Tribal Pizza

A "Typical" Day

Upon reflection, yesterday was a good example of a typical day at Tribal Pizza. 

It started with Webb leaping into the jaws of city government to start the process of getting our construction and health permits.  We had no idea what it would take to get the permits and found out that it's going to be a bunch of work to gather the information and produce the required drawings.  Since we've already committed to getting the permits, the only decision is "do it ourselves or hire someone?"  After a brief discussion we decided that the cash and experience are too valuable: we'll take on the extra burden.  Typical.

While Webb was running the gauntlet, I got to go shopping.  I needed to send a detailed list of kitchen equipment to our leasing agent.  About a month ago, we estimated that we'd need about $30,000 in equipment to open the commissary.  We decided that we could buy it ourselves rather than wait for funding.  After some scaling back (we don't need a high volume oven for recipe development) we got the price down to about $20,000.  I decided to look into equipment leasing since, once again, cash is pretty important to us right now.  The equipment vendor's leasing partner didn't get back to me, and after a week I looked for other leasing firms.  We eventually found one we liked and now we're in the process of finalizing the purchase via lease.  We signed up for the worst case scenario, slogged through other people's broken processes, kept moving along and ended up with a nice outcome.  Typical.

Webb and I met at the warehouse space briefly talk about moving into the warehouse and getting our DSL router configured.  Since he's up to his ears in permitting and construction I signed up to finish setting up our DSL account and configure the router.  He's the CTO and this falls squarely in his realm, but it's something that I know how to do and it's far less important than what he was working on.  So instead of playing the "it's your job" game, which is likely how it would play out in a big company, he tagged me in so we could keep moving along.  Typical.

The day ended while I was at home watching TV with my wife.  Our new web host contacted us to let us know that the SSL certificate had finally been installed on our staging server.  Webb emailed me that would could start testing it, so we both went in and started banging on our online app.  We sent bugs, fixes, and other emails back and forth while testing.  We found and fixed a couple of big ones, all in the span of an hour or so.  At this point, we had both been working for 12 hours or so and loving every minute of it.  Typical.

The Business Plan

Yesterday we finished the Tribal Pizza business plan, and there was much rejoicing.  Not so much because it was done, but because we now knew that we could explain every part of our business: Where the money comes from, where it goes (and it what quantity), what the risks are and how we're going to deal with them, etc.

Some people may wonder if a business plan is necessary, especially in light of some of the "Web 2.0 success stories" like Guy Kawasaki's Truemors.  If you're not going to raise money, you certainly don't need one because you're simply spending what you need to do what you want -- like being in Vegas for a weekend.  If you are going to raise money then a business plan is pretty much required.  Not necessarily  because investors want to read it (although there's a good chance they will), but because it will force you to find answers to all the questions that you would otherwise categorize as "we'll figure it out when we get there".

For the record, the plan took about 2 months to complete.  This is the 4th business plan that I've written and I now have a pretty good formula for estimating how long it will take:

• Initial draft - 2 days.  This gets you to about 80% completion.  The speed with which you can generate this percentage of the plan is cruelly misleading.
• Research to get to 95% complete - 2 weeks plus 1 month for each additional partner who is contributing.
• Final editing - 5 days plus 1 week for each additional partner who is contributing.

If you're writing by yourself, plan for about 3 weeks total.  This isn't solid staring-at-the-screen-all-day time, it's a combination of writing, thinking, researching, and editing along with enough time for ideas to bubble up from the back of your head while driving, sleeping, working out, or whatever.  You may think, "I could just sit down and knock it out in one marathon session" and you'd be right, you can do that -- but your plan will suck, be incomplete, or both.  It takes time to work through all the "little" details that make your idea a winner and even if you finish in record time, you will have undoubtedly left some of the best aspects out.

You may wonder why on earth anyone would work with a partner if it slows you down.  The truth of the matter is that it doesn't slow you down -- it takes you beyond where you can get by  yourself.  The extra time accounts for the time it takes to incorporate their ideas, feedback, and research.  The simple fact is that you are unlikely to write as good of a plan on your own as you would with a partner.  So, it's not that you're slower, it's that you're creating something different -- hopefully something better, but certainly something that you could not do on your own.

