Bailey Smith and Sam Stanley - Trybe

hi it's Chris titley here it's part of the sub 11 uncovered series I'm joined by Sam Stanley and Bailey Smith co-founders of tribe good morning to you both good morning Chris uh thank you for having us in today it's a great opportunity for me and my co-founder Sam to tell the world about our story awesome um so tribe let's go back to the early days the Inception of uh what it is um and you can you talk about the the origins of the business right so me and Sam are freshly graduated out of Brisbane boys college and last year around August we came to found that a lot of our mates were getting haircuts with private barers and we were like well we don't know any private barers so kind of being forward thinking I was like well it's a great chance to T birds with one stone and maybe start a business off this and put all these private Barbers on a map so that's how tribe really came about last year and since January I'd say we've really knuckled down on fleshing out the business and kind of building what we are and Bailey in regards to the the opportunity in the Market at large can you have you sort of is there a bit of a blueprint from overseas markets about how popular private Barbers are yeah so I'd say the American industry is massive private Barbers dominated the share of Market over there compared to traditional barber shops so we really look to that to kind of gain basis on what we should be building for there's a company over there known as the cut quite a similar company uh so we kind of look to them to gain a lot of inspiration on what we look to do with the company and Sam talking about building a product or getting the market out there there to solve this problem can you talk about you know day one how it all worked and what you're building yeah well first of all when Bailey came to me um at lunchtime in the schoolyard you know we um obviously had a lot of chats about it but then I guess the first thing was kind of getting validation on that um idea and we so we talked to you know mentors of ours um older people that have been in business before and um it didn't get shut down which was which was a start for us um so I guess after we got all the validation side of things we originally went to a creative agency um ended up being a bit of a waste of time for us to be honest we didn't never used any of the designs they actually gave us but um that was kind of where the path started uh we were originally called um cuts okay yep with a zed or an S Cuts with a zed um but that uh changed probably around January and we went to a um development agency to get our prototypes made of the app and um that's really where stuff started to kick off for us um we were meeting with industry players um during that time and um that was when the cuts name kind of got shut down and then we um came up with the uh the name tribe which is a more allinclusive thing uh name I guess and in terms of the the product you're building the the marketplace can you talk about the actual um product what what how it works from a one1 point of view yeah so uh there's two apps that we have we have a barber app and a user app um for the barber side they have their calendar um and their profile which they're able to build out and customize um fully to uh what whatever they want and um for the user side it's based around a map uh so customers are greated by a map interface which they can find any of the barbers in their area they can filter U by Style by rating um or just by name of the barber and they can find a barber that you know meets their needs um which ultimately is the goal of this when we um started this so yeah and Bailey in regards to the importance of social media the virality about how Barbers can show their work etc how important has that been offshore and how important is that to the tribe app yeah that's uh obviously barbering is massive on social media it's a way for them to generate leads and find new clients through posting content that reaches new audiences so it was always a a thought in the back of our mind of how can we facilitate that some way through the app so having a section for them to upload their work in the app in their profile was really beneficial for them because they can show these organic clients who they're dealing with what type what type of talent these barers have um and then the back of that early days when it was just schoolyard chat with me and Sammy he was saying why don't we start an Instagram account why don't we kind of get a place in the industry learn what these Bobbers do and don't want so that's how we came to launch our first Instagram account in August last year known as b& cuts which we just used to kind of initiate contact with our target audience of private barers and gain information on what they want and what they don't want what works for them what doesn't and we really kind of just built a position in the community from from that and then from January on we really started hammering down on social media making a presence that's when things really started to pick up with okay this is what we are this is what we're going to do before in school time it was just kind of a an idea fleshed around a bit and then it really knuckled down in January we've started to really pick up we've done upward of 500,000 views in the past 2 3 months with zero spend relatively um that's been really successful for us one of our key marketing campaigns to get user downloads on the app was interviewing famous faces AFL players Broncos players whilst they're getting their haircut as a form of soft marketing to push that tribe Agenda One video garnered upwards of 230,000 views I believe with Jasper Fletcher who's a Lions player yeah so yeah really beneficial for