E16 - A Focus Group of One (w/ Adal Rifai)

 Agenda:

• A user finally showed up to our weekly user interview session! Zach Lambic from Al Dente, Wyoming

Takeaways:

• Kate to figure out if the server room’s sprinklers are going, hope the company isn’t destroyed, and hope she doesn’t have to pull Matt out of his therapy session
• Add “Wresting with Dog” as a human impact couch breaking test scenario 
• Calathea and Zach to talk offline about paying for some sponsored content on Dominic the Mastiff’s Instagram account

Zach is played by Adal Rifai. Adal is an improviser, podcaster, producer and writer in Chicago. He is the creator and host of Hey Riddle Riddle and plays Chunt on the podcast Hello From the Magic Tavern. You can find him on Twitter @adalrifai

Transcript

Ben 0:07

welcome to this startup is being recorded. This recording is improvised fiction. Similarities between it and the real world are entirely intentional. Now enjoy the recording.

Kate 0:21

Okay. Uh, I've got the recording started. Um, so just as an overview, we like to record our user interviews here at Metta market, our name for now. Um, it's just important for us to be able to share this feedback within the rest of our company. Um, have other employees, you know, hear direct from the customers. Before we start let's just go ahead and make sure we know who's who's here. So I'm Kate bandshell. I'm the chief of staff, uh, to John, the CEO of Metta market, the infamous Chon.

Thea 0:56

the chief creatives are.

Eric 0:59

hi, Eric, Troy Carter. Chief product officer here at Metta market for now.

Kate 1:05

Uh, and Zach, um, if you wouldn't mind just saying your name yeah. And then maybe explaining, um, how you found out about this session.

Zach Lambic 1:13

Yeah. Awesome. Uh, my name is Zach lambic. Uh, I am, of course from aldente Wyoming. Um, I bought one of your couches and, um, yeah. And after about like six months or so. Uh, I was wrestling with my dog. It's a big Mastiff and, uh, the couch broken half and tucked inside of my couch was this little gold token that said, um, that said to be here at this time that I had won some sort of contest. Um, so I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be, uh, to be a part of this

Eric 1:47

uh, I can't say how excited I am to see you here, Zach. Um, and I'm sure Kathy, you're excited to like this, this program we designed to get people in for a focus. It took months of planning and it's been nine months and you're the first person to make it. So

Zach Lambic 2:05

Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I saw him.

Thea 2:08

and I have bonded a lot with nobody showed up for these sessions and it's just, we were so thrilled to actually like, have somebody walk through the door this time.

Zach Lambic 2:17

Yeah. Happy to be here. I did see my token was numbered, uh, out of 75. I assume there'd be 75 other people here, but that token was buried pretty deep in my county.

Eric 2:26

Yeah. Uh, we've, we've, uh, we've only heard of one other person finding the token. Uh, but they, uh, unfortunately called us and said that they, they weren't interested and they were, they were skeptical of the situation. So. Thank you for trusting us, uh, with your couch experience and with your couch focus group experience.

Zach Lambic 2:45

Oh my pleasure. And I'm excited to get some of my ideas off the dome here.

Eric 2:49

Oh, well, that's, that's wonderful. We love, we love an eager participant, so if it's okay with everybody else, I, I, I'd love to just jump in. Um, I've got a few standard questions, uh, but you know, let's make this conversational, let's make this fun, you know, we want to really get your, your, your, your deepest thoughts about the couch experience from end to end.

Zach Lambic 3:07

Yeah, Mr. Carter, can I just say I really enjoy, um, I think it's so nice that you took the time to say let's make this fun. Cause you know, sometimes, you know, sometimes, uh, it's hard for fun to happen organically. So I like that, you know, this is, it's like when we, I used to go on vacation with my parents and my dad would say let's have fun. Right. And it just kind of, it just kind of flips a switch in your brain where you're like, uh, better, not, not have fun. So I think that's a good place to stem from.

Eric 3:32

um, man, it's this is, this is outside the bounds of the focus group, but I know exactly what you mean. And, you know, I used to grow up, I would eat snowballs and that was my little like cute timed out fun now. So, uh, that Pavlovian reaction is, is, is, is it's it's in there.

Zach Lambic 3:51

Oh yeah. Any, anytime I hear a bell eat dog food. I'm with you.

