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Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

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Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#151

Post by rainmaking »

chvid wrote: post #51

I am reading thru this and it is a good, recommended read however I am getting slightly annoyed with academic attitude of the author. Like batman in the cartoon I want to slap him but not for "sloppy market research". But for using the term "market research" at all. (This is essientially the first and maybe the second point reiterated.) Suppose you were a cook with your own restaurant. How do you figure out what work…

I'm half American but have grown up and have been living in German speaking cultures all my life.

I have found that people here simply respond well to a little bit of formal language, so it's not surprising the author would habitually use it. People tend to take it as an implicit promise that you know what you're doing.

You can usually get away with a little semantic trickery though; of course we do market research, we're a serious business after all. It's just that in the startup context, the best way of doing this is trying stuff and actually observing behavior.

When called on the bluff, invent a qualifier: Oh of course market research works differently in the startup context; we call it "highly iterative" market research. (Schnelliterationsmarktforschung).

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#152

Post by justincormack »

tdicola wrote: post #46
theflyingkiwi42 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We tried plated as well as blue apron. In reality, both of them were way too much work. We were excited to try them but don't miss them at all. I think the blog describes it well: this is not a real pain point (at least for us - 2 adults, one baby).

I think a lot of people like the idea of a fresh cooked meal a lot more than the reality of actually making it.

I think those of us who like fresh cooked meals have already adapted to how to make them, the market for people who need and want to convert to that stage is small.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#154

Post by tptacek »

chippy wrote: post #149
tptacek wrote: post #30

This post links to an e-book by @robfitz called _The Mom Test_, which I hadn't known about before. It's fantastic and totally worth the price; also, that guy can write. I can see so much of my own bad pitching in the "how not to do it" examples he gives.

How do you know that book is "fantastic and totally worth the price" if you hadn't known about it before? Have you purchased and read it in the day between reading the article and writing your comment?

I don't understand your question, but I think the answer might be: yes, obviously, I found out about the book, bought it, read it, and liked it.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#155

Post by vjvj »

avalaunch wrote: post #102
ams6110 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe this idea would have worked if you had decent marketing. I'm not convinced. I am surprised to hear it has worked anywhere. I'm not a gourmet cook by any stretch, but I do cook most of my own meals. I would never buy fresh ingredients online. Shopping for the ingredients, perusing the choices and selecting "the best" unblemished fruits, vegetables, and meats is part of the experience of cooking. I don't want…

My family uses a service called Green Bean delivery. They deliver fruits, vegetables, and herbs. I don't think they deliver meats yet. We were a little worried that we wouldn't be selecting the fruits and vegetables ourselves but they have excellent quality control. We've never been disappointed with a delivery. The thing is, they do it right. Once they get the orders, they go directly to the farms and get exactly wh…

One of Dinnr's selling points was same day or next day delivery. I think that sort of just-in-time direct from farmer delivery model would have required longer lead times between receiving and fulfilling orders.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#156

Post by Jayd2014 »

rcarrigan87 wrote: post #70
pairing wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the common advice I've seen for being lean but step #2 is really hard. How do you get people to put in orders on a brand new webpage? It's far from trivial to get an audience for your landing page and kind of goes against lean to throw 5k in ad money to validate something. Who has that kind of money to throw around?

Another thought, to prove the concept, spend $20 to print flyers, stand out at the grocery and explain to people what you're doing. If after awhile no one is hitting the page and placing an order, then maybe you need to rethink your idea.

Facebook laser targeted ads work wonders here if done correctly:

> UK, London, Single Men/Women, Interest:cooking, TV shows: Biggest loser or Hells Kitchen.

> Then send them to Landing Page.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#157

Post by jroseattle »

burgers wrote: post #13

> even if your company isn’t tech-heavy (such as Dinnr). I feel like this would be a giant red flag to me. You are essentially a logistics startup, and you believe this is not "tech-heavy". Logistics is likely one of the most complicated tech-heavy problems being solved right now. Things like pricing(30% margins in grocery food sounds very high), recommendations etc. Was there ever a way for food bloggers to have the…

Sorry, but no it isn't a 100% tech company. It, like many many others, are actually service companies that are using technology as a means of implementation. Understanding that separation is critical.

Should they have outsourced their development? Absolutely not, but only because they needed to iterate in order to find what makes the service useful for their customer base.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#158

Post by gingerlime »

taigeair wrote: post #136
gingerlime wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm originally from Israel, but have lived in London for 9 years and now in Berlin in the last 3+ years. I can't say I notice a vast difference. Especially if I look at middle-class, educated, well-earning people, which this kind of service targets. There could be some cultural difference, sure. But I think it's relatively small. Other factors, some mentioned on other comments, can come into play. For example: * much…

I also am living in Berlin now and was wondering if you had some recommendations for online grocery deliveries?

We tried Rewe and Bringmeister. Rewe seems a bit better overall.

Ocado still seems light-years ahead in terms of flexibility, convenience and service.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#159

Post by jroseattle »

briholt wrote: post #21

I can't help but have a very negative reaction to this, not necessarily at the author, but at the startup ecosystem as a whole. These are posted as "lessons" as if they were difficult to learn, when this really should be labeled "things no responsible person would ever not know before even considering raising money." Of course you should be self-critical of your product, of course you should test with real customers,…

I used to believe this as well. Experience is the toughest teacher because of the method -- you're given the test before the lesson.

When you're young, you are bulletproof and ten feet tall and can run through walls and you have no concept of your own limitations. What seems obvious to those of us who have gone through the cycle of a startup is the greenfield learning experience for starry-eyed newbies.

Paul Buchheit has talked about the "danger of experience" (http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-technology.html). It's tough, but it's compulsory on us to apply our experience while simultaneously challenging conventional thinking.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#160

Post by james1071 »

l33tbro wrote: post #72
twic wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the marketing in the world won't make any lasting difference if the product doesn't create value for customers. This product didn't.

Poppycock. This product has worked in similar environments. What's more, Rob found a proven value for it through extensive market research. To me it didn't land because of poor execution on marketing.

I live in London and really don't think the idea was ever going to work.

His market was for people who wanted to cook for themselves, but didn't know where to buy the ingredients.

There are lots of shops, so this really isn't a problem.

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