#483 Bootstrapping in Motion: Nelson Nigel’s Blueprint from Yellow Cab to Kidmoto

Episode 483

[00:00:00] 

Mehmet: Hello and welcome back to a episode of the CTO Show with Mehmet today. I'm very pleased joining me from the US Nelson. Nigel Nelson is the founder of Kidmoto. The way I love to do it, Nelson, is I keep it to my guests to introduce themselves. [00:01:00] So tell us more about you, your journey, and what you're currently up to, and then we can start the conversation from there and talk of course about what you.

Currently doing with Kid Moto and of course about, you know, starting the business and you know, all what you have learned. So the floor is used. 

Nelson: Hello, ma Aloha from New York City. My name is Nelson Nigel, founder of Kidmoto Technologies here in New York City, and we're a mobile app that connects passengers, that seek child car seats to drivers that provide.

Install child car seats for airport transportation. We make the airport, uh, travel easy for parents traveling because they just don't have to travel with child car seats. I'm a long time serial entrepreneur. Forget about it. You know, I've been doing this a long time and I failed. Miserably, countless times.

So part of the journey. Yep. 

Mehmet: Love that. It's indeed part of the journey. And thank you again, [00:02:00] Nelson, for being here with me today and of course sharing your experience. Now, traditionally question I ask every founder I have with me on the show, the moment you spotted the problem. Uh, that of course you're solving now with good Moto and said, Hey, hold on one second.

Like, there is a pain. And till now, you know, e either like, no one thought about it or maybe the existing solutions are not enough. So I love to learn about this, this moment when you said, yeah, this is the, this is the idea. I'm gonna, uh, you know, go after. You know, how did this all started? 

Nelson: Oh, that's, that's a very good question.

The moment, um, uh, I, I always say I could have been smoking like fentanyl or, or something because, uh, I don't know what I was thinking. But, uh, but it, I did see the value. I did see, I did have division. [00:03:00] In terms of bringing it to reality, forget about it. That was, you know, incredibly hard. But, uh, the moment was, uh, during, you know, the Uber was at the height, uh, Lyft was at the height, and I just noticed that it was just a, an area that they didn't cover.

Which was child car seats. And in my experience, you know, being a Yellow Cab driver again, which is the best job ever, right? New York City yellow cabs and uh uh, I saw that no one was specializing in that. I. And me, uh, you know, having, uh, uh, you know, so much business experience, you know, I knew that, you know, the riches are in the niches, right?

So I say, you know what, I can focus specifically on that. Uh, and that's what I did. 

Mehmet: That's cool. I, I love these stories, honestly, Nelson. Now I know that you bootstrap this and honestly, it's not the easiest thing to do, [00:04:00] right? Uh, so. Why you decide to bootstrap. And you know, I would say how hard it is because even, you know, for any other business, it's also hard to, you know, to start it.

But it's, it's like a dominated market, you know, maybe a lot of competition out there. So. Tell me or walk me through, you know, how you managed to bootstrap this and maybe some of the challenges that you were able to also navigate, uh, without getting any external funding. 

Nelson: Okay. That, that, that's a very good question actually.

Right. So, uh, two great questions. So.

I, I, I knew that, uh, it wasn't sexy at the time, you know, child car seats. It's not sexy to investors. [00:05:00] And I didn't have a partner. It was, um, it was by myself. So I chose, but because of my extensive business experience, and I was very confident in what I, in, in my knowledge, I said, you know, I can do this on my, I can do this on my own.

And so instead of focusing on finding the money, I focused on operations and building out the business. Um, I, I started, uh, with like a cheat sheet, right? Uh, because, uh, I understand the value of business planning and business plans. So I would say that, uh. When I started Kid Moto, um, I had a business plan that was about 400 pages long, large font, like 18 font, right?

So I, I, I had a very, uh, strong infrastructure in terms of knowing where I was going with [00:06:00] it and putting it together. It's kind of like, you know, I had 400 pages of blueprints. So I could, instead of, you know, you can build a Burj Dubai or you can build a, uh, as I say, a five story house, a five story building, 10 story building.

And the second part, uh, of the question. 

Mehmet: So, 

Nelson: so some challenges, uh, I faced of course.