Eric 3:56

Oh,

Kate 3:56

Eric, we can't, we can't talk about snowballs for 10 minutes a day, though. So,

Eric 4:01

I'd love to. Um, but uh, maybe afterwards let's start, uh, you know, you, you ordered the, the extra large, uh, Che's lounge with an extension recliner, um, scale of one to five, one being, uh, least comfortable to five being most comfortable. How did you find your, your experience with the metal market couch?

Zach Lambic 4:20

Uh, I'm gonna go right in the middle of 2.5. I think it was a very comfortable, uh, chisel lounge. And then when it broke, I feel like it was less comfortable. So I feel like right in the middle of 2.5,

Eric 4:30

okay. Great. Great. Um,

Thea 4:34

Can

Kate 4:34

Eric.

Thea 4:35

a little bit

Eric 4:35

please. Yeah.

Thea 4:37

some of the emotions you felt when it, when it happened, that would be really helpful for us.

Zach Lambic 4:41

Yeah, of course I was again, playing with my dog. It's a big, massive, uh, his name is, um, Dominic, uh, named after a VIN diesel and fascinat furious. And so we're, we're wrestling on the couch right in this couch for the first six months. This couch is. Bread and butter. This dog is sleeping on the couch. This dog is awake on the couch, I guess. So those are the two things, but, uh, we are getting pretty hot and heavy getting a really, you know, wrestling. I have like a little rope and he likes to bite it and I tug at it and he's like mine. And I go, let me throw it to you. Um, and for whatever reason, I, you know, I yanked backwards and he let his mouth open and I just tumbled backwards, uh, shoulders first. And I'm pretty broad shouldered. And that just crack that couch in half. Um, yeah. And then after that it was like looking at, it was like looking at a club sandwich, like I saw every layer of the couch. Um, and that's where I saw that little token. I heard a little, I heard a little clink and I said, was that a screw? Was that some sort of a metal, you know, a frame that broke off, but no, it was a token. So, um, yeah, that was, that was my experience with the breakage.

Kate 5:45

Okay. Um, Eric, just side note, I'm going to add shoulder first falling into our set of tests, scenarios for, for couch breaking due to human impact.

Eric 5:55

You're way ahead of me. Um, I'm interested to find out, you know, one that it was the human that broke the cash and not the dog. And that, it sounds like if correct me if I'm wrong, Zack, but, uh, the primary user of the couch was actually your dog, Dominic. Um, and, and I know we can't speak for animals, but I'm curious if you had to guess what your dog would rate the comfort level of the couch on a scale of one to five, uh, what might, what might that be?

Zach Lambic 6:20

Oh boy. Um, I w I'm going to say a full on five out of five.

Eric 6:25

Okay. So, so the dog found the couch twice as comfortable as you did.

Zach Lambic 6:29

yeah. Oh yeah. being honest,

Kate 6:31

a recliner? I just, I

Eric 6:33

Yeah.

Kate 6:34

had issues with the recliner portions and.

Zach Lambic 6:38

You know, Dominic would kind of swing his arm off the side of the couch, uh, in this kind of motion. Um, he couldn't quite grab onto it. I don't, he doesn't have opposable thumbs, but I would get the gist of it and be like, oh, he's he wants me to pull on the recliner. Um, and he would go nuts. What I did that in a, in a good way. So yeah, he would use the recliner. Uh, he was a sort of, uh, uh, king of the roost.

Kate 7:00

amazing.

Thea 7:01

Question. Does Dominic have an Instagram?

Zach Lambic 7:04

Dominic does. Yes. Yeah. Do you want, uh, yeah, it's uh, dominant, uh, it's uh, all one word into Dominic of time on Instagram.

Thea 7:14

Oh,

Zach Lambic 7:15

And it's a lot of him dressing up. We put them in like little, uh, if you're familiar with the super Mario brothers three, we put them in a lot of like, to Nikki costumes

Eric 7:23

Oh, wow.

Zach Lambic 7:24

frog costumes. We put them under water, we put them on top of a flagpole sliding down. Um, so when I can, I just say, when he found that little golden coin, he went nuts because he loves Mario three. Yeah. So he was, uh, he was losing his mind.

