April 6, 2022 • 33 mins
Agenda:
- Recap of what’s been going on at SXSW
Takeaways:
- Thea to do some social monitoring to see how beholden SYT will have to be to John’s promises (like carbon absorbing cushions, selling carbon credits, and having whole workforce - including drivers - work from home 50% of the time)
- Reach out to DJ Khalid to propose a blood exchange to make up for the incident
- Jot down ideas for next years SXSW - become the respite booth where you can have an excellent vomiting experience
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ben (00:07):
welcome to this startup is being recorded.
This recording is improvisedfiction.
Similarities between it and thereal world are entirely
intentional.
Now enjoy the recording.
Kate (00:22):
Okay.
Recording is on.
Um, so I I'm glad you all wereable to make the time today
because.
just have a few updates on howsouth by Southwest is going.
Um, John did give the speechearlier today.
Um, as part of, I mean,obviously he was on the, you
know, climate change in techpanel, which was interesting.
(00:46):
So I have some updates there.
Matt (00:48):
Okay.
Yeah.
I tried to tune in, but theirlivestream wasn't working for
Eric (00:51):
Yeah, Sam.
Matt (00:52):
for whatever.
Kate (00:53):
Yeah, no, I got a transcript.
So I have, I have a hard time, Ithink deciphering some of the
tone he was using.
Uh, but
Matt (01:01):
telling him like, when he practices these things, he's
like totally legible.
And then on the day he is, hetalks like the micro machines
guy.
Like he's just so fast.
Kate (01:11):
yeah.
Calathea (01:13):
he definitely, I mean, we've had him in media training
so many times to the point thatour media trainers.
Um, and it's just like, he isperfect in prep sessions and
then he gets up there and it islike vroom, vroom, Indy 500,
just as his words, just keepgoing and go in and go in.
Kate (01:33):
Oh, before we get too, too into it, I know like a lot has
been happening at south bySouthwest, but we may have new
employees watching this.
Let's just quickly, um, introourselves.
And, you know, obviously they'llknow what they're listening to.
It's a recording of our, ourmeetings, but I'm Kate Blanchet,
uh, chief of staff here at CIT.
We are a couch marketplace aboutto hit our series a are getting
(01:54):
some great press this week.
It gets.
Press this week at south bySouthwest
Calathea (02:02):
yeah, I'll go next to Califia not Roba.
Uh, I am the chief creatives arehere at six.
Matt (02:08):
Uh, all right, I'll go.
I'm Matt, matt.yachts.
That's also my website and I amthe CTO here at CIT
Eric (02:16):
and I'm Eric Joyce Carter, uh, chief product officer here
at CIT.
Um, and just to go back to theconversation, I think it, um, I
think it's my fault, actually,that John hasn't been improving
on this.
we've been using his voice as atest case because it's so fast
for our Alexa and Google homeintegrations, uh, for ordering,
(02:39):
we can go find somebody who'sspeaks as quickly.
We'll go look on like taskrabbit or fiber, and maybe that
will incentivize him to stop,you know, stop speaking to.
Kate (02:50):
okay.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
Um, let me just real quickforward, you all this, uh,
transcripts that I got, so youcan, we can kind of scan through
it together.
Um, there's a few things that hecommitted us to.
Matt (03:07):
Um, hang on.
He promised my team that otherthan this bespoke VR experience
that we were building for southby Southwest in a week, I will
add, uh,
Eric (03:21):
Yeah, I'm going
Matt (03:22):
he wasn't going to sign us.
Sorry.
Okay.
Um, uh, just going to scrollthrough this, I thought there
were going to be no surprises.
Kate (03:30):
right.
Calathea (03:31):
I mean, I'm taking a look at it now and I proved all
of the copy and there is almostnone of it here.
Eric (03:39):
what, where was this transcribed as it is it
possible?
This is just garbage.
Is, is accurate training.
Kate (03:46):
I we just need to accept the fact that John says things
like this, for instance,
Calathea (03:56):
I don't, think it's, I think this is exactly the case.
I mean, I've been seeing clipson Instagram stories, um, uh,
parts of the speech.
So I, I think, unfortunatelywe're dealing with the real.
Matt (04:10):
Yeah, all of this sounds like John.
Okay.
I mean, he doesn't, he doesn'tget that, uh, activated carbon,
like charcoal filters or are notcarbon credits, John.
Eric (04:26):
oh, no.
Matt (04:28):
Sorry, I'm looking at the, um,
Eric (04:30):
I see it.
Matt (04:31):
yeah, he's, uh, he's referring to are in beta.
They're not even announced areour charcoal odor absorbent
cushions, uh, as if, as if theycan absorb CO2
Calathea (04:46):
Who even taught him the word carbon sequestration.
Kate (04:51):
I don't know is that even.
Matt (04:55):
it from somebody else on the panel.
This is exactly the kind of
Calathea (04:57):
Oh, yeah.
Matt (04:59):
himself riled up and he, he was supposed to speak first
and he didn't.
Kate (05:04):
No, he
Calathea (05:06):
Oh, yeah, Steven, Josh is before him.
Uh, and I
Kate (05:14):
Who's that?
Calathea (05:14):
our problem here.
Um, if he runs, um, rewatch upand, uh, which is that, you
know, other big new tech darlingthat came out around the same
time as we did, um, Fe they kindof have like a frenemy
relationship.
Uh, John tends to get superhyper competitive when he's in
(05:38):
the room.
Matt (05:39):
yeah.
So, sorry, you guys, I didn't, Ididn't read the list of other
panelists.
I, I would have raised a flag onthis
Calathea (05:48):
No, I, I didn't, he must have been a last minute
addition because I would havecaught that.
I mean, this is because thingslike this happen and they're
really bad for our brand.
I mean, we can't do half of thethings that
Matt (06:01):
Okay.
Hang on.
I'm reading more about thecarbon sequestration he's
selling.
He's selling carbon credits.
Calathea (06:11):
what.
Matt (06:13):
He's promised.
Yeah.
He's promised to open up, uh, ina B2B fashion for manufacturing
companies.
Oh man.
Who need to
Eric (06:23):
full marketplace.
Matt (06:24):
carbon neutral
Kate (06:26):
We wait, how, but
Matt (06:28):
carbon sequestration power of our odor absorbing couches.
Oh, wow.
Kate (06:35):
can you even do that?
Can you store carbon andcushion?
Matt (06:39):
No,
Calathea (06:40):
no.
you can't.
You definitely can't.
I mean, we don't, we don'tsequester carbon.
Like we our
Eric (06:48):
it.
Matt (06:49):
I mean
Calathea (06:50):
don't and like, I mean, those credits, those are
things for like planting treesand kelp forests, you know?
Matt (06:56):
the, the goal with carbon credits is, uh, I mean, look,
let's be real.
A lot of that market is a scam.
There is.
Calathea (07:04):
a hundred
Matt (07:05):
There are, there are companies that pledge to not cut
down trees that already we'renever going to get cut down.
There are, uh, places thatpromise not to, you know, burn
coal that they already aren'tgoing to get out of the ground.
in our case, um, yeah, this istough.
I mean, this is activatedcharcoal stuff.
(07:25):
It contains a lot of carbon thathas been sequestered into a
cushion that fits inside of ourzip close covers.
But it's not going to pull anymore carbon out of the
atmosphere.
Kate (07:38):
I know, I mean, This doesn't make any sense to you
cause we're actively cuttingdown trees, you know, to go
after the, the pure wood couchesthat he thinks are going to just
take off this year.
Matt (07:51):
wait a K we're.
Are, are we doing that?
