{"id":31686,"date":"2019-01-28T17:34:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T22:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/creator\/?p=31686"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:19:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:19:27","slug":"the-startup-diaries-the-workweek-of-a-date-night-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/the-startup-diaries-the-workweek-of-a-date-night-entrepreneur","title":{"rendered":"The workweek of a date-night entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Startup founders have infamously unpredictable daily schedules as they work to establish and grow their businesses. What does such an entrepreneur\u2019s weekly, daily, or even hourly routine look like when sometimes there aren\u2019t enough hours in a day? In <\/strong>the Startup Diaries<\/a><\/strong>, founders walk us through a week in their lives and show what it really takes to get a fledgling business off the ground.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Scott, founder of <\/span>idk tonight<\/span><\/a>, a website and newsletter that helps New York City couples make date-night plans, is happy to talk business\u2014but first, she has an engagement story to share. Her boyfriend, Nick, proposed to her three days earlier during a joint family trip to the Bahamas, and she\u2019s still in shock. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re lounging on the beach and I said, \u2018You want to go on a walk?\u2019\u201d Nick said he needed a few minutes (he was, in fact, waiting for his sister\u2019s boyfriend, who\u2019d been tasked with surreptitiously photographing the moment), but Scott got impatient and left. Two minutes later, Nick ran down the beach after her. \u201cI was in a bikini, and he brought me my coverup and said, \u2018It\u2019s really sunny, I think you should put this on.\u2019 He knew I wouldn\u2019t want to be, like, naked in these pictures.\u201d Their families were waiting with champagne when they returned to their beach chairs. \u201cEverybody was clapping and crying,\u201d Scott says.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the sort of intimate look into her relationship that Scott gives every week in her idk newsletter, which includes a personal anecdote, curated New York City date plans, a spotlight on a local couple called #CoupleGoals, and more. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI loved New York City and loved the idea of creating something that made it easier and more exciting to explore it,\u201d says Jordan Scott, founder of idk tonight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scott, age 24, launched idk (which stands for \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d) in September 2017, about eight months after quitting her first job out of college, an entry-level position at <\/span>CBS This Morning<\/em><\/span><\/i>. \u201cI couldn\u2019t point to any [other] job there that I would want,\u201d she says. Plus, she had the seed of a business idea. \u201cI loved New York City and loved the idea of creating something that made it easier and more exciting to explore it,\u201d she explains. \u201cI just felt like, I\u2019m young. Maybe I take two years to try it, and if it fails I can get another job [knowing], \u2018I have all these new skills.\u2019 There was no downside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business started as a concierge service: Users could request a night out, and Scott would respond with plans and make reservations. Soon, she realized \u201calmost every request was from couples. We thought, whoa, OK. We need to totally focus on couples.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though idk is an editorial product with about 11,000 monthly unique users and 10,000-plus email subscribers, there\u2019s an app in user-testing right now\u2014with plans to be in beta this year. It functions much like a dating app, only instead of swiping on people, you\u2019re swiping on restaurants, bars, and events\u2014and if your partner\u2019s on the app, too, your picks are added to a joint queue. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the five days leading up to her holiday break, Scott, a WeWork Labs member at New York\u2019s <\/span>WeWork 175 Varick St<\/span><\/a>, kept a diary of her workweek:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 a.m. <\/b>Sleep in since Nick has dog-walking duty, then run on the treadmill in our gym upstairs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8:30 a.m.<\/b> Out the door of our downtown apartment. Try two new podcasts: <\/span>WSJ<\/em><\/span><\/i>\u2019s <\/em><\/span>The Future of Everything<\/em><\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span>Gimlet\u2019s <\/span>Without Fail<\/em><\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9 a.m.<\/b> At my desk, organizing my list of priorities. I\u2019m on Week 9 of the <\/span>Best Self Co. journal<\/span><\/a>, a 13-week sprint with weekly and daily goals\u2014and so far, I\u2019ve finished the clickable prototype of the idk app and gotten our deck into fighting shape.