Thea 7:39

And now I'm seeing that video of the couch breaking that you put the little Mario theme saga is amazing. I mean, this is the kind of couch content we want. Do you do, do you and Dominic do influencer

Zach Lambic 7:51

that? I'm not sure what that is. I mean,

Thea 7:56

like pay use for some promotional content? I mean, by you, I mean, Dominic, if he would be open for that, I don't know how he feels about promoted content.

Zach Lambic 8:05

Absolutely. Uh, he doesn't have a checking account or anything, but I'm happy to hold the money for him or whatever you need, whatever you need.

Thea 8:11

Okay. I mean, this is just a great avenue. I'm sorry, Eric. I don't mean to take over your meeting, but this is like such a rich, you know, just

Kate 8:19

Yeah,

Thea 8:20

uh, the ways that dogs could really spur, you know, just in the ways that like children motivate, you know, their parents' purchases. Like if we got to the dogs?

Zach Lambic 8:30

Oh, can I toss out an idea? Is that.

Thea 8:32

Yeah, of course.

Zach Lambic 8:34

Uh, just, just, uh, uh, uh, Mrs. Ms. Neuroma.

Thea 8:40

Uh, you can just say California, I think we're familiar enough in this

Zach Lambic 8:45

Okay. Caleb's uh, just based off you talking about children, I thought it might be cool if I'm talking about, you know, once or needs in the couch, you know how there are bunk beds, why aren't there bunk couches. So it's kind of one couch on top of another couch. The kids go up top, cause they're lighter weight or even my dog could go up top. And then I sit on the bottom. Uh, we're not fighting for space, right? We're not, uh, one person can lay down while the other is comfortably seated or the other, or the other person could have. But I feel like that's been missing in the furniture scene for quite some time.

Eric 9:17

I don't want to. I'm going to do it. We have been prototyping a bunk bed couch, and we've been really stuck on where to place the ladder. Um, so I'm going to, I'm going to show you three images, uh, of, of these prototypes,

Zach Lambic 9:31

Okay.

Eric 9:32

Do you tell me which one resonates, you know, just gut instinct, which one would be the best bunk bed configuration from your point of view? So here's the first one. Uh, you can see that the ladder is on the side, kind of where the arm of the couch would be. a recessed into the arm, a second image. You can see it's actually straight in the center. It kind of splits the couch into two separate sections, almost like to love seat size. Uh, and then the third, as you can see that the ladder is on the back of the couch and you kind of have to climb the ladder. Uh, and enter from the top of the couch, into the seating area.

Zach Lambic 10:03

Okay. I'm not a, I'm not a construction doctor, but, uh, is there some way that you could just add like a little trampoline with the couch?

Kate 10:14

No, no. Eric, I don't want you thinking about it.

Eric 10:18

I've

Kate 10:18

have trampolines in the warehouse, again, we're going to have so many freaking liability.

Eric 10:24

we can build a second fulfillment center. That's trampoline only if that's what has to happen.

Kate 10:29

No, we can't. No, we can't. Our insurance has specifically said that any trampolines will completely X out our coverage for the rest of.

Thea 10:38

I mean, I think, uh, does Dominic use a trampoline because I think this would help with the accessibility to,

Zach Lambic 10:45

Uh, he has not before, but he is, uh, he is very eager to learn new tricks.

Thea 10:50

Okay. Okay.

Zach Lambic 10:51

He's a new dog. He's his new dog.

Thea 10:53

I mean, this is, uh, this is a great possibility. It could open us up, you know?

Eric 10:58

yeah, kids markets, dog, and cat markets. Like, uh, this is, this is very compelling. I, this, this is, this is, I'll be honest. I know we're only a portion of the way through the focus group. This is the most valuable focus group

Zach Lambic 11:12

Oh, oh, hell yeah. And I don't, I don't mean to, um, I mean, hell I don't mean to give away free, uh, free milk from the cow, but couch Helene. Is that something.

Thea 11:24

Oh, my goodness. Yeah. I, I feel, I feel culturally,

Zach Lambic 11:30

it's kind of like,

Thea 11:30

it's also, you could make some really elegant design to it, you know? Cause it sounds a little bit like Madeline couch Aleem yeah.

Kate 11:41

W what

Thea 11:41

goodness.

Kate 11:43

Maybe I'm missing

Zach Lambic 11:44

a couch with a trampoline.

Eric 11:47

Right.

Kate 11:47

Okay.

Thea 11:48

Right.

Kate 11:48

on the trampoline. We're still on the trampoline.

