Shortcut

Maker

@chrismessina Thanks so much for hunting Shortcut! Really appreciate it, man.

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7yr ago

Chris Messina

Raycast

Top Hunter

Hunter

@irv3389 cheers! Why don't you tell us more about your journey since the last time you were hunted (3 years ago?). What's changed? How has your business evolved?

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7yr ago

Irv

Shortcut

Maker

@chrismessina Good idea! So when we initially launched Shortcut, our mission was focused on the consumer. We wanted to make it as easy as possible to get a haircut, which we've accomplished by offering expanded hours (8am - Midnight), 24/7 booking, and the convenience to get a haircut at home, work or while traveling. What we didn't realize at the time of our initial launch, is that the consumer-side problem is a major pain point, but the issues on the supply side are crippling. Most barbers and stylists are paid on one of two structures: a.) grooming professionals pay a chair rental fee, which can be as high as $400/week to work in a barbershop/salon OR b.) they're splitting profits on each haircut they execute at the shop/salon -- it's not uncommon to hear about barbers & stylists conceding up to 65% commission for the work they're doing. So, we reset. The company's mission has become more supply-centric, in that, we're allowing grooming pros to do what they love and earn what they deserve. With Shortcut, barbers and stylists are able to set their own price (and keep an industry high percentage of the service cost), choose their own operating hours and market to their existing/prospective clients. On the product side, we've cleaned up the UI/UX to create the best possible experience, we've focused on access and are now available for both iPhone and Android devices and we've also begun to offer our services on a corporate level to companies. We're excited about the latest developments and are proud to offer haircuts that consumers and grooming pros can both feel good about.

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7yr ago

Chris Messina

Raycast

Top Hunter

Hunter

@irv3389 thanks — that's helpful. Sounds not unlike Uber's trajectory... finding a product that people want, but then realizing that the hard part is scaling supply!

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7yr ago