060: How this College Startup is Moving Past the Competition (Cam Doody of Bellhops)

Background on Cam Doody of Bellhops:

Cameron Doody is Co-founder and President of BellHops, the largest and fastest growing tech-enabled platform in the moving and delivery space. Bellhops grew from an idea to help college students move onto campus. Bellhops began in 2011 as a dorm-moving service in a small college town. While Bellhops essentially started as a two-day-a-year operation at the end of each semester, the company soon realized it was onto something bigger: there's a certain magical synergy between the enthusiasm and stamina of college students and the challenges of moving. They are now a moving company based in Chattanooga that is operating in 85 cities in 39 states across the U.S. Cameron is responsible for raising more than $21 million in venture capital from some of the most prestigious investors in the world, and was awarded the 2015 Auburn University Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He was also given the Spirit of Innovation Award and his company was nominated as the Best New Startup of 2014.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[1:04] Cam is the President of Bellhops, a modern moving company enables by technology that provides a fun and professional moving experience.
[4:02] They started the business in Birmingham, AL right after college.
[8:00] They started with $2000, charged a flat fee of $100 and they served over 300 students in just 3 days.
[9:11] In their first year, they hired 80 college students and manage the business using clipboards and walkie-talkies.
[12:36] The Company was initially called the Dorm Movers.
[14:12] “It didn’t matter what our trucks look like or what our boxes look like that people put their stuff in, it’s about the individuals that are coming into customers’ homes and interacting with them and their families for hours during a really stressful day.”
[14:46] Their first funding came in late 2012 from Lamp Post Group.
[16:35] They raised $600,000, moved to Chattanooga, TN and started building a tech around the business.
[20:19] One of their toughest times was when their CTO decided to leave the company and move to Seattle to work for Amazon without finishing the technology.
[23:12] “If entrepreneurs have crystal balls they would never start companies. If you could look at your first 600 days in your company it will scare the living crap out of you.”
[32:11] Cam believes that hiring people that are better than you is important in starting a business.
[32:22] “Companies don’t fail because their Founders don’t work hard, they fail because they worked on the wrong problems.”

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖📚 Favorite Book(s)? The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and Yeager by Chuck Yeager.
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Front App.
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Diapers of course :).
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Far too many to mention.

Key Point from the Interview:

“Companies don’t fail because their Founders don’t work hard, they fail because they worked on the wrong problems.”