A quarter million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A web startup which makes the apartment rental process happen online.

(written by Lawrence Krubner, however indented passages are often quotes)

I went on to clerk for a federal appellate judge. This is a big deal to some people. Then I went to a big law firm and pulled in a quarter million. But, as that old saying goes, “A quarter million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A web startup which makes the apartment rental process happen online.” Wizened by art such as Hollywood’s The Social Network, I walked away from my lawyer gig and crashed my girlfriend’s NYU dorm room where we shared a twin-sized bed and I subsisted on turkey sandwiches from Torrisi and Grom frappes. I knew my next move. My old crony Rodrigo had emailed me and said it was time to right the wrong that was Sonya Labs (artfully named after a Chekov character). He told me that he was following his vegetarian girlfriend to San Francisco. I said, “It’s on!” We found another Chinese guy in Eric so our team was complete.

Seed stage accelerators seem to have changed over the last couple of years while I’ve been doing the lawyer thing. You know, in law, they say something like, “Law is the accumulated wisdom of the ages; progress comes slow.” How was I supposed to know that the sands of the startup world were shifting beneath me?! Rodrigo, Eric, and I applied to YC this fall with only an idea, and we were summarily dismissed. By the time Techstars NYC rolled around, we had a product, but no real traction. Dave Tisch flirted with us — I mean, he really got my motor running. I told Rodrigo and Eric, before I went to Techstars for a Day, that I was going to New York to make out with Cathy and bring back that money. Well, I had a good time at least and ate a few turkey sandwiches from Torrisi. Dave said that they wanted to see more traction from Leasely before funding us and wished us well.

Source

My name is Lawrence Krubner. I run WP Questions .

4 COMMENTS

December 10, 2010
4:13 pm

By Walter

Hi Lawrence. I’m glad you enjoyed the article! I wrote it. Your startups are very cool. I’d love it if you took a peek at Leasely and let me know what you thought, especially with respect to UI/UX (yours are spiffy).

December 10, 2010
8:11 pm

By lawrence

Walter,

I think the problem you are trying to solve is real. I think the rental market is crazy. I can empathize with the question that you wrestle with, namely, “Who is the customer?” On a site the Codewi.se sites I’m constantly wondering if I should think of the askers as the customers or the experts as the customers. The 2 groups have about 35% overlap (answerers who also ask questions) which impacts how I think about advertising.

Your situation is even more complicated, since you need to figure out where the first dollar is really coming from. Does it come from renters or from landlords? Where do the landlords get their money? Is there a win-win situation for everyone?

Overall, I think the design of your site is great for a first iteration. There is small things I might tweak. For instance, on this page:

https://www.leasely.com/product-tour/

I see the sample text “You are 60% done with your application”. That should probably be supplemented with a bar chart that shows 60% progress. But that kind of minor tweaking can come later.

I think the first iteration of any site is like the ante in poker. It’s what you need to do simply to get in the game. But the ante is not the point of the game. It’s simply where the game starts. Only once you’re in can you show whether you are good at the game, or not. And only once you’re in do you find out if you are lucky, or not.

December 12, 2010
12:13 am

By Walter

Lawrence, thanks so much for your encouragement. (And your advice is well taken.)

The point you make really hits home. I’m feeling like we just need to keep our work rate up so that we can keep trying to see what works to get that first dollar.

December 12, 2010
8:42 pm

By lawrence

Thanks, Walter. I moved into my new apartment in Brooklyn in August, and I will be here awhile, but next time I’m looking for a place, I will check back in with your startup.

A quarter million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A web startup which makes the apartment rental process happen online.

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