Coconuts and Haunted Houses: An Excelsior Urban Hike

Ready to hear about our latest adventure? :) Yesterday I went on the Excelsior Urban Hike with bards Christina, Joseph and pit bull Snap!

We started at the Excelsior Bridge and with some stretches. It was a cool and slightly overcast day with refreshingly crisp breezes which made for good hiking weather (and the clouds added to that sense of mystery and excitement one gets when exploring a new part of town). I like the Excelsior neighborhood. I love the little colorful houses, closely packed together on wide and familiarly hilly streets with lots of classy timeless cars like my favorite ‘99 white LeSabres. ;)

We started with some uphills and stopped by one of Christina’s favorite graffiti works, the Silver Girl. She’s casual, mysterious, alluring. Hot!

Then we went up a cute wooden staircase that was surrounded by wild purple and white flowers. At the top of the staircase we turned around and took in the view. As we passed by a couple more houses on the way to the park, we discovered a little window that displayed a coconut collection! Definitely wasn’t expecting that on our hike. ;) The park was relaxing. Calming. A peaceful escape, with lots of trees and greenery, the air was suddenly fresher and cooler. The green was expansive and there were tall trees and sprawling ivy. You could see amazing views all around you. I loved being surrounded by wildflowers and walking on the small trails. We even walked by a pond! Who would’ve known, a pond on top of a hill! There were ducks. Christina joked that she always brings bread but that lately the ducks haven’t been hungry, in fact, they’ve been a bit snooty and not wanting any bread at all. ;) After the lake we went up one last little hill for the final view. We took in amazing views of everything - Daly City, Ocean Beach, and the skyline of the Financial District! Everything. It was windy, but we managed to get a cute picture at the top.

From there I started learning how to walk Snap! I’ve never had a dog before so Christina taught me about how dogs are used to being in a pack and that you need to be the pack leader. No tension on the leash, and you’re the one deciding where to go. Snap was a lot heavier than I thought! But it was awesome! I didn’t realize it’s a lot harder than it looks - a lot of communication going on - and Snap was kinda trekking it too so I had to pick up my pace.

On the way back we stopped by the neighborhood haunted house. It was actually pretty epic! Paint peeling off, a crazy-overgrown yard, broken windows, and an old car in the driveway that looks like it hadn’t been moved in years. Christina joked, “I didn’t think anybody lived in this house…until I saw someone walk out of the door one day!”

When we made it back to the house I was greeted by Chevy, a cute little energetic five year old! We had strawberry lemonade together (guess you could count that as my “recovery drink”) and talked about ghosts and haunted houses. It was a great adventure!

If you’re ever hungry for a little adventure, exercise, and nature - sprinkled with graffiti and haunted houses - with lemonade at the end, join Christina on her next Excelsior Urban Hike!

Mission District Espresso Bar Hopping

On May 27 (an auspicious day - as you may have guessed by now 27 is our lucky number) I took 15 Stanford students from the Stanford Visitors Office on my Mission District Espresso Bar Hopping tour! Our first stop - Philz at 24th and Folsom. I love Philz: the blue painted walls, the warm collection of couches, plants, and pictures. I usually take smaller groups and we each try a new coffee flavor, but for this event I asked that Phil himself be there to give a talk about how he built the business and how he made his amazing coffee.

Phil gave everyone such a warm welcome. I haven’t taken a group of 15 before so I bought in tasting cups so we could be efficient and each taste multiple brews. I started pulling out the cups and Phil said, “No no! We’ll have none of this. I’ll make everyone a cup of coffee!” So Phil went behind the counter and proceeded to make all of us our very own cup. Wow. He made Jacobs and Tesoras. I was lucky - I got to try a special secret blend that isn’t on the menu yet - I couldn’t tell what was in it, but it was fantastic!

We then gathered around the back table and Phil talked to us about the values and culture that he seeks to instill in his business. He talked about how he took 7 years to make the Tesora and how he took 25 years total to create the 80+ flavors of which approximately 20+ are actually on the menu. Which means - good news - there’s a lot more to come!

He also visited and studied the scene at over 1100+ coffee shops. Isn’t that crazy? He wanted to learn what types of customers each coffee shop attracted, how the owner interacted with the customers at the shop, and why customers came back. He wanted to see how diligent the workers were and their attitudes towards coming to work.

As we talked to Phil, we absorbed his business wisdom. He makes it a point to learn something whenever he goes somewhere - he seemed to ask me, “What did you learn today?” We talked a lot about the culture of Philz and how it’s not just about work -but about team. I liked it. Here is a delightful picture of the whole group!