I thought we were stilloutsourcing our lumber.
we're getting into lumber.
Kate (08:00):
we're getting into lumber.
Yeah.
I mean, prices are just highright now for really everything.
And you can.
Hire people on the cheap who canbe trained to cut down trees.
I mean, not super safely, butthey can do it.
Eric (08:18):
we had some regulatory changes in.
That made that process a loteasier to accelerate.
Kate (08:25):
It's true.
They have very little, uh,employee safety standards there.
So.
Matt (08:31):
And, uh, and I'm, I'm guessing.
Lumber.
Uh, they must have forests.
Calathea (08:37):
Yeah.
Matt (08:37):
a good old Iowa and lumber.
Calathea (08:39):
Yeah.
They're old growth forest.
Um, so about as awful as, uh,logging could be.
Kate (08:49):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's sort of like the, the Trumpera policies, like made some
like national land areasavailable for logging.
So that's kind of where we'vestarted.
Calathea (09:00):
Yeah.
Um, I don't know if youremember, I was gone last week,
um, to go sit up in a tree afterwith an activist who's been
living there, um, for the pastmonth.
Kate (09:13):
right.
I think we've almost reached adeal with her though.
She, um, she's close to comingdown.
Calathea (09:20):
I think so.
I mean, it's,
Eric (09:22):
see all the speech.
Calathea (09:24):
yeah,
Kate (09:25):
That's fair.
Calathea (09:26):
yeah, that's true.
I mean, I, we're not between theAmber grease and the logging.
I mean, we are not the friendsof environmentalist and maybe
John thought that this would putus in this, their good graces,
but this is just even
Matt (09:44):
ah, wow.
Kate (09:46):
he also pledges that are all of our workforce can work
from home at least 50% of thetime.
Calathea (09:55):
Including
Kate (09:55):
least half of our workforce are drivers.
I don't know.
Wait, what is he saying?
Oh God, wait.
No, he's saying that will,there'll be able to control the
cars from their home as if theywere in a video game.
Yeah.
Matt (10:09):
Jain.
Eric (10:10):
just what the VR experience was supposed to be
for your controller.
Your avatar to sit on one of ourcouches.
It's not designed for
Matt (10:17):
Yeah, hang on.
He,
Calathea (10:19):
I mean, I know that
Matt (10:20):
from our VR experience that that's just a bunch of
couches, this oh, no.
Kate (10:28):
Um, Matt, is that
Calathea (10:30):
also, also the fact that he's showing this as if
it's something that our driversare really doing.
I mean, that VR experience wassupposed to.
Crazy taxi S game.
And this is very not safe in theways that they're driving.
Matt (10:45):
yeah, look, I mean, what my team built is, is a
completely virtual experience.
Okay.
That's meant to be enjoyed in apurely imaginary space.
Uh, I, I am my team, uh, havenot been retrofitting any
vehicles with the, the equipmentnecessary to do this.
(11:05):
So, uh, if it is happening, likeit's a skunkworks project, it's
somebody, it's
Kate (11:11):
know.
Matt (11:12):
inside of set.
Kate (11:13):
No, no.
I mean, all of, most of ourvehicles are still those like
nineties era bands, you know,and I, I get the sense that
those don't really haveself-driving capabilities or
Matt (11:26):
I'm on.
Any, any car could in theory beretrofitted,
Eric (11:31):
Sure.
Matt (11:32):
but, uh, I mean, I haven't gotten the, oh, there it is.
Okay.
I okay.
I just got a very hastily,clearly hastily typed out email.
Uh, John.
dictated from his phone askingwhat it would take to retrofit
all of our vans to be remotedrivable.
(11:56):
Good.
Kate (11:57):
Well, okay.
So let's, let's play this out.
Even over delivery drivers couldremote drive our vans.
They still have to unload thecouches and load them.
They do loading as well or wait.
Matt (12:10):
yeah.
Now He
Kate (12:11):
He didn't
Matt (12:11):
that, he, uh, he asked, um, and can you make sure that
each one of them has a roboticforklift installed as well,
which still does not actuallysolve the problem,
Calathea (12:22):
Yeah.
I mean, our delivery driverscarry the couch in the house.
It's our, you know, no backproblem guaranteed.
Matt (12:30):
sorry.
Quick reply.
Uh, he sent me, he's just nowsending me pictures of bomb,
disposal, robots, and asking mehow much I think they can lift.
Kate (12:41):
Okay.
And listen, we did that testlast year, where we had some of
our drivers dress up as robotsto see if people would even
accept a robot deliver in theircouches.
And it went very
Eric (12:53):
are horrible.
Calathea (12:54):
Yeah, it was, it was not good.
Kate (12:58):
Oh,
Matt (12:59):
Yeah.
I'm going to remind him of that.
Um, uh, I'll start constructingthis email.
Um,
Kate (13:05):
is not ready.
Matt (13:06):
I'll find that.
And, um, I mean, I just, I'malso let me know, you know, if
this is a bad idea, I'm justgoing to remind him like this
didn't work out for any companyso far, like Uber has shut down
their self-driving car division.
Um, like whatever flex he'strying to do, actually he know,
you
Eric (13:25):
no, no, that'll put, make him competitive Jose.
We can do better than.
Matt (13:29):
I think what I'm going to do is, um, Kate, could I get you
to estimate what it would costto just hire twice as many
drivers on a temporary basis?
Kate (13:42):
Sure
Matt (13:44):
if we have 50% more drivers, if we have a hundred
percent more.
Kate (13:49):
right.
Matt (13:50):
And each of them is working from home half the time.
Then we have just as manydrivers loaders on the road and
we're just paying the rest ofthem to sit at home.
Kate (13:59):
our budget for drivers.
Almost a million, a quarter.
Matt (14:04):
yeah.
Well, I don't want to tell youthe budget that he just gave me
for this project.
Um, but suffice to say, I thinkit's going to be a lot cheaper.
To just hire twice as manydrivers than it will be to try
and outfit all of our cars to beremote drivable.
And I think that's going to tiphim over when he realizes that
(14:26):
it's like 10 times cheaper
Kate (14:30):
Wow.
Matt (14:31):
you know, we'll do it.
It'll be bad.
And then the new cycle will passand people will forget.
And this will just be likeanother little start-up
boondoggle that happened.
Kate (14:41):
yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, we, we should talk aboutsome of the other things that
have been happening at south bySouthwest.
Um, obviously we.
Donated a lot of couches todifferent booths, uh, try to get
some kind of companypartnerships going as well as we
had like the couch display, um,that was included in the VR
display.
(15:02):
And yeah, I don't know if y'allhave seen any videos, but, um,
Matt (15:10):
I got, I got some messages, uh, from, uh, the dev
team for the folks that went toinstall the VR stuff.
Um, but mostly they were justpictures from like kind of sad
looking rave parties with openbars.
Um,
Eric (15:25):
Yeah.
Well, speaking of.
No.
We tried to integrate the VRexperience with the physical
couches that were on stage.
And there was, there was amisalignment.
Uh, so the couch was appearingin VR, a few feet to the side.
And so it, DJ Khalid tried tosit down on the couch, but he
sat on his own turntable and hehas a pretty serious.
(15:51):
Femoral artery injury.
Matt (15:54):
he almost bled out.
Eric (15:55):
almost bled out like, Hey, we got to the stage, you know,
and of course, you know, he dida signature and another one sat
back down and again, whichexacerbated the energy injury.
So
Matt (16:05):
Wow.
Eric (16:06):
we haven't gotten word that we're going to be sued, but
it's not a good luck.
Calathea (16:09):
it is, yeah, it has been trending on pretty much
every hashtag related to ourcompany.
