How to Get Started, Doing Things that Don't Scale, and Press (How to Start a Startup 2014: 8)

Stanley Shao (DoorDash Founder)

• DoorDash is an on-demand delivery network for local businesses, founded by Shao and Andy while they were Stanford CS students (Class of 2014).
• The startup concept originated from a problem identified in a macaroon store (Chantal Guion) where the owner lacked delivery infrastructure and had to reject orders or deliver personally.
• To validate demand without infrastructure, Shao launched "PaloAltodelivery.com" in one hour using a simple landing page, PDF menus, and a personal cell phone number.
• The first customer ordered Thai food and was the author of the book Weed the People; subsequent orders grew from one to ten within three days.
• The initial operating model relied on "doing things that don't scale": founders acted as drivers, customer support, and dispatchers using manual tools like Google Docs, Square, and Apple's "Find My Friends."
• Rapid early growth caused Square to temporarily flag DoorDash's account for suspected money laundering due to high-frequency, small-dollar transactions.
• DoorDash incorporated in January 2013 prior to joining Y Combinator in the summer of 2013.
• DoorDash raised a $15 million Series A round from Sequoia Capital.
• The core strategic insight was leveraging mobile technology and independent contractors to create an on-demand delivery model, avoiding the capital expenditure of owning vehicles or hiring full-time drivers.
• The long-term vision extends beyond food delivery to serve any local merchant (e.g., furniture shops), though current focus remains on scaling restaurant delivery.

Walker Williams (Teespring CEO)

• Teespring is an e-commerce platform enabling entrepreneurs to launch apparel brands with zero risk, cost, or inventory; the company processes tens of thousands of shipments daily with ~180 employees.
• The company reached $100 million in annual revenue, having been initially rejected by Y Combinator before being accepted.
• Williams defines "things that don't scale" as unsustainable early-stage tactics that founders should utilize as long as possible to gain competitive advantage over competitors.
• Acquiring the first users requires intense personal effort from founders (e.g., sending 100 emails/day, cold calling), described as pushing a boulder up the steepest part of a hill.
• Teespring avoided giving away products for free initially to ensure users perceived genuine value and to avoid false validation metrics.
• Williams personally handles 12–20 customer service tickets daily and reads all community feedback to turn frustrated customers into champions.
• Teespring's primary customer base is entrepreneurs and influencers (YouTubers, bloggers), though they also serve non-profits.
• Early-stage development prioritized speed over scalability; for example, the engineering team duplicated codebases to serve enterprise clients in 3–4 days rather than the required 1 month.
• The infrastructure frequently crashed daily due to high volume, but the team prioritized rapid iteration and market fit over technical debt management until scaling was necessary.

Justin Hunt (Kiko, Justin TV/Twitch Founder)

• Press coverage is not a meritocracy; it requires a specific business goal (e.g., customer acquisition, investor perception, or industry positioning) to be effective.
• For Twitch, the PR strategy targeted gaming industry trades and developer blogs to reach advertisers and developers, rather than general consumer press.
• Effective stories often involve product launches, fundraising, milestones (e.g., $1M revenue), stunts, or significant hiring announcements.
• A story does not need to be original but must be "original enough" relative to existing news (e.g., being the first in a specific category to raise funding).
• The optimal acquisition method for journalists is a warm introduction from a peer who has already been covered, rather than cold emailing.
• Founders should secure introductions at least one week in advance of a launch to allow reporters time to investigate.
• Founders should prepare a structured "story outline" in bullet points and memorize it to guide interviews, ensuring critical details are captured by the reporter.
• Hiring PR firms in the early stages is generally discouraged due to high costs ($5,000–$20,000/month) and the inability of firms to define the core story; founders should learn the process first.
• Press is a relationship business; maintaining contact with reporters after coverage and helping other entrepreneurs gain coverage ("pay it forward") generates future leads.
• The "Twitch Plays Pokemon" viral phenomenon originated from the community, but the company provided context and facilitated follow-up stories to extend the news cycle.
• The primary goal of early-stage press is often to acquire the first 100–1,000 users or practice pitching, rather than achieving broad national recognition immediately.