Mecca Tartt
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Startup Atlanta Podcast. I’m so excited because today, in the studio, we have Joshua Afolabi. And he is the founder of 2GGO. It is a startup right here in Atlanta. And if you have not heard about this startup, trust me, you are in for a treat today. Joshua, welcome to the studio.
Joshua Afolabi
Thank you, Mecca, for having me. I’m glad to be a part of the Startup Atlanta Podcast. Glad to be here.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. So there’s so much excitement here in Atlanta in the startup ecosystem. Just walk us through your journey, like what brought about 2GGO? Is it your first company? Tell listeners a little bit about 2GGO.
Joshua Afolabi
So, first of all, Atlanta has grown into this startup ecosystem, as you said. 2GGO was the perfect fit for Atlanta and the fashion and beauty industry. 2GGO is a SaaS platform that allows customers to shop online from their favorite fashion and beauty online retailer and get it the same day. So we created 2GGO to eliminate the five to seven business days of shipping where you want to dress or when you want an outfit. And that’s basically what 2GGO is.
We started building 2GGO in 2019. Before the pandemic, the goal was to deliver for brick-and-mortar stores. And over time, as you know, the value proposition changed. And we decided to pivot. And we focused on where the pain point was for customers. And we realized it was when customers shop online and get seven-day or five-day delivery. And we just realized that right now, in this day and age. What do customers want when it comes to online shopping? Are they still waiting five to seven business days? We don’t think so. And that’s why we created 2GGO.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. So is it just you, or do you have a partner? I understand that you saw a need in the marketplace outside of what, for instance, Amazon can provide. But what made you all push to go on it? Pun intended – and made it happen.
Joshua Afolabi
Yes, so I have my co-founder. His name is Henry. And Henry joined me last year. So I’ve been working on this, just building it out. The idea was there. We have a small team, a technical co-founder team who helps with the technical infrastructure and technology stack. And right now, we realized that the reason we decided to push go was that the trend for online shopping is continuing to grow. So if you’ve been through malls recently and don’t see as much traffic as usual, it’s because most people shop online from their mobile phones. So now convenience and access are a thing. So it was at that right fit, where it’s convenient. You can sit on your couch and get your fashion and beauty items delivered. And again, it’s your mobile phone where you spend time on social media. Anyway, it was the best of both worlds. We put it together and decided to go with it and push go.
Mecca Tartt
No, that is incredible. And it’s always so interesting when I talk to founders. They share a bit about their background, how they got into entrepreneurship, what type of support or mentorship they’ve had available, and just being exposed to the startup community. For those founders that are just starting out, what’s some advice that you would share with them?
Joshua Afolabi
The biggest thing is it sounds very cliche, right? Just keep going and continue. That’s what you do. That’s what you get. But the first thing is to believe in the idea constantly. Every idea has the potential to become something great. It started from, you know, a concept, writing some thought about a problem and figuring out a solution. And then we keep going. For example, my background and how I got into entrepreneurship was I had the idea for DoorDash back when I was in college, and I never did it, right? Because again, back then, there was nothing like Uber, and I was in college, and the kids wanted fast food, but there was nobody to deliver it for them. And my cousin and I were one of the kids in college. So we were like, Let’s just put our numbers in the dorms and have them call us, and we will go pick up the food, and they’ll pay us right so we worked the numbers out. We saw how we could make a profit. But because college was so busy, we needed to execute an idea. Right? And now, years later, it’s, you know, Uber Eats, and DoorDash is right because, again, it’s always about buildings. Something that people will need, even if it’s not right now, and even if the market right now is not as big, but the transition into what the future looks like, is always a sweet spot for startups and founders who, you know, kind of see that vision and could go ahead and execute on it.
Mecca Tartt
That’s beautiful. What type of support or mentorship have you had over the years since 2019 launching 2GGO?
Joshua Afolabi
One of the most important things that have helped 2GGO is that we were part of the Atlanta Tech Village Accelerator Program. So for founders here in Atlanta looking for ideas, especially tech founders and founders in general, who were just looking for some mentorship, background, and knowledge of subject matter experts, Atlanta Tech Village was a great start for us. I’ve also had the opportunity to connect with some incredible advisors on our team. And there’s a list out there called the Pay it Forward list for people who don’t know. So this was created by a lady called Kate Hyatt, currently the CMO of Bombas Socks. And she created this list to give access to founders who want to speak to advisors or subject matter experts who have been, you know, just need some help. And on that list is about 2000 names of high net worth and connected individuals willing to give their time to founders for free for many of the resources we got from that list.