Eric 11:51

yeah.

Kate 11:53

Okay.

Eric 11:53

And that doesn't even have to be for bunk bed couches. That could be for it for a, a standalone couch. And it's just a fun way to get into the couch.

Kate 12:00

Okay. Let's let's compromise here. What

Thea 12:02

Yeah.

Kate 12:03

those balls that people sit on at work or, um, what are some other bouncy objects we could add? Like,

Zach Lambic 12:09

who told you? Who told you? I sat on my balls at work, did HR. I went to HR. I accidentally sat on my balls at work. It was very painful. I went to.

Eric 12:20

right?

Kate 12:20

uh,

Eric 12:22

HR. We don't.

Zach Lambic 12:24

I paid a service ahead that wipe from the internet, because I became a meme because Delores had her camera on and caught this, the kale. I don't wanna, I don't want to, if this is what that's about, I don't want to interview.

Eric 12:37

no, no, no.

Thea 12:38

this. That was amazing. I included that meme my one-woman burlesque show of best beams of 2019.

Zach Lambic 12:47

pat was,

Thea 12:48

I mean, And Sade and

Zach Lambic 12:52

and just the, the way you rolled around

Thea 12:54

the floor, trying to contort my body into those shapes was difficult

Zach Lambic 13:00

So the burlesque show meme, girls, that was you. Cause I sent a cease and desist.

Thea 13:05

oh yeah, we, I got a lot of cease and desist for that, that, you know, show, um, know, I would, if it was a small means only have a small lifespan.

Zach Lambic 13:16

Okay.

Thea 13:16

By the time your lawyers caught up with me, we had already closed and moved out of that hobble in San Francisco.

Zach Lambic 13:22

Okay. I'm just not looking to make an ass out of myself online. Okay. With these couches.

Eric 13:27

Of course, Of course Um, let's, let's move on to the next question. Um, at curious how you found, uh, the checkout experience when you purchased your couch, uh, on a scale of one to five, one being least convenient and five being most convenient. Uh, how did, how did you define the web checkout experience?

Zach Lambic 13:46

Okay. Uh, well, the website was pretty easy to go to clicked, enter and went straight there. Uh, I feel like when I was looking at the couches, there was a lot of glare from the sun, uh, which was pretty annoying. So maybe like a two do to due to a sort of annoyance.

Eric 14:02

wow. That's a, that's a very strong impact from, from the glare. I'm curious, you have that.

Kate 14:08

is your computer?

Zach Lambic 14:11

Uh, my computer does face, uh, the Eastern, uh, area of the world in Wyoming. So I don't know if you can, if you can tilt your website so that it's maybe facing south or north. So there's less of a glare.

Thea 14:24

It's

Kate 14:24

You know, a lot about Cardinal directions. Um,

Zach Lambic 14:28

No, I know how the Crow flies. I don't know about Cardinals.

Kate 14:32

perfect. Um, Okay. So you bought the couch in the morning. We know that, um, what was the impetus to buy the couch? Was there an event that led up to like the moment where you felt like you needed a new car?

Zach Lambic 14:46

Yes. Uh, my cousin was over my cousin, Darren and I had a different couch. I had a sleeper sofa and, uh, he challenged me. We got drunk and he challenged me to lift the sleeper sofa over my head. Now I got, um, one end, almost upright, uh, when I, uh, Developed a hernia and had to let go. Uh, and the couch, uh, slammed to the ground. The bed kind of fell out almost like a tongue loling out of a dead mouth. And, uh, we could not get the bed back after that point. So, uh, we thought about sort of taking a saw and cutting the bed off the couch and just using that. But it turns out the bed was providing a lot of the cushioning when it's double folded inside the couch. So yeah, that, that, that led to me needing a new couch and definitely not a sleeper sofa.

Kate 15:33

Got it. Well, I am happy to say that that exact scenario is being tested on all of our couches. So if you buy one again and happened to go through that, um, fear.

Zach Lambic 15:44

Oh, so under-insurance, there's now like a dares and bets category.

Eric 15:48

It's it's actually, uh, it's a remix, uh, uh, policy where if you have any reconstruction, reconfiguration of the couch, uh, those, those actions are covered under the policy with some women stations to the warranty. Of course.

Zach Lambic 16:02

Very cool. I love good remix. Very cool. Sprite, Sprite. Sprite does a good remix.