I've been on the phone with DJKhalid's people.
I mean, um, right up to thismeeting, honestly, trying to
figure out something that we cando to, you know, apologize
publicly.
Um,
Matt (16:30):
my
Calathea (16:30):
he wants a lot, I mean, he lost a little.
Blood, um, you know, um, I, uh,the negotiation started at a
literal pound of flesh.
Um, and
Kate (16:46):
he wants someone else's flow.
Calathea (16:48):
yes.
Kate (16:51):
Um, what would be, what a cadaver be.
Okay.
Or like a live humans?
Flesh.
Calathea (16:55):
Listen, I'm not planning on making anybody get a
pound of flesh.
Okay.
Like, I, I understand mistakeshappen.
Nobody should have to, you know,cut off any part of their body
for the.
You know, we're going tonegotiate.
We were, we were very clear thatwe were, we were not okay.
You know, doing an eye for aneye kind of approach.
(17:17):
Um, you know, but we werewilling to really do anything
other than personal body partsand fluids to make it up for
him.
So,
Kate (17:27):
it.
Matt (17:28):
I w I would also like our, uh, our insurance people and our
legal people.
Um, Every piece of documentationabout designing this experience.
Okay.
We did it on a crunch and it wasthe potential for error was
there, but we can not let theevent organizers off the hook
for this, because it looks likein order to accommodate an extra
(17:51):
row of porta-potties, they moveda set of stairs and.
A big chunk of the stage byexactly three feet, would of
Eric (18:01):
good news.
That's good news.
Matt (18:02):
off.
Yeah, of course.
It's going to throw off all ofour VR sensing unless they, if
they had sent us those specs,uh, we absolutely could have
built that in, uh, or if theyhad been in touch with our
engineers, we could have adaptedfor it at installation time.
Eric (18:17):
Yeah, I mean, we, maybe we can avoid the financial penalty,
but the, the brand impact
Matt (18:23):
yeah, no,
Eric (18:23):
sit down for what is not, not a good look for.
Calathea (18:27):
Yeah.
it's, it's, it's not really
Kate (18:30):
for us though, you know, sit,
Calathea (18:34):
It was, I mean, that's the problem, right?
I mean, it it could havehappened to anyone, but to
happen to DJ Khalid, who issomebody that we put a lot of
money and time into reallycultivating that relationship
with him and his fans.
I mean, they kind of backlashthat we're getting, it's not
just normal, you know, we almostkilled a celebrity, but like,
(18:56):
It's, we were a beloved memberof the college community and,
you know, there's just this deepsense of betrayal.
So I'm not sure what we're goingto be able to do to make up with
that.
But I think it's prettyimportant that we, you know, um,
really try to make it up to theCal heads.
Kate (19:17):
you think you would accept blood?
Calathea (19:20):
I don't know,
Kate (19:22):
I just, I,
Calathea (19:23):
hummus.
I,
Kate (19:25):
I, this is something that I, I recommend everyone do, but
just once a month or take someof your blood free.
It will last for at least 18months.
Um, so if you ever do need moreblood, like let's say you have
an accident at your house, youcan bring your own blood with
you to the emergency room.
(19:45):
Um, and it's great because it'ssort of like donating blood to
yourself.
So I do have some.
Calathea (19:52):
why would you do that?
Kate?
Why, what possibly
Matt (19:56):
I see what you mean.
Calathea (19:58):
possess you to do.
Matt (19:59):
problems.
There's no rejection.
It's an exact type match.
There's no lookups to do.
Kate (20:06):
that's easy because you can take your own blood while
watching Netflix at home.
You don't have to worry aboutthe red cross is ours, you know?
Eric (20:14):
pick your own snack.
Kate (20:16):
Yeah, exactly.
Um, so anyway, I I'm a, I'm atype O I don't know if that
would work with COVID, but.
Matt (20:24):
oh yeah, that's a universal.
Calathea (20:26):
I can, I can approach him about an offer of blood, you
know, and see, you know, itcould be, it could be a good
thing for us.
We could, you know, do a reallypublic exchange of the blood and
maybe tie in the American redcross and do a blood drive at
the same time, show some sort ofsocial impact there.
(20:48):
Um, Yeah.
I'll, I'll say check in aboutthe blood thing.
Kate (20:52):
Okay.
But I would have to deliver itto him frozen, because if you
want to defrost it, it kind of,you need to run it through
special machines that otherwiseit coagulates in ways that like
really are not what you want.
So it had to be like, I canbring a freezer.
I solved my own problems.
Calathea (21:10):
I think the blood exchange is mostly symbolic.
Um, so, so, I'm not sure he'sgoing to need to use it, you
know?
Kate (21:21):
oh, I just think it's important that blood gets used.
Um, that's just
Matt (21:27):
It seems like a waste to.
Eric (21:29):
well, I mean, if he keeps it in freezer, he could use it
in the future.
He doesn't have an immediateneed to use.
Kate (21:35):
Or maybe the red cross wants it.
Yep.
Calathea (21:38):
Yeah.
I can
Matt (21:39):
Yeah.
Donation
Calathea (21:40):
about the red cross.
I mean, honestly, to Kate, if wedidn't really want to sneak into
your blood stash, that you'veseem to have worked really hard
on.
I mean, we could all just giveblood to the red cross.
There could be that, you know,our blood bags could just be
given to DJ Khalid, you know,for a moment for a photo up, you
(22:01):
know, with him holding it and.
You know, with like the needle,so you can actually see that
exchange and then we donate itto the red cross and that way
we're not wasting anybody'sblood and we're, we're doing a
good thing.
Kate (22:17):
Awesome.
Okay.
That would make my primary carephysician happy because she
feels like I'm giving myself toomuch blood already.
Um, anyway, um, So that was theDJ Khalid couch fiasco.
Um, we've had some issues withthe other couches that we've
donated to two other start-upsand the booths.
(22:41):
Um, I guess there was aperception from a lot of them
that we would be giving them acouch in the metaverse and so
they weren't prepared for anactual couch.
So there's frankly just likecouches in the hallways and kind
of.
Scattered throughout the wholeexhibition hall.
Matt (23:03):
like, that seems kind of nice.
I mean, I remember when south bySouthwest was like just kinda
chill, you know, it's gotten socorporate and so the startup
broey, it seems nice to justhave like places to sit and
lounge.
Calathea (23:19):
Yeah.
I mean, I honestly think thatthis is a benefit.
We've definitely seen a lot ofpeople on social media posting,
uh, from the couches.
We have gotten a request fromthe organizer who's to remove
some of them because there havebeen some rather loud nappers
stereo.
Sessions.
(23:40):
Um, it's become a prime nap spotfor a lot of people, as you
know, you're just partying hard.
And, um, there's just been acouple of incidences of like
really loud snoring that they'retrying to rectify and would like
our help with.
Kate (23:55):
yeah.
I mean, and there's also the guywho like nap for almost 18
hours.
And so they weren't actuallysure if he was still alive or
not.
Um, that was a bit of a problem.
Calathea (24:07):
Yeah, let's just say Wednesday of south by Southwest
was not our best new cyclebetween, um, rip van Winkle as
they call him and DJ Khalid.
Uh, it definitely looked likeour couches were killing people.
Um, Um, I'm hoping, you know,with both of those systems
rectified that we can get backon track with like a, really a
much better brand narrative, orat least I thought that until
(24:30):
John gave a speech this morningand I, I think we've completely
lost the strands of what storywe're telling at this event.
Matt (24:38):
That's not that different from every other presenter, an
exhibitor at south by Southwestthis year, if I'm being honest,
you know, unlike most of themwere there with a physical
product.
