Redemit One.  It was one consulting client who pushed me over the edge to go from floundering consultant, to full-fledged marketing agency.  This client, Manny, was a non-profit who had a vision to help kids coping with cancer feel like rockstars for a day.  Manny had some great material on coping with cancer, and wanted me to create a marketing funnel to promote it.  So I sat down with him and created a lead generation funnel that could not only help more cancer patients, but also bring in new and reliable donors to fund his charity.

This is the type of work that keeps me going.  I love taking an existing business and creating a way for them to have predictable, scalable revenue.  There is so much misinformation out there about getting rich on the Internet, and I like going in implementing simple, proven strategies that drive revenue.   That is what excites me. Creating something like this for a client, then handing them the keys to the system and letting them run with it.  I don’t want to be the company that creates a system that is dependent on Redemit One.  I want my clients to be able to walk away from me at any point and continue to grow their vision and company. As short-sighted as that may sound, my client’s businesses were never mine to start with, so why should I hold them ransom just because I help them grow revenue in a new area?

 

2. Flash back and then fast forward to the present, what has surprised you the most about mastering your unique set of skills and what advice do you have for others looking to learn a similar skill?

I think the most surprising part of looking back at my journey in this business is how simple what I do really is.  With all of the complex training and courses out there, it is easy to get bogged down and never actually do anything online.  The key to learning this skill set is something Jeff taught me, find what works and copy that.  You always want to emulate success. There are other smarter, more patient people out there who have tested and perfected a business model Online, so find out what they are doing and do your best to copy that.

 

3. What is your unfair advantage? 

My clients will tell you that my unfair advantage is that I have already been there.  I have done it. I know how it looks to start with an idea and turn it into scalable revenue, so every project I take on, I have the end in mind for the client.  I also never sell them on their own idea. Most new prospective client meetings are me telling them why their idea won’t work and how a few minor tweaks in their perspective will make all the difference. To me, if the idea doesn’t produce recurring revenue for the client, I will not take the project. It is not worth it for anyone…

 

4. Describe the results a potential client could expect when they do business with you and how do you plan to WOW them?

The result a client will see when they work with Redemit One is a revenue machine will be created.  They will get a completed mechanism that brings them new leads and converts those leads into money.  Pretty simple really.  I specialize in lead generation, and that really is the heartbeat of what makes clients happy. They are flooded with new leads who convert to cash.  That will motivate any business owner to refer Redemit One. I think what wows clients is that I am not afraid to walk away from taking their business.  If I can see at the start that the project is not going to produce results of the client, I am happy to walk away from the money upfront and point them in a different direction, or to a different company for the work.  The only thing worse than no clients, is unsuccessful ones…

 

5. What is the best advice (or quote or insight) you received that gave you the confidence to launch your business?

The best insight I was given to launch my company came from 2 different clients on the same day.  I was waffling between the idea of going back to work for a big company and continuing to hone my skills and the idea of staying on my own.  Both clients challenged me and asked, “With the skill set that you have and all that you know how to do, how could you go back to work for anyone knowing they could never pay you what you are worth?” The advice I would give any entrepreneur looking to going out on their own is this, never let your ego get in the way of your journey.  You have to be able to take an honest step back and evaluate whether you need to continue developing your skill by working for someone, or if you really have all the right pieces to be your own boss.

 

“Never let your ego get in the way of your journey.” – David McMenomey

 

Connect with David on LinkedIn.