Was, it's always funding, right? Um, when you're building a large fire, you need a lot of, uh, a lot of, uh, uh, you know, a lot of gasoline, a lot of money, and I didn't have that. So, uh, so that's, but that, that was, it's tremendously hard, but I was able to do it by just borrowing money from banks and it was tremendously hard, but I.

Either you focus on operations or you focus on, uh, raising money. If you focus on raising money, that takes away from operations. If you [00:07:00] focus on operations, you could build a great company, but you want, but, but you, but you know, you're not gonna have the, but you can't have the money at the same time. So, and there really isn't a balance.

There isn't. So I focus on operations that built out a great company. It was just tremendously hard. Right. And when you have a co-founder, of course, uh, it's, it's, it's usually better. I didn't have a co-founder at the time and, uh, so instead of trying to find a co-founder, I. I, I had to do it on my own and I kind of, uh, you know, generally you want to have, uh, find a co-founder that can do some things that you can't.

And I was really good at so many ends of, uh, business that I really didn't need to bring somebody in, somebody else. And that, um, uh, uh, that provided something that I [00:08:00] didn't have in. Yes, I could have, uh, I should, I could've, should've bought up. But, um, it is what it is. We're, we're now at 64 cities. We're, uh, being used by consumers all over the country.

And it's, uh, and I love, I love what we're doing. 

Mehmet: Great, great. You know, again, like these are, uh, I would call them gems, right? Especially for fellow entrepreneurs to listen to these stories Now. So, and maybe the audience will figure out, I'm trying to, you know, walk them through a journey so we get the idea, we get the challenges that we are gonna do and build this by ourself, which is you Nelson here, I'm talking about you now.

And you mentioned business plan. So part you know, of the business plan is you come out with hypothesis, which is saying, yeah, so there's no one doing the childcare seats, so will anyone want this? So what I'm wondering, you know, how did you find out [00:09:00] that yes, like we have a product market fit and the, for example.

You know, we are seeing that people want, that. People are doing this so. How did you manage to, to validate the idea and, you know, even before, uh, building, you know, the app and the team as, as you mentioned? 

Nelson: Uh, very good question. Okay. I used to drive a yellow cab. I saw the need for a child car seats. I drove, uh, a black car, you know, like an Uber, and I saw the need for child car seats.

So kind of put me in the right directions in terms of finding a product market fit. Right. So. I knew there was a market for it. I knew how to market to that target, that market. Uh, so I kind of, uh, and I had a very strong business plan, so it's not like. I just saw the idea and I started it immediately. No, I sat down, I worked on my business [00:10:00] plan.

I had a, a previous business plan from a previous company, so I just took a lot from that previous, uh, business plan and, uh, I, and I changed it around and took a lot of work. But, uh, but you know, again, it's the blueprints. If you, um. Um, if you could, uh, create the blueprints, you can just start building from those, uh, that plan.

So that business plan is very, um, very important. It's your thoughts on paper. 

Mehmet: Wow. This is, this stuck in my head actually, because Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's like a, um. It's a testimonial, I would say, for, you know, someone like you Nelson, who went out and tried it and, and see, you know, and you knew because also you immerse yourself in the experience being, you know, a cab driver.

So I think this added a lot now. What I also wondered, [00:11:00] so you put that out so it it start to become available for people. So how much important was the feedback that you started to receive from early adopters, let's say? Right. So, um, and, and it's, you know. It's, it's very important to win the trust of, of parents also.

Right? So, so how was, like the feedback, uh, from people who used, you know, uh, your solution, uh, played role in, in, in shaping also the direction of, of what you were building and where you reached now? 

Nelson: Oh, absolutely. Uh, consumer feedback is always, always important. You get to see what the consumers are thinking, gauge where they're at, and uh, it is very important to, uh, to get that feedback.

Uh, and because it helps you create a better product, better consumer journey, uh, and. It's always, it's always super important to always, uh, and it [00:12:00] helps you, uh, pinpoint holes in your consumer journey. It, 'cause sometimes you forget about cer certain things and you don't have, uh, an answer for it. So now you can able, you're able to, uh, say, okay, well you know what?

We need to think about this. We need to think about that. We need to, uh, create, uh, this and, and. Uh, in case this happens, right? So consumer journey is always important. Uh, uh, I mean, consumer feedback 

Mehmet: right? Now another question that, um, you know, someone might ask of course. When you start to, to, to, to, to do this, you found the, you know, the gap because as you described to us, like you were living it and you mean you were seeing it and we know that.