You know, we show them that wehave a supply chain, we can get
things done, uh, in the realworld, uh, using hard currency.
Calathea (25:00):
Yeah.
Matt (25:00):
hate to laugh too much at the crypto bros, but, um, N no,
I don't hate that at all.
Actually.
I think even with all of this,like, it's a, it's a wind, like
sit really showed up at south bySouthwest this year.
Calathea (25:16):
I would agree.
I mean, we had a physical.
Product, but show that showedup.
So that was really great.
Um, you know, accessibility evennon-participants have been able
to really appreciate our couchesbecause they are just strewn
about everywhere throughout thecity of Austin.
Um, and we didn't follow on ourface like Corona with their free
(25:39):
beer tent that turned out tojust all be an augmented reality
experience.
Kate (25:44):
Okay.
Did anyone else hear any updatesabout our couches or, or things
at south by Southwest um,
Matt (25:52):
have a brief update.
So our, our VR experience, um,the crazy taxi style couch
Kate (25:59):
um,
Matt (25:59):
uh, and sitting, um, it's running fine.
Uh, all of the interactiveelements, uh, are we probably
over-provisioned, uh, the numberof servers we'll need.
Um, so everything's goingsmoothly there.
I think the, the issue is ourlocation, um, within.
All of the, uh, the exhibitexhibit halls, uh, the VR
(26:19):
experiences, the AR experiences,um, people are all motion sick
by the time they get to us.
So, um, not a lot of people areplaying.
They're just like taking thetime to chill out and sit on the
couches in our space, I think,yeah, it was a huge waste of
development resources and timethat we could have been better
(26:40):
spending, uh, elsewhere.
But, um, you know, conversely,you know, they've thrown up by
the time they get to us.
So it's going to save on couchcleanup, uh, and it gives people
a safe space.
Calathea (26:54):
Yeah, I actually think this is a really great, uh,
learn lesson learned for usabout the user experience at
south by Southwest.
I think maybe our role nextyear, instead of having a VR
experience is to have a actualpersonal like couch relaxed
space and have some brandedvomit bag.
Matt (27:16):
Yeah.
You know, combined combine thatwith, uh, the odor absorbing
seat cushions.
Yeah.
And you've really
Calathea (27:23):
Oh, yeah,
Matt (27:25):
middle of, uh, this kind of chaotic sensory overload.
Calathea (27:30):
that's
Matt (27:30):
you an, uh, a real reality experience.
Calathea (27:34):
Yeah.
And you know, I'm thinking vomitbags are great, but.
If we wanted to make that vomitexperience better.
I mean, we could think about,you know, ways that like maybe
toilets are your typical way,but maybe there's some new
innovation on a more pleasant,vomit experience.
And it could really show how,you know, our brand is making
(27:57):
everything comfortable.
You know, sitz brand is reallybringing comfort to the digital
space.
Eric (28:04):
Yeah.
Could we make it, uh, uh, acompost add on to the couch
Calathea (28:09):
Oh, I love that.
Kate (28:11):
could we sell carbon credits if we compost?
Is that enough?
Eric (28:17):
better than what we're saying?
Matt (28:19):
Yeah.
Calathea (28:20):
actually a green alternative.
Matt (28:23):
right.
And
Kate (28:25):
Compost smell like terror.
Eric (28:28):
not as bad as vomit.
Matt (28:30):
on the compost.
Calathea (28:31):
Yeah.
Eric (28:32):
But again, with our filters.
Calathea (28:34):
We exactly we could do our filters putting in some
Cedar chips help.
Kate (28:39):
Cedar chips, uh, okay.
Some of the forests or cuttingdown our Cedar.
Calathea (28:44):
And we also have all of that old, uh, sent from our
last brand that we haven'tdonated yet.
So we could definitely, youknow, pour that liberally.
Kate (28:57):
Okay, well, this is great.
We've got a plan for next year.
Um, a lot of the issues we'veidentified that have happened
this year, um, and there's onlylike one day left or south by
Southwest.
So fingers crossed not that
Matt (29:13):
yeah, John's not speaking again.
Is he in?
Calathea (29:16):
yeah, he's giving a five minute ignite style
presentation.
Uh, Yeah.
Um, again, I've seen the slides.
It's only five minutes, but Idon't know.
He seems really amped up in thistech
Matt (29:30):
don't do, uh, do y'all remember, uh, metal market
started as one of those?
Calathea (29:38):
Oh yeah.
Matt (29:40):
Yeah, it was one of his south by lightning talks.
I mean, there were to be fair.
There were a lot of ideas thathe threw out in there and I'm
sure.
Eric (29:48):
talks about.
Kate (29:49):
That's
Matt (29:49):
Yeah.
Without, without like a slowdownplayback of the tape, there's
probably a lot that was missedin there.
That's the first time I rememberhearing him, uh, pitch the, uh,
the seat at the table foreveryone.
Calathea (30:02):
Yeah.
it was, it was great.
It was like right in between,uh, a LA league soccer league.
That's made entirely of llamasand, um, a new AME chat.
That's just for robots talkingto other robots.
Matt (30:20):
Oh, yeah.
I wonder whatever happened.
Kate (30:22):
Okay.
Well, isn't that still on ourroadmap, Eric?
Eric (30:26):
it, is, um, it keeps getting pushed back a year at a
time though.
And that's not by accident.
Kate (30:32):
Um, okay, excellent.
Well, I think we can wrap.
Thank you all.
And don't forget, we do have allhands tomorrow.
Um, and I guess we shouldprobably adjust some of our
annual goals based on
Matt (30:49):
Yeah.
Kate (30:49):
speech.
Calathea (30:51):
I'll do some, I'll do some social monitoring and see,
you know, how much people havepicked up on what he said.
Just to get a sense of like howbeholden we're going to have to
beat.
Kate (31:02):
great.
Yeah.
Well, it's hope they missed alot of it because of the fast
talking part.
Calathea (31:06):
I mean, this might be a great thing about DJ Khalid is
that honestly, we got a lot ofattention in the news cycle on
Wednesday that maybe they'vemissed this.
Matt (31:17):
y'all seen by the way, the iTunes chart numbers for sit
down for what.
Calathea (31:22):
Yeah.
It's uh, it's blow it up.
Matt (31:25):
It's everywhere.
There, there are some, uh,pretty choice remixes going
around tick talk as well.
Uh, you know, using theobviously tragic, but th the
footage, um, yeah, I, you know,maybe he's angry with us now,
but this is doing numbers.
Kate (31:46):
Yeah,
Calathea (31:47):
true.
This could be our Oreo moment.
Matt (31:51):
Reminds me having had lunch today.
Kate (31:54):
Okay.
Everyone go eat, uh, and set.
All right, I'll stop recording.
Ben (32:02):
This meeting has ended.
To subscribe to this startup isbeing recorded.
Go to the podcast player of yourchoice and tap a button that
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More content is on Twitter atstartup recorded, or shoot us an
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At hello@startuprecorded.com.
Kate is played by ValerieGarrison.
(32:23):
Valerie is a health tech productmanager and regularly plays with
the improv troupe letters tochicken online.
You can find her on Twitter atthevalgarris eric has played by
Barry wright Barry is a productmanager at Spotify and a
co-founder of Highwire Improv.
Find him by his name onLinkedIn, where he holds regular
office hours or athighwireimprov.com.
Matt is played by Marty Mcguire.
(32:44):
Marty is a senior web engineerand improviser in New York city.
You can find Marty's comedy codeand cats on his website at M M G
dot R E.
Calathea is played by RobynStegman.