A note about tools and techniques.  I really like Business Plan Pro from Palo Alto Software.  It gives you some rails that allow you to answer the questions you need to answer and that keeps you from sitting there, staring at a blank screen and wondering where to start.  The other tool I depend on is Excel, although any spreadsheet will do.  The reason you need a spreadsheet is that you should be able to create a model that shows expenses, cash, and assumptions (at a bare minimum).  This spreadsheet will let you play with the numbers and answer questions like, "what if we open 10 stores instead of 6?", "what if our cost is 35%, not 25%?", "how wrong can we be on this assumption without going broke?", "if we're asked to take our funding in tranches, how much do we need and when?" Once you can answer these questions, you can use your business plan to tell your story and your model to determine if it's plausible fact or outright fiction.  Remember: your business plan should describe what you see happening and you'll be asked all kinds of questions that all boil down to, "why do you think that?"  The more your plan answers that fundamental question, the more effective it will be in your absence (which is where it's likely to be read).

As for Tribal, after making my Excel model I created three copies: Small, Medium, and Large which describe the overall growth that each model represents.  As you might imagine, I went with "Large", but I hadn't had the confidence to even dream of those numbers until I saw what it took from funding, cost, and revenue points of view.

Now it's time to get back to executing!

When Are We Ever Going To Use This Stuff?

I just realized that it's been inexcusably long since I last posted.  I'll stop talking about being busy, just assume that it's my default status from here on out.

So what I have I been doing for the last dozen days?

I'll tell you what I've been doing: Using everything that I learned in high school (with the possible exception of Comparative Religion . . . but, damn, that was a cool class).

The bitter irony is that the class I hated the most is the one I rely on day in and day out: English.  Not a day goes by that I don't write something.  It could be part of our business plan, use cases for our software, emails galore, or copy for advertising.  There are lots of days when I'll write for 8 hours or more.  Even more importantly, I edit at least every other day.  I owe a debt of gratitude to my English teachers, but I'm also a little pissed at them.  Not one of them (even the one that I actually liked) EVER gave me a good response to the age-old question: "When are we ever going to use this stuff?".  In all fairness, maybe they've never heard a good response, so I present the following as a starting point:

"For the rest of your life your happiness, be it in a job, relationship, or what-have-you, will depend on your ability to communicate.  This class is designed to not only increase your capacity for communication, but to give you what you need in order to continue your education on your own.  When we study classic literature, we are learning highly effective patterns of communication that have stood the test of time.  When we study grammar, we are learning the commonly accepted rules of our language -- observe these rules and your message will be heard clearly; violate them and you're message must first penetrate a degree of prejudice.  But the short answer is that you never know when you're going to need any particular skill, but it is far better to learn it and never use it than to need it and not have it at your fingertips."

Aside from English, there's lots of Math.  Need to figure out when you're going to run out of money?  Math.  Need to know if leasing is better than buying?  Math and Civics (taxes play an important role).  Need to figure out if your partner can act as an effective counterweight for a water heater on the second floor of your warehouse?  Math/Physics . . . followed by Gym . . . followed by Home Ec/First Aid.

Upon reflection, I learned a lot in school and it has served me well.  My only regret is that I didn't view the process as valuable preparation for the future, I just saw it as something I had to do.  I think if I had had at least a little glimpse of the future I may have enjoyed the process more and maybe I wouldn't have given my teachers such a hard time.

In my first overt solicitation for comments, I'd love for everyone who reads this post to list a class that taught them something that they now consciously use in their daily lives.  If you happen to remember who taught it, be sure to thank them in the post and maybe they'll see it the next time they Google themselves and know what a difference they've made in the world.

The Executive Suite

I spent some time at North American Headquarters waiting for AT&T to install our DSL.  The picture to the right shows my office -- you can see my chair, desk, and filing cabinet.

Because of the surprise installation appointment, we also got started on demolition a little early. To the left you can see what's left of the kitchen.

We weren't entirely unprepared, however.

 

More shots once construction beings

The Best Startup Post I've Ever Read

Almost every blog I read has linked to Marc Andreessen's Why Not To Do A Startup post.  After reading it twice and thinking about it for most of the day I've decided that it's the best I've ever read on the subject of startups.

One of the things that I feel is missing from the post, however, is this rarely discussed fact:

Founders fight . . . a lot.

I would be shocked to find an exception to this rule.  Starting a company takes a certain amount of ego: you are, in effect, saying, "I can do something better than anyone else".  That's the reason that you're going to market, right?  When you have multiple founders, you're essentially creating an egotistical powder keg by putting a couple (or several) of those egos into a confined space.

