Soundchk Rentals (Startup Bus 2019)
I participated in a 5-day startup boot camp with Startup Bus. It’s the ultimate hackathon on the road. The event started in 6 different cities and ended in New Orleans. I was on the longest bus route, from Silicon Valley to New Orleans (YES, I was nauseous and NO, we didn’t have steady WiFi).
My team launched SoundChk, an Airbnb for musical instruments. To stand out in the marketplace, we added a special feature where users can also rent out instruments from celebrities!
My role: market researcher, user researcher, branding and designer.
DAY 1: “Get.👏🏻 In.👏🏻 Formation.👏🏻”
We started our journey by each pitching our ideas in front of the bus to 20+ “buspreneurs”. Based on our pitches, we quickly formed teams since our first pitch started in 7 hours at Work In Progress, a co-working space in Las Vegas. I decided to join an all-women’s team that strived to solve a common problem for touring musicians.
Problem: Touring musicians with lost or damaged instruments need a way to find a replacement easily but the brick and mortar music stores have limited stores and hours.
Solution: To provide musicians with a peer-to-peer marketplace platform where they can rent music gear that is quick, reliable, and affordable.
We built our MVP and strategized how to create a company which will can stand out in the marketplace. Next thing you know, we’re pitching our idea in front of a panel for the very first time.
DAY 2: “Action cures fear. 👊”
I’m the shy kid that sat in the back of the classroom hiding and praying that the teacher won’t call on me. Not anymore. I decided to conquer my fears by pitching at our next stop, Galvanize with one other teammate. My heart pounded against my chest and the adrenaline rush raced through my brain. We pitched to a panelist of VCs, angel investors, and co-founders. We managed to convince a few panelists but most felt disconnected to the idea. To be honest, I felt more accomplished speaking on stage than winning the hearts of the judges.
After receiving feedback, we realized we needed to gain support from other companies or influencers to validate the product. I launched our website, created a company email and continued to reach out to my network and others to conduct user interviews/survey.
DAY 3: “When it rains, it pours.☔️”
I felt a sweat drop down my keyboard and realized the AC on the bus stopped working. A few moments later, our bus had a power outage, which meant also meant no WiFi and soon our computers.
With no power, some chose to catch up on sleep or practice pitches. I decided to cold-call sellers or music stores on Craig’s List to drive traffic to our website and gain traction. I continued to recruit users at our next pitch stop in El Paso, TX. I contacted over 12 musicians and 5 felt enthusiastic about the product and wanted to me to send them an email to our website! On top of that, one of my teammates discussed with a potential partner to feature us in a booth for the upcoming music festival in New Orleans!
They say when it rains, it pours. Like a true startup, some situations are out of our control and one after the other, things will fall out of plan. Remember, “there is always a rainbow after a rain”. Maybe even a DOUBLE RAINBOW!
DAY 4-5: “Ready to Rock.🤘”
We spent the morning preparing our pitch deck, practicing our pitches and building tractions. As a result, we had 14 instruments posted and 2 transactions generating over $180 in revenue.
I spent the entire day refining my pitch by asking strangers and Startup Bus conductors for tips and feedback. With every pitch, I felt a little less nervous and a little more confident. By 3 PM, we were all ready to rock our pitches since the judges will randomly select the first person to pitch for every team. The judges selected my other teammate for the pitch.
Unfortunately, our team did not get selected to advance onto the final day. We all felt disappointed by the results. However, we received several inquires from other music stores and music festivals about potential partnerships. We’re excited about the opportunities ahead!
WHAT’S NEXT?
We plan to rebuild our SoundChk website and recruit developers to build an app. We plan to have a booth in several upcoming music festivals in the U.S. Please join our community and get ready to rock! Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions!