Welcome to the 10th edition of the Geeks Of The Valley (GOTV) Newsletter where we share our written memo on startups that have yet to raise any funding or announce it publicly, new startup ideas from some of the most original minds in tech and VC, and also episode of the week from our own GOTV podcast!
Team 👥
Mehul Lad: Previously Special Projects Lead (Global Biz Ops) @ Lime, Consultant @ REEF (Ghost Kitchen, raised US$700m), Global Special Projects Lead (worked on a new global business venture) @ Deliveroo.
Nick Mann: Previously Business Development @ Deliveroo.
The Spark ✨
Trend shift towards home-based cooking 🏠 : The next category-defining in the f&b vertical will no longer be subscription box or food delivery, but home cooking. In fact, according to HUNTER, home-based cooking is getting more popular during the COVID-19 period, and the trend is highly likely going to be at least the same or better after the pandemic end.
A vertical-specific social network for serious-yet-amateur home chefs 🌐 : Given the rise in home-based cooking popularity, better cooks (even they’re amateur) will have the opportunities to build up their own brand by leveraging the platform capabilities. Do your friends and family like your cook? If yes - Great! Now you can share it with the people in the community while extracting direct financial value out of it (potential monetization part).
Opportunities to build a full-stack home-based cooking experience 🎡 : Initial target could be high-profile chefs with a strong fan base that could help pull in users into the platform, in which the engagement can be done via recipes sharing or live-cooking streaming. As the users engage more over time, the platform can increase their value by making it easier for users to purchase grocery items and also link up via APIs to recommend recipes based on leftovers or nutritional contents.
Founder-Market fit 👨🚀 : Having the experience in leading few projects for one of the pioneers in the previously game-changing f&b industry (Deliveroo) as well as advising a well-backed ghost kitchen pioneer (REEF) give Mehul a strategic insight on how to approach this highly untapped f&b vertical.
Note: This analysis was originally written in December 2020. More details can be found here.
💡 Startup Ideas
Sharath, Community Program Manager @ Product Hunt
Connor Murphy, Venture Partner @ Techstars
David Perell, “The Writing Guy”
💡 Episode Of The Week
Kamal Hassan is a Managing Partner of the Loyal VC, founded in 2018. The Loyal Startup Index Fund has invested in 125+ companies, in 30+ countries while delivering top quartile financial returns, thanks to its network of 300+ expert advisors. Loyal is the fund Kamal wished he had available during his 20-year career as an entrepreneurial CEO, and 15-year career as an angel investor.
It draws on Kamal’s experience and network built in 7 years as a Global Director with the Founder Institute accelerator, and an alumni association president with INSEAD, where he earned his MBA, after an undergrad degree in engineering physics.
Thanks for reading! See you next time, geeks 👋
If you know anyone that you’d like to be featured in our podcast, feel free to send a note to geeks@geeksofthevalley.com or reach out here!
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