Beta test boxes going out. Names blurred to protect the innocent.
Over the last few weeks, Team Sexy Life has been running our final beta test for our date night at home boxes. I sent out about a dozen boxes to people all across the country that wanted to try out what we’ve designed. It’s not only a chance to see what real couples think of our creation, but to see how our creation holds up in the mail. From what I’ve heard, so far, so good!
We haven’t received any major negative feedback so far. It’s even worked to bring couples together to talk about things and do things that they normally don’t do together – totally affirming our hypotheses we had about the need for our service! The only major change we feel that we need for Sexy Life is the name. We’ve felt that the name doesn’t really do us justice, and we’ve come up with some alternatives that we are planning to test through Facebook and Google advertising. I don’t want to reveal the names, but we’ve put some thought into it, and hope that one of them performs strongly versus the others, so the decision is made for us. After the name change, pre-orders will begin.
The Sexy Life (or whatever we’re going to call ourselves) Date Night At Home Kits
It’s actually a business – and no longer a startup – at that point… something we’re super excited about. Between the product being ready and pitching the company for prize money, David and I are still in a bit of disbelief. We’ve been working on this since November 2015, and it seems weird that it’s actually a “real thing” now. We’re at the point where we either start making some money on this thing or shut it down forever. Based on the feedback we’re received so far, I think we’re going to do well.
The Sexy Life Pitch Tour has three stops locked in and a fourth in the works at the moment. My first time as Sexy Life pitchman is at the Venture School Surge Summit this coming Friday. We were asked to pitch at the last Surge Summit in Des Moines back in December, but we didn’t feel as though we were ready then. Now, we actually have boxes built and some actual feedback about what we plan to market in the coming months – information perfect for a pitch. We’re also putting together a display table for the expo portion of the event, planned for Friday afternoon. It should be a fun day, and if you’re in eastern Iowa, you should check it out.
After the Surge Summit and Expo, I’ll be traveling to Des Moines for the Young Enterpreneur Convention that evening and Saturday. I’ll be pitching at the Pitch Competition on Saturday, but unlike the Surge Summit, this contest is an elevator pitch competition. No handouts, no visuals, and only 60 seconds to get your point across to the judges. The only elevator-style pitches I’ve done in the past are proposals at Startup Weekends, so it will be interesting to compress my 5-minute presentation that I do Friday into 1 minute on Saturday morning.
I’m also looking forward to the rest of the programming at the Young Entrepreneur Convention. They are featuring a craft beer tent and a food truck competition, along with some well-qualified presenters. The mix last year was about 80 percent information and 20 percent people trying to sell something, which seems like average to good for this type of convention. There will also be some networking time over food and drink, which is one of my favorite things about the entrepreneur life. It should be a fun weekend coming up.
Huzzah!
A couple of weeks from now is EntreFest, and with it comes another pitch competition for Sexy Life. As David put it, presenting at EntreFest seems like we’re moving up several weight classes. I have a feeling that our competition will be more seasoned, as the prize money being offered at this competition is more than the Surge Summit. In addition, the best pitches will move on for significantly more money through the Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition. It would be awesome to advance to that, but I’m just looking forward to the experience of participating in the EntreFest competition.
Like the Young Entrepreneur Convention, the programming for EntreFest looks great! I missed out on the last EntreFest two years ago, except for the rooftop fashion show. I hadn’t gotten my freelancing going to the point where I could justify paying for a pass to EntreFest two years ago, and I didn’t have the family around to help with childcare. The program then looked like a lot of fun, and this year should be a lot of fun connecting with entrepreneurs from around the state. I feel fortunate to have both opportunities to connect with fellow entrepreneurs in the next few weeks. It should make for a great summer and rest of the year.
Speaking of the rooftop fashion show, I’m also excited for Flyover Fashion Fest. I know Ian and crew have been putting a ton of work into the program, and I’m really interested in seeing how it all plays out. I didn’t make it to the first year of Flyover last year, for much the same reason I didn’t make it to EntreFest two years ago. I won’t be pitching anything at Flyover – I’m attending mainly to connect with other creatives and learn a few things over the course of the weekend. It should be a great complement to EntreFest, since the two events are so nicely dovetailed.