Kate 16:09

Sprite

Zach Lambic 16:10

Yeah, it's probably had a remix for

Eric 16:12

oh, yes. I remember this. Yes. Yes. We might have to check legal on that then. Okay. Um, can can you go into, I'm sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. Get you have a you're you're inspired by this.

Kate 16:23

Yeah, no. Your, your cousin's name again? It was Darren Darren lambic.

Zach Lambic 16:29

during lambic.

Kate 16:31

Okay. Um, class of class of 2000 for a aldente. Um, I mean, just, just briefly, it was, it was a long time ago, you know, we were on the Pacific crest trail. Um, I just, I never, I'm so glad to hear you baited out. Um, I just.

Thea 17:02

Yeah, Kate, what

Kate 17:05

The last time I saw him, there was just like two different grizzly bears that had triangulated him into the side of a cliff.

Zach Lambic 17:13

Um,

Kate 17:14

He was using his water bottle at the time to squeeze it them, which is highly unadvised by pretty much all of the Rangers in the area, because the water actually attracts the bear. They think, oh, it's a stream, that's a salmon, you know? And so the bears were just coming closer and closer. was in a tree. I was trying to say, don't, don't squirt use your bear spray. It's the other bottle. Uh, but Darren was persistent and honestly, at some point I just had to leave. I was on a schedule and I was, I was going to get picked up by the bus the next day. So,

Thea 17:48

Did you

Kate 17:49

frankly,

Thea 17:50

you, did you know this person before.

Kate 17:54

no, no. We, we met on the trail. We were trail buddies. Um, I gave him a little trail mix. He gave me a little bit of his homemade jerky. That was permanent animal that he couldn't identify. Um, and you

Zach Lambic 18:07

Oh a new, it was nutria Turkey,

Eric 18:10

Oh,

Zach Lambic 18:11

rodents. Uh, can I, can I'm Kate, can I blow your mind? Do you know what happened after? Do you know what happened after you went?

Kate 18:19

I mean, no.

Zach Lambic 18:21

My cousin, Darren, he told me this, uh, w that day of the bet, my cousin, Darren thought he was as good as dead. He almost jumped off the cliff after those bears triangulated to force him, uh, either to die or jump as he was about to jump. He turned around to take one final, look at the bears. And, uh, just to kind of say, say his piece and, uh, wouldn't, you know, it, the bears grabbed the top of their head. Pulled down unzip themselves. And it was two of the impractical jokers playing a little prank. Yeah. Yeah. So not only did he die, he became a national star on impractical jokers and I assume got some sort of a package, some payment or severance?

Thea 19:00

wait, wait. He still does.

Zach Lambic 19:04

Uh, no, he's still.

Thea 19:06

Oh, okay. Okay.

Zach Lambic 19:07

Yeah,

Thea 19:08

I'm sorry. I just wanted to be clear about That

Zach Lambic 19:10

he has a dead I, yeah,

Thea 19:12

story.

Zach Lambic 19:13

yeah. Yep, yep, yep. Yep.

Kate 19:16

I was this close to being on TV and I just, I just.

Zach Lambic 19:20

Yeah.

Kate 19:21

did I abandon my only friend that week four dead, but I lost out on an opportunity to be on a TV show.

Zach Lambic 19:28

If you ever find that episode, you are actually blurred out because you did not sign a release form. Um, and when you leave there sort of like a sound effect that plays so you are, uh, yeah. Everyone calls you the runaway blur. That's what the comment section calls you.

Kate 19:47

Yeah, that was my same nickname from high school. I mean, for different reasons, but

Zach Lambic 19:53

you, you left a blur concert early before they played song number two.

Kate 19:58

how did you know that?

Zach Lambic 20:00

Well, I've done the same thing. I went to a blur concert and the guy was like, we're going to play our new stuff. And I was like, play song number two. And he he's like, that's our, that's our Encore. And I was like, not worth it. And I left.

Kate 20:11

Got you think after they would get the same request over and over again, that they would finally figure out the right song order, but

Zach Lambic 20:17

Mm.

Thea 20:18

Okay, can we go back to the fact that your only friend was a person that you met on a trail that David.

Kate 20:24

what's

Thea 20:26

you have other friends now? Right?

Kate 20:28

yes, you both.