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9:15 a.m. <\/b>Reach out to a friend for her financial-projections contact. Our projection is about users and growth; it\u2019s less about revenue, at least in the first couple years.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9:30 a.m. <\/b>All things social, starting with an Instagram Story of our <\/span>three \u201cfeatured plans tonight<\/span><\/a>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 a.m. <\/b>I\u2019m consulting for a startup called <\/span>Cinch<\/span><\/a>, a digital wallet that rewards users for shopping locally. I run their social accounts, write copy, and help with email. It keeps idk tonight afloat.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. <\/b>Dig Inn for lunch. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11:45 a.m. <\/b>Add new plans to <\/span>idk\u2019s calendar<\/span><\/a>. We always have the next seven days of life in New York on the calendar. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:15 p.m. <\/b>Research three companies with investors that could be interested in idk. I received a great piece of advice: Research companies that your potential investors have invested in and see which aspects of your company are relatable\u2014then focus on those aspects in your deck.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 p.m. <\/b>Get deck into shape to send to contacts. I\u2019ve been grappling with, \u201cDo I do an official friends and family (slash, maybe a little more serious angel) round, or go straight to venture capitalists and say, \u2018We have this audience of thousands of couples. Give us serious capital to make this happen.\u2019\u201d Right now, idk is funded with my savings and consulting work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:40<\/b> p.m.<\/b> Confirm date-night schedule through mid-January. Our incredible operations intern, Priyanka, has done a ton of heavy-lifting here, and it\u2019s great to be able to just edit\/approve. (I employ two interns and six freelance writers.) <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:55<\/b> p.m.<\/b> Pay people. Supposed to do this every Friday, but I\u2019m our entire accounting department. I use <\/span>Qwil<\/span><\/a>, which I love. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 p.m. <\/b>Walk to Joe & The Juice for my favorite coffee shake. (May or may not have stopped into Tiffany\u2019s to try on rings. Since I run a couples-focused company, I feel this is valid.) I\u2019m a bit burned out after an intense morning. Some founders say, \u201cMonday is for marketing, Tuesday is for fundraising, Wednesday is for this.\u201d Right now it feels like, \u201cHow far behind are we on the calendar today? Start with that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 p.m. <\/b>Emails. I write a recommendation testimonial for <\/span>Petal+Eon<\/span><\/a>, a company that preserves flowers into cool bouquets. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4:30 p.m.<\/b> Fill out a W-9 for a new relationship column I\u2019ll be writing for What Should We Do<\/a>! I\u2019m living out my Carrie Bradshaw dreams. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4:45-6:45 p.m.<\/b> Prep and schedule our glorious weekly <\/span>newsletter<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>We\u2019re looking to switch off Mailchimp because we\u2019re paying an arm and a leg, and half of our emails go to spam. SendGrid? Campaign Monitor? Bueller?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 p.m. <\/b>Leave the office earlier than expected, which is great. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8-10 p.m. <\/b>Finish <\/span>Maniac<\/em><\/span><\/i><\/a> with Nick; leftover cabbage soup and sushi for dinner. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6:15 a.m.<\/b> Wake up and head to <\/span>BTF Bootcamp<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8:30 a.m.<\/b> Out the door. Listened to<\/span> Wait Wait…Don\u2019t Tell Me!<\/em><\/span><\/i><\/a> and stopped at <\/span>Deb\u2019s<\/span><\/a> for a wrap with egg, cheese, avocado, and home fries. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9:30<\/b> a.m.<\/b> Meet with a new social hire and discuss KPIs like followers and impressions. Still trying to get into a data-first mind-set. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:30 a.m. <\/b>Cinch work. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11:30 a.m.<\/b> Meet with Andy from <\/span>BucketListers<\/span><\/a>. He runs several \u201cwhat to do\u201d <\/span>Instagram accounts<\/span><\/a>, and we\u2019re always swapping best practices. We\u2019re partnering on a Valentine\u2019s Day-focused guide, written by idk tonight and posted on BucketLister\u2019s site. He\u2019s also connecting me with his <\/span>TodayTix<\/span><\/a> contact so we can continue promoting theater around New York (and use affiliate links so we get paid for it). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:40 p.m.<\/b> Send ideas for What Should We Do<\/span>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 p.m.<\/b> Lunch. Easiest and closest: Just Salad. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:30-3:30 p.m. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n