Apps Without Code Blog

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)}

I’m really excited to be part of @OrbitalNYC Bootcamp this summer as I figure out how to bring Kollecto to market. This week, I made significant progress in gauging whether there is scalable interest in a project like Kollecto.

Background on the Project:

Kollecto is a service that helps people become art collectors. Before Kollecto existed, personal art buyers cost ~$100/hr and required a minimum budget of $10,000. As young professionals with limited budgets, we wanted to disrupt this model. We liked art, but didn’t have time to negotiate prices or comb through hundreds of galleries & exhibits.

So we built Kollecto, a service that gives you affordable access to your own personal art buyer (fancy, right?) and the ability to become an art collector.

Who wants this?

Well, I do!

In the past year, I’ve started building a modest art collection. I couldn’t have done it without the help of 2 gallerists who took me under their wing (Mariane Lenhardt and Diane Venti). Both Mariane and Diane coached me through the process and over time, I stitched together some basic knowledge of what to buy, where to buy, and for how much. I wasn’t looking for anyone to coach me, but once I found their help, I was eternally grateful. 

Does anyone other than myself want a personal concierge to teach them how to buy art…and scour galleries nation-wide to find pieces for them… and then handle all the price negotiation?

This week, I tested the waters to find out. My hypothesis was that a great target market for Kollecto would be recent MBA/JD/college graduates. They are moving into new apartments with white walls, have disposable incomes, and are eager to impress their friends with cool art on their walls. 

So I reached out to 10 people in my Management Leadership for Tomorrow network, inviting them to participate in a beta version on the program. While several people messaged back, complimenting me on such a cool product, no one signed up. 

I’m taking this with a grain of salt. My sample size was small. I only messaged 10 people, so if 1 person had signed up, I would’ve had a 10% acquisition rate (which is really high for an unknown startup + I’m actively trying not to target my friends).

But maybe, I’m targeting the wrong audience. Maybe my goal shouldn’t be to turn regular people into art collectors. Maybe I should be trying to find people who (like myself a year ago) are already interested in buying art and need help. I don’t have all the answers on how I’ll market to these people, but I have some ideas up my sleeve. Stay tuned! 

Other Wins/ Learnings this week: 

1- I wanted to figure out whether people with deep art industry knowledge would be interested in joining our team as Personal Art Buyers. We messaged 6 people on LinkedIn and got referrals from friends. The great news is that people wrote back and were interested in our project! We’re starting some interviews & have confirmed that art buyers & curators want this!

2- I also wanted to figure out whether galleries would be interested in having access to our client list. While I will not share client names, I’d like to build a revenue model where galleries/ artists subscribe to a regular list of the types of pieces our clients are looking for. If a gallery has art that is right for a client, they can submit it, and Kollecto will show the client! One day, we may charge for this service, but for now, we messaged 10 galleries & 10 artists with an offer to participate for free! We got great responses and have confirmed this is something galleries & artists want as well. Plus, I’m really excited about the concept of creating a hyper targeted ‘ad’ for art