Robyn is a digital campaignmanager for ocean Conservancy
and is a comedian mostly foundat Highwire improv.
You can find her on all thesocial medias.
And she does mean all at rsteggythank you for listening.
welcome to this startup is being recorded.
This recording is improvisedfiction.
Similarities between it and thereal world are entirely
intentional.
Now enjoy the recording.
Kate (00:22):
Okay.
Recording is on.
Um, so I I'm glad you all wereable to make the time today
because.
just have a few updates on howsouth by Southwest is going.
Um, John did give the speechearlier today.
Um, as part of, I mean,obviously he was on the, you
know, climate change in techpanel, which was interesting.
(00:46):
So I have some updates there.
Matt (00:48):
Okay.
Yeah.
I tried to tune in, but theirlivestream wasn't working for
Eric (00:51):
Yeah, Sam.
Matt (00:52):
for whatever.
Kate (00:53):
Yeah, no, I got a transcript.
So I have, I have a hard time, Ithink deciphering some of the
tone he was using.
Uh, but
Matt (01:01):
telling him like, when he practices these things, he's
like totally legible.
And then on the day he is, hetalks like the micro machines
guy.
Like he's just so fast.
Kate (01:11):
yeah.
Calathea (01:13):
he definitely, I mean, we've had him in media training
so many times to the point thatour media trainers.
Um, and it's just like, he isperfect in prep sessions and
then he gets up there and it islike vroom, vroom, Indy 500,
just as his words, just keepgoing and go in and go in.
Kate (01:33):
Oh, before we get too, too into it, I know like a lot has
been happening at south bySouthwest, but we may have new
employees watching this.
Let's just quickly, um, introourselves.
And, you know, obviously they'llknow what they're listening to.
It's a recording of our, ourmeetings, but I'm Kate Blanchet,
uh, chief of staff here at CIT.
We are a couch marketplace aboutto hit our series a are getting
(01:54):
some great press this week.
It gets.
Press this week at south bySouthwest
Calathea (02:02):
yeah, I'll go next to Califia not Roba.
Uh, I am the chief creatives arehere at six.
Matt (02:08):
Uh, all right, I'll go.
I'm Matt, matt.yachts.
That's also my website and I amthe CTO here at CIT
Eric (02:16):
and I'm Eric Joyce Carter, uh, chief product officer here
at CIT.
Um, and just to go back to theconversation, I think it, um, I
think it's my fault, actually,that John hasn't been improving
on this.
we've been using his voice as atest case because it's so fast
for our Alexa and Google homeintegrations, uh, for ordering,
(02:39):
we can go find somebody who'sspeaks as quickly.
We'll go look on like taskrabbit or fiber, and maybe that
will incentivize him to stop,you know, stop speaking to.
Kate (02:50):
okay.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
Um, let me just real quickforward, you all this, uh,
transcripts that I got, so youcan, we can kind of scan through
it together.
Um, there's a few things that hecommitted us to.
Matt (03:07):
Um, hang on.
He promised my team that otherthan this bespoke VR experience
that we were building for southby Southwest in a week, I will
add, uh,
Eric (03:21):
Yeah, I'm going
Matt (03:22):
he wasn't going to sign us.
Sorry.
Okay.
Um, uh, just going to scrollthrough this, I thought there
were going to be no surprises.
Kate (03:30):
right.
Calathea (03:31):
I mean, I'm taking a look at it now and I proved all
of the copy and there is almostnone of it here.
Eric (03:39):
what, where was this transcribed as it is it
possible?
This is just garbage.
Is, is accurate training.
Kate (03:46):
I we just need to accept the fact that John says things
like this, for instance,
Calathea (03:56):
I don't, think it's, I think this is exactly the case.
I mean, I've been seeing clipson Instagram stories, um, uh,
parts of the speech.
So I, I think, unfortunatelywe're dealing with the real.
Matt (04:10):
Yeah, all of this sounds like John.
Okay.
I mean, he doesn't, he doesn'tget that, uh, activated carbon,
like charcoal filters or are notcarbon credits, John.
Eric (04:26):
oh, no.
Matt (04:28):
Sorry, I'm looking at the, um,
Eric (04:30):
I see it.
Matt (04:31):
yeah, he's, uh, he's referring to are in beta.
They're not even announced areour charcoal odor absorbent
cushions, uh, as if, as if theycan absorb CO2
Calathea (04:46):
Who even taught him the word carbon sequestration.
Kate (04:51):
I don't know is that even.
Matt (04:55):
it from somebody else on the panel.
This is exactly the kind of
Calathea (04:57):
Oh, yeah.
Matt (04:59):
himself riled up and he, he was supposed to speak first
and he didn't.
Kate (05:04):
No, he
Calathea (05:06):
Oh, yeah, Steven, Josh is before him.
Uh, and I
Kate (05:14):
Who's that?
Calathea (05:14):
our problem here.
Um, if he runs, um, rewatch upand, uh, which is that, you
know, other big new tech darlingthat came out around the same
time as we did, um, Fe they kindof have like a frenemy
relationship.
Uh, John tends to get superhyper competitive when he's in
(05:38):
the room.
Matt (05:39):
yeah.
So, sorry, you guys, I didn't, Ididn't read the list of other
panelists.
I, I would have raised a flag onthis
Calathea (05:48):
No, I, I didn't, he must have been a last minute
addition because I would havecaught that.
I mean, this is because thingslike this happen and they're
really bad for our brand.
I mean, we can't do half of thethings that
Matt (06:01):
Okay.
Hang on.
I'm reading more about thecarbon sequestration he's
selling.
He's selling carbon credits.
Calathea (06:11):
what.
Matt (06:13):
He's promised.
Yeah.
He's promised to open up, uh, ina B2B fashion for manufacturing
companies.
Oh man.
Who need to
Eric (06:23):
full marketplace.
Matt (06:24):
carbon neutral
Kate (06:26):
We wait, how, but
Matt (06:28):
carbon sequestration power of our odor absorbing couches.
Oh, wow.
Kate (06:35):
can you even do that?
Can you store carbon andcushion?
Matt (06:39):
No,
Calathea (06:40):
no.
you can't.
You definitely can't.
I mean, we don't, we don'tsequester carbon.
Like we our
Eric (06:48):
it.
Matt (06:49):
I mean
Calathea (06:50):
don't and like, I mean, those credits, those are
things for like planting treesand kelp forests, you know?
Matt (06:56):
the, the goal with carbon credits is, uh, I mean, look,
let's be real.
A lot of that market is a scam.
There is.
Calathea (07:04):
a hundred
Matt (07:05):
There are, there are companies that pledge to not cut
down trees that already we'renever going to get cut down.
There are, uh, places thatpromise not to, you know, burn
coal that they already aren'tgoing to get out of the ground.
in our case, um, yeah, this istough.
I mean, this is activatedcharcoal stuff.
(07:25):
It contains a lot of carbon thathas been sequestered into a
cushion that fits inside of ourzip close covers.
But it's not going to pull anymore carbon out of the
atmosphere.
Kate (07:38):
I know, I mean, This doesn't make any sense to you
cause we're actively cuttingdown trees, you know, to go
after the, the pure wood couchesthat he thinks are going to just
take off this year.
Matt (07:51):
wait a K we're.
Are, are we doing that?
I thought we were stilloutsourcing our lumber.
we're getting into lumber.
Kate (08:00):
we're getting into lumber.
Yeah.
I mean, prices are just highright now for really everything.
And you can.
Hire people on the cheap who canbe trained to cut down trees.
I mean, not super safely, butthey can do it.