Eric 20:31

and your numerous roommates. I hope.

Thea 20:33

clear that we're not friends.

Kate 20:35

Okay. Fear. I think that I can be a friend to you and you don't have to be a friend to me. Is that so impossible? Okay, cool.

Thea 20:43

take it up with my psychic.

Zach Lambic 20:46

Can I just say, I think it's very brave to, you know, out in the elements, in nature where men are most likely to kill someone. I think it's really brave of you to befriend someone on a trail. I think it's a bit of a trail, Mary, you know, it's a long shot, but it worked out, you know, so I think it's really cool, really vulnerable that you put yourself out there when it could have, uh, could have ended up pretty bad.

Kate 21:06

Yeah, thanks. I mean, I did have Barrett or Derek go through a bit of a background check before I allowed,

Zach Lambic 21:12

Smart smart.

Kate 21:13

ability for him to talk to me. But, um, anyway,

Thea 21:16

Th this now explains why you knew his high school in class and it remembered at all these.

Kate 21:22

yeah, no, I, I keep all those things in a file and regularly consult them in case the name may ever come up again. So

Zach Lambic 21:28

Yeah. And you probably found in your back road, uh, check that Darren does have a DUI. Uh, of course, DUI and Wyoming stands for does unbelievable amounts of iOS.

Thea 21:40

Oh, I've been there.

Zach Lambic 21:42

Yeah.

Thea 21:42

I mean, in Wyoming doing iOS guides.

Zach Lambic 21:45

yeah, yeah. yeah.

Kate 21:51

Oh man.

Eric 21:52

got to say I was, I was skeptical that the effort we put into this token process was going to be worth it, but it's clearly brought us the most important and valuable focus group members. So

Zach Lambic 22:02

Oh good.

Eric 22:03

super excited about

Zach Lambic 22:04

Oh.

Eric 22:07

I do have one

Zach Lambic 22:08

that's French where I'm flattered.

Eric 22:10

today. I learned, I did have one more question if that's okay. Okay. If we have, if we have time, um,

Zach Lambic 22:15

Absolutely.

Eric 22:17

Iterating on the design for the, uh, the tag that says on it, not to pull this tag off the couch. And I'm curious, one, did you pull the tag off the couch? Uh, and if not, how tempted were you to pull the tag off the couch?

Zach Lambic 22:33

Uh, I did pull it off. Uh, here's the thing, I think just the way I was raised maybe, um, was to defy any sort of authority. So, I mean, I gotta be honest. I don't know if you're looking to sort of a focus group or workshop this idea, but if there was a tag that said, please pull. Like please rip this off. Like absolutely rip off before you sit down. I wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't touch the dang thing. I'd leave it as it were. So I think what it is is people see this, you know, people see this couch, the couch got on high saying thou shall not rip it. And immediately they're like, who the hell are you? This is my couch.

Eric 23:08

Okay. This is, this is, this is fascinating.

Thea 23:11

are really aligned on this because we do want you to pull that tag off. In

Zach Lambic 23:14

Oh,

Thea 23:15

gone through a lot of testing to make that tag look sick.

Eric 23:20

Right. And, and I was, I was not convinced that the reverse psychology approach was going to work. I thought it was going to be something that people is going to see that I'll pull this tag. Oh no, this is a trick that I think they would, they expect to be deceived by the tag. But you're saying that's exactly what you want to see is, is that, is that open defiance and the opportunity to dominate the tag.

Zach Lambic 23:45

If I could, if I could like dominate or even just neg the tag, if I could it, I think that would be pretty cool.

Eric 23:52

you think that would be useful in the, in the actual checkout experience to start to understand your relationship to the couch and the tag before it arrives? Okay. This is, this is, this is very useful.

Zach Lambic 24:02

I think that's really interesting

Thea 24:04

me ask you this. Could you, how would you feel about swiping through a couple of different tags

Eric 24:10

of tags.

Thea 24:11

and choosing which attack you want?

Zach Lambic 24:14

I think that'd be pretty cool. I do like the idea of like almost, um, discovering a compatibility with a sort of a tags attitude. Right. I think that's pretty cool. Almost like I'd take a little Buzzfeed quiz, learn

Thea 24:27

Yeah.

Zach Lambic 24:28

I am, and then partner me with that. But yeah, shaped shaped does lead to pull ability. Can I just say shape? Absