Ajay Prakash

You really have to maintain a lot of excitement and conviction to weather all the storms in the journey.

You really have to maintain a lot of excitement and conviction to weather all the storms in the journey.

You really have to maintain a lot of excitement and conviction to weather all the storms in the journey.

Well, I mean, first, it was a critical piece of understanding whether we want to take the leap. And there's a lot of people who will kind of build the product and they don't want to show it till it's perfect. What you need when you start a company, especially consumer facing, is velocity to insights. You got to move as fast as possible to figure out if anyone cares.

Well, I mean, first, it was a critical piece of understanding whether we want to take the leap. And there's a lot of people who will kind of build the product and they don't want to show it till it's perfect. What you need when you start a company, especially consumer facing, is velocity to insights. You got to move as fast as possible to figure out if anyone cares.

Well, I mean, first, it was a critical piece of understanding whether we want to take the leap. And there's a lot of people who will kind of build the product and they don't want to show it till it's perfect. What you need when you start a company, especially consumer facing, is velocity to insights. You got to move as fast as possible to figure out if anyone cares.

I don't know if anything surprised us. The biggest thing overall was... people were really excited. And so we knew we were striking a chord and there was something there where people actually cared about what we were building. And I remember James saying for him, one of the big aha moments was, People actually paid us. We didn't do this for free.

I don't know if anything surprised us. The biggest thing overall was... people were really excited. And so we knew we were striking a chord and there was something there where people actually cared about what we were building. And I remember James saying for him, one of the big aha moments was, People actually paid us. We didn't do this for free.

I don't know if anything surprised us. The biggest thing overall was... people were really excited. And so we knew we were striking a chord and there was something there where people actually cared about what we were building. And I remember James saying for him, one of the big aha moments was, People actually paid us. We didn't do this for free.

We charged them that cost, so we didn't make money, but they actually paid us for the service that we literally took a week or two to kind of get set up. But what we did is we learned a lot in the process. We tested morning, we tested evening, we tested during the day. And as an example there, if you're five minutes late in the morning,

We charged them that cost, so we didn't make money, but they actually paid us for the service that we literally took a week or two to kind of get set up. But what we did is we learned a lot in the process. We tested morning, we tested evening, we tested during the day. And as an example there, if you're five minutes late in the morning,

We charged them that cost, so we didn't make money, but they actually paid us for the service that we literally took a week or two to kind of get set up. But what we did is we learned a lot in the process. We tested morning, we tested evening, we tested during the day. And as an example there, if you're five minutes late in the morning,

you're ruining someone's day because they got to get out the door. If you're five minutes late in the evening, nobody cares. And so there were little insights like that that were really helpful. But the biggest thing was, do people want this? Is this actually solving a pain point? And then kind of learning in that testing, what are some of the things we need to really nail?

you're ruining someone's day because they got to get out the door. If you're five minutes late in the evening, nobody cares. And so there were little insights like that that were really helpful. But the biggest thing was, do people want this? Is this actually solving a pain point? And then kind of learning in that testing, what are some of the things we need to really nail?

you're ruining someone's day because they got to get out the door. If you're five minutes late in the evening, nobody cares. And so there were little insights like that that were really helpful. But the biggest thing was, do people want this? Is this actually solving a pain point? And then kind of learning in that testing, what are some of the things we need to really nail?

Like, oh, that experience at the door for the valet is important. Oh, when you take, like I found, we had a bunch of random laundry bags and we picked up people's clothes and we wrote their name on a piece of paper and the service type and we threw it in there. And I found after two or three customers, I couldn't remember whose bag was who.

Like, oh, that experience at the door for the valet is important. Oh, when you take, like I found, we had a bunch of random laundry bags and we picked up people's clothes and we wrote their name on a piece of paper and the service type and we threw it in there. And I found after two or three customers, I couldn't remember whose bag was who.

Like, oh, that experience at the door for the valet is important. Oh, when you take, like I found, we had a bunch of random laundry bags and we picked up people's clothes and we wrote their name on a piece of paper and the service type and we threw it in there. And I found after two or three customers, I couldn't remember whose bag was who.

So it gave us the sense of like, wow, this is operationally gonna become really complicated. And so you gotta build the systems to be able to manage that. And those, those were little nuggets we learned early on, but the biggest thing was, Hey, people really want this. This is exciting. And so that kind of led us into that need finding and the journey to say, okay, let's go build this.

So it gave us the sense of like, wow, this is operationally gonna become really complicated. And so you gotta build the systems to be able to manage that. And those, those were little nuggets we learned early on, but the biggest thing was, Hey, people really want this. This is exciting. And so that kind of led us into that need finding and the journey to say, okay, let's go build this.