We started out wanting to do a similar model as Eaze/Meadow - but we found we weren't adding enough value to existing dispensaries/delivery services to warrant a decent fee/percentage (since they already had customer bases and we were starting from 0 with no outside funding like the other companies).
Then after running everything in-house for a while, I realized that it was actually a much better model to handle everything in-house because then we have complete control over product quality, customer experience, drivers, as well as being more profitable (we we profitable within our first two months). We've tried a few partnerships with outside delivery services and it never worked out because they were never able to replicate the very high standards of service that we require (coming from a background in hospitality management myself). I know there are all these companies purporting to be the "Uber for weed", but that's not really that accurate. If Uber were doing the same thing as these other startups in transportation, then the proper parallel would be Uber partnering with existing Taxi companies rather than independent drivers. Uber cuts out an established middle-man, but the other on-demand marijuana startups are partnering with established middle-men rather than cutting them out of the value chain.
However, I think the single biggest reason to go in-house is that services like Eaze/Meadow can never compete with us on price. I consider our prices to be somewhat high right now, since our cash flow is still so fragile, yet we are still undercutting Eaze by around 20% on most products even as they have over $11 million in funding.
Interesting - I would still apply - you dont have to worry about the fact that we have funded Meadow. The major barrier is the questionable legal picture currently. Have you been able to get a bank account etc? Where are you currently operating?
Yes, we do currently have a bank account, though it is purely for the technology side - currently we are cash-only as far as orders/deliveries go. (We launched using Stripe, but they shut us down after about $30k or so flowed through our Stripe account - however, they were very sympathetic and wanted to work with us, but their hands were tied by their banking partners).
Currently we are in Sacramento only. We tried to launch briefly in San Francisco last year with a delivery service partner, but that fell through and we withdrew to focus on building/learning more in Sacramento before trying to scale out again - however, we were able to make over $16,000 in San Francisco in our first and only month with very little marketing.
The legal landscape is definitely still not where we'd like it to be, but in starting this company, I'm essentially placing a bet that the legal landscape will change in our favor in the very near future and that I'm getting in at exactly the right time (not so early where the business is unfeasible, but not too late where risk drops so low that too many big players get in the space...I was actually surprised that Eaze and Meadow popped up at the exact same time as I did). I think that the momentum that we see across the country is definitely promising.
The most interesting thing is that, delivery in Sacramento itself is technically illegal - however, it isn't enforced. I appeared on the top-3 news outlets last year stating exactly what I was going to do here, so if the City wanted to stop me, I definitely wasn't hiding from them. Since then, I've spoken with the city council, and am working with the vice-mayor of the city to work in a new law for delivery here in Sacramento.
Then after running everything in-house for a while, I realized that it was actually a much better model to handle everything in-house because then we have complete control over product quality, customer experience, drivers, as well as being more profitable (we we profitable within our first two months). We've tried a few partnerships with outside delivery services and it never worked out because they were never able to replicate the very high standards of service that we require (coming from a background in hospitality management myself). I know there are all these companies purporting to be the "Uber for weed", but that's not really that accurate. If Uber were doing the same thing as these other startups in transportation, then the proper parallel would be Uber partnering with existing Taxi companies rather than independent drivers. Uber cuts out an established middle-man, but the other on-demand marijuana startups are partnering with established middle-men rather than cutting them out of the value chain.
However, I think the single biggest reason to go in-house is that services like Eaze/Meadow can never compete with us on price. I consider our prices to be somewhat high right now, since our cash flow is still so fragile, yet we are still undercutting Eaze by around 20% on most products even as they have over $11 million in funding.