Read on Twitter
1: My First College Hustle:
This is a thread about the first business I built while I was a student at UCLA. After a year of working on it, we made 240k in revenue, hired over 45 students, and participated in the YC W20 batch.
This is a thread about the first business I built while I was a student at UCLA. After a year of working on it, we made 240k in revenue, hired over 45 students, and participated in the YC W20 batch.
2: The idea:
We make an online-only convenience store and deliver across campus using electric scooters. We bought our products from Walmart, mark them up 2x, and stored the inventory in our apartment.
We make an online-only convenience store and deliver across campus using electric scooters. We bought our products from Walmart, mark them up 2x, and stored the inventory in our apartment.
3: The launch:
We created an explainer video and instructed ALL of our friends to share it on the same day.
We created an explainer video and instructed ALL of our friends to share it on the same day.
4: The growth:
We had no idea how fast it would grow...
We learned it wasn't the marketing stunts that lead to growth. The customers that got under 10-min deliveries were telling their friends. Within 5 weeks we were making 80-90 deliveries a day.
We had no idea how fast it would grow...
We learned it wasn't the marketing stunts that lead to growth. The customers that got under 10-min deliveries were telling their friends. Within 5 weeks we were making 80-90 deliveries a day.
5: The expansion:
Our first attempt at expanding failed. I dropped out of school and moved to a small apartment by USC to try to get the business started. 2 students opened a store from their dorm & that unlocked growth. However, this spread us thin as a business.
Our first attempt at expanding failed. I dropped out of school and moved to a small apartment by USC to try to get the business started. 2 students opened a store from their dorm & that unlocked growth. However, this spread us thin as a business.
6: The pivot:
After getting into YC, I questioned the scalability of the business. Then actually pivoted a few weeks before January to a completely different idea. There wasn't unity behind this decision. This was my biggest mistake as the CEO.
After getting into YC, I questioned the scalability of the business. Then actually pivoted a few weeks before January to a completely different idea. There wasn't unity behind this decision. This was my biggest mistake as the CEO.
7: YC:
8 of us moved into a house in Santa Clara. We decided to return back to our original model & hit the ground running. We scaled up quickly to 100+ orders a day again. We were driving between LA and SF almost twice every week. One of the craziest times of my life.
8 of us moved into a house in Santa Clara. We decided to return back to our original model & hit the ground running. We scaled up quickly to 100+ orders a day again. We were driving between LA and SF almost twice every week. One of the craziest times of my life.
8: Post-YC: 2 of the 5 original co-founders are still working on the company. I've moved on, but I'm grateful for all the things I learned growing this business. The biggest lesson: Starting something will be a rollercoaster. But hey, rollercoasters are fun.
