Spinning out DeskBeers

A talk given at Monki Gras 2016

Transcript

1. SPINNING OUT
2. SPINNING OUT
3. DESKBEERS BEGAN AS A 
 SIDE-PROJECT OF MINT BACK IN NOV. 2013
4. SIMPLE PREMISE: DELIVER CRAFT BEER TO OFFICES.
5. AFTER A LITTLE OVER A YEAR, WE DECIDED WE HAD A VIABLE BUSINESS.
6. MVP BUILT AND PROVEN.
7. 100+ CUSTOMERS.
8. NON-TRIVIAL REVENUE.
9. CLEAR ROADMAP.
10. GRAND AMBITION.
11. WE DECIDED TO “SPIN OUT”.
12. IN MARCH 2015, WE COMPLETED A SEED ROUND VIA CROWDFUNDING.
13. DESKBEERS THE SIDE PROJECT BECAME DESKBEERS LTD.
14. SO FAR SO GOOD. WHAT NEXT?
15. A FINITE AMOUNT OF CASH IN THE BANK.
16. 2 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.
17. OPERATION: DON’T GO BROKE.
18. USE COMPUTERS TO DO THINGS.
19. HOW DO WE MAKE SURE WE GET IT RIGHT?
20. DO THE WORK.
21. SPOT THE PATTERN.
22. WRITE THE CODE.
23. AN EXAMPLE:
24. EVERY WEEK WE BUY BEER FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK.
25. DIFFERENT BREWERIES.
26. DIFFERENT QUANTITIES.
27. THINGS DON’T ALWAYS GO ACCORDING TO PLAN.
28. WHEN WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OF THIS WEEK’S BEER…
29. …IF WE’VE GOT ANY BEER IN STOCK, SEND THAT TO NEW CUSTOMERS FIRST…
30. …AND / OR SEND EXISTING CUSTOMERS NEXT WEEK’S BEER.
31. EVERY WEEK WE DEAL WITH SOME VERSION OF THIS.
32. CAN GENERALLY BE SOLVED IN THE SAME WAY.
33. POTENTIAL BOXES = BOXES IN STOCK - CUSTOMER’S HISTORY
34. THIS IS A FORMULA…
35. …THAT CAN BE WRITTEN DOWN AS CODE…
36. …AND RUN AUTOMATICALLY.
37. “FOR EACH DESIRED CHANGE, MAKE THE CHANGE EASY (WARNING: THIS MAY BE HARD), THEN MAKE THE EASY CHANGE” - @KENTBECK
38. WE NEED:
39. THE CONCEPT OF A “BOX”…
40. …THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO AN ORDER…
41. …THAT KNOWS ABOUT THE BEERS INSIDE IT…
42. …HOW MANY ARE IN STOCK…
43. …AND HOW LONG WE’VE HAD THEM.
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
45. CREATING BOXES, STOCK MANAGEMENT & A BEER CMS WAS NOT SO EASY.
46. CREATING A BOX- PICKING ALGORITHM AFTERWARDS WAS EASY.
47. IN ORDER TO “MAKE THE CHANGE EASY” WE HAD TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM.
48. AND FIND A LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION WE ARE CONFIDENT MAKES SENSE.
49. THE WRONG ABSTRACTION IS FAR MORE DAMAGING THAN NO ABSTRACTION AT ALL. - @SANDIMETZ
50. NOW WE HAVE A SIMPLE, EXTENDABLE, ROBUST SYSTEM FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.
51. PREFERENCES, RATINGS, MACHINE LEARNING? AI?
52. DO THE WORK
53. SPOT THE PATTERN
54. WRITE THE CODE
55. AUTOMATING THINGS IS OUR JOB.
56. THAT IS WHAT MAKES DESKBEERS A VIABLE BUSINESS…
57. …PROVIDE EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE…
58. …FIND F$*?ING GREAT BEER…
59. …DEVELOP NEW FEATURES…
60. …ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERS.
61. WHAT ELSE CAN WE AUTOMATE?
62. BOOKING DELIVERIES.
63. NOTIFYING CUSTOMERS.
64. ORDERING SUPPLIES.
65. ANYTHING ELSE WE SPEND TIME DOING.
66. DO THE WORK
67. SPOT THE PATTERN
68. WRITE THE CODE
69. CHEERS
70. @RODREEGEZ