This is one of the reasons that having a partner you trust is so critical.  You need to be able to fight and trust that no matter what happens, things will be okay.  If that's not the case and a severe fight with hurt feelings and bruised egos has the potential to shut you down, then you'll avoid fighting.  If you don't fight, it's probably an indication that not everything is getting said.  This will cause your product to suffer, which means your company will suffer.

So go ahead and throw down, just make sure that it's with someone you trust and respect. 

Time Flies

I just realized that it's been 2 weeks since I left my corporate gig to start Tribal Pizza with my partner, Webb.  It's been almost that long since my last blog post as well.  To me it seems like yesterday because every day we attack large, interesting, useful tasks.  Big chunks of time simply fly by as we work down our lists . . . I'm guessing it's that way due to the fact that we're doing something we believe in and working on things that we truly enjoy.

Having said that, it's time for the generalized, theoretical, "applies to any business" posts to end.  From here on out it's all about Tribal.

Today we're going to sign a lease on warehouse space that will give us the room to build out our first commissary kitchen.  This kitchen will also have a pizza oven so that we can finish recipe development.  The space is . . . uh . . . "full of potential".  We looked at it last week and decided to do a 1 year as-is lease since we're not exactly sure what we need.  I'll post some "before pictures" a little later.  Interior construction will begin next week.

Pitching

If you're starting a company, get ready to start selling.  Whether you realize it or not, selling will be your #1 job for quite a while.  You may think, "not to worry, I'll hire salespeople!", but that's not the type of selling you'll be involved with in the beginning.

The first type of selling will be pitching.  It will probably start with pitching to potential partners/founders.  If you can't convince someone to join you, you need to work on your idea, your pitch, or both.  Next you'll pitch to investors.  You're trying to sell them on your idea and on yourself.  They need to buy into both in order to hand over their money.  Next, you'll probably pitch to employees.  Why would they want to work with and for you?  After all that pitching, you'll finally be in a position to sell to customers.

Here's the catch: Your sales pitches for all of the above mentioned audiences have to be done before you start with the first one.  After all, your partners/founders will want to know how you'll sell the idea to investors, employees, and customers.  Your investors want to know how you'll sell to employees and customers.  Your employees will want to know how to sell to customers.  After you have your various pitches ready, there's one more to work on: the elevator pitch.  This is a 30 - 60 second explanation of your idea designed to get people excited to hear more.

I recently had the opportunity to work on my elevator pitch -- literally.  I had announced my departure from my current employer and lots of people wanted to know "where I was going".  My office was on the 23rd floor of our building, so I had between 45 and 60 seconds to tell my story.  I finally got it down to about 30 seconds and found myself getting lots of follow-up questions, even after the doors opened.  That's one of the signs of a successful pitch, the last thing you want is for someone to say, "sounds nice", and then stand there silently.

If you're working on a pitch I recommend being able to answer the question, "What makes you different?"  That's the #1 question I got after telling people that I was starting a new pizza chain.  After you can answer that question, get it down to a 30 second answer.  As a final step, throw in one example of your differentiator in use . . . the lights come on after your audience can picture your idea in action.

Planning

I know that no business plan survives contact with the customer, just as  no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.  I still love planning, though.  There's something about getting ideas out of my head and onto paper or screen that frees up thought cycles.  Once I've written down the basics, I go back with the fine grit sandpaper to dive in and smooth things out.  I've also found that that writing things down triggers side ideas; the very act of figuring out how to phrase something will cause me to expand the idea in my head.  As a developer I use lots of software tools, but my favorite planning tool is a yellow legal pad (the "expensive" kind with the really thick back) and I always have one with me.  After a few pages of sketching, scheduling, and calculating I'll put everything into electronic form, but I've found digital to be a great way to capture and distribute, not a great way to create.

Enthusiasm

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
-Winston Churchill

I read the above quote the beginning of Chapter 7 of My Start Up Life this morning.  It reminded me that passion and enthusiasm aren't always the same thing.  I've been passionate about my work for a long time, but this is the most enthusiastic that I've ever been.

Are you enthusiastic about what you're doing?  If you were given a wide range of work choices, would it be what you do now?

Commitment

It's not just a matter of what you do and what you don't.  It's what you will and what you won't.  Click on images for larger version.