
MakeSpace, A Dropbox For Real Life Storage, Launches In NYC, Raised $1.3M - siruva07
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/26/makespace-a-dropbox-for-real-life-storage-launches-in-new-york-today-having-raised-1-3m/
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joejohnson
It's a storage company that provides free pick-up and paid drop-off. How is
that "Dropbox For Real Life"? Can I "sync" my stuff between multiple
apartments?

These "It's like X for Y" comparisons are so frustratingly dumb.

~~~
siruva07
Hi,

I'm Sam the founder of MakeSpace. It's been a long day so my apologies for the
delay.

3D printer jokes aside, I had the problem of not remembering where things were
in my girlfriend's storage unit. A lot of storage customers have trouble
remembering what's in the storage unit in the first place! (The lifetime
average $PSA customer is 3 years and 50% of customers > 1 year). So the
"access anywhere" analogy to Dropbox is what people (and not just tech people)
like to reference when they hear us talk about it.

Also, to your point about "x for y," it works only for a certain type of crowd
if both things are well known (and Dave McClure mentions that here:
[http://image.slidesharecdn.com/howtopitchavc-090321140851-ph...](http://image.slidesharecdn.com/howtopitchavc-090321140851-phpapp02/95/slide-4-728.jpg?1244822814)).
A lot of YC companies do it when they pitch investors because it's a great way
to connect quickly _to their audience_. When customers call up my 1-888
number; however, "Dropbox for real life" aren't the first words out of my
mouth.

~~~
Angostura
> A lot of YC companies do it when they pitch investors because it's a great
> way to connect quickly to their audience.

It works really well when there are strong parallels. When the comparison is
weak (such as in this case) it can serve s a distraction with the audience
spending time dissecting weaknesses in the metaphor.

If your metaphor sets up false expectations, explaining that 'actually, it's
not like that' becomes a burden.

~~~
bradleyland
In support of this viewpoint, I offer an anecdote about the development of our
product messaging.

Our product is a software + services reverse auction procurement solution (go,
go enterprise market!). When we started out, our sales staff used a metaphor:
"like eBay, but in reverse". Our current training instructs sales staff to
avoid that metaphor at all cost, because there are more differences than there
are similarities.

Your description is concise, and incredibly apt. That metaphor became a
burden. Time during a pitch is incredibly valuable, whether it's in front of a
VC or a customer. Time spent explaining how your product is _not_ like
something else involves a lot of negative language.

It's not like this...

... only it's more like...

You don't want to spend your time on these conversations. That's why we now
train staff to avoid the metaphor, and to shut it down immediately if someone
introduces it.

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timdorr
> Pick-ups are free, while deliveries cost $29.

Unlimited upload, paid download. Definitely sounds like these guys were in the
tech space before getting into the storage game. It's a good model for them.

And since this is being pitched as a real-life Dropbox, can they "sync" my
things between different storage facilities using 3d scanners and printers? ;)

~~~
JeffJenkins
Manhattan Mini Storage does free trips to/from your storage unit, you just
have to book in advance and fit into a van. It was awesome when I was using
them.

~~~
siruva07
Manhattan Mini does provide a free storage taxi, which I presume you got into
and moved your stuff. We're trying to make it so you don't have to ever visit
the storage unit again. So the van got you there, but you're still spending
that beautiful saturday inside the concrete storage prison climbing over boxes
to find that one thing you're looking for.

Also, from MMS regarding the van: _Keep in mind that the Storage Taxi provides
a one-way trip, not a round-trip. For example, if you need to bring more items
into storage, you would book the storage taxi to help you get the stuff there;
getting home, though, you 'd have to rely on the subway, a cab, your bicycle,
or your own two legs to carry you._

This is sucky.

~~~
JeffJenkins
Yeah, it's not the best, but it was good enough for my needs. If I was looking
again I'd probably choose your service if you were cost-competitive.

Another place I looked at did storage by the cubic foot, so you'd never see
the stuff in storage (and they could presumably save money by packing it
better). Seems like that would be a great model for you to use for people who
never actually go to their unit.

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minouye
For those of you in the Bay Area who want to try this out, Boxbee
([https://boxbee.com/](https://boxbee.com/)) is a similar service that
operates in SF. Self-storage is a massive industry ($22B) and if you dig into
the numbers they're pretty wild. Best of luck to them!

\- Total self storage rentable space in the US is now 2.3 billion square feet

\- 9% of all American households currently rent a self storage unit

\- 7.3 sq.ft. of self storage space for every person in the US

Source:
[http://www.selfstorage.org/ssa/content/navigationmenu/abouts...](http://www.selfstorage.org/ssa/content/navigationmenu/aboutssa/factsheet/)

~~~
mpeg
Or in London with [http://www.boxload.co.uk/](http://www.boxload.co.uk/)

Note: I have nothing to do with that company :)

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Coincoin
I fail to see the use. This has nothing to do with cloud. Cloud is not "store
your stuff elsewhere", cloud is "access your stuff from anywhere".

~~~
jrochkind1
Heheh, if I move to Des Moines, and press the 'retrieve' button on the
website, will they still deliver for $29?

~~~
siruva07
We'll ship them to you. But it may _slightly_ more than $29 which is for local
delivery

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te_chris
"The phrase “Tech Crunch” brings to mind one of two things: uncritical,
breathless pr regurgitation, or a huge hassle."

Onward valiant disruptors...

------
rossjudson
If only we could. I could put one box at home and the other one on my desk. I
could call my wife at home and ask her to put an awesome sandwich in the box,
and then I could open _my_ box at work and bam, there is my sandwich. Sweet.

But that's not what they did. Where's the "here's to the crazy ones"?

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omni
The pricing seems a lot more reasonable than I was expecting, at $300/yr + $29
per delivery (pickups are free).

Are there any competitors in this space, or is this a new concept?

~~~
CamperBob2
$6.25 for a 3-cu ft. box (presumably something close to 18" per side) sounds
like a really terrible deal.

Put it this way: as long as you let me look inside first to make sure you
aren't storing anything that will get me arrested or burn my house down,
you're welcome to store four 18" cubes in my garage for $25/month.

~~~
tln
Will you deliver for $29 too? :)

I agree, it doesn't sound like a good deal, although I don't have experience
living in NYC.

For comparison, this wine storage place charges $3.35 per carton, about the
same as a 18" cube, and $10 per delivery. [http://www.vinfolio.com/services-
storage-overview.jsp](http://www.vinfolio.com/services-storage-overview.jsp)

~~~
CamperBob2
Sure, subject to reasonable limitations on the delivery radius. As long as I
can call a cab and have them deliver your box(es) for $29 or less, we've got a
deal.

I like the idea a lot, in principle, but the rates amount to robbery.
Hopefully some other competitors will disrupt this particular "disruptor" by
offering the same service at a more reasonable price.

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Nate75Sanders
There's something of a win here for just not having to deal with the storage
facility, at all, yourself.

The contracts for those things are long and confusing, the people I've dealt
with there are incompetent, and the one on 12th Ave in Seattle smells like
piss pretty much constantly.

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peterjs
Thats probably more money than the size of the whole European self-storage
industry. I'm really curious, why are these services so popular in the US?
What do you store there? When? E.g. when I have something I don't want to get
rid of just yet (furniture, spare parts...), I put it in the basement of our
apartment house. Although, I can imagine using self-storage when moving.

~~~
Ilmesnkie_Jones
New York apartments can have very little storage space when I was looking for
a studio some had one small closet and no bathroom storage at all. People I
know use them for out of season sports stuff and clothes, especially couples
where two people are sharing one small closet.

~~~
siruva07
Recently a storage unit in a luxury building went for $300K. Not kidding.

[http://nypost.com/2013/08/25/new-yorkers-spending-300g-on-
st...](http://nypost.com/2013/08/25/new-yorkers-spending-300g-on-storage-in-
the-basement-of-luxury-skyscraper/)

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kfk
All right, so I faced the storage problem during last year. I moved 2 times
and I will move a third in March. I am single, live in Europe, I change
countries a lot.

I would use this service if it were more flexible. For instance, I have a 20kg
inflatable canoe that I carried around from Frankfurt to Munich, from Munich
to Bruges and in March from Bruge to Munich. I use the canoe only few times a
year. If I could pay few bucks per month to live it somewhere and then ship it
with UPS (at good prices), it would be big for me.

More importantly, if I had a place somewhere in Germany, I would buy a
foldable canoe. The same with other stuff like furniture and all, all stuff I
would have liked to buy but I couldn't as I move so much.

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fleitz
"The cost for four bins, each of which occupy about three cubic feet, is $25
per month."

At that price why not just rent a 2nd apartment, it would be cheaper. I can
already see next weeks TC headline: "2ndAprtmnt: Hetzner for storage"

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smallegan
I am sure they are really taking advantage of single instance storage here. If
they get two copies of the same thing there isn't any reason to keep both
around.

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dlhavema
Can I assume the boxes are locked and sealed somehow by the customer before
pickup?

~~~
siruva07
Yes. The boxes have eyelets (for locks or heavy duty zip ties + security tape)
and are sealed in front of the customer.

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jere
Free pick up and paid delivery?

That's a good incentive to declutter your life.