Mecca Tartt
Wow. That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing that tool and setting it up with the listeners. And then, as far as the Startup Atlanta Community, what do you find is the greatest need? What do you see daily for you as a founder of a startup that you need more than anything?
Joshua Afolabi
It’s been focused on two things. First is always funding. And then the second is, is the networking connections, right? So unless you are a founder who, you know, grew, or you’re grandfathered into a business, and you have this network and these connections, that’s great. But most founders don’t. So you’re starting from the ground up. So you have to learn how to create these relationships. And I’m an introvert. So I have to learn how to talk to people. And just get any faces and say, “Hey, I’m building 2GGO.” But as far as the greatest need, you know, funding, it’s a big thing, right for, for founders, because for you to execute an idea, you get to a point where now you find product market fit, you need to be able to scale that idea, right? So funding is one of the greatest needs.
And another thing is building the right team for any startup to be successful. You need the right team and everyone willing to execute. Sometimes we work until 4 am. And you know, we constantly do whatever we can to stay ahead, right? Those are some of the things we need now, some of the greatest things.
Mecca Tartt
So networking and funding are the two most important things for you all right now. So speaking about networking, connecting, and funding. Joshua Afolabi and his partner with 2GGO were the recipients of the 20th Startup Runway Showcase. They were one of the winners. And so they walked away with $10,000 in support non-dilutive capital to invest into their company. What wins have you had since then? Or what connections have been made since then that have come out of Startup Runway? For those listening in and maybe you’re new to the podcast, Startup Runway is the leading nonprofit that specifically connects underrepresented founders to capital and investors.
Joshua Afolabi
Yeah, so it’s amazing. And Startup Runway was actually, and I believe it’s crazy, because it opened our business a little bit, like more so opened up business more in a sense that we were able to scale our business even bigger. So, when we first Startup Runway, we had run into other investors and entrepreneurs. And initially, when we started building 2GGO, we were building our driver fleet. And one of the folks that started was like, No, you know, just partnered with another ride-sharing app. And that’s exactly what we did. Right? And that allows us to scale our business a lot faster. So that was one of the great things, and also just receiving funding at, You know, regardless of as the underrepresented founder, any funding is great to come to the business is exciting. So what we’ve done since Startup Runway is now we’ve been able to build out our API plugin. And what that does is allows us to sit on online retailers websites. So now you can go on, for example, fashionnova.com. And you don’t even have to use our app. You can still get same-day delivery because our plugin lets us sit on their website and inventories in our fulfillment centers. You can shop on your websites like usual and still get same-day delivery. So part of that funding we got from Startup Runway was put into this, and you know, we were able to execute. So it was such great timing for us. And it was a great platform for us as founders. And you know, we met every other founder. Again, it just opened the door to so many opportunities and things we didn’t even know we were able to learn from just being a part of that platform in the show at the time. So it was great. We’ve been able to do a lot of things since then.
Mecca Tartt
So how did you go about preparing? Some founders are also listening in and either they’ve been a part of a pitch competition and they didn’t walk away with anything, or they’ve done pitch competition after pitch competition and some type of opportunity needs to be added or there’s some disconnect. How did you prepare for the pitch competition? And what are just some tips that you would give to other founders that are in that position?
Joshua Afolabi
So one of the things we did was we are always in the office every night. So we took the show, and we would like to pitch all the time to my co-founder. And at one point, we would FaceTime friends and family. And while we were given five minutes right to complete the pitch, that was it, right? We have five minutes. Our goal was to pitch in under four minutes. So I needed to hit 3:45, every time perfectly, without speeding through the deck. It was like we were going for three minutes and 45 seconds. That was the limit we set for ourselves. Because we knew that that gave us an extra one minute and 15 seconds when we got, you know, on stage, so we were constantly hitting three minutes and 45 seconds. And then we knew that we got it.