Eric (08:18):
we had some regulatory changes in.
That made that process a loteasier to accelerate.
Kate (08:25):
It's true.
They have very little, uh,employee safety standards there.
So.
Matt (08:31):
And, uh, and I'm, I'm guessing.
Lumber.
Uh, they must have forests.
Calathea (08:37):
Yeah.
Matt (08:37):
a good old Iowa and lumber.
Calathea (08:39):
Yeah.
They're old growth forest.
Um, so about as awful as, uh,logging could be.
Kate (08:49):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's sort of like the, the Trumpera policies, like made some
like national land areasavailable for logging.
So that's kind of where we'vestarted.
Calathea (09:00):
Yeah.
Um, I don't know if youremember, I was gone last week,
um, to go sit up in a tree afterwith an activist who's been
living there, um, for the pastmonth.
Kate (09:13):
right.
I think we've almost reached adeal with her though.
She, um, she's close to comingdown.
Calathea (09:20):
I think so.
I mean, it's,
Eric (09:22):
see all the speech.
Calathea (09:24):
yeah,
Kate (09:25):
That's fair.
Calathea (09:26):
yeah, that's true.
I mean, I, we're not between theAmber grease and the logging.
I mean, we are not the friendsof environmentalist and maybe
John thought that this would putus in this, their good graces,
but this is just even
Matt (09:44):
ah, wow.
Kate (09:46):
he also pledges that are all of our workforce can work
from home at least 50% of thetime.
Calathea (09:55):
Including
Kate (09:55):
least half of our workforce are drivers.
I don't know.
Wait, what is he saying?
Oh God, wait.
No, he's saying that will,there'll be able to control the
cars from their home as if theywere in a video game.
Yeah.
Matt (10:09):
Jain.
Eric (10:10):
just what the VR experience was supposed to be
for your controller.
Your avatar to sit on one of ourcouches.
It's not designed for
Matt (10:17):
Yeah, hang on.
He,
Calathea (10:19):
I mean, I know that
Matt (10:20):
from our VR experience that that's just a bunch of
couches, this oh, no.
Kate (10:28):
Um, Matt, is that
Calathea (10:30):
also, also the fact that he's showing this as if
it's something that our driversare really doing.
I mean, that VR experience wassupposed to.
Crazy taxi S game.
And this is very not safe in theways that they're driving.
Matt (10:45):
yeah, look, I mean, what my team built is, is a
completely virtual experience.
Okay.
That's meant to be enjoyed in apurely imaginary space.
Uh, I, I am my team, uh, havenot been retrofitting any
vehicles with the, the equipmentnecessary to do this.
(11:05):
So, uh, if it is happening, likeit's a skunkworks project, it's
somebody, it's
Kate (11:11):
know.
Matt (11:12):
inside of set.
Kate (11:13):
No, no.
I mean, all of, most of ourvehicles are still those like
nineties era bands, you know,and I, I get the sense that
those don't really haveself-driving capabilities or
Matt (11:26):
I'm on.
Any, any car could in theory beretrofitted,
Eric (11:31):
Sure.
Matt (11:32):
but, uh, I mean, I haven't gotten the, oh, there it is.
Okay.
I okay.
I just got a very hastily,clearly hastily typed out email.
Uh, John.
dictated from his phone askingwhat it would take to retrofit
all of our vans to be remotedrivable.
(11:56):
Good.
Kate (11:57):
Well, okay.
So let's, let's play this out.
Even over delivery drivers couldremote drive our vans.
They still have to unload thecouches and load them.
They do loading as well or wait.
Matt (12:10):
yeah.
Now He
Kate (12:11):
He didn't
Matt (12:11):
that, he, uh, he asked, um, and can you make sure that
each one of them has a roboticforklift installed as well,
which still does not actuallysolve the problem,
Calathea (12:22):
Yeah.
I mean, our delivery driverscarry the couch in the house.
It's our, you know, no backproblem guaranteed.
Matt (12:30):
sorry.
Quick reply.
Uh, he sent me, he's just nowsending me pictures of bomb,
disposal, robots, and asking mehow much I think they can lift.
Kate (12:41):
Okay.
And listen, we did that testlast year, where we had some of
our drivers dress up as robotsto see if people would even
accept a robot deliver in theircouches.
And it went very
Eric (12:53):
are horrible.
Calathea (12:54):
Yeah, it was, it was not good.
Kate (12:58):
Oh,
Matt (12:59):
Yeah.
I'm going to remind him of that.
Um, uh, I'll start constructingthis email.
Um,
Kate (13:05):
is not ready.
Matt (13:06):
I'll find that.
And, um, I mean, I just, I'malso let me know, you know, if
this is a bad idea, I'm justgoing to remind him like this
didn't work out for any companyso far, like Uber has shut down
their self-driving car division.
Um, like whatever flex he'strying to do, actually he know,
you
Eric (13:25):
no, no, that'll put, make him competitive Jose.
We can do better than.
Matt (13:29):
I think what I'm going to do is, um, Kate, could I get you
to estimate what it would costto just hire twice as many
drivers on a temporary basis?
Kate (13:42):
Sure
Matt (13:44):
if we have 50% more drivers, if we have a hundred
percent more.
Kate (13:49):
right.
Matt (13:50):
And each of them is working from home half the time.
Then we have just as manydrivers loaders on the road and
we're just paying the rest ofthem to sit at home.
Kate (13:59):
our budget for drivers.
Almost a million, a quarter.
Matt (14:04):
yeah.
Well, I don't want to tell youthe budget that he just gave me
for this project.
Um, but suffice to say, I thinkit's going to be a lot cheaper.
To just hire twice as manydrivers than it will be to try
and outfit all of our cars to beremote drivable.
And I think that's going to tiphim over when he realizes that
(14:26):
it's like 10 times cheaper
Kate (14:30):
Wow.
Matt (14:31):
you know, we'll do it.
It'll be bad.
And then the new cycle will passand people will forget.
And this will just be likeanother little start-up
boondoggle that happened.
Kate (14:41):
yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, we, we should talk aboutsome of the other things that
have been happening at south bySouthwest.
Um, obviously we.
Donated a lot of couches todifferent booths, uh, try to get
some kind of companypartnerships going as well as we
had like the couch display, um,that was included in the VR
display.
(15:02):
And yeah, I don't know if y'allhave seen any videos, but, um,
Matt (15:10):
I got, I got some messages, uh, from, uh, the dev
team for the folks that went toinstall the VR stuff.
Um, but mostly they were justpictures from like kind of sad
looking rave parties with openbars.
Um,
Eric (15:25):
Yeah.
Well, speaking of.
No.
We tried to integrate the VRexperience with the physical
couches that were on stage.
And there was, there was amisalignment.
Uh, so the couch was appearingin VR, a few feet to the side.
And so it, DJ Khalid tried tosit down on the couch, but he
sat on his own turntable and hehas a pretty serious.
(15:51):
Femoral artery injury.
Matt (15:54):
he almost bled out.
Eric (15:55):
almost bled out like, Hey, we got to the stage, you know,
and of course, you know, he dida signature and another one sat
back down and again, whichexacerbated the energy injury.
So
Matt (16:05):
Wow.
Eric (16:06):
we haven't gotten word that we're going to be sued, but
it's not a good luck.
Calathea (16:09):
it is, yeah, it has been trending on pretty much
every hashtag related to ourcompany.
I've been on the phone with DJKhalid's people.
I mean, um, right up to thismeeting, honestly, trying to
figure out something that we cando to, you know, apologize
publicly.
Um,
Matt (16:30):
my
Calathea (16:30):
he wants a lot, I mean, he lost a little.
