55:10Starting a Startup After Business School - Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis of AptDeco
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 22, 2019 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
AptDeco is a New York City marketplace for buying and selling furniture that handles pickup, delivery, and payments. Founders Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis started from personal frustration with Craigslist, validated demand by duplicating listings with and without delivery, and launched a Frankenstein MVP that had a transaction on day one.
Key insights
- The founders validated the concept by copying Craigslist listings, adding “delivery” to one version, and observing that listings with delivery got more responses.
- Furniture was the fifth most popular category on Craigslist at the time, indicating a large opportunity.
- Early in the company, they operated with negative margins because they undercharged (10–15% transaction fee) and did not fully understand all costs involved in a transaction.
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