The Exchanges

Q And how are you planning to monetize Poncho then?

A So for us, I think we, we are not really focusing on monetization right now, but I think potentially we, first we understand, that's why one of the reasons I really want to understand people's daily routine is that we can offer you something that's truly tailored to a user. For example, if it's going to rain, we can offer you to buy an umbrella. We can call an Uber ride for you. You know, if it's cold, we can recommend what to eat, uh, what recipe you should, you would need to make Some food you feel warm at night. Um, we also know the weekend weather, so we can recommend you what to do. So I think it will be like a blend of commerce and advertising that's tailored to this person's specific needs, because we have data about you.

AI assessment note: “it will be like a blend of commerce and advertising that's tailored”

Q And why did you decide to start Poncho? What was it about weather apps or weather software that wasn't right that made you think there was a gap in the market?

A Yeah, that's a great question. So, cause back then, I basically, I was not interested in weather at all. Although there were, like, hundreds of weather apps out there, I, I was still using the default iOS, uh, weather app. Cause for me, I just thought weather is super boring. I wouldn't, I wouldn't have thought about doing anything in a weather space until I met the partner at the beta network, Sam. So Sam is a really interesting weather space. And, you know, we look at the market cap, like how big the market is, How many people are using weather channel? Um, and then you look at the innovation there. It's like, okay, it's a huge market, but the innovation is, is horrible. People go to like, back then people go to weather.com and they're looking for weather. The first thing they said was, so where the heck is weather? So, so it's obvious that there's something missing there. So I start thinking, okay, if I want to build something in the weather space, the first thing I want to do is I want to do something I personally want to use.

AI assessment note: “it's a huge market, but the innovation is, is horrible.”

Q And why did you decide to start Poncho? What was it about weather apps or weather software that wasn't right that made you think there was a gap in the market?

A Yeah, that's a great question. So, cause back then, I basically, I was not interested in weather at all. Although there were, like, hundreds of weather apps out there, I, I was still using the default iOS, uh, weather app. Cause for me, I just thought weather is super boring. I wouldn't, I wouldn't have thought about doing anything in a weather space until I met the partner at the beta network, Sam. So Sam is a really interesting weather space. And, you know, we look at the market cap, like how big the market is, How many people are using weather channel? Um, and then you look at the innovation there. It's like, okay, it's a huge market, but the innovation is, is horrible. People go to like, back then people go to weather.com and they're looking for weather. The first thing they said was, so where the heck is weather? So, so it's obvious that there's something missing there. So I start thinking, okay, if I want to build something in the weather space, the first thing I want to do is I want to do something I personally want to use.

AI assessment note: “it's a huge market, but the innovation is, is horrible.”

Q And how are you planning to monetize Poncho then?

A So for us, I think we, we are not really focusing on monetization right now, but I think potentially we, first we understand, that's why one of the reasons I really want to understand people's daily routine is that we can offer you something that's truly tailored to a user. For example, if it's going to rain, we can offer you to buy an umbrella. We can call an Uber ride for you. You know, if it's cold, we can recommend what to eat, uh, what recipe you should, you would need to make Some food you feel warm at night. Um, we also know the weekend weather, so we can recommend you what to do. So I think it will be like a blend of commerce and advertising that's tailored to this person's specific needs, because we have data about you.

AI assessment note: “I think it will be like a blend of commerce and advertising”

Q And you mentioned there about the Betaworks community, so what role does Betaworks play in the development of Poncho, and what are their main value adds?

A So I consider beta works as a, not only just an investor, but also a co-founder. So they're really involved in product development. My first thing is they, they, as you know, when you run a startup, there are lots of things like HR, managing payroll, finance, or like legal stuff. These are things you, as a founder, you don't really want to deal with, especially you have very tiny team. You don't want to deal with that. So they will take care of that for you. Second, Building one building company, they are like, they, they're really involved in terms of building product, they, how do you go to the market strategy, um, but network has lots of experience in, in, like, building super early stage companies, because for many early stage companies, you face a very, lots of similar problem. They've been there, done that, they have done, they have seen hundreds of companies, been through that stage, so.

AI assessment note: “So I consider beta works as a, not only just an investor, but also a co-founder.”

Q And you mentioned there about the Betaworks community, so what role does Betaworks play in the development of Poncho, and what are their main value adds?

A So I consider beta works as a, not only just an investor, but also a co-founder. So they're really involved in product development. My first thing is they, they, as you know, when you run a startup, there are lots of things like HR, managing payroll, finance, or like legal stuff. These are things you, as a founder, you don't really want to deal with, especially you have very tiny team. You don't want to deal with that. So they will take care of that for you. Second, Building one building company, they are like, they, they're really involved in terms of building product, they, how do you go to the market strategy, um, but network has lots of experience in, in, like, building super early stage companies, because for many early stage companies, you face a very, lots of similar problem. They've been there, done that, they have done, they have seen hundreds of companies, been through that stage, so.

AI assessment note: “not only just an investor, but also a co-founder. So they're really involved”

Q What do you think the similar problems are?