Another thing was pointing out the most important part of our deck that was communicated to the audience. There are certain things that the audience, you know, don’t necessarily need to dive into. But we needed to pick out the most important things to make them resonate with what we are building, right? And we got that after the Startup Runway. We had people reach out to us through emails and text messages. When will you be in Dallas? When are you going to be in New York and things like that, again, because it resonated with them, you know because we’re able to communicate that through our pitch. So one is practicing. And I was aiming for less than five minutes. I was aiming for three and 45 seconds. And two would be to point out the most important parts of the deck so that people can immediately understand what you’re trying to solve.
Mecca Tartt
I love that advice. So what’s on the horizon for you all, like what’s next? What’s coming down the pipeline as we move into the halfway point really for the year? What’s next for you all?
Joshua Afolabi
So right now, we officially began fundraising. So we’re currently raising our pre-seed round. And our goal is to talk to investors willing to come on board. And more importantly, we’re looking to get our first couple of retailers on board to run a pilot here in Atlanta. We already started to see retailers wanting to offer their customers faster delivery. So this is where work comes in. Right. So any investors listening out there, this is it. This is what the future looks like, right? And that’s what we’re trying to convey here: what the customer wants, they want convenience, and they already demand it, and retailers are losing money because they can’t offer their customers faster delivery. Here’s where we come in. And here’s where we solve that problem for both parties. Our next steps are to get some retailers on board online, you know, retailers on board, and then get our pre-seed round raise and execute the idea we already have. That’s where we’re going with it.
Mecca Tartt
That’s awesome. So the pre-seed round that you all are currently raising. I know that’s what goes back to sales. So, Joshua, we talked about how not necessarily I don’t know if you use the word introvert naturally, but how have you cultivated your sales skills? Because I think sometimes, you know, especially newer startups, it’s like, okay, well, I just want to focus on, you know, getting the product done, or I want to focus on, you know, bringing it to market or I just want to focus on I’m just having this platform. But when I think about sales, it makes me nervous. So what have you done for yourself to like to cultivate and hone in on those sales skills? Or have you hired someone to help with that process?
Joshua Afolabi
As the founder and just the ground level of everything, I need to be that salesperson. So it’s one of those things I must break out of my shell, right? And if I met you for the first time, maybe the first question I asked you is, here’s what this app does. Tell me why you would use it and why you wouldn’t use it. I would hone in on all the key things that you said and focus on the things that you also said, reasons why you wouldn’t use it, and use that to create this scenario for you to build this. Here’s what we’re doing. And here’s why it’s the best thing since sliced bread. So again, one of the things that I constantly do is ask questions. Because it allows me to be a better salesperson, even though, as an introvert, I don’t necessarily come off like that. So I have to learn to engage in conversations by asking those questions. And it always leads me. It opens the door for me to speak more about 2GGO and say here’s what we’re building, and get people’s thoughts on it. As founders, most of the time, we all think our ideas are great, right? And sometimes that people don’t even want it, so the only way I can figure out how this works and how to sell it because if you think about it, for 2GGO, is we have two customers, but our main customer is the retailer because they partner with us. And then we offer their customers same day delivery. So we have to learn as a salesperson. And as the company’s founder, how can you talk to both sides, right? And it’s not the same questions I’m asking them, right? Because on the retail side, what is more important to you today? How do I help you grow your revenue? And how do I take you from 10 million to 20 million? And does this solution that I have presented to you? Do you believe it’s going to work? What are your customers saying? All of these things come from a lot of research and background, right? So when I get into those conversations, I’m focused on all of my research that I’ve done with a bunch of companies for the past two months, and I’m calling out all of the issues you guys may have and how we can solve them. And that’s how I, how I approach it.
Mecca Tartt
What has been your biggest learning lesson today? With which to go and just the creation and moving forward? What’s been your biggest challenge or biggest learning lesson? What has been your biggest learning lesson today? With which to go and just the creation and moving forward? What’s been your biggest challenge or biggest learning lesson?
Joshua Afolabi
It’s the ability to build fast but still conscious. And what I mean by that is, sometimes, as entrepreneurs, we start building things and speak to something other than the people we’re building them for. Right? And then when you speak to them, you’re like, Oh, well, I don’t really care about this part. But I care about this, right? So I learned very early to scale back. So what we did was we went, we built a simple MVP app, which is available in Atlanta right now, where we beta tested a couple of clothing stores, a bikini store, some beauty stores, and just a few inventory items. We allowed people to shop, and we delivered it the same day. And it works with people we shop on all the time, using our MVP. And it’s extremely simple, intuitive, and easy to use, right?