Two big, you know, uh, uh, what they call it, the ride sharing, you know, uh, giants, Uber, Lyft. So they skipped it. Looks like they skipped this [00:13:00] niche. Right? Uh, so how do you stay defensible, uh, Nelson and differentiated if, you know, they decide to enter this market?

Nelson: I'm running my race. I'm only running my race. I'm not looking behind and I'm not looking forward, uh, uh, in terms of, you know, you know, you know, what would Uber or what would Lyft do, right? I'm running my race. Um, I know my area of expertise and that's what I focus on. You know, if a company has $50 billion and they don't do it, there's a reason why.

Mehmet: Right. So I, I, I think it's clear for me it's clear and I, I think, you know, like the trust that you built and, you know, probably I. The, [00:14:00] I can see there's an emotional, uh, connection to, to your customers that I think this is an edge by itself. Understanding, you know, 'cause we're dealing with parents and, you know, so, so I believe, you know, like, yeah.

And, and being copied that I always tell people like, being copied is, is part of the journey. But I love what you said. You were living your, your current race. Not looking back, not looking forward, which is like, I think. You know, something also interesting to hear from you. Um, 

Nelson: let, let me stay on that one for a second, right?

Sure. When you are, when you are a multi-billion dollar organization, right? Uh, sometimes, um, you don't, you're not paying, you're not on the radar. Uh, you know, you're not on the radar of a, uh, uh, of, uh, organization like that because you're just too small, right? So, uh, fishermen who are going out to see to catch tuna are really not looking to catch starfish.

Mehmet: Hmm. [00:15:00] That's interesting. That's interesting. Yeah, because at the end of the day, like you're not, you're not going after their, uh, biggest mark market share. Right. So 

Nelson: they're focused on, uh, on their consumer base and we're focused on ours. Again, you don't find starfish all the way out in the deep ocean where there's tuna, right?

Absolutely. And they have machines to catch. The tuna not the starfish. Right? Absolutely. Starfish are inconsequential to them. Right. So that's, uh, you know, that's, uh, something to think about. 

Mehmet: Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure if it was fish or something else, but once I saw it or read it somewhere that, you know, when.

I think it's fish. So, so the reason like big fish is they avoid eating smaller ones sometimes is because they don't want to keep it, you know, and they get, uh, Cho, right? So this is why, you know, and it's a waste of time and energy also [00:16:00] sometimes, right? So, uh, it, it makes sense now. One milestone, and I think you have multiple milestones, but like reaching, you know, the 1 million plus revenue, 40,000 plus rides is really something impressive.

So, yeah, like what do you think worked well, uh, to grow, you know, the revenue and the number of, of course, people who are using it while at the same time maintaining the same service quality. 

Nelson: So this goes back to your business plan, right? You need to, uh, document things as much as possible. So I, I always, um, say, uh, documentation, record keeping, uh, uh, uh, or organization, um.

It's, it's very important, right? You, uh, and you need systems in place, right? So you need, you know, good systems systemization, right? Uh, [00:17:00] if you have good systems, it, uh, and it's documented, well, uh, you could replicate those systems and. You have to focus, right? So, uh, you know, you need, uh, everything, everything has to be documented.

If it's not documented, it never happened, right? And if it's not documented, it's your thoughts on paper. So it's very important to understand that, you know. Documentation is, you know, it's, it's is very important and it's your thoughts on paper. And if you stick to your plan, you can get to your, to your, uh, destination.

It's kind of like, you know, I say, you know, I'm gonna leave today, uh, I'm gonna go, uh, you know, probably go to the restaurant and I'm just, uh, use the Google on my phone. And, uh, I'll enter my destination and if my destination is here, Google Map would give me a map to go to my destination. So if you start a business and you know where you're going and you, you know, create a route [00:18:00] to where you're going, right?

Forget about it. You follow that route, you'll get to your destination. That's how it works. 

Mehmet: Makes sense. Makes a lot of sense to me, Nelson. Now another thing you know, which is, uh, maybe we touched on, but I'm gonna reverse things a little bit here. So of course I know you bootstrapped the business and you know, I'm are, let me ask, are you looking for, for, for any round currently, or not yet.

