This post is part of a series from the On-Demand Conference, organized by Pascal Levy-Garboua, Semil Shah, and Tradecraft. For a full list of posts, click here.
Founders are no strangers to pressure, uncertainty, and the unrelenting demands of their start-ups. Expanding to new cities creates novel challenges — like proving the playbook is workable while writing it and handing over control to a remote team. At the 2015 On Demand Conference, Tri Tran (CEO of Munchery), Andrew Wyatt (Shyp), and Shmulik Fishman (ZIRX) shared their experiences navigating these challenges and tips to do city expansion right.
Stay focused
Moderator Liz Gannes (Re/code) posited that expansion is driven in part by the fear that the competition will “get there” first. But it seems the winning formula for Munchery, Shyp, and ZIRX was to stay focused on their own products, customers, and impact.
“We think the least about competition we’re just focused on our customers” Shmulik Fishman, ZIRX [Tweet this]
On competition
Competition is making everyone better. Let it push you, but stay focused on your own mission.
“The competitive landscape of the On Demand economy — it’s quickly propelling all of us forward” Andrew Wyatt, Shyp [Tweet this]
It’s all about the team
Final words of wisdom? Build a team made up of people you trust to overcome any obstacle, set the pace based on their abilities, produce a toolkit for them, and get out of the way.
“Make sure your pace is realistic based on your human capital.” -Andrew Wyatt, Shyp [Tweet this]
This post was written by Amy Hong. Amy is a product designer at Tradecraft with a fashion and project management background. Thanks to David Habif for help editing this post.
You can find the full list of posts about the On-Demand Conference here.
