When we last spoke with Michelle Fournier, founder of Slobbr, in March, she was gearing up to test her "Angie's List for dog owners." But the beta didn't go off as planned - and major bumps in the development process were to blame. With a development shop doing a botch job on the product - while going wildly over budget and allotted time - Fournier went through a period where she wasn't sure how Slobbr would move forward. That is, until her tech connections aligned, and Slobbr got a second chance, having fully launched on iTunes last week.
Like other Boston entrepreneurs, Fournier doesn't have a tech background and can't code. She had been the owner of Durty Harry's, a dog grooming and retail boutique in Charlestown and Brookline, and decided she wanted to launch a service that would let dog owners scope out all of the fur-friendly spots and businesses throughout any given city. She raised $65,000 on Kickstarter to make Slobbr happen, but things turned sour in the product development process.
Here's what she learned from the experience and what she has to say to other non-technical startup founders.
Olivia Vanni: What were the outcomes of having a development shop build your entire product for you?
Michelle Fournier: What we had originally agreed to was a 12-week build for $100,000 for our Version 1. That was all written documentation, signed. We ultimately wound up grabbing hold of the product, even though we knew it wasn’t ready or great, because we needed to keep moving forward… I felt so hostage at that point that I just wanted to remove myself from the situation. That ended up being at 35 or 36 weeks and around $150,000.
It wasn’t usable… We didn’t market it because we knew it wasn’t usable. The few hundred people who downloaded it said it was not something that they would ever use. They had been wanting this product and were super excited about the concept, but the user experience wasn’t something they’d go back to.
We just let it sit and marinate. And at that point, I went into an entrepreneur depression. I thought, “What am I going to do? I just spent so much money and so much time.” But at no point was I ever thinking, “Maybe this just isn’t a good idea. Maybe people don’t want this.” I knew this was something they were asking for and needed. I needed to figure it out, but it was riddled with a lot of depression, thinking about what I’ve done and what I’m going to do.
I had no expectations of what is “normal”, which hindered my ability to be a product manager.
Meanwhile, I got certified as a yoga instructor because I was so stressed out I knew I had to get my zen back and channel this energy in a positive way. At that time, this woman I had been talking to on [AngelList] called, like serendipity, and said, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Slobbr and the challenges you faced. I want to help and I’d be interested in joining a board.” It was a moment of hope. We signed on with her and within two or three days, I had a woman in the dog industry send me an email that said she knew a guy doing something similar to me with dog parks down in New York who wanted to meet with me.
That’s when I met Jonathan, who’s now our technical lead. We met for three hours and knew we wanted to work together. We re-skinned the tech he had, rebranded it and came out with the Slobbr you see now. It took six weeks and was 10 percent of the original cost.
OV: If you could go back and do it over, what would you do?
MF: I’m so thankful for the education I’ve received from this entire experience. I never would have known what I know now if it hadn’t been for what happened. I’m not a coder, but now I understand the development process. It is such an important piece. Even as a founder focused on the business side, it’s critical to get the tech side of it, at least in a conceptual way and I do now.
I didn’t handle it perfectly, but I also didn’t give up. I would have slowed the process more, in hindsight, and 100 percent, I would have brought in a tech advisor first and have them provide a roadmap of expectations. I had no expectations of what is “normal," which hindered my ability to be a product manager.
OV: What would you give other non-technical entrepreneurs working on a tech startup as advice?
MF: I think as an entrepreneur, you tend to conceptualize an idea and then you dive right in. You get so psyched and jazzed about your idea, you believe in it and go for it. When I did this, I just wanted to get going and I was so focused on seeing an end result that there were steps I didn’t take that I should have and that I’ve since learned from that would have educated me on making a better selection out of the gate.
I think one of those things that is so incredibly imperative is that before you go out and hire anybody - whether it’s a firm or someone on your team, like a tech co-founder - you get an advisor first. You then have someone there, on your side, whose only interest is the success of your business and helping you.
If you’re someone like me, an entrepreneur in a certain field that you know really well, and you want to get into technology, I recommend making sure you do it with an advisor first. Then, I recommend you go out and ask, “Does it make more sense to bring on someone who can build it in-house? Does it make more sense to have a development shop do it?”
OV: What are the key lessons you learned? What are red flags of which entrepreneurs should be wary?
MF: It may sound trite and obvious, but get everything in writing: every delay with an explanation, every guarantee, every agreement, every figure for percentages, time and dollars. And get everything in writing for both sides. If you’re a founder and you fail to provide what a developer or service firm needs, there’s also room for accountability.
Manage your expectations and get updates. Hours reports are one thing, but you need to know exactly what’s going on with products, where there are issues and what will be done to fix them.
As far as red flags go, I feel like it’s about really being responsible for your piece of it and educating the shit out of yourself. Educate yourself so you have an understanding about what a fair equity trade is, how investor relations and equity partnerships works, and where the lines are between a partner, a vendor and a business.
You can’t allow your ego to get in the way. In entrepreneurship, there’s no room for hubris. Always a Plan A, but I guarantee you should also have a Plan B, C and D. You can’t be married to what you want to. You have to be able to listen to customers and be prepared to react.
Featured image is public domain.