Blood, um, you know, um, I, uh,the negotiation started at a
literal pound of flesh.
Um, and
Kate (16:46):
he wants someone else's flow.
Calathea (16:48):
yes.
Kate (16:51):
Um, what would be, what a cadaver be.
Okay.
Or like a live humans?
Flesh.
Calathea (16:55):
Listen, I'm not planning on making anybody get a
pound of flesh.
Okay.
Like, I, I understand mistakeshappen.
Nobody should have to, you know,cut off any part of their body
for the.
You know, we're going tonegotiate.
We were, we were very clear thatwe were, we were not okay.
You know, doing an eye for aneye kind of approach.
(17:17):
Um, you know, but we werewilling to really do anything
other than personal body partsand fluids to make it up for
him.
So,
Kate (17:27):
it.
Matt (17:28):
I w I would also like our, uh, our insurance people and our
legal people.
Um, Every piece of documentationabout designing this experience.
Okay.
We did it on a crunch and it wasthe potential for error was
there, but we can not let theevent organizers off the hook
for this, because it looks likein order to accommodate an extra
(17:51):
row of porta-potties, they moveda set of stairs and.
A big chunk of the stage byexactly three feet, would of
Eric (18:01):
good news.
That's good news.
Matt (18:02):
off.
Yeah, of course.
It's going to throw off all ofour VR sensing unless they, if
they had sent us those specs,uh, we absolutely could have
built that in, uh, or if theyhad been in touch with our
engineers, we could have adaptedfor it at installation time.
Eric (18:17):
Yeah, I mean, we, maybe we can avoid the financial penalty,
but the, the brand impact
Matt (18:23):
yeah, no,
Eric (18:23):
sit down for what is not, not a good look for.
Calathea (18:27):
Yeah.
it's, it's, it's not really
Kate (18:30):
for us though, you know, sit,
Calathea (18:34):
It was, I mean, that's the problem, right?
I mean, it it could havehappened to anyone, but to
happen to DJ Khalid, who issomebody that we put a lot of
money and time into reallycultivating that relationship
with him and his fans.
I mean, they kind of backlashthat we're getting, it's not
just normal, you know, we almostkilled a celebrity, but like,
(18:56):
It's, we were a beloved memberof the college community and,
you know, there's just this deepsense of betrayal.
So I'm not sure what we're goingto be able to do to make up with
that.
But I think it's prettyimportant that we, you know, um,
really try to make it up to theCal heads.
Kate (19:17):
you think you would accept blood?
Calathea (19:20):
I don't know,
Kate (19:22):
I just, I,
Calathea (19:23):
hummus.
I,
Kate (19:25):
I, this is something that I, I recommend everyone do, but
just once a month or take someof your blood free.
It will last for at least 18months.
Um, so if you ever do need moreblood, like let's say you have
an accident at your house, youcan bring your own blood with
you to the emergency room.
(19:45):
Um, and it's great because it'ssort of like donating blood to
yourself.
So I do have some.
Calathea (19:52):
why would you do that?
Kate?
Why, what possibly
Matt (19:56):
I see what you mean.
Calathea (19:58):
possess you to do.
Matt (19:59):
problems.
There's no rejection.
It's an exact type match.
There's no lookups to do.
Kate (20:06):
that's easy because you can take your own blood while
watching Netflix at home.
You don't have to worry aboutthe red cross is ours, you know?
Eric (20:14):
pick your own snack.
Kate (20:16):
Yeah, exactly.
Um, so anyway, I I'm a, I'm atype O I don't know if that
would work with COVID, but.
Matt (20:24):
oh yeah, that's a universal.
Calathea (20:26):
I can, I can approach him about an offer of blood, you
know, and see, you know, itcould be, it could be a good
thing for us.
We could, you know, do a reallypublic exchange of the blood and
maybe tie in the American redcross and do a blood drive at
the same time, show some sort ofsocial impact there.
(20:48):
Um, Yeah.
I'll, I'll say check in aboutthe blood thing.
Kate (20:52):
Okay.
But I would have to deliver itto him frozen, because if you
want to defrost it, it kind of,you need to run it through
special machines that otherwiseit coagulates in ways that like
really are not what you want.
So it had to be like, I canbring a freezer.
I solved my own problems.
Calathea (21:10):
I think the blood exchange is mostly symbolic.
Um, so, so, I'm not sure he'sgoing to need to use it, you
know?
Kate (21:21):
oh, I just think it's important that blood gets used.
Um, that's just
Matt (21:27):
It seems like a waste to.
Eric (21:29):
well, I mean, if he keeps it in freezer, he could use it
in the future.
He doesn't have an immediateneed to use.
Kate (21:35):
Or maybe the red cross wants it.
Yep.
Calathea (21:38):
Yeah.
I can
Matt (21:39):
Yeah.
Donation
Calathea (21:40):
about the red cross.
I mean, honestly, to Kate, if wedidn't really want to sneak into
your blood stash, that you'veseem to have worked really hard
on.
I mean, we could all just giveblood to the red cross.
There could be that, you know,our blood bags could just be
given to DJ Khalid, you know,for a moment for a photo up, you
(22:01):
know, with him holding it and.
You know, with like the needle,so you can actually see that
exchange and then we donate itto the red cross and that way
we're not wasting anybody'sblood and we're, we're doing a
good thing.
Kate (22:17):
Awesome.
Okay.
That would make my primary carephysician happy because she
feels like I'm giving myself toomuch blood already.
Um, anyway, um, So that was theDJ Khalid couch fiasco.
Um, we've had some issues withthe other couches that we've
donated to two other start-upsand the booths.
(22:41):
Um, I guess there was aperception from a lot of them
that we would be giving them acouch in the metaverse and so
they weren't prepared for anactual couch.
So there's frankly just likecouches in the hallways and kind
of.
Scattered throughout the wholeexhibition hall.
Matt (23:03):
like, that seems kind of nice.
I mean, I remember when south bySouthwest was like just kinda
chill, you know, it's gotten socorporate and so the startup
broey, it seems nice to justhave like places to sit and
lounge.
Calathea (23:19):
Yeah.
I mean, I honestly think thatthis is a benefit.
We've definitely seen a lot ofpeople on social media posting,
uh, from the couches.
We have gotten a request fromthe organizer who's to remove
some of them because there havebeen some rather loud nappers
stereo.
Sessions.
(23:40):
Um, it's become a prime nap spotfor a lot of people, as you
know, you're just partying hard.
And, um, there's just been acouple of incidences of like
really loud snoring that they'retrying to rectify and would like
our help with.
Kate (23:55):
yeah.
I mean, and there's also the guywho like nap for almost 18
hours.
And so they weren't actuallysure if he was still alive or
not.
Um, that was a bit of a problem.
Calathea (24:07):
Yeah, let's just say Wednesday of south by Southwest
was not our best new cyclebetween, um, rip van Winkle as
they call him and DJ Khalid.
Uh, it definitely looked likeour couches were killing people.
Um, Um, I'm hoping, you know,with both of those systems
rectified that we can get backon track with like a, really a
much better brand narrative, orat least I thought that until
(24:30):
John gave a speech this morningand I, I think we've completely
lost the strands of what storywe're telling at this event.
Matt (24:38):
That's not that different from every other presenter, an
exhibitor at south by Southwestthis year, if I'm being honest,
you know, unlike most of themwere there with a physical
product.
You know, we show them that wehave a supply chain, we can get
things done, uh, in the realworld, uh, using hard currency.
Calathea (25:00):
Yeah.
Matt (25:00):
hate to laugh too much at the crypto bros, but, um, N no,
I don't hate that at all.