Nelson: I, I was doing something a few months back. Uh, it, uh, and uh, it was an incredible experience. Uh, I, I didn't go forward with it, but, um, I'm always, uh, uh, and I'm always entertaining. Uh, always entertaining. 

Mehmet: Yeah. And the reason why I'm asking you, so of course, I know you had the, so, so, so your blueprint, you know, and I think you repeated this couple of times, Nelson, which makes sense.

So, so you had the. The blueprint, the plan, [00:19:00] you adjusted it. You, you know, try to. Be flexible, which is one of the things that every entrepreneur should, should do. You, you took the risk also as well. Yes. But let's say, let's, let's imagine, right? So if you wanted to approach, I know, I know you mentioned like it's not very attractive to investors, but let's say, let's say there were, there were some rooms for investors to be in.

So how would you approach this? And the reason I'm asking you this, Nelson, so probably to shed some light for fellow founders and entrepreneurs Yes. Who might. Still because they are doing something that needs a lot of capital at the beginning. And you know, yes, there is this debate and I see it always online.

I can understand both sides because actually I've seen both sides of the story. Some people say VCs and investors are evil, and the other ones, Hey founders, they don't, you don't know what you're doing. I get it. You know, so we have like this, uh, I might be funny, but like kind of a Tom and [00:20:00] Jerry situation here, right?

So, yes. Uh. But in some, some cases you need to go and go talk to investors. So if you would have, you know, gone to, to, to that route, what would we, what you, would you focus more when you would present your business plan to investors? And I'm asking you this, I know it didn't apply to you, but just maybe to give some hints to fellow uh, entrepreneurs.

Nelson: I would say first you have to understand your consumer base, uh, in this, in this case, it's your investor base that you're pitching, right? So understand who they are and what they're seeking, right? And also you have to show them a huge opportunity. And, uh, a huge opportunity for, for them to get, you know, to make a huge profit, right?

Uh, that's basically it. Show them a huge, uh, a [00:21:00] a give them a, you know, uh, uh, uh, give them numbers that, that, that, uh, are real, are pertain to your business because these investors, they want to, uh, make, make money. So if you're showing them something of a small market potential, they may not want to entertain it.

Mehmet: Right now I'm gonna jump on something else, which is, you know, leadership. And I know you know something, which you did fantastically well. But, uh, when I was preparing, you know, I read the profile, so you have huge respect to your team, you know, uh, but of course respect is there, like maybe culture. Indeed, it's, it's important, but.

Let us know, you know, what's your philosophy, if I might ask? Uh, especially because you know, the business you are in, it's not like any other kind of business. It's a high trust service. [00:22:00] Right. So we're talking about kids, we're talking about people who, you know this Yes. The must, you know, important things in, in their lives.

So what's your philosophy for leadership Nelson? 

Nelson: Uh. This is a very good question. I'm gonna hit you with something. The path to greatness is along with others. That's baar. I've been, uh, I've been going with that for a long time, right? The path to greatness is along with others, BAAR, Sian, and uh, also rising tide lifts all boats.

That's how it works. That's how it works. 

Mehmet: Simple. Sweet,

simple, sweet. You know what, what I'm laughing about this discussion, um, Nelson is you're so spontaneous it, you know, you're, you're so humble also as well, I can say this and you know, like my audience knows that, [00:23:00] you know, when I interview someone. Not all the time necessarily. I know them from long time. So when I say something about a person, believe me, I, I mean it, you know, we, like, we interchanged messages with Nelson, a couple of, uh, you know, maybe two or three months I ago and, you know, we decided on, on recording this episode.

But you know, sometime you get hooked with the guests. That's what I mean. So, um, so, uh, let me ask you now, what keeps you grounded, Nelson? And. You know, how, how do you avoid, you know, being, staying calm? I can see you are a calm person. Correct me if I'm wrong. So how do you avoid, you know, being, you know, creeped out and, you know, going out of control?

What's, what's your secret? Oh, 

Nelson: it, it, it's, it's constant. It's constant work. Um, I, I love people and I'm, I'm just being myself. Uh, I, I guess, you know, maybe it's my parents, right? [00:24:00] Um, so, uh, but, uh, uh, leadership is constant work and, uh, it, it, it's, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's enjoying. No, I, I, you know, I just love, I just love people and working with great people, and I understand that I couldn't build this by myself, and I.