Afterwards, we made the long but pleasant walk to Four Barrel for a cupping and tasting session. Ryan, our roaster, started off with showing us how the roasting machines work and how the beans progress from green to brown (I never knew they were originally green)! He then prepared several different types of beans for tasting. We had beans from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Colombia.

After he brewed the coffee he removed the carbon dioxide film on top … and then we slurped it. Yup. A loud obnoxious slurp in order to spray the tongue with the awesome flavor of the coffee! After we all tasted the coffee, we talked about which ones we liked the best and asked Ryan all our questions. At the end of the tour a couple of us stayed over at Four Barrel and enjoyed some espresso based drinks and conversation - we introduced someone to their first cortada! Here are some pictures of us expertly slurping!

And that was our trip. Lots of coffee. Lots of walking. Lots of sun. Lots of slurping. It was the perfect day for Stanford students to get off campus and experience the beauty that is the Mission. :)

Our first international traveler!

Hello dear readers!

Great news! We recently had our first international traveler go barding! Shannon, from Canada, went on an epic run throughout Golden Gate Park with Janine. What makes us extremely happy about this trip is how much Shannon loved it.

Here is a picture of Shannon right by the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here are some excerpts from the lovely email that she wrote!

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting much from my “mini-vacation” in SF - my boyfriend was there on business and I was just “tagging along”.  I thought “San Fran…meh…another big city…I’ll probably just end up shopping the whole time (and I’m not much of a shopper)” - Boy was I wrong!!!!

There are so many beautiful and wonderful places to go and see and experience and so many opportunities to be active outside.  I was able to run, bike, hike and I even took my first surfing lesson!!!

By the time I got on the plane to go home, I was thoroughly exhausted and needed a vacation from my vacation (just the way a great adventure should be)! :)

And the best part - NO shopping!!!  All fun outdoorsy stuff all the time!

I think that’s the best line ever - “I was thoroughly exhausted and needed a vacation from my vacation.” I think that should be the standard for all future vacations. Live your vacation to the fullest. :)

“The difference between winning and losing start-ups is that winners understand why customers buy.”

Hey Everyone! Our focus going forward is customer discovery. Even though we figured out customer discovery at Stanford, we’re back to the drawing board coming to San Francisco. The next two weeks will be about learning from customers and getting in touch with as many locals in San Francisco as possible to share and talk about Bard. What Got Done

• Contacted all 70+ users to meet for coffee or call and chat about Bard. Gonna be drinking a LOT of coffee over the next couple weeks.
• Read a ton. Re-read: PG’s blog, a couple of YC articles, a refresher on Porter’s 5 Forces, a marketing packet from Experian, and 4 Steps to the Epiphany.
• Crafted a detailed and action-oriented marketing plan. This took up the greatest chunk of time. Very psyched about it!
• Experimented and promoted on wayn.com for a good hour. It’s a huge travel social network. Figuring out the ecosystem and seeing whether it’s a good place to reach travelers.
• I also did 400 push ups today. I’m almost beating Travis!

• It’s incredibly important to give your tour to your friends for free. Right now, their facebook status updates, emails to friends, excitedness about a free tour are so much more important than making money from them. Yeah, I am obsessed with closing the sale, but at this stage just getting a friend to go on a free tour with you is instant high-quality free marketing.
• “The difference between winning and losing start-ups is that winners understand why customers buy.” - Steve Blank
• Determination is willfulness, discipline, and ambition. Loved this article. Check out PG’s article on the Anatomy of Determination.

Our Epic Golden Gate Run with Janine

Janine, a fellow bard and runner, invited us to join her for her Sunday morning 10-15 mile long-run. We instantly agreed. Travis and I are always down for this type of adventure. :) Janine is no ordinary runner. She knows every single trail of Golden Gate Park. It was a cold foggy morning and Travis and I had just done a three-miler from the caltrain to the Golden Gate to “warm-up” and get to see the city (actually it was because we calculated that we’d be faster than the Muni). We see Janine and she asks us what type of run we’re in the mood for, “We can do the same run that’s on the site. Or, we can do a trail run, it’s kinda secret and you’ll feel like you’re in the redwoods. Or we can run to the beach.” I piped up, “Trail run, for sure! Let’s do it!” We get going and immediately dive into the back of the park - before we know it - we’re running on some legit narrow trails. The amazing thing about these trails is…they’re hidden and not easily spotted by visitors. Janine knew exactly the right entry points and even the entry points were pretty secret and hard to see. We were instantly in a forest. The pace was just right - slow enough for me to believe that I was going to survive the next 10 miles but fast enough to challenge my typical training pace. Janine knew which trail to choose. “Make sure you choose a trail that doesn’t lead to the outside of the park - because you can quickly find yourself outside of the park!”