us and we we' found that social media has been absolutely crucial to getting ourselves to where we are today and two questions I'm going to start with you Bailey but Sam you can um follow on but one is about the bells and whistles of the app how much you want to actually build out the functionality in regards to we could do lots of things but then you probably have to refine in terms of time and cost how how has that decision- making been going so it is a thorough process our scope review for each update that we push right now we're in a development stage to enable cash payments which has been a a big point of conversation with these is and Bailey when it comes to the bells and wh whistles and the functionality of the app obviously there's lots of different things you can do but then when it comes to time and money and obviously user feedback how do you go around selecting the features that you really really want yeah so we've got quite a broad reach of barers who we're in contact with when building out our updates and whatnot and especially with so software development there's the world's your oyster with software you can kind of build whatever you want in an app so we really do have to Define the wishes and demands of these barers and kind of try facilitate everyone into one without spending 6 months on development per se so we work closely with a few barbers in particular one of them is Caleb money Cuts he's been great for us an ambassador so we go to him a lot to kind of rebound off what these other barers are saying and say hey do you reckon this would run well for your business so with that we'll be in conversation with our key Barbers about what they want what they need will obviously keep our values as to what we think will be best for the product and then from there on we will build out our scope docs talk with our developers and try to get things underway as quick as possible and Sam in terms of the the deliverability of the functionality of the app how have you gone about sort of oh well actually we should really do this feature but it's really expensive versus like oh actually can we do a miniature version of that yeah well obviously that's a lot of that's been talking to our development team and they kind of they're really good on telling us kind of what's actually viable um what they can get done pricewise there's no um like we've been completely transparent with like we've made a lot of Errors along the way that's there's no lie there we originally launched um like soft launched in April and uh there was a lot of problems that we had with the app but I guess the strength that we have is being a to work with these bar was on such a close level we're able to bring it to our development team and build quickly so two months later we had a um we added three big new features which U actually was a hard launch for us and actually got the uptake um really going and I guess talking to Barbers more and more it's been um it's been good and we've been able to get to the development team quickly and start building quick and that's what the Barbers like about us is that we're very close to them you know they feel like a community when they're with us so um I asked this with all marketplaces the Chicken and the Egg it's the customers versus The Barbers how do you B go about managing that balance yeah so this is obviously a conversation we had with you prior when we met uh the chickeny egg topic was one that we give a lot of thought as to what efforts we want to put our marketing towards first barers or users and we've found that it's a there a lot of loyalty and Trust in the industry uh so as a barber I'll have my immediate client base who will be almost as a family to me they'll be with me through thick and thin you can say there we've seen some great instances of community coming together in the scene so we found that a lot of the time the clients are with the barber for the barber not for any external reason so as soon as the bar makes switch to our software our system then we find that their whole client base gets pulled through now obviously tribe is about bringing new clients to you through this map it's about helping people find you so whilst that has been really good for us seeing that pull through of clients we do look to extend the marketing effort towards organic Cent downloads so being pulled through by their pre-existing bar so that's where the clips like the interviews with the famous athletes and famous figures really kind of promote that promote finding a finding near because what we' found is a lot of people have downloaded the app and be like so then they'll be able to find that b b through him and it's just another way for these bers to find organ cents build their Cent looking forward to the the future around um awareness um I know I remember you guys were saying that you went to a a barber Trade Fair Etc how important are those types of functions and I suppose if you put the Hat on for the next 12 months where do you want to see the business yeah so obviously those like the Expo for Barbers back in April that was actually where we uh first launched um that's a great spot just to meet the people in the industry and be able to gain you know more further validation we were able to talk to Barbers there and that was really where we got a a foothold I guess in the industry being able to speak to so many Barbers they gave ourselves suggestions and they they saw us as what we were you know to you know 18yearold boys that would actually wanted to do something for them and I guess that's why I guess they've kind of come to us and they they like us CU they know we can build something for them so these Expos have been massive for us um moving forward there's a New Zealand Expo