A Well, I think the first of all is how do you get the product to market as fast as you can? How do you only focus on one or two things that really matters? How do you focus on a few simple key metrics that help you to get to the next step? So, so the, like, the other thing, like, um, companies, early stage company phase, and also then you, when you grow from one person team to three people team to 10 people team, 20 people team, these are the, like, How do you scale, not only just scale a product, but also how do you scale an organization? You will face lots of common, you know, challenges, and the beta works have lots of expertise in that.

AI assessment note: “how do you get the product to market as fast as you can?”

Q Now, can you kick us off by giving us a little background about yourself and your career before Poncho and how the aha moment for Poncho came about?

A Sure, yeah. Um, so before joining BetaWorks, so my, I got into startup work probably around 2008, 2009. Um, my friend and I, we work, uh, the first project we worked on was, uh, was, uh, an iOS app that helped people to identify birds in the field. We, we received the money from, uh, MacArthur Foundation, so we basically spent a lot of time building product and, uh, getting, um, I think thousands of School teacher, students to use the app. So, um, so that was, we had a lot of fun, but neither one of us had any idea about how to make money. So we managed to spend a lot of money from MacArthur Foundation, built a great product. People loved it. It was featured in the app store back then as well, but we didn't know how to continue that as a business. So after, uh, after that, I joined Hatch Labs. So Hatch Labs, that was in, um, Hatch Labs was a incubator founded by IAC. I don't know, are you familiar with IAC?

AI assessment note: “I got into startup work probably around 2008, 2009.”

Q And when you started out, did you test it on a mass market, or did you go for a much smaller niche market and try and get much more concentrated feedback?

A Oh, we definitely start with, like, focusing on very small niche market. First was the Betaworks community. Um, so, you know, for people who work at Betaworks, they're more like, um, very tech-savvy, internet-savvy people. All of them have, um, smartphones. Then we expand to New York City, uh, which, you know, lots of people who live in New York City, they actually, like, first, the weather in New York City is really ridiculous. In, especially in spring, you will see the, see the weather, like, temperatures swing, From, like, like, like, 40 degrees to, like, 60 degrees. So it's a big range, and as you will see, like, in March, it could be snowing in the beginning of the month, and then get really hot one week later, and then start raining again. So it's crazy. So, so we start with the beta works community, then go to New York City, then expand to more and more regions. Right now, we have, uh, puncture service in around 15 states. Um, the population we're covering in the states run as around 60%.

AI assessment note: “Oh, we definitely start with, like, focusing on very small niche market.”

Q Now, can you kick us off by giving us a little background about yourself and your career before Poncho and how the aha moment for Poncho came about?

A Sure, yeah. Um, so before joining BetaWorks, so my, I got into startup work probably around 2008, 2009. Um, my friend and I, we work, uh, the first project we worked on was, uh, was, uh, an iOS app that helped people to identify birds in the field. We, we received the money from, uh, MacArthur Foundation, so we basically spent a lot of time building product and, uh, getting, um, I think thousands of School teacher, students to use the app. So, um, so that was, we had a lot of fun, but neither one of us had any idea about how to make money. So we managed to spend a lot of money from MacArthur Foundation, built a great product. People loved it. It was featured in the app store back then as well, but we didn't know how to continue that as a business. So after, uh, after that, I joined Hatch Labs. So Hatch Labs, that was in, um, Hatch Labs was a incubator founded by IAC. I don't know, are you familiar with IAC?

AI assessment note: “I got into startup work probably around 2008, 2009.”

Q What do you think the similar problems are?

A Well, I think the first of all is how do you get the product to market as fast as you can? How do you only focus on one or two things that really matters? How do you focus on a few simple key metrics that help you to get to the next step? So, so the, like, the other thing, like, um, companies, early stage company phase, and also then you, when you grow from one person team to three people team to 10 people team, 20 people team, these are the, like, How do you scale, not only just scale a product, but also how do you scale an organization? You will face lots of common, you know, challenges, and the beta works have lots of expertise in that.

AI assessment note: “how do you get the product to market as fast as you can?”

Q And when you started out, did you test it on a mass market, or did you go for a much smaller niche market and try and get much more concentrated feedback?

A Oh, we definitely start with, like, focusing on very small niche market. First was the Betaworks community. Um, so, you know, for people who work at Betaworks, they're more like, um, very tech-savvy, internet-savvy people. All of them have, um, smartphones. Then we expand to New York City, uh, which, you know, lots of people who live in New York City, they actually, like, first, the weather in New York City is really ridiculous. In, especially in spring, you will see the, see the weather, like, temperatures swing, From, like, like, like, 40 degrees to, like, 60 degrees. So it's a big range, and as you will see, like, in March, it could be snowing in the beginning of the month, and then get really hot one week later, and then start raining again. So it's crazy. So, so we start with the beta works community, then go to New York City, then expand to more and more regions. Right now, we have, uh, puncture service in around 15 states. Um, the population we're covering in the states run as around 60%.

AI assessment note: “Oh, we definitely start with, like, focusing on very small niche market.”