Blake Hall

Dan Rose, who's on your show, talked a lot about that, that you're the only student and at some point they opened it up to everybody and I think their users increased by four or five X. Uber started with affluent riders and black car drivers, right? Pinterest started with Midwestern moms. Paradoxically, to get big, you have to focus small.

Dan Rose, who's on your show, talked a lot about that, that you're the only student and at some point they opened it up to everybody and I think their users increased by four or five X. Uber started with affluent riders and black car drivers, right? Pinterest started with Midwestern moms. Paradoxically, to get big, you have to focus small.

And so I thought there was a void in the market around Craigslist in terms of trust. And because military families move so much that you could have gated community of maybe military and then students. And that would actually be a way to disrupt the sort of peer-to-peer classified and like marketplace space. And so a few things happened as I was giving this pitch. USAA and military.com loved it.

And so I thought there was a void in the market around Craigslist in terms of trust. And because military families move so much that you could have gated community of maybe military and then students. And that would actually be a way to disrupt the sort of peer-to-peer classified and like marketplace space. And so a few things happened as I was giving this pitch. USAA and military.com loved it.

But then I called them back and they're like, yeah, fast for us is like two to three years to give it a pilot. Yeah. So that sucked. And I was like, I'm not, it got to a low point in 2011 where Kelly Perdue, who's David Tisch introduced us, was our first board member. I was like, Kelly, I was like, I don't know if this is going to work.

But then I called them back and they're like, yeah, fast for us is like two to three years to give it a pilot. Yeah. So that sucked. And I was like, I'm not, it got to a low point in 2011 where Kelly Perdue, who's David Tisch introduced us, was our first board member. I was like, Kelly, I was like, I don't know if this is going to work.

And he said, Blake, and look, that takes a lot for somebody who's been through Ranger school or whatever to be on the verge of, I do not quit at anything in my life. So he said, Blake, first, never say that to anybody ever again. especially to investors. And he said, chin up, we're going to get through this, which I'm super grateful.

And he said, Blake, and look, that takes a lot for somebody who's been through Ranger school or whatever to be on the verge of, I do not quit at anything in my life. So he said, Blake, first, never say that to anybody ever again. especially to investors. And he said, chin up, we're going to get through this, which I'm super grateful.

Your best friends in life are super positive when the chips are down and they're for you. And maybe when your head's getting too big, they're pulling you back down to earth to ground you. And Kelly's been that for me. So basically had this learning, which was we couldn't get enough distribution to get the buyer and seller part going.

Your best friends in life are super positive when the chips are down and they're for you. And maybe when your head's getting too big, they're pulling you back down to earth to ground you. And Kelly's been that for me. So basically had this learning, which was we couldn't get enough distribution to get the buyer and seller part going.

But we were also spending three fourths of our time on identity, on actually making sure that somebody signing up was in fact a member of the military community. As we talked to different marketers from various firms like Microsoft and Under Armour, they said, we're not really interested in your app or some gated garden for whatever, like you don't have enough users to have it be meaningful.

But we were also spending three fourths of our time on identity, on actually making sure that somebody signing up was in fact a member of the military community. As we talked to different marketers from various firms like Microsoft and Under Armour, they said, we're not really interested in your app or some gated garden for whatever, like you don't have enough users to have it be meaningful.

But your ability to actually know if someone is a part of a particular community is really important and valuable. We would use that within our own channels. And so a few things happened. I saw that on Veterans Day, veterans to get like a free Blooming Onion at the Outback were taking in their paperwork that has their social security number on it.

But your ability to actually know if someone is a part of a particular community is really important and valuable. We would use that within our own channels. And so a few things happened. I saw that on Veterans Day, veterans to get like a free Blooming Onion at the Outback were taking in their paperwork that has their social security number on it.

And they would show this form with their social to a stranger to get a fried vegetable. No wonder identity theft is twice as high. You're showing your social to strangers all over the place. And then I talked to this marketing manager at Microsoft, and they were delivering e-learning vouchers to veterans in person and making them bring their paperwork in.

And they would show this form with their social to a stranger to get a fried vegetable. No wonder identity theft is twice as high. You're showing your social to strangers all over the place. And then I talked to this marketing manager at Microsoft, and they were delivering e-learning vouchers to veterans in person and making them bring their paperwork in.

And I said, doesn't the in-person redemption defeat the entire point of e-learning? And she said, yeah, we know it sucks, but we don't have a way to know on our website if somebody is a part of the military community, so we're not able to keep it safe. And because we're not able to keep it safe, we can find distribution to brick and mortar channels.

And I said, doesn't the in-person redemption defeat the entire point of e-learning? And she said, yeah, we know it sucks, but we don't have a way to know on our website if somebody is a part of the military community, so we're not able to keep it safe. And because we're not able to keep it safe, we can find distribution to brick and mortar channels.

And I said, and if you had a way to keep it safe, she said we would bring it online. And then these different retailers said, by the way, it's not just military. Pretty much every segment, it's students, it's teachers, it's first responders, it's social influencers, it's beauticians. And that was the aha moment where I said, wow, it's not an app, it's a utility.

And I said, and if you had a way to keep it safe, she said we would bring it online. And then these different retailers said, by the way, it's not just military. Pretty much every segment, it's students, it's teachers, it's first responders, it's social influencers, it's beauticians. And that was the aha moment where I said, wow, it's not an app, it's a utility.