Some of the trails were steep and had little steps on them to help you out - but one thing is certain - they were legit. They swerved left and right, went up and down hills, and had steep declines. Each time we ran into a new part of the park (and felt like we discovered it) Travis and I would quickly glance at each other in astonishment. “I can’t believe we’re in San Francisco!” “Janine this is amazing!” I’d say. She’d respond very knowingly with, “I know!” Love it. The park was alive. It rained recently and there were streams of water in small creeks just rich with fast-flowing water. The air was fresh and it was early enough in the morning for the fog to be quick and fast-moving. We ran by a huge cross (now I know it’s called the Prayer Book Cross) which was built in 1894 as a gift from the Church of England. Sweet. We ran by a section of the park reserved entirely for disc golf. Janine commented, “Watch out! Don’t get hit! I like adding a little bit of danger to my tours.” Hah! The coolest thing we saw were buffalo. Yes. Real live breathing buffalo in Golden Gate Park. My weekend was complete.

We kept running on trails and before we knew it - we were right by the beach. I could hardly believe it. Travis said, “Let’s go run on the sand!” So we ran straight to the beach and alongside. The whole time we were practically 3 feet away from the water. The water almost got Travis at one point but he managed to hop away from it. It was high tide and rushing right next to us. Gorgeous. There was a second where Janine paced in front of us and Travis turned around to face me - he did this excited jumpy thing like “Oh my god I can’t believe we’re doing this!” and then he sprinted right next to Janine and the run resumed. Yup. Before we knew it we were back in the park and making our way back to the car. It was an amazing run. Travis and I totally earned our plate of noodles and belgian waffles afterwards. We had a fantastic time with Janine. If you’re ever looking for a running buddy, someone who truly knows the trails, you’ve got to talk to Janine. She’s legit and our run with her was indeed nothing short of epic! Check out Janine’s Golden Gate Park Tunnel & Running Tunnel Tour Here: http://bard.li/tours/San-Francisco/111/Golden-Gate-Park-Tunnel-and-Garden-Running-Tour/

27 likes on Facebook!

27 likes on Facebook!

“I didn’t lie. I just misinformed myself.”

-TK

A Weekend with Our Bards

Hello world!

Travis and I had an amazing weekend meeting with our bards in San Francisco. 

There is a special relationship between ourselves and our bards. We love them. They are amazing people. I sometimes feel like my relationship with my bards is like a mother’s relationship with her children…only different. It’s true. Okay - enough sentimentality - moving on!

Friday Morning. 

First stop is Philz Coffee. It’s my favorite coffee house in the world. I ordered a Jacobs, Travis tried an Anesthesia and they were both delicious. Travis about to enjoy his anesthesia.

Me about to enjoy my happiness in a cup.

We met Christina who does the super cool Excelsior Urban Hikes tour with her pitbull Snap. She’s a super fit track & field coach and previously ran her own web business. We talked to her about making the site better and the different ways people get to know San Francisco when they first move here. What was cool was - she started barding because she was already walking up the excelsior hills with her pit bull -  she realized she might as well share the experience with travelers. We were delighted to hear this - it’s exactly this type of local knowledge that we believe is incredibly valuable to travelers. 

Here we are with Christina!

After getting lost on the Muni for nearly an hour, we met Genie! Genie is a writer and is currently working on her MFA. We brainstormed a bunch of tours. She has this amazing insider knowledge of the different types of communities in the Excelsior and Mission districts - from the writing community to the circus community to the theater community. Some cool tours we brainstormed included a “Guide to the Muni” tour where Genie teaches newcomers to SF about the Muni and guides them on a trip. Hah! Could’ve used that. Another cool thing - she publishes a journal called Autolycus that is distributed at City Lights - check it out here and support her! https://sites.google.com/site/autolycusmag/

Here we are with Genie!

After I showed Travis some of my favorite vistas in Russian Hill and after we ate a delicious chips and potato salad snack, we met with Henree and Jeff. Henree was amazing. She has a ton of experience in the travel and hospitality industry. She shared with her cool street-guerilla ideas on how to promote, expand, and meet more people in San Francisco. Our key insight: it’s not just about promoting on the internet, but in the city. 

Here we are with Henree & Jeff!