Actually.
I think even with all of this,like, it's a, it's a wind, like
sit really showed up at south bySouthwest this year.
Calathea (25:16):
I would agree.
I mean, we had a physical.
Product, but show that showedup.
So that was really great.
Um, you know, accessibility evennon-participants have been able
to really appreciate our couchesbecause they are just strewn
about everywhere throughout thecity of Austin.
Um, and we didn't follow on ourface like Corona with their free
(25:39):
beer tent that turned out tojust all be an augmented reality
experience.
Kate (25:44):
Okay.
Did anyone else hear any updatesabout our couches or, or things
at south by Southwest um,
Matt (25:52):
have a brief update.
So our, our VR experience, um,the crazy taxi style couch
Kate (25:59):
um,
Matt (25:59):
uh, and sitting, um, it's running fine.
Uh, all of the interactiveelements, uh, are we probably
over-provisioned, uh, the numberof servers we'll need.
Um, so everything's goingsmoothly there.
I think the, the issue is ourlocation, um, within.
All of the, uh, the exhibitexhibit halls, uh, the VR
(26:19):
experiences, the AR experiences,um, people are all motion sick
by the time they get to us.
So, um, not a lot of people areplaying.
They're just like taking thetime to chill out and sit on the
couches in our space, I think,yeah, it was a huge waste of
development resources and timethat we could have been better
(26:40):
spending, uh, elsewhere.
But, um, you know, conversely,you know, they've thrown up by
the time they get to us.
So it's going to save on couchcleanup, uh, and it gives people
a safe space.
Calathea (26:54):
Yeah, I actually think this is a really great, uh,
learn lesson learned for usabout the user experience at
south by Southwest.
I think maybe our role nextyear, instead of having a VR
experience is to have a actualpersonal like couch relaxed
space and have some brandedvomit bag.
Matt (27:16):
Yeah.
You know, combined combine thatwith, uh, the odor absorbing
seat cushions.
Yeah.
And you've really
Calathea (27:23):
Oh, yeah,
Matt (27:25):
middle of, uh, this kind of chaotic sensory overload.
Calathea (27:30):
that's
Matt (27:30):
you an, uh, a real reality experience.
Calathea (27:34):
Yeah.
And you know, I'm thinking vomitbags are great, but.
If we wanted to make that vomitexperience better.
I mean, we could think about,you know, ways that like maybe
toilets are your typical way,but maybe there's some new
innovation on a more pleasant,vomit experience.
And it could really show how,you know, our brand is making
(27:57):
everything comfortable.
You know, sitz brand is reallybringing comfort to the digital
space.
Eric (28:04):
Yeah.
Could we make it, uh, uh, acompost add on to the couch
Calathea (28:09):
Oh, I love that.
Kate (28:11):
could we sell carbon credits if we compost?
Is that enough?
Eric (28:17):
better than what we're saying?
Matt (28:19):
Yeah.
Calathea (28:20):
actually a green alternative.
Matt (28:23):
right.
And
Kate (28:25):
Compost smell like terror.
Eric (28:28):
not as bad as vomit.
Matt (28:30):
on the compost.
Calathea (28:31):
Yeah.
Eric (28:32):
But again, with our filters.
Calathea (28:34):
We exactly we could do our filters putting in some
Cedar chips help.
Kate (28:39):
Cedar chips, uh, okay.
Some of the forests or cuttingdown our Cedar.
Calathea (28:44):
And we also have all of that old, uh, sent from our
last brand that we haven'tdonated yet.
So we could definitely, youknow, pour that liberally.
Kate (28:57):
Okay, well, this is great.
We've got a plan for next year.
Um, a lot of the issues we'veidentified that have happened
this year, um, and there's onlylike one day left or south by
Southwest.
So fingers crossed not that
Matt (29:13):
yeah, John's not speaking again.
Is he in?
Calathea (29:16):
yeah, he's giving a five minute ignite style
presentation.
Uh, Yeah.
Um, again, I've seen the slides.
It's only five minutes, but Idon't know.
He seems really amped up in thistech
Matt (29:30):
don't do, uh, do y'all remember, uh, metal market
started as one of those?
Calathea (29:38):
Oh yeah.
Matt (29:40):
Yeah, it was one of his south by lightning talks.
I mean, there were to be fair.
There were a lot of ideas thathe threw out in there and I'm
sure.
Eric (29:48):
talks about.
Kate (29:49):
That's
Matt (29:49):
Yeah.
Without, without like a slowdownplayback of the tape, there's
probably a lot that was missedin there.
That's the first time I rememberhearing him, uh, pitch the, uh,
the seat at the table foreveryone.
Calathea (30:02):
Yeah.
it was, it was great.
It was like right in between,uh, a LA league soccer league.
That's made entirely of llamasand, um, a new AME chat.
That's just for robots talkingto other robots.
Matt (30:20):
Oh, yeah.
I wonder whatever happened.
Kate (30:22):
Okay.
Well, isn't that still on ourroadmap, Eric?
Eric (30:26):
it, is, um, it keeps getting pushed back a year at a
time though.
And that's not by accident.
Kate (30:32):
Um, okay, excellent.
Well, I think we can wrap.
Thank you all.
And don't forget, we do have allhands tomorrow.
Um, and I guess we shouldprobably adjust some of our
annual goals based on
Matt (30:49):
Yeah.
Kate (30:49):
speech.
Calathea (30:51):
I'll do some, I'll do some social monitoring and see,
you know, how much people havepicked up on what he said.
Just to get a sense of like howbeholden we're going to have to
beat.
Kate (31:02):
great.
Yeah.
Well, it's hope they missed alot of it because of the fast
talking part.
Calathea (31:06):
I mean, this might be a great thing about DJ Khalid is
that honestly, we got a lot ofattention in the news cycle on
Wednesday that maybe they'vemissed this.
Matt (31:17):
y'all seen by the way, the iTunes chart numbers for sit
down for what.
Calathea (31:22):
Yeah.
It's uh, it's blow it up.
Matt (31:25):
It's everywhere.
There, there are some, uh,pretty choice remixes going
around tick talk as well.
Uh, you know, using theobviously tragic, but th the
footage, um, yeah, I, you know,maybe he's angry with us now,
but this is doing numbers.
Kate (31:46):
Yeah,
Calathea (31:47):
true.
This could be our Oreo moment.
Matt (31:51):
Reminds me having had lunch today.
Kate (31:54):
Okay.
Everyone go eat, uh, and set.
All right, I'll stop recording.
Ben (32:02):
This meeting has ended.
To subscribe to this startup isbeing recorded.
Go to the podcast player of yourchoice and tap a button that
likely says subscribe.
More content is on Twitter atstartup recorded, or shoot us an
email with ideas, feedback, oryour personal startup horror
story.
At hello@startuprecorded.com.
Kate is played by ValerieGarrison.
(32:23):
Valerie is a health tech productmanager and regularly plays with
the improv troupe letters tochicken online.
You can find her on Twitter atthevalgarris eric has played by
Barry wright Barry is a productmanager at Spotify and a
co-founder of Highwire Improv.
Find him by his name onLinkedIn, where he holds regular
office hours or athighwireimprov.com.
Matt is played by Marty Mcguire.
(32:44):
Marty is a senior web engineerand improviser in New York city.
You can find Marty's comedy codeand cats on his website at M M G
dot R E.
Calathea is played by RobynStegman.
Robyn is a digital campaignmanager for ocean Conservancy
and is a comedian mostly foundat Highwire improv.
You can find her on all thesocial medias.
And she does mean all at rsteggythank you for listening.
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