There's, there's value to everyone in this organization, and everybody, everyone brings value and they need to be recognized for bringing value. And I, I, um, I'm not taking any light, uh, for, you know, for their work. I, I just, I just couldn't take, I couldn't do that and. Yes. I, I work hard, but no, so they do do that, right?

So, um, uh, I would say, uh, uh, uh, you know, I, I, I can't, I couldn't do it by myself. And it's, it's, it's, it's my team. It's, it's just them. It's them. 

Mehmet: I think peop uh, you know. I [00:25:00] keep telling people we need more humble people like yourself, Nelson. Right. So, uh, and grounded people. I love this. You know, it's, it's, it's like acknowledging Yeah, of course.

You know, and by the way, people, they think that I am auntie, you know, celebrating wins. I mean, no, not at all. I celebrate my own wins as well. But I mean, doing it as a team and giving credits to people is something that not everyone does, unfortunately. But you know your way, and I think you know this because I believe you couldn't do this if you didn't have this spirit of, you know.

Being, you know, loving and caring both to your customers and your team. Otherwise, I, I don't believe, especially in, in, in a business like yours, I can't imagine this. Now, I, I can ask like maybe a little bit a odd question. If, if, if, go ahead. If you could go back time in time, you know, maybe the, the time that you were, uh, you know, in that Uber [00:26:00] and Yes.

What do you tell yourself to do?

Nelson: Don't stop. Uh, right. You know, I, I don don't stop. You have a dream. Go for it. Right. You have love this. You know, don't stop. You cannot stop. And I. I'll tell you, I, this is still part of, part of the journey and this is still what invigorates me. It's like, Hey, the, it, it doesn't, you know, the, you know, it, it, the, the goal, the goal just keeps going.

You know, the, the, the destination just keeps going further. Uh. Because once, like, you know, once you start getting closer to it, you, you know, you, you know, as like that Google map, you know, it might be here, now you're gonna start, you know, uh, mo moving the goalpost and keep going forward because that's what happens, um, when you, when you, um, it's like this, right?

Okay. I, I [00:27:00] equate it to like climbing trees. Climbing trees, right? Um, and as an entrepreneur, um, you, you know, entrepreneurs can attest to this. Um, if you climb, if I go outside and I climb a small tree and I fall down and I bruise my elbows, I bruise my, my feet, okay, cool. I fell down. Now I'm gonna go climb the tree across the street, which is twice as high.

I, I climbed down and I said, you know what? I just fell down. Let me, let me climb that, that. Three story house. I climbed a three story house. I fell down. You know what, lemme climb the 10 story building. I climbed this 10, 10 story building. I fall down. You know what? I can climb that 20 story building. I climb, I try to climb that 20 story building.

I fall down. So what, lemme climb that 30 story building, right? So, uh, in the journey, uh, as the, the more you fall down, the more you see. And it's that, you know, the world is yours because now you realize that, you know, I'm invincible. I just, you know, I just climbed a 30 story building and I fell [00:28:00] down. Okay, cool.

Let me just climb a 50 story building. Let me just, you know what? I can climb birds Dubai, forget about it. You know, who says I can't? So what the, the more you fall down, the more you start realizing that, hey, there's a bigger picture to it. There's, there's, there's something more attainable. Uh, that's just kind of like moving the goalpost.

You start realizing that, you know, there's more to it and uh, that's part of the journey. 

Mehmet: It is. And I love the spirit. Really, really. I love the spirit, Nelson. Now let me ask you, what's next for Kid Moto and like, is it just expanding in more cities maybe globally, or is it like you're seeing Hmm, we can scale the business entering other.

Yes. You know, aspects related. 

Nelson: So, uh, now it's, uh, becoming a moto nation, which is more of, you know, we providing, uh, uh, pickups for parents of children at, at hospitals where they're moving into government, [00:29:00] um, healthcare logistics. I. Because my background also is in like government procurement. So, uh, that's where, uh, it will be, uh, challenging and fun, uh, moving into logistics.

