Know thy neighbors
Week 2 here in the Detroit, Techstars Mobility 2016 class. My mental map of Detroit is gradually filling in as I have more opportunities to explore this city. Although it has shrunk from 2 million citizens to a mere 500,000, there are many thriving areas and neighborhoods with cool restaurants and shops. Fellow Techstars Mobility company Spatial actually has a product that shows a human layer of social data on maps. If companies integrate Spatial technology into their maps, users like me will have an easier time identifying the kind of neighborhood around them and seeing where they want to explore.
Mentor madness: Come prepared
Last week we met with about thirty mentors, from Ford, Verizon, MapQuest, Michelin, Magna, Munich Re, Dana, Honda, and McDonalds.
Good, valuable, and sometimes tough questions were asked that helped us refine our own thinking and strategy. Every time the mentor was a parent with two or more school-aged children, the conversation turned into a firework – from “Please get this technology out there” (the app is already in the App Store) to “My wife is putting 20k miles a year on our car just driving the kids – let me connect you to our school,” to offers to include GoKid as a perk for all of the company’s employees. Our mentors were prepared and willing to help.
Evaluate advice + follow up
Two of us are always in each meeting and we are now evaluating and categorizing the feedback we received. It’s okay not to agree with everyone’s opinion – but the biggest task now is following up. We are working through the many offers to help. Time management is the biggest struggle. Three to four hours of meetings and running the day job of building out our technology are taking a toll on our hours, but all of these leads are potential ways to market and distribute our technology. We realize how much time and effort the Techstars Mobility team has put into organizing these meetings and briefings and want to make sure we are on top of things when following up.
Execute
We are now in touch with several lead mentors and will be showing progress in weekly reports. The reports aren’t only for the mentors; for us, it’s a great way to prioritize and keep track of the most important things or “big rocks.”
The coming 4th of July weekend is the first I will be staying in Michigan, exploring the city and surrounding neighborhoods. I look forward to getting to know the city better.
Among the advice was overwhelming feedback on our primary tagline and we’ve decided on a new one that really captures what we’re doing: Save time. Carpool with families you trust.
Please download GoKid here and send us your feedback.
