Quick story:
Monday, 5:45pm, Emma (9, pictured) is getting ready to head out to piano lessons. She turns and looks at me thoughtfully and says "Dad, who helps new parents with their babies? Who gets them formula and diapers?". I answered that usually one of the parents crawls into the daylight and forages for supplies, or family members may assist. She followed up with "Why don't we create a delivery service to bring them the things they need?"
It took me all of a few seconds to realize that she was right. Anyone reading this who has children remembers the shock of being a new parent, the sleep deprivation, the accelerated learning of what supplies you needed and how frequently. Having a safety net that you could reach out to that would drop off those diapers at 10pm when the stores were closed would have been very handy.
So, Emma, Janene and I created Storkly. Emma saw a need, and came up with an idea to fulfill it. We're finishing up the legal paperwork now, and then we'll contract drivers and get inventory before we open the website to business. The domain name, site, and everything else was done before she got home from piano lessons. Her email signature now reads "Emma Renaud, CEO, Stork.ly". Did I mention she's nine years old?
I was standing in the Ferry Market in San Francisco yesterday waiting to buy coffee, and the two people behind me were discussing how long they had been looking for work. I furiously typed a 400 word tweet and eventually was able to cough out something along the lines of 'dont look for work, create it'. You don't have to go find a job, instead find a need, and fill it. Next thing you know, it will be your job. Even if you're nine years old.
(the reason she's holding up one finger in the picture is that this is her first startup)
Way to go Emma -- I've seen this site take shape over the last 5 days with an amazing amount of pride in your first employee's (dad's!) eyes. Can't wait to see you drive up with the first delivery!
Posted by: Tej Dhawan | May 21, 2011 at 11:03 AM
This is awesome news Emma Louys! You have a great idea and now you have your own company. Lots of new parents will be very happy with the convenience of Stork.ly. Sweeeet!
Posted by: Gerireno | May 21, 2011 at 06:33 PM
Impressive and courageous. Best of luck.
Posted by: Jake | May 23, 2011 at 12:07 PM