The Story Behind My Chicago Start-Up: What Worked and What Didn’t
After reading this Business Week article on the lack of women leading tech companies and start-ups, I decided it was finally time to tell the story of something I rarely talk about.
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“That’s a brilliant idea.”
“Wow, you should patent that.”
“Did you come up with this idea all by yourself?”
Those were just some of the encouraging (cough, cough) words I heard when I created the concept behind CondoPerks. For folks living in buildings with a Homeowner’s Associations (typically condos), the idea is simple: shop online and a percentage of each purchase goes into your buildings reserves - with the end idea of helping offset special assessments. Here in Chicago, new condo developments were/are going up faster that you can say poof. New condo owners were excited with the low assessments promised by their developers, only to see the building turned over to the owners, followed by a massive assessment hike. Some associations were dealing with shoddy workmanship that resulted in extra costs for the building dwellers (like a $1.7MM special assessment for leaky windows).
All and all, not a good situation and condo developers continued to create new LLCs for their properties, which made it even harder to achieve any resolution when it came to building glitches. LLCs can dissolve, which makes the trail of keeping track of developers even more difficult.
I spent a summer going from condo to condo, talking to alderman after alderman and heard the same stories of condo drama. New owners were upset with their assessment hikes, while seasoned owners kept decision making to a few people. Communities were fighting; the ‘suburbs in the sky’ were essentially individual boxes that didn’t seem to connect.
My lawyers convinced me to patent the concept and trademark the logo (I think my lawyers are great, but these were big financial mistakes). I couldn’t find a developer to take a swag at creating some mockups sans payment, so I took the equity out of my condo and paid someone to create a hefty site with a database, etc. I spent endless hours negotiating deals with online retailers, loading in offers, running reports, cutting condos checks, visiting condos around Illinois and reading the Illinois Condominium Property Act. I talked with real estate attorneys, assessors, tax experts, accounts and real estate developers – all for the purpose of getting as much information as possible for the site.
Meanwhile, I connected with various start-up contacts in Chicago. I talked to developers, VCs, former colleagues and the majority of them said ‘I was on to something’. I distinctly remember being at a Chicago tech event, in the middle of a VC and serial Chicago entrepreneur. When I told them my idea, the VC was going to talk about a similar idea that he knew of, yet the other entrepreneur sushed the VC in not discussing the topic further. Talk about collaboration, eh?
CondoPerks was featured in major Chicago publications, with real estate reporters telling me ‘continue the good fight’ and help property owners. I had similar businesses contact me to collaborate on countless types of sites. I even had the President of a popular property management firm threaten me (he wasn't too keen on me coming in with an idea for his residents, even though they brought me in to chat with them). It was a whirlwind.
It wasn’t enough. Being in the Midwest, I’m a realist: VCs want to see ROI before investing in an idea. I get it.
Even though I had a treasure trove of friends, former colleagues that were developers and dug the idea, I couldn’t find one person to make the site I was creating automated/faster, etc. Hey, no ill will, given the explosion of Web 2.0 tools, but it was frustrating as all heck. I also knew that a site of this nature needed a sales force. Oh, as I was building out this site, I was consulting like a mad woman and also running Gals’ Guide. After all, I had my own mortgage and increase in assessments to deal with.
What did I learn?
-I believe in bootstrapping a concept, but there needs to be a better way to link up the people with the ideas with those folks that are talented developers. The person I hired to create CondoPerks was efficient, young and worked hard, but I know I needed more horsepower when it came to development.
-I didn’t know that there were attorneys in town that specialized in working with startups – they waive some of their fees in exchange for payment later.
-I don’t regret taking the equity out of my condo to build the initial concept to CondoPerks. I did what I had to do. Given the current real estate market, however, I kick myself at least once a month.
-Even though I was told I had a ‘brilliant’ idea, it wasn’t enough to get proof of concept off the ground.
-We need more women in the world of Chicago start-ups. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know SitterCity’s Genevieve Theirs and she provided some of THE best advice I could have received. She continues to be a dear friend. I went to countless startup events and chats and will be honest, the Boys’ Club began to get on my nerves. The fact that less than 10 women were attendees to ORDCamp goes to show that there is either a) a lack of women in tech in Chicago or b) a lack of a database or connection point to show we exist.
Would I take the experience back? Not at all. Would I have done things differently? Heck yes. Would I give CondoPerks a second try in the near future? Doubtful.
I continue to believe there is a serious problem in the world of condo living. Until new owners understand what it means to own a condo and until developers become 100% transparent in their ways, homeowner associations will be stuck with increasing costs for living in their individual box among boxes.
Why do I rarely talk about CondoPerks? I think I subconsciously blocked this part of my life away into a mental folder. I've never considered myself a 'social media person', but someone who lives in the digital space and enjoys those current projects that take up my time. For this juncture in my life, it happens to be social media, but I'll always continue to find ways to build solutions to various problems. For now, those problems happen to revolve around social media.
In the meantime, if you have any condo questions, I'm your gal:).
