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Spinning out DeskBeers

rodreegez
January 28, 2016

Spinning out DeskBeers

A talk given at Monki Gras 2016

rodreegez

January 28, 2016
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  1. SPINNING OUT

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  2. SPINNING OUT

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  3. DESKBEERS BEGAN AS A 

    SIDE-PROJECT OF MINT
    BACK IN NOV. 2013

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  4. SIMPLE PREMISE:
    DELIVER CRAFT BEER
    TO OFFICES.

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  5. AFTER A LITTLE OVER
    A YEAR, WE DECIDED
    WE HAD A VIABLE
    BUSINESS.

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  6. MVP BUILT AND PROVEN.

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  7. 100+ CUSTOMERS.

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  8. NON-TRIVIAL REVENUE.

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  9. CLEAR ROADMAP.

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  10. GRAND AMBITION.

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  11. WE DECIDED TO
    “SPIN OUT”.

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  12. IN MARCH 2015, WE
    COMPLETED A SEED
    ROUND VIA
    CROWDFUNDING.

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  13. DESKBEERS THE SIDE
    PROJECT BECAME
    DESKBEERS LTD.

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  14. SO FAR SO GOOD.
    WHAT NEXT?

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  15. A FINITE AMOUNT OF
    CASH IN THE BANK.

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  16. 2 FULL-TIME
    EMPLOYEES.

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  17. OPERATION: DON’T
    GO BROKE.

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  18. USE COMPUTERS TO
    DO THINGS.

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  19. HOW DO WE MAKE
    SURE WE GET IT
    RIGHT?

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  20. DO THE WORK.

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  21. SPOT THE PATTERN.

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  22. WRITE THE CODE.

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  23. AN EXAMPLE:

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  24. EVERY WEEK WE BUY
    BEER FOR THE
    FOLLOWING WEEK.

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  25. DIFFERENT BREWERIES.

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  26. DIFFERENT QUANTITIES.

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  27. THINGS DON’T ALWAYS
    GO ACCORDING TO
    PLAN.

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  28. WHEN WE DON'T HAVE
    ENOUGH OF THIS
    WEEK’S BEER…

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  29. …IF WE’VE GOT ANY
    BEER IN STOCK, SEND
    THAT TO NEW
    CUSTOMERS FIRST…

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  30. …AND / OR SEND
    EXISTING CUSTOMERS
    NEXT WEEK’S BEER.

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  31. EVERY WEEK WE DEAL
    WITH SOME VERSION
    OF THIS.

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  32. CAN GENERALLY BE
    SOLVED IN THE SAME
    WAY.

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  33. POTENTIAL BOXES =
    BOXES IN STOCK -
    CUSTOMER’S HISTORY

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  34. THIS IS A FORMULA…

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  35. …THAT CAN BE
    WRITTEN DOWN AS
    CODE…

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  36. …AND RUN
    AUTOMATICALLY.

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  37. “FOR EACH DESIRED
    CHANGE, MAKE THE
    CHANGE EASY (WARNING:
    THIS MAY BE HARD),
    THEN MAKE THE EASY
    CHANGE” - @KENTBECK

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  38. WE NEED:

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  39. THE CONCEPT OF A
    “BOX”…

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  40. …THAT CAN BE
    APPLIED TO AN
    ORDER…

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  41. …THAT KNOWS ABOUT
    THE BEERS INSIDE IT…

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  42. …HOW MANY ARE IN
    STOCK…

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  43. …AND HOW LONG
    WE’VE HAD THEM.

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  44. potential_boxes = (boxes_in_stock - customer_history)
    chosen = potential_boxes.reject do |c|
    c.quantity < @order.box_count
    end.first
    if chosen.present?
    @order.update_attribute(:box, chosen)
    chosen.decrement_quantity(@order.box_count)
    end

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  45. CREATING BOXES,
    STOCK MANAGEMENT
    & A BEER CMS WAS
    NOT SO EASY.

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  46. CREATING A BOX-
    PICKING ALGORITHM
    AFTERWARDS WAS
    EASY.

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  47. IN ORDER TO “MAKE
    THE CHANGE EASY”
    WE HAD TO REALLY
    UNDERSTAND THE
    PROBLEM.

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  48. AND FIND A LEVEL OF
    ABSTRACTION WE ARE
    CONFIDENT MAKES
    SENSE.

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  49. THE WRONG
    ABSTRACTION IS FAR
    MORE DAMAGING
    THAN NO
    ABSTRACTION AT ALL.
    - @SANDIMETZ

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  50. NOW WE HAVE A
    SIMPLE, EXTENDABLE,
    ROBUST SYSTEM FOR
    FUTURE
    DEVELOPMENT.

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  51. PREFERENCES,
    RATINGS, MACHINE
    LEARNING? AI?

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  52. DO THE WORK

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  53. SPOT THE PATTERN

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  54. WRITE THE CODE

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  55. AUTOMATING THINGS
    IS OUR JOB.

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  56. THAT IS WHAT MAKES
    DESKBEERS A VIABLE
    BUSINESS…

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  57. …PROVIDE EXCELLENT
    CUSTOMER SERVICE…

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  58. …FIND F$*?ING GREAT
    BEER…

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  59. …DEVELOP NEW
    FEATURES…

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  60. …ACQUIRE NEW
    CUSTOMERS.

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  61. WHAT ELSE CAN WE
    AUTOMATE?

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  62. BOOKING DELIVERIES.

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  63. NOTIFYING CUSTOMERS.

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  64. ORDERING SUPPLIES.

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  65. ANYTHING ELSE WE
    SPEND TIME DOING.

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  66. DO THE WORK

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  67. SPOT THE PATTERN

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  68. WRITE THE CODE

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  69. CHEERS

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  70. @RODREEGEZ

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