Jeff has a unique background in psychology and travel. He shared with us the idea of a walkabout. In the aboriginal tribes of Australia, young men would engage in a coming of age practice called a walkabout where they live in the wilderness for a long time and trace the paths of their great ancestors. These paths are known as songlines and in tracing the songlines,  the men learn about their ancestry while simultaneously discovering themselves. Jeff discussed leading tours like urban walkabouts where people explore their city to explore themselves. And at the heart of it - this is what barding really is - exploration and discovery. Amazing. 

On Saturday we met with Ajit.

We have a special place in our heart for Ajit. He’s our first San Francisco customer! Ajit recently moved to the states from India. With his experience in start-ups and web businesses, he gave some excellent business advice. 

• “When you think of email, you think Gmail”, “When you think of shopping, you think Amazon”,  ”When you think of search, you think Google”, When people think of travel, are they going to think of Bard?”
• Make people LOVE using your product. 
• Make people feel secure about payments.
• Give bards a “space of their own” on the site that they have ownership over. 

The key insight from Ajit, however, was the importance of friendship. How do you find friends in a city when you first move there? Meeting up around a common interest isn’t really about the common interest - it’s about making friends along the way. We agree very much.

Here we are with Ajit!

On Sunday we had lunch with Joe. We were supposed to meet him for coffee but having just come from an epic run we asked, “Joe? Can we eat somewhere hearty? We just survived a run with Janine and we’re starving!” A block away he recommended two restaurants and we decided on Squat and Gobble. Cool place. We talked a lot about marketing. Our biggest insight? It’s all about local. Really reaching out at the local level and knowing the streets, the neighborhoods, and how they come together. It’s these insights that totally change how we’re going to grow.

Overall the weekend was fantastic and very educational. We LOVED meeting our bards! We hope you enjoyed this post - there is much more to come!

Cheers!

Erin & Travis

day 2 startup productivity - hustler’s perspective

Sup.

I make it a point to regularly immerse myself and read a ton of books to improve how I think and how I work. Today was one of those days. There’s definitely value in reading books multiple times. Re-reading them at the right time enables me to transform mere advice into new habits.

What Got Done:

• Contacted people on Quora who wrote great answers for unique things to do in San Francisco.
• Read Rework by 37signals for the 3rd time. Perfect advice and reminders for us right now.
• Emailed someone who I view in high regard and asked them to provide content for bard. I’m excited about doing this - and hope to hear back from them.
• Re-read my professor’s corp-dev book on creating sustainable significant competitive advantages. Great refresher.
• Created preliminary plan for “know your city”.
• Met a friend very knowledgeable about travel for lunch. Had a great discussion.

Key Insights:

• “Find a judo solution - one that delivers maximum efficiency with minimal effort. Judo solutions are all about getting the most out of doing the least.” -Rework
• “Pour yourself into your product. Make you part of your product or service. Competitors can never copy the you in your product.” - Rework

Time to sleep…and dream about Bard. ;)

Erin

day 1 startup productivity - hustler’s perspective

What’s up!

Productivity Track:

• Scoured Quora for questions and answers on “things to do in San Francisco”. Followed relevant questions, contributed & linked where it made sense. I’m aiming to be as knowledgeable as I can about the subject to expertly answer future questions.
• Wrote 7 free barding expeditions. These tours are going to be descriptive & unique guides for the independent traveler. We intend for people to up-vote the ones they like and to comment when they finish them. Potential experimentation with freemium model, but for now we’re going to test it and study the analytics.
• Coordinated meet-ups with our bards this weekend. I’m very excited! We’re going to be meeting at least 8 of them and getting to learn who they are and what they’re like.
• Re-posted to craigslist this morning, this time trying to attract travelers (last time we tried to attract tour guides). Interesting analytics. Only a handful of people have clicked on the link but they spent an average of 20 minutes on the site (isn’t that insane) and visited at least 15 content pages. Bounce rate of zero. Amazing.
• Created an in-depth marketing plan. I’m working on making it very specific. I’m modeling it after Mint’s plan and it’s good to see that we’re thinking along similar lines and that we’re not too far off the mark.

Key Insights:

• Just ask people to bard. Don’t be discouraged by their prominence or job title. Just ask them.
• Differentiate from the competition by teaching your audience. Teach them what you know, make their lives better. Thank you Rework by 37signals.
• Still focusing on leverage and momentum.

I was also super productive outside of bard. I got in 1 hour of weight lifting, 1 hour of bodyrock, and I ran 5 miles. Feeling good.

More tomorrow!

Erin