

Down the Rabbit Hole and Back Again: The Story of Flowtown - benwyrosdick
http://maplebutter.com/down-the-rabbit-hole-and-back-again-the-story-of-flowtown

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petewailes
For me, the exciting thing here is not so much the story of what these guys
went through (though it's amazing and totally an inspiration!), but once again
the headsmacking move of taking an old offline idea, and pulling it online
with a twist (free promotional materials as marketing materials).

What I'd be really interested in is this:

1\. What's the growth strategy longer term?

2\. Has anyone on the team got any offline old-school marketing experience
(direct mail etc)?

3\. What related activities could be pulled in with this as a value-add to the
consumer? A blog category interviewing users of the service and how they've
used it would be invaluable, and a great way of generating great testimonials,
for example.

4\. You could potentially end up with a massively valuable data set in terms
of looking at what is resonating with consumers, which could be collated and
published in some form quarterly. This'd be a huge boon to market researchers,
and marketers who deal with broad selections of clients across dozens of
market sectors. Hell, I'd pay for it.

5\. I'd be interested in knowing how the 60% reduction was made, and what
decisions were taken at that point, plus the rational behind those choices.

</braindump>

(To clarify re. old ideas moved online, I'm thinking LinkedIn, MailChimp,
Google Maps style services, which traditionally existed, being pivoted on)

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dan_martell
Pete,

Thanks for the comment and great questions.

In regards to the future and what we're planning - we try and let the product
speak for itself. That way if were wrong, no one knows ;), and it gives us an
opportunity to delight and surprise our customers.

re: background - my first startup was MaritimeVacation.com and I used direct
mail as my primary marketing channel. Our team has deep DNA in marketing in
general - kind of my area of study. <http://www.udemy.com/social-marketing-
for-startups/>

re: 60% reduction \- Let go of our customer coaches / contractors \- Everyone
took 50% pay cut \- Cancelled any accounts that weren't critical \- Stopped
any payable = no money out unless needed to keep the lights on.

I've been doing startups for a while, and from experience, if you need to cut
- make it quick and deep.

Hope that answers some of the questions.

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petewailes
Thanks for taking the time to reply! Best of luck with the new venture!

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sawyer
Great story; definitely an example of why many investors focus on teams rather
than ideas.

I'd be curious to learn more about the company's current plans and product; if
any of the company's founders are here and willing to share.

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dan_martell
sawyer, we've always let our product explain itself so not much to add (easier
that way ;). if you've registered to join - I'll be sure to send over an
invite.

our investors definitely invested in the team and were grateful for having
them on board. super supportive and amazing.

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teyc
Hi Dan, I remember listening to you on Mixergy many months ago. One day you
should go back and discuss why you pivoted (when you get through this patch).

Small businesses are difficult customers. They are difficult to acquire.

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solarlion
'product gifting will become a dominant channel for finding new customers'...
interesting premise.

