5 years ago, Zach Rattner and I started Yembo. Incredible journey so far!
β’ Grew to $1,000,000 ARR and lost it all in 2018 π
β’ Company almost died π±
β’ Grew back to $1M ARR within 1yr, and $4M ARR in the next two π
Next step: $20M ARR.. π
Here is how we did it π§΅
β’ Grew to $1,000,000 ARR and lost it all in 2018 π
β’ Company almost died π±
β’ Grew back to $1M ARR within 1yr, and $4M ARR in the next two π
Next step: $20M ARR.. π
Here is how we did it π§΅
1/ First - What is Yembo?
We are the leader in AI-based βvirtual surveyβ products for home services.
Home services - movers, painters, etc send a trained person onsite to give a quote. The process is slow and inaccurate.
Yembo uses video and AI to eliminate the onsite visit.π
We are the leader in AI-based βvirtual surveyβ products for home services.
Home services - movers, painters, etc send a trained person onsite to give a quote. The process is slow and inaccurate.
Yembo uses video and AI to eliminate the onsite visit.π
2/ Founding story
My co-founder @zachrattner and I met at Qualcomm.
I was working on AI algorithms, he was a SW engineer.
Zach texted me one day βwe should do AI for movingβ.
My first arrogant reaction - "what a terrible idea".
Dismissed it, didn't even respond. π₯
My co-founder @zachrattner and I met at Qualcomm.
I was working on AI algorithms, he was a SW engineer.
Zach texted me one day βwe should do AI for movingβ.
My first arrogant reaction - "what a terrible idea".
Dismissed it, didn't even respond. π₯
3/ Zach worked on convincing me that it is a real problem.
β’ Zachβs wife worked at a moving company π
β’ The company couldn't find staff to send to customer's homes π·
He asked me to meet a local moving company, and I reluctantly agreed.
β’ Zachβs wife worked at a moving company π
β’ The company couldn't find staff to send to customer's homes π·
He asked me to meet a local moving company, and I reluctantly agreed.
4/ The Aha moment
We donned moving company polos and visited many homes.
Typical workflow: Mover used a clipboard, pen & paper to write down inventory (2 sofas, 4 chairs..)
Insight: Onsite visits in all home services are time consuming, inaccurate, and costly!π‘π‘π‘
We donned moving company polos and visited many homes.
Typical workflow: Mover used a clipboard, pen & paper to write down inventory (2 sofas, 4 chairs..)
Insight: Onsite visits in all home services are time consuming, inaccurate, and costly!π‘π‘π‘
5/ Prototyping
We furiously started working on prototyping a demo for a moving convention.
We put together an AI demo video detecting just 5 items using open-source datasets - TV, chair, sofa, table, plant.
Actual video we used π. Looks so bad now π
We furiously started working on prototyping a demo for a moving convention.
We put together an AI demo video detecting just 5 items using open-source datasets - TV, chair, sofa, table, plant.
Actual video we used π. Looks so bad now π
6/ Customer discovery
I learnt cold email 101 from @Steli's blog and got 5 people to say yes to meet.
We were frugal, didn't buy a booth- just spoke to people at the bar.
2 distinct reactions
β’ Stop wasting my time with gimmicks
β’ If this works, you will change the industry
I learnt cold email 101 from @Steli's blog and got 5 people to say yes to meet.
We were frugal, didn't buy a booth- just spoke to people at the bar.
2 distinct reactions
β’ Stop wasting my time with gimmicks
β’ If this works, you will change the industry
7/ First customer
Only 1 prospect ended up engaging post conference.
They were a large moving company with new leadership who wanted to "change things".
It was a tough negotiation, but we finally signed our first customer. π₯
Only 1 prospect ended up engaging post conference.
They were a large moving company with new leadership who wanted to "change things".
It was a tough negotiation, but we finally signed our first customer. π₯
8/ Deployment
Deployment was rough.
The company had internal politics, our product wasn't really ready.
Still, we made the product and AI better, and grew revenue to $1M in ARR over 18 months. π΅
Our first office was a 180 sqft space at the back of a local moving company.
Deployment was rough.
The company had internal politics, our product wasn't really ready.
Still, we made the product and AI better, and grew revenue to $1M in ARR over 18 months. π΅
Our first office was a 180 sqft space at the back of a local moving company.
9/ Losing all revenue
We couldn't deploy with anyone else since we gave away exclusivity.
Eventually, they offered to purchase Yembo.
Zach and I would have become millionaires but we turned it down.
After we turned it down, they terminated the contract.
ARR: ZERO! π΄
We couldn't deploy with anyone else since we gave away exclusivity.
Eventually, they offered to purchase Yembo.
Zach and I would have become millionaires but we turned it down.
After we turned it down, they terminated the contract.
ARR: ZERO! π΄
10/ Building revenue again
We had <$500k in the bank.
But, this was a different ball game. We had made huge progress on the product.
β’ We built up revenue again, hit $1M ARR in 9 months
β’ Grew Yembo in Europe, Asia, Australia
β’ Milestone: Our AI processed >1M videos π©π©π©
We had <$500k in the bank.
But, this was a different ball game. We had made huge progress on the product.
β’ We built up revenue again, hit $1M ARR in 9 months
β’ Grew Yembo in Europe, Asia, Australia
β’ Milestone: Our AI processed >1M videos π©π©π©
11/ What's next?
Yembo's vision is to become the global leader in AI home surveys for all home services.
We raised a strategic Series A from the former CEO of @EagleViewTech to take Yembo into the insurance industry.
Today, we are announcing Yembo for property insurance π
Yembo's vision is to become the global leader in AI home surveys for all home services.
We raised a strategic Series A from the former CEO of @EagleViewTech to take Yembo into the insurance industry.
Today, we are announcing Yembo for property insurance π
12/ Summary
β’ We've built a world-class engineering team of AI scientists and engineers
β’ Women make up 45% of our team! π
β’ We are working on challenging problems across the board!
If you want to help us build that plan - come join our team: yembo.ai
β’ We've built a world-class engineering team of AI scientists and engineers
β’ Women make up 45% of our team! π
β’ We are working on challenging problems across the board!
If you want to help us build that plan - come join our team: yembo.ai
If you liked my story
β’ Share your thoughts!
β’ Retweet the first tweet
β’ Share your thoughts!
β’ Retweet the first tweet
https://twitter.com/siddharthm83/status/1440344784472719366
One last thing: If you liked my story ...
β’ Follow me @siddharthm83 to follow our journey
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β’ How we got turned down for a YC interview but hacked our way into an interview anyway (but still didn't get in)
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