You don’t even have to log in. It’s just right there for you. By putting in your address, we deliver it to you. Because we were going to build only some of the bells and whistles before we understood what the customers wanted. So what are those, the biggest lessons learned for me as an entrepreneur and as a founder is learning to build fast, but still, you know, be cautious about what we’re building matches, build things just because we think it’s great. But we build because the customer needs it and fixes a solution to their problem. Hmm.
Mecca Tartt
I love that because sometimes you can get so deep down in a rabbit hole of your thoughts. And you have those moments where you’re talking to yourself like, Oh, this is great, they’re going to love this, they’re going to love this. And you have yet to have a chance to touch bases with the consumer.
Joshua Afolabi
Exactly. And there’s technical debt, right? So there’s technical debt in the tech startup world where you’ve built out all these bells, whistles, and features. And now you have to scale them back and tear them down or rebuild them. Because, you know, you didn’t follow due process. So to eliminate that or mitigate that, we focus on, you know, again, building with consciousness, like one thing at a time, right? And we’ll give you the next thing when this works. And as this works, we give you the next thing, you know, just.
Mecca Tartt
Listen, you talked about being up and working with your co-founder until four o’clock in the morning. That’s why entrepreneurship in running a startup is not for everyone. It’s so easy to say I just want to leave my nine to five and start this startup, you know, or, you know, become an entrepreneur because it will be easier. What do you say to those people?
Joshua Afolabi
Working a nine-to-five day to be a founder is a lot easier. It’s a lot easier to work in because when you’re a founder, you are 24/7. We are usually at the Atlanta Tech Village offices, sometimes 4 or 5 am, and we’re going back home to go back to sometimes, you know, part-time jobs. As founders, we still have to pay the bills and all those things. So now you’re juggling both of them at the same time. But again, determination and passion for what you’re building is what keeps you going. Because there are days when you feel you can’t do it, only some days are great.
You don’t wake up daily, like, oh my god, yes, we’re going to. There are some days when my phone and I wake up with anxiety. And we’re like, Oh, my goodness, this is happening. But again, passion and determination is what keeps you going. We just don’t stop. We just continue to go since 2019, continue 2GGO talking to investors, some of them interested, some of them not, right, push back, and all those types of things, and we just continue to go, and no pun intended to go. But that was that we kept pushing. And you know, we make it so for any entrepreneur, it can be done. It’s not it’s this is not me saying it cannot be done. It could be done. It’s just what drives it is passion. Because the day you feel like you cannot do it, that passion will help you get through that day. That’s it.
Mecca Tartt
I love that because it is my passion. That was what leads to my next question for you. And that was like, how do you stay engaged? How do you stay excited, especially when you’re thinking, Man, I thought this investor would move forward, or we would get this big contract or deal. And it doesn’t happen. And so, how do you continue to fill your cup up? If you feel okay, I can go on another day and work until four o’clock in the morning again. What exactly is that as an internal drive? Is that just the natural passion around your product? How do you get past and get through the difficult days?
Joshua Afolabi
And that’s such a great question. And it’s both. It’s the internal drive, right? And it’s also the intrinsic reward of building something you know will be great. And another thing is we spend time watching other founders. So one of the things that I did was I watched the founder of Airbnb, and I watched so many stories of how investors told him this would not be great. And you know, they didn’t invest in an investment when they told him, “I love everything about you, but your company, right?” So again, only some investors will understand what you’re building, but it takes one to see what you’re making and want to come on board. Because at an early stage, the investors aren’t necessarily investing in the idea. They invested in you as a founder. So for an investor to go through a deck and say, Oh, well, I don’t know if this will be great. And then they pass on it. That startup ecosystem is skewed. That’s another conversation for another day. But it’s different when investors, you know, actually listen to you, see the passion and the drive, and want to invest in you. So that’s what keeps us going. Even when we hear nose, we hear a lot of noise like, Hey, what are you going to do with Uber coming in, you know, trying to take you guys under, and we hit all of these things. But again, that intrinsic reward drives every day to the determination to make sure. So goes a household name. Right is what keeps us going. And we’re just going to continue until we accomplish that.