And that's, uh, volume, right? Like, like super volume and. But we are national. We have a national, uh, infrastructure. And because we have that infrastructure, we can move into multiple different areas, but we have to stay to our core vision, which is, uh, providing, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. Technology for niche and underserved segments of the market.

We, you know, we really can't, we, yeah, we really cannot, uh, compete, uh, or try to compete with market leaders because they may, uh, you know, it, it just, it's not a good idea. But if we focus on very niche and specific areas so we can, uh, still, uh, we can still, uh, [00:30:00] survive. And, uh, you know, again, the riches are in the niches.

Mehmet: Absolutely, absolutely. I heard it from many, uh, guests who are like founders, like yourself and Nelson. A hundred percent. Yeah. Start small when the time comes. I. As you said, I, I, you know, like this still in my, uh, it struck in my mind, like you said, live the current race, not the past, not the future. I love this.

Now.

Now what I want to ask you, Nelson, I can't go these days and I know maybe it's not relevant. You might tell me no. What are you doing with ai? Anything with ai? 

Nelson: We are, uh, trying to incorporate, uh, AI into a few different areas of, of, uh, of the customer journey of marketing. Uh, it's, it, it, it's, it's changing how things are happening and, uh, very [00:31:00] interesting.

I'll, I'll tell you, it's, it's very interesting what AI can do. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm studying it, uh, uh, a lot and, oh, it's, it's, it's, it's phenomenal actually. Uh, it's, it's phenomenal and, uh, but, but, uh, uh, it's, I I just can't un it is just so much to grasp, so I'll tell you, it's, it's a lot to grasp. 

Mehmet: Absolutely. I can imagine, you know, some use cases, but yeah, it's, it's very exciting.

Um, Nelson, like as we, you know, come close to, to, to the end of this episode, I, you know, I, I really enjoyed every moment, you know, the spirit, you know, the, the mentality you have and all this. But maybe I should have asked you something, maybe I missed, something you want to share with us, and of course, kind of like final word of wisdom, I call them.

To my guess. And also of course, like where people can get [00:32:00] in touch and learn more. 

Nelson: Okay, cool. Uh, my best advice is, you know, think about, you know, going outside and going, you know, driving to a destination. Um, again, you know, if you, excuse me, um, can you hear me? So, uh. You are, uh, you know, you set your destination, uh, for Google Map, right?

And so Google Map is actually going to, uh, give you a route. You need to have a route, uh, and a destination, right? Because if you don't have a route, uh, you can't really get to your destination, and you route is your business plan. So if you focus on the business plan, then you can, of course, see your thoughts on paper.

Of course, if it's not documented, it never happened, right? And in this day and age, when you have a thousand different things going on, on a daily basis, we tend to forget. So, uh, documentation on a [00:33:00] business plan is very important. And if you, uh, do that and you will have a vision, you will get to your vision, your destination.

And for myself, everyone could find me on LinkedIn, Nelson, Nigel, so no, uh uh, reach me on LinkedIn and, uh. 

Mehmet: Uh, 

Nelson: yes, please. 

Mehmet: Sure. Uh, again, thank you very much, Nelson. Uh, you're welcome. You know, you, you, you shed a lot of light. So before I let you go, so just, this is for the audience. Uh, you will find, you know, link for Nelson who is linking in profile.

You will find it in the show notes of your listening on your favorite podcasting app. Or if you're watching this on YouTube, you'll find in description. And this is how I add my episodes. This is for you audience. If you just discovered this podcast by luck, thank you for passing by. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you did, so please give me a thumb up, subscribe, share it with your friend and colleagues, and if you are one of the people who keeps coming again and again, thank you very much for being so [00:34:00] loyal. Thank you for your feedbacks, your comments, your questions. I read them all. And the big thank you for everyone.

Including you, Nelson, for all my guests, all my, uh, you know, audience because of you only, not because of me. The podcast this year did extremely well. So since approximately the last two months, we are still ranking in the top 200 Apple Podcast charts in multiple countries at the same time. This cannot happen without you, and we are also selected.

In multiple places as top hundred most effective podcasts in the tech and startups area. We are also selected in top 40 best business podcasts here in Dubai. Again, this is not me. It's my my guest, and you the audience. Thank you very much, and as I say, always stay tuned for a new episode very soon. Thank you.

Bye-bye. 

Nelson: Thank you.