YC
A Conversation with Ooshma Garg - Moderated by Adora Cheung
@ Y Combinator
09/08/18
Takeaways
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I started my first company out of my dorm room at Stanford, aiming to help students get jobs at banks and consulting firms, but it ultimately didn't work out because no one was using LinkedIn at the time.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I learned the hard lesson that whoever pays you kind of owns you and determines how your product evolves, which led to a misalignment with my original mission of helping students find good jobs.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
The first bite of my dad's home-cooked food inspired Gobble, highlighting the importance of home cooking and family dinners in my life.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
In the beginning, we described Gobble as a marketplace for personal chefs and families, which resonated with the peer-to-peer economy trend at the time.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I found that when starting out, you can't just throw money into ads; instead, it's about reaching micro groups and building relationships with local businesses to promote your service.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
We had four different iterations of our product from 2011 to 2014, and while we didn't pivot, we iterated based on our learnings to find product-market fit.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I believe that the company that cracks the personalization in food will be the long-term winner, similar to what Amazon and Netflix have done in their respective industries.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
The personalized dinner service model we developed allowed us to focus on technology and cater to individual tastes, which was a significant evolution from our earlier models.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
During the early days, I had to prove my concept without a website, relying on initial sales and mock-ups to validate my business idea.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
Our monthly burn was kept low at $40,000 by maintaining a small team of co-founders, which allowed us to extend our runway while iterating on our product.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I didn't do Y Combinator at the beginning of Gobble; I did it three and a half years into the struggle when I was running out of money and had only $8,000 in the bank.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
The employees who lasted the longest at Gobble were those who were referred, sharing similar values and trust, and I kept them motivated by being transparent about the challenges we faced.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I turned down an acquisition offer from a clothing startup because I saw so much potential in Gobble and wanted to focus on solving a real problem in the meal kit space.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
Not having a lot of money forced us to innovate and focus on making every dollar count, which ultimately helped us grow faster than competitors who had more funding.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
Real entrepreneurship comes from diverse perspectives and innovating at the edge of different industries; hiring an executive chef allowed us to innovate in food preparation.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
I had to swallow my pride and seek help from Adora Cheung during Y Combinator, which led to the launch of our 15-minute meal kit idea that transformed our business.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
In the early days, I used email to experiment with pricing by sending different offers to customers, which helped us find the best price for our market.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
As a single founder, I found it crucial to surround myself with supportive peers, like other single founders, to share experiences and provide motivation during tough times.
OG
Ooshma Garg
09/08/18
@ Y Combinator
When pitching to investors, it's important to focus on the potential for significant growth rather than hedging against failure; confidence in your vision is key.