and I guess uh we do plan to move to New Zealand very soon with this right now we're only in Australia but we are planning to move into um the New Zealand Market um and then as well as that we're looking to eventually move into the female space yeah just touching on that it tribe is is male only at the moment at the moment tribe is male only but we uh look to extend that further and then when it comes to the thinking around being Global from day one uh you did touch on New Zealand but what is the mindset around that well the mindset is we wanted to keep it local especially when building a Marketplace it uh it's a lot easier to keep it originally local so it's been a big kind of topic for us is like do we start with Queensland or do are we going for Queensland New South Wales Victoria all all at the same time um ultimately we have put a lot more um of our resources into Queensland at the moment but that hasn't stopped us uh going for New South Wales and victorians start building there uh but the truth is we see a a big Market in New Zealand and it's very similar to how Australia um Works in terms of freelance Barbers a very similar um Dynamic I guess in terms of the industry over there so we think it's a pretty natural move for us to go if I could just build on top of that so a lot of these other companies that are pre-established marketplaces you could say for Freelancers and barbers in America have we so two of our team went over to America so building on top of that there's been obviously the conversation of America America is a massive market for us in the future we hope with private barbering obviously being a lot more fleshed out and established over there so two of our team actually went over to the Connecticut Expo in May and there we met a lot of the pre-existing marketplaces for private barers over there of course we have our points of difference and these marketplaces different niches and whatnot but what we found overwhelmingly is that whilst they have came to Australia and tried to crack the Australian Market they just couldn't it seems that there was a cultural barrier for them that's what we've heard from them so that has left quite an untapped Market here in Australia for us to really knuckle down on so whilst we have got our priorities on the East Coast of Australia we are nationwide operating and it's been really exciting to see like we'll load up the map in the morning and bang there'll be a dude in Adelaide bang there'll be another dude in Melbourne it's pretty cool yep just on that topic and to finish up about the excitement of being a startup founder um obviously there's some highs and the lows Sam can you give some thoughts around the first the first year of operation obviously being straight out of school is um obviously a challenge because there other people doing different things and some of your mates probably doing different things but you know can you talk about the experience so far yeah well obvious obviously me and Bailey are best mates first of all so it's pretty exciting be a to wake up and then just uh go to work basically with your best mate every morning um and you know go to these kind of meetings do podcasts um together which is obviously great but in terms of just as a startup in general there's so many ups and downs there'll be like one week you're super energetic hyped about it and then the next week can be raining and glum and dim outside and you think that's the same feeling exactly and we've we've gotten used to it now and it's just like oh we we realize that that's part of the life and we we love that it's the thrill of it I guess yep and Bailey from you yeah couldn't agree more it is really a game of highs and lows like I'm probably more susceptible to this than Sammy I'll be like I'll take things a bit more personally or a bit more emotionally emotionally when the smallest thing goes wrong I'm like oh no like I wish that didn't happen but you know Sam's always there to be like it's not that much like come on we'll get over it and then I'll find myself next week be smiling and excited about the track that we're on and the feedback that we're receiving and do you guys get to to switch switch off at all Sam not not really to be honest and that like that's the thing we do feel like we sometimes get burnt out we're just like working day in day out like there's no weekend breaks really um we do there's too much to do for us like Bailey he runs all the social media I run the like the operations of the company having to pay out barers and whatnot and it's like there's you can't have a day off uh which is tough but um it's also just the life that we're we're starting to enjoy so baile any secret Hobbies tonight secret Hobbies so my secret Hobbies included football before this year but I've actually had to drop a few of my secret Hobbies if you may to really put more time and effort into this um yeah so sami's across the table right now motioning at me as a a pool queue so we in my house we have a pool table and why why does that get used throughout the day when me and Sammy will be we'll be working at the the desk at the office I say office but it's a little little room in our house um and yeah that that pool table's got some good use we have tournaments every day to kind of get away from the work kind of let our minds breathe a bit but excellent anyway guys thanks so much for being part of this podcast and telling the story of tribe the early days the thought process on why the company began the progress that you've had thus far with obviously with the app and the features and the barber feedback uh and also some of that social media uh success and I wish you all the best in the future thanks so much perfect thank you very much Chris yeah appreciate it