Lessons Learned in San Francisco

In November 2014, I traveled to San Francisco and spent 5 days (Thursday–Monday) skating the streets to introduce FoodCircles to different startups, engineers, and connectors. I received some of the best technical, managerial, and fundraising advice of my life and wrote the following as a response to the question, “So, how did it go?”

Guidepost to Reading — There are two general ways of reading this post:

The “Lessons” Route: skim down the post, looking for the bold or yellow-highlighted sections. When you find something you like, feel free to read the context.


The “Narrative” Route: read the full perspective of an entrepreneur—and many times wantrapreneur—trying to find his way through the city and his first startup.

Late Wednesday Night

The journey started on a late, rainy night finding my way into the hills of Chinatown to get to my Couchsurfing host’s apartment. I once slipped on my longboard and watched it almost get crunched by traffic. Thinking back, losing my board would have greatly limited my trip and experience. But thankfully, that didn’t happen. I got to Ken’s place and he was already asleep, leaving a note for me on the table. I hit the strange bed in the strange city in the heart of Chinatown and tried to get ready for the day that was to come.

Grabbed Coffee w/ 5 Users and These Are The Lessons Learned

What are your dine out “habits”? (when, where do you go, how do you decide, etc.)  What’s your attitude toward new restaurants and toward getting deals? Where do you find ’em?

How does giving back fit into your life?  Would you say you give back enough?

We wanted to reveal a couple recommendations a “User Researcher” from UofM named Mo Kerwin gave to us.  She hung out with 5 individuals who’d used our old app and captured their thoughts, feelings, and emotions around FoodCircles, dining out, and helping others.