Confession of a Serial Entrepreneur – The Grind

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After we decided on groceries and the name gofer.run, we needed to figure out if we could do this technically. This is where the development team comes into play. Now before we build anything we need to make sure we can do the things we need to do technically, or all is for naught. So, we needed to find out if we could search the stores in real time, process the data through AI and then use an algorithm to find the lowest cost options based on how many stores the users are willing to go to. I never like building an application that relies on other people’s data, especially when I do not have an agreement with them. At this point we do not know if the grocery stores will try to shut us down or embrace us – this is actually still an unknown, but we have gotten good at adapting to their changes. We have built this with only three developers. To say this team is impressive is an understatement.

Developers are a different breed. I have always found them optimistic about their ability to turn around work. My rule of thumb is generally whatever they tell me it will take 3 to 4 times longer. This just may be a difference in how the question is perceived. When I ask how long it will take, I am thinking of a finished polished product while a developer is thinking how long until first prototype. Before we build anything, we need some sort of roadmap to keep the focus as tight as possible. You are trying to create an MVP (minimal viable product). The user needs to see value in the MVP, if not don’t go any further. Our MVP was:

Have the same grocery flyer functionality as the Flipp app.
Allow the user to search for any product – one at a time.
Allow the user to put their grocery list into the app and then have gofer.run search the user’s neighbourhood grocery stores to find the best combination of goods and stores to save the user money.

Sounds easy enough but there is an endless combination of UI/UX design (UX – user experience, UI – user interface) options and functions that can get us to this point. It is only through the cycle of designing, building, testing and feedback that we can get to where we are going. This can be very frustrating at times as you feel like you take one step forward and two steps back. This in many start ups is called the messy middle. It is critical that you find some good beta testers at this stage as the feedback loop is critical – if the users do not love your app, then you need to keep fixing it until they do. Just to give you an idea we have released 252 versions of the app since we started, about one release every 1.5 working days and each release has to be tested – that is a ton of work. Our releases to Beta testers is a lot less (we bundle them) as this level of change would have them running to the hills. I would like to thank everyone who has been a beta tester – thanks for sticking with us through the most frustrating part of app development. There really is no other way.

We have been in this messy world of app development for about six months, and we are nearing Christmas 2024. For those that own businesses or have busy lives you may relate to what I am about to say – “you only get sick when you have time to get sick” and Christmas is one of those times for me. So just before Christmas I am having our daily stand-up meeting with my team when I feel this tightness in my chest and it starts to spasm. I turn off my camera and try to do some stretching thinking that this may just be a muscle spasm. After a few minutes of this it is not going away so I tell my team I am not feeling well and need to go home.

I am heading home when I think hey maybe I am having a heart attack so once again in true male fashion I drive myself to the hospital. I get there and I am quickly looked after. They run a bunch of tests all good. They also take an x-ray of my chest and lung area. They gave me some anti-inflammatory medication and after three hours they sent me home as everything looked good and the spasms had stopped. Now unbeknownst to me on my x-ray the next morning the radiologist wrote a note to call me back as he saw some spots on my lungs. Nobody called so I soldiered through Christmas as the family and friends were home. Over this period, I was continually getting sicker but masking it so not to ruin Christmas. I went to the hospital on Dec 28 th, but the line up was 7+ hours, so I went home and called Ontario Health Connect. I talked to a nurse that prescribed antibiotics. Got those filled and took them for the next few days but continued to get worse. On New Year’s Eve I woke up my wife and asked her to drive me to the hospital. I was in rough shape, so I was admitted quickly. Turns out I had pneumonia in both lungs, and they had to drain one of my lungs a couple of times. This was the 3^rdChristmas season in a row that health was an issue – 2022 I had Covid (finally tested negative on Christmas Day and could leave my room); 2023 I was still recovering from the heart surgery and very sore.

Now I have been sick before with some bad flus or colds, but this was a whole new level. I can see now why pneumonia kills the elderly. I was in the hospital for 7 days and off work for most of the month of January as I took horse size antibiotic pills and tried to recover. In February I was back.

It has been endless rounds of design, build, test, and feedback and all you can do to make it through this cycle is just persevere. One thing about beta testing is that the process Apple requires is brutal. Beta testers need to downland an Apple app called Test Flight and then they need to also download gofer.run. This scares away testers, and we have recently decided that we are going to go live but quietly in November (third week) while still in beta to avoid this issue. Which means you will be able to finally search for us and download the app from Apple’s store – tell all your friends. The Google Play store is much easier to deal with. To me the fact that there are only two places you can sell an app is a large competitive issue and I think that this duopoly needs to be broken up. Thirty percent of every app or in app purchase goes to either Google or Apple. Yes, they do give a break to apps with revenue under $1 million in revenue (15%) but it is a license to print money and is not fair to the development community.

In our start up to marketing gofer, we have attended a few public events and the feedback from the potential user community is exciting and we really think we have something. I think it will come down to execution. Does the app work and is it reliable and can we get the message out to the masses on a shoestring marketing budget. Still hills to climb but we are up for the challenge.

As we get close to the quiet app launch, we are getting excited. We are keeping it quiet as we still consider it beta, but we wanted to make it easier for people to download and use. The app will be free during this period as we fix bugs and add more functionality based on feedback. And we need your feedback! This part of the journey reminds me of a lessor know song by Bob Dylan called Tangled Up in Blue.

Now that you are almost up to date on gofer.run, next post I will go back in time and talk about the forces that shaped me and my first venture. Don’t worry if there is any exciting news I will update you. People ask me why are you still involved in so many ventures. I think it is best summed up by Alan Patricof a partner in the VC firm Greycroft who said in 2017 that he kept working late into his late years "to stay relevant". Speaking of staying relevant here is a new song by David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra. David was the lead singer in the Talking Heads and has stayed relevant by releasing great music over the years. Here is his new song – Everybody Laughs a fun little number.