World's Largest MVP scores revenue and investment
Almost without a doubt, it’s the largest MVP in history: more than 20 feet long, 10’ high and 10’ wide—2,000 cubic feet and 5,000 pounds in all. What’s more, the huge MVP has already recorded some $305,000 in sales from its first user and half of the seed round for “Block Party Suites.”
I met co-founder Steve Gilman in my full-semester Lean LaunchPad class at Columbia B-School, where I was impressed with his energy, dedication to entrepreneurship, and earlier life as a pro baseball player.
In an “office hours” we reviewed a rough business plan he and co-founders developed to serve the exploding tailgating market, and rough sketches of the MVP itself: a 20’ ocean shipping container converted into a portable open-air party center, complete with luxury furniture, a rooftop deck, big screen tv’s, team logos, and more.
I always admire founders who self-fund, and this team’s limited capital (30K among three co-founders) funded an MVP of the suite that could be easily produced and put to work, soliciting end-users for feedback—just as I’d taught Steve in class: hypothesis/test/learn/iterate, of course. (He got an A).
The MVP taught the team quite a bit: • Sports properties needed upgraded accommodations outside of the stadium to grow with the popularity of pre-game tailgating • Sponsors needed lots of room and electricity for signage • Stadiums weren’t the primary prospects at all; sports properties and event planners were, they control the “street to seat” experience on game day • Nobody wanted to buy the unit; leasing the unit for multiple events was the key • And a huge incremental revenue opportunity: providing catering, beer, and staff
The rest, as they say, is history: a solid pipeline of prospects and contracts pending, and a seed round that’s half-filled in less than sixty days.
For your own private tour in Dallas, TX, visit www.blockpartysuites.com or contact my star student @[email protected].
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