The Great Pivot
The story of how OOSH started is a lot of fun.
Some friends and I went on a snowboarding trip. It's about a 4-hour drive from where we live. Driving home we were going up a large hill called the Mangawekas. A friend overtook us going up the hill.
While passing us he held up a note in the window and it read
“FLAT TYRE, PULL OVER”
I pulled the car into the stopping area near the top of the hill to check out this ‘flat tyre’. Got out the car and guess what… the tyre wasn't flat. This friend had pranked me.
I had a laugh, but it was that exact moment I thought - WOW, he communicated to me from his car.
Now, this was back in like, i think 2010 maybe, so a while ago. But I kept the idea in the back of my head. Weirdly started a different business. A business that I hated. All the time I kept thinking about this idea… CARS COMMUNICATING.
Not starting OOSH back then was a good idea, Moms weren't on Facebook then and Instagram wasn't that popular. It wouldn't have made sense. Now, writing messages for the world to see or a brand communicating like a real person in real time is the norm.
So the pivot? Well, starting OOSH I wanted to be self-funded. And this is because building something small, copying someone else is easy and safe.
So I tried to build a Digital Signage company. We had this product here….
I walked up and down the main street of Lower Hutt knocking on doors. Saying “Have you thought about Digital Signage?”
The app was unique, but in the end, no one cared. I sold one unit and 3 “dongles”.
It was really sad because the only thing I really wanted to do was build the car part of OOSH.
What's weird is that being safe cost me about a year of time, $50k of personal money and left me frustrated that the chance to do something different, I played it safe.
But now… well, we are going for it. Actually, it’s just me, but I feel like it is ‘we’ when I include my wife who supports me, my dad who is donating/investing mainly donating.