Mecca Tartt
How important do you think is partnership over being a solopreneur?
Joshua Afolabi
So I started as a solopreneur. Right? And what happens is you get to do things your way, right? There’s nobody here to tell you, and you don’t have to check on anybody else. And you’re like going about it your way. But partnership has been great. Because now, other ideas come to the table, and it’s not just mine — the ability to collaborate with somebody else with different thoughts. My partner and I think completely differently. He has his strengths and his weakness, and I have mine, and we hone in on wherever my weakness is this his trip like he loves talking to people he will go out and be like, hey to going I’m like in a corner like wow, you know this is so he’s more of an extrovert like he will get out and speak so that’s been great. And the more people who will bring on a team with different backgrounds, skills, and personalities have made it like a fun workplace. So that’s the biggest difference. And I would take partnership any day over being a solopreneur. Because it’s just your thoughts at that point?
Mecca Tartt
I can understand that. Regarding the type of investor, because he said that you guys are raising right now, what would be ideal for you? It has to be an equal partnership and a win-win. You’d never want to partner with someone who wants to take your company in a different direction. But what are you all looking for?
Joshua Afolabi
Yeah, that’s okay. That’s a very great question. And I think only a few founders get asked that because it’s usually the other way around. But on our end, we focused on one. We are believers in Christ. So we pray all the time. And we always pray to God and tell God like, hey, if this is not going to be the right partner, we don’t even want them to be, you know, interested in what we’re doing. Right? Give us partners who understand what we’re building. So my partner and I, we talk about this all the time. We want investors that feel like a family. They understand what we’re trying to do. And they come from a place of advice and out of love, right and direction? Not necessarily, because a lot of times, most founders, we run into investors who have their agendas, right? And immediately you give them an idea, they automatically think about how else it can go and then start veering into that, right? We want investors who can listen to us, understand what we’re trying to do and believe that we can execute on ideas.
Valor Ventures is a very good investor because I have a friend, Eco Text, who they invested in. And one day, I was having a conversation with them and I asked what does it feel like? Being invested in? You know what, like, I because I was nervous, I’m like, tell me what that relationship feels like. And he was like, it feels like family. It feels like family. And I can say to that piece in his voice. Right? He wasn’t bound. That’s what we want. We don’t wish to, you know, like the feeling of, Oh, my goodness, if I don’t get this done, this is going to, you know, feel so that feeling of families, what we’re looking for as far as investors, and investors who are willing to kind of go with us all the way. Right. And again, they just need to believe in leaving us.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. So any lasting thoughts you would like to leave? Maybe the investors or the founders listening?
Joshua Afolabi
Yeah, I think for both sides, founders, especially underrepresented founders, at this point, just need to continue to understand that they need to keep going, right? Because as you know, make awareness we’re in a stage now. Where precede is not necessarily precede because you have to have traction for it to precede all of that stuff. So many founders are getting discouraged, but they must keep going. There are as many as we hear about, you know, underrepresented founders not, you know, getting VC back. Some founders are right, and the possibility is there. The opportunity is there for you to get founded, funded as underrepresented founders, and they just have founders all over, right? Regardless, if you’re underrepresented. It’s about pushing through, right? It’s better to, they always say, like the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. Right? So it’s like that one step. You just have to keep going. And that’s where we are.
Mecca Tartt
That’s wonderful. That is wonderful. Well, this has been another episode of the Startup Atlanta podcast. We are so excited to have Joshua Afolabi with us from 2GGO if can tell them before we hop off and wrap this up – if you can tell them how they can stay connected and how they can get in contact with you. And even from a customer standpoint, from a consumer base, how we can get into your app, because there are things that I’m always trying to order, especially from different department stores. And it’s like we are not going to get here in time. So let me find something else to wear.
Joshua Afolabi
Yeah, definitely. Right now, the app is available on iOS and Android platforms. So you can download the MVP of the app and try it out. We have limited inventory. But again, great quality items are there. And then, for anyone who wants to reach out, my email is joshua.a@tuggotech.com. And I’m always happy to connect with like-minded individuals and continue to build the Atlanta ecosystem to be the next Silicon Valley.
Mecca Tartt
Thank you, Joshua. This has been another amazing episode of the Startup Atlanta podcast. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Joshua Afolabi
Thank you, Mecca, for having me. Appreciate the time.
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