Sh*t, that’s a lot of feedback!

Managing feedback is one of the hardest things about building a startup/ side-project.

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Part 1: Context (skip to part 2 to read about the actual feedback I’m getting)

As part of Orbital NYC, I have several assignments to complete, which are intended to give me the experience/ skills needed to launch my project. One of the assignments is to set up a cold-call meeting with someone I’d like to meet. The other is to leverage my network to meet someone. See Orbital’s public syllabus for all assignments. 

In the process of scheduling meetings with strangers, I’ve had to juggle everyone’s feedback, filter the ideas that are inconsistent with my vision, while simultaneously allowing my vision to be malleable based on the great points/ ideas thrown my way.

My ‘cold calls’ were to the 5 art curators/ advisors I emailed via LinkedIn about partnering with Kollecto as Art Advisors. To my excitement, 4 out of 5 people responded with interest. I had two in-person meetings, one phone call, and one video chat. While the conversations allowed me to interview potential partners, I also got lots of feedback on my business model, intended customer experience, etc.

My second  assignment also yielded lots of feedback. Gary Chou (founder of Orbital) introduced me to Elisa Durrette, an art collector, who helped me thing through Kollecto’s value prop to collectors. It was a great chat & we were both disappointed when we had to end it after an hour.

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Part 2: Sh*t, that’s a lot of feedback!

The good thing is that I’ve gotten feedback from the entire Kollecto ecosystem- galleries, collectors, & art advisors. The daunting thing is that I’ve gotten lots of (contradicting) feedback.

Here’s some of the feedback I’m getting. I’ve had to parse through all this valuable feedback to make judgment calls for myself. I put an asterisk next to the directions I’m leaning in. I’m not 100% sure I’m making the right decisions (I might regret many of them), but that’s the fun part of the iterative process.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Keep it coming- I’m listening!

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The Feedback

1. Many millennial collectors won’t want in-person/ video chat contact with their art advisor. They’ll just want to communicate online (via email).
2. Collectors will appreciate the experience more when they get personal video chat attention from their advisor or even have the option of having the advisor take them on in-person gallery visits to see the art* 

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1. Galleries will totally pay $30-$40 per month for access to Kollecto’s client list (this was feedback from a gallery)*
2. $30-$40 is too much when galleries aren’t guaranteed sales. A commission model is better because that’s what galleries are already used to (this was also feedback from a gallery)

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1. Kollecto should offer access to its client list only to galleries. This controls quality & saves Kollecto from notoriously disorganized artists.
2. Kollecto should offer access to client lists to both artists & galleries*
   

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1. Kollecto should cultivate people into art collectors. The people who spend lots of money collecting sneakers are great target markets, for example
2. Kollecto should target people who are already collectors, but who don’t have extravagant budgets. For these people, the Kollecto Advisor is super valuable, but the monthly payment play may be less valuable* ^{(as we grow)}
3. Kollecto should target people already interested in art, but are not yet collecting/ think they can’t afford to collect. For these people, the payment plan is very valuable*

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1. Kollecto should start small & build the service with 1-2 generalist art advisors. * ^{(for pilot program)}
2. Kollecto should start thinking, sooner rather than later, about letting customers browse a small selection of specialized art advisors & pick one with a similar taste/expertise profile * ^{(coming later this summer- although I might regret it)}