Every week, it seems, a new marketplace or services business is born. Some of the hottest companies of 2012 -- after photo-sharing apps, of course -- were online and/or mobile marketplace- or services-based companies, pioneered by the likes of Uber, for instance, and all the way to a newer company (with a common investor) to help you find someone to watch your four-legged friends while you?re away from home. Cherry, the service to book a car wash for your four-wheeled friends, fit in this category. In December 2012, Cherry announced it would shut down its service after raising venture funding. I used Cherry a few times throughout the year and it worked great for me. I know Cherry was, at one point, booking a lot of car washes in and around the Bay Area, and I always assumed that, eventually, the purpose of raising venture capital was to expand their labor force and upsell other car-related services to become a more diversified business. This makes sense particularly in urban areas, where the real estate and infrastructure needs of a physical car wash operation aren?t practical. So, why not bring the wash to the car instead? (I?m not sure what Cherry?s future plans are as they raised a good chunk of money, but I hope they find a new angle and keep going.)
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Iterations: Lessons We Can Draw From Cherry
Every week, it seems, a new marketplace or services business is born. Some of the hottest companies of 2012 -- after photo-sharing apps, of course -- were online and/or mobile marketplace- or services-based companies, pioneered by the likes of Uber, for instance, and all the way to a newer company (with a common investor) to help you find someone to watch your four-legged friends while you?re away from home. Cherry, the service to book a car wash for your four-wheeled friends, fit in this category. In December 2012, Cherry announced it would shut down its service after raising venture funding. I used Cherry a few times throughout the year and it worked great for me. I know Cherry was, at one point, booking a lot of car washes in and around the Bay Area, and I always assumed that, eventually, the purpose of raising venture capital was to expand their labor force and upsell other car-related services to become a more diversified business. This makes sense particularly in urban areas, where the real estate and infrastructure needs of a physical car wash operation aren?t practical. So, why not bring the wash to the car instead? (I?m not sure what Cherry?s future plans are as they raised a good chunk of money, but I hope they find a new angle and keep going.)
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