I’m pretty busy right now, but when this subject line hit my inbox, I had to open it;
I hated listening to your talk at SydStart
Here is what it said;
Hi Mick,
My name is Kevin Lippy and I founded a company called Brokepacker.com, a booking engine for backpackers offering discounts and value adding deals on accommodation, experiences and travel. I pitched yesterday but unfortunately it was after you had had to leave. If you want you can read about Brokepacker here http://www.tnooz.com/2010/07/23/tlabs/tlabs-showcase-brokepacker/.
I really loved your talk yesterday and I agreed with pretty much all of what you said… but I found it absolutely grating to listen to because it seemed like i’m doing the exact opposite in a lot of ways at the moment. For example;
1. Don’t start by protecting an idea because you won’t get it right the first time anyway. – I did, and it cost a fair bit of time and money.
2. Manual testing – I actually did do this by moving into various backpacking hostels for a while, which gave me an awesome insight into the viability of the concept and it also got me some great sales. Every backpacker sold, absolutely loved it (and why wouldn’t they… it’s cheaper for their needs and wants). However I’m not sure if that really proves the concept as an ‘online booking engine.’ Is this the correct manual test?
3. Need to just go out sell – I may be wrong but I honestly think with the model we are using there is a definite risk in doing this. The model requires operators to continually list products each month, so we have to ensure that we provide them value. (This is different to group buying models like Spreets, Scoopon etc). If it we don’t deliver we may lose the operators in the long run.
If you have some time i would more than appreciate catching up to discuss these points and the project in general and perhaps getting feedback as to whether you think the model will work. I want to focus, but I also want to make sure that I am focusing on the right strategy.
Much appreciated,
Kevin Lippy
Brokepacker.com
T:
Ha! I love it. I’m glad I impacted someone. Yes, focus! If I got one guy to move one centimetre to being more focused, then I’m glad I went.
Here is my reply to him;
LOL.
One of the best email subjects I’ve seen for years Kevin – thank you!
Honestly, I hated hearing my talk too. The reason is that I know it now, but I didn’t know it until I worked on 5 businesses over 8 years. Ouch! It was always something else.
Here is a list of my bad excuses;
“We didn’t raise enough money.” – WRONG – more money, means more features, less urgency and less focus.
“We were ahead of our time.” – WRONG – it means you couldn’t actually solve someones problem.
“Our marketing wasn’t strong enough.” – WRONG – more potential customers into a shop that doesn’t sell anything anyone wants to buy doesn’t bring more sales.
“If only we were all in Silicon Valley.” – WRONG – having the wrong core utility and going slow doesn’t work anywhere in the world.
Yep, tough lessons.
Congrats on getting started at all. I like where you guys are going.
We’d like to chat to you. First step is always a pitch. http://www.pollenizer.com/services/pitch-sessions/
Are you after a potential partnership or advice?
Are you OK with me blogging your email and part of my response? I’ll take out personal info of course.
Thanks,
Mick Liubinskas
The Sydney Startup community is so exciting right now. It’s just great to be a part of it.