On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I sit down with Sean Spector, co-founder of Gamefly and his most recent venture Dropoff, which offers same-day delivery for business. In our time together we cover how he got Gamefly off the ground and what he learned from that experience that he’s taken with him to Dropoff. Stick around to hear what he learned from his time a Disney and to find out what $20 purchase he’s recently made that changed his life for the better. Enjoy!
Have comments, questions, ideas, or feedback? I want to hear it. Tweet me at william_griggs.
Topics Covered In This Episode
- Gamefly
- For those unfamiliar, can you share with the audience what Gamefly is?
- How did Gamefly come together? What’s the genesis story?
- Why did you all start it?
- Love for videogames Vs biz opportunity
- Where was the company founded?
- When was the company founded?
- Why did you all start it?
- Looking back, what was the hardest part of business? Maybe an area where you are surprised you got right?
- How did content deals work?
- As you all were building the business, did you all have a goal in mind for where you wanted to take it?
- What’s your most told story from your Gamefly days?
- Raising money
- Experience with the investors at impact of Sequoia
- Looking back, what was your proudest moment from your time helping to build Gamefly?
- Dropoff
- With your success at Gamefly, you could build a lot of different businesses… Why build Dropoff?
- Where did the idea come from?
- Where are you to date with the business?
- How did the founding team come together to get it started?
- What did you need to prove to raise each of your rounds of funding?
- You’ve been around the block, how do you think about building Dropoff?
- Why build this company in Austin?
- What role does logistics & operations play in Dropoff’s business?
- How do you all think about this?
- How do you think about strategy inside of Dropoff? How does that tie into your funding strategy?
- General
- What’s one piece of advice you would give your 25 y.o. self advice?
- What do you find yourself helping companies with most, as a mentor at Techstars?
- Is there one person who you feel has had a disproportionate impact on your success?
- If I you could swap seats with one CEO on the planet, who would it be?
- What did you learn from your CA days that has stuck with you? What your experience at Disney?
- Any crazy stories from your time at CA as an agent or in the mail room?
- What’s a $200 or below purchase that has made your life a lot better? (easier, etc)
Sean Spector’s Bio
Sean Spector is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dropoff, Inc. Founded in 2014, Dropoff is a same-day delivery provider for corporate customers backed by a strong list of Institutional Investors and Angels. Prior to Dropoff, Sean co-founded GameFly, backed by Sequoia Capital and Tenaya Capital and helped grow the company to over $120M in revenue, leading Marketing, Business Development, Mobile, Digital, Ad Sales, Content, and M&A efforts. Sean was previously an Agent at Creative Artists Agency and a Producer at The Walt Disney Company.