Here’s a simulation of what will happen if the judges don’t understand what I’m trying to pitch.
The last stop that’s locked in right now is the Inside/Outside Innovation Summit in Lincoln, Nebraska. I’m working on the application for the pitch competition at this convention right now. I have already purchased my pass and reserved my hotel room, and I’ve been starting to ask around if anyone else is going to travel out there in June to help represent the eastern Iowa entrepreneurial community. I don’t know much about this convention – I happened to find them on Twitter and found that they were offering a pitch competition similar to, but on a larger scale than EntreFest. With that kind of opportunity, why not throw Sexy Life’s hat in the ring? Best-case scenario, we win some money; worst-case scenario, I spend a couple of days in Nebraska connecting with fellow entrepreneurs. I’ll learn a few things and be better for the experience in either case.
I’m contemplating taking the pitch tour around to a few of the 1 Million Cups locations within a 5-hour radius. We’re due for a “refill” in Iowa City – basically, a return to a location where a company has already presented to give the audience an update on the company. It would be nice to get back and present again once we’ve changed the name and launched the service completely. At that point, I think we should hit a few of the other 1 Million Cups locations in Iowa and Illinois to promote whatever we are calling ourselves at that point. I’d like to get this tour in before the weather starts turning cold and snowy, before the end of 2017.
I’d also like to start promoting Cider Finder in 2018. We should have something built out by then, and it will need some love once Sexy Life (or whatever it’s called) is going strong. Team Cider Finder is still meeting by phone every other week and talking funding and features for the app. We’ve put together a feature list that we’re going to submit to a few app developers, to see how much money we would need to raise to build it out. We’re also determining how much we can do ourselves, in order to keep the cost of development down, and whether or not we can put something together in the interim as a type of high-fidelity minimum viable product, in order to start selling subscriptions to raise the money needed to develop the true version 1.0. We’ve already started hyping the app on social media, and we’re getting a trickle of new cider makers following us each week. Hopefully, we will have something to sell them by this fall or winter.
Ian and I have been in contact with venues for Startup Weekend Iowa City, tentatively scheduled in October. We’d like to get the venue secured in the next week or so, in order to promote Startup Weekend Iowa City at entrepreneurial events like EntreFest and possibly the Inside/Outside Summit. We might even go to Des Moines, Davenport, and the Cedar Valley once or twice to spread the word in the months leading up to the event. But first, we need the venue and a couple of sponsors. We have a decent amount of work to do for that, and Ian’s buried with Flyover Fashion Fest right now. On the agenda before EntreFest: get the Startup Weekend Iowa City committee together so that we have minions to spread the word this spring and summer.
Also looking into the future, I’ve submitted a presentation proposal for Denver Startup Week. It has nothing to do with Sexy Life (even though I’ll be promoting the heck out of that during my trip.) My presentation proposal is based on my life of many hats – between the dad stuff, the freelance stuff, and the startup stuff, I am a man of many roles. I want to discuss how to balance different, and often conflicting roles. Hopefully my proposal will be accepted, and I’ll get to give a talk out there at the end of September. It’s something cool to put on the old LinkedIn page if I do, and if I don’t have the opportunity, that’s fine as well. I just want to share my knowledge and experiences with others in the startup community.
There is so much going on right now that it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of everything. I often worry that I’m going to forget something important – something that’s easy to do when the calendar is this full. This week alone has so much on there, for both work and the kids. My older daughter has her kindergarten roundup on Thursday – can’t believe she’s heading to kindergarten in the fall! It hit me on her birthday back in February that I’ve been doing the at-home dad thing for 5 years now. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, so I guess it means that I’ve been having a good time.
It is a good time right now. Let’s see how the next couple of weeks go. I don’t expect to write another update until after Flyover Fashion Fest, and it will probably be another lengthy post like this one. That’s what happens when the nose is firmly pressed to the grindstone.
It’s worth it if it’s fun, and so far, I’m having a blast.
You must be logged in to post a comment.