Andres Sampka is the CEO and Co-Founder of Parcelsea, an Estonian last-mile delivery startup  developing smart mailboxes that accept and deliver your packages in a secure and contact-free way, without you even being home.

In this episode we unpack what goes into starting a hardware intensive business (in a garage), the subscription pricing model for hardware tech, building an MVP, adding innovative services to your (not so ordinary) mailbox, as well as how you can protect your IP from the likes of Jeff Bezos.

The topics covered in this episode with Timestamps

[03:10] - INTRODUCTION AND DEMOCRATIZING THE PACKAGE DELIVERY INDUSTRY

• The Parcelsea product
• The problems in the package delivery industry we all face
• The growth of the e-GDP from the pandemic
• Saving the world while saving time&money

[09:15] - ON THE BUSINESS MODEL AND SCALABILITY 

• The Parcelsea business model
• Multi-user sharing
• Scaling the business in different countries
• Using previous hardware experience to solve for scalability

[14:34] - ON BUILDING A USER FRIENDLY HARDWARE PRODUCT

• Coming up with the first version/MVP
• Trade-offs between customer requests and cost efficiency
• The innovator’s dilemma
• Powerpoint as first MVP
• Make or buy trade offs
• Educating the users

[22:00] - ON FACTORS TO HELP LAUNCH FAST

• Team with previous experience together
• Knowing what to do prior to starting
• Being lean
• Validating with users early

[25:40] - ON JOB TO BE DONE FRAMEWORK AND AN ACTUAL GARAGE

• Starting a hardware business in the garage
• Using Clayton Christensen Job to Be Done Framework

[27:50] -  ON SUBSCRIPTION PRICING FOR HARDWARE 

• Pricing a new concept
• Removing entry barriers
• Creating a platform vs selling a piece of hardware

[30:55] -  ON PROTECTING YOUR IP/BUSINESS

• Avoiding getting killed by Jeff Bezos and/or Elon Musk
• Speed and traction
• Sticky business model
• Scaling the production
• Managing funding

To reach out to Andres use:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andressampka/

Website: https://parcelsea.com/et

Find out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/ 

Support for this episode comes from Nexpay > https://paynexpay.com/

Support for this episode comes from Venetor > https://www.venetor.co/ 

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