Let’s talk about the most unexpected, yet lucrative, pivot you’ve ever heard of: from raves to classrooms.
BuzzMob, a location-based social app, was originally a social app created to harness the riveting energy of concerts, festivals, and other venues. Today, it is an educational technology company that provides a central platform for parents, students, teachers, and administrators to connect.
What in the world would inspire someone to abandon one of the most thrilling industries - festivals - only to migrate to what many would call one of the least sexy industries, in education? Enter Jeff Jackel, cofounder of BuzzMob, who shared the journey of his pivot with Startup Grind Orange County.
Touched by an Angel
Jackel was originally inspired to create BuzzMob at an Angels game. Social sharing had skyrocketed in popularity, and sitting the stands, Jackel felt “a quintessential moment where everyone’s focus [was] in the center...but all the sharing [was] out,” he recalls. He couldn’t understand why 46,000 people in the stands were not connected. At that moment, it hit him that there was a gold mine of potential simply waiting to be harnessed within this stadium and the plethora of similar events everywhere.
BuzzMob, the “easiest communication platform” designed around social sharing for events, was born. It enhanced experiences that the audience was already familiar with - like trivia questions - by integrating new twists, like a reward for answering a question correctly. The industry saw the potential, and Jackel was soon connected to some of the entertainment and sports industries’ highest rollers. Everybody wanted a piece of the action.
At some point during the inception of BuzzMob, a school district (seemingly randomly) asked Jackel if they could use the software; this felt so counterintuitive that even Jackel didn’t understand the purpose it could serve, but agreed to let them try it. Within the first two weeks, 70% of the parents within that trial had signed up. Jackel had struck gold.
Solve a Real Problem
As this occurred, a huge problem was developing with the original BuzzMob: while the people were ready for the app, the technology wasn’t. “The WiFi [at the events] couldn’t handle the product,” Jackel explains. “And we didn’t want to wait for the places to catch up with the technology, because there’s a burn rate [in startups].”
Jackel shares that the key to having a successful product is having a problem that absolutely exists. BuzzMob’s original purpose was making the experience better, but wasn’t solving an explicit problem. “Emergencies in schools, where parents don’t know immediately - that’s a problem,” says Jackel. “You make sure that every parent in every socioeconomic status can receive information,” and you absolutely have a solution to a problem.
After this realization, pivoting seemed automatic. BuzzMob evolved into a social play on school communication, allowing parents to comment on a public forum. It moved towards “digitiz[ing] every mechanical interaction between a teacher and a student,” which, in an industry that works with often outdated technologies and traditional systems, is huge.
Know Your Team, Know Yourself
Completely changing his strategy and overhauling the original idea taught Jackel some interesting lessons about business along the way—especially about whom to do business with.
As we’ve heard so many times, it’s crucial to choose your team wisely from the start, and Jackel adds that this requires a sort of self-awareness. “Knowing your weaknesses,” he says, "is the absolute best thing. In the very beginning, you sort of have to hire for your weaknesses.” For example, neither Jackel nor his co-founder were technical founders, so they had to hire for this immediately. He expressed the importance of centering his team around the people building the API, saying that “you need [your business’] nucleus to be watertight,” and even that he would sacrifice any dollar amount to ensure all the technology was in-house.
Jackel also places a huge emphasis on choosing investors wisely, and “not taking money just to get money.” He expresses that it, if possible,"you want to get a syndicate of investors” so you can capitalize on the “breadth of [each of their] whole network.” It’s very important that “whenever you take money from any investor, [you make] sure they’re investing in you first, not your idea,” because you have no clue what how your idea will evolve. Had the BuzzMob investors been interested only in the sports/entertainment sector rather than Jackel’s potential, it would’ve gotten pretty tense! Choosing the right investors ensures that they have your success as their foremost priority, before any other personal interests.
Our Favorite Lessons & Takeaways
And the million dollar question: how did Jackel find his potential investors? “For me, it’s always been introductions [and] personal relationships. Not that I have the relationships,” he adds, "but somebody who took an interest in what we were doing made introductions.” Referral through social means is the cleanest and most efficient way to find investors interested in your idea. However, it can only happen when you share your idea and get feedback from your trusted network, which is crucial in a startup.
Jackel added some other really cool little nuggets, as he calls them, that are applicable to every entrepreneur’s life.
My favorite was definitely Jackel’s personal mission statement: “100% of nothing is nothing.” This is such a crucial concept when it comes to entrepreneurship and sacrificing some equity in the interest of success. Jackel shares that this openness to share, the lack of greed, helped him throughout each of his entrepreneurial ventures.
Jackel offered the most real, candid advice about failure. “The truth is, sometimes it’s out of your control and you have to be honest about that,” he admits. But there’s a bright side: he shares that once you're knocked down once, every time after that, it gets easier and leaves less of a bruise. “Failure sucks, but it gets easier,” Jackel shares, laughing.
On a similar note, his closing advice to entrepreneurs was to prepare them that starting something “is hard. Be ready for it.” He expresses that this is something that every entrepreneur goes through, even the ones who have made it big. "I guarantee you there was a moment where they were like, ‘I should go get a job’ or, 'I should quit, but I’m not going to.’” Starting a business is such a huge lifestyle choice that it bleeds into all other aspects of entrepreneurs’ lives, particularly their personal relationships. “Recognize that it’s going to test every relationship inside and outside of the company.” For this reason, it’s crucial to establish relationships with people who will understand your lifestyle changes and will support your ambitions.
So, to all entrepreneurs, preparing for the road ahead is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your business. Always be ready, refuse to fail, and don’t ever be afraid to pivot! Remember, as Jackel said, “Pivoting is okay, everyone just stop talking about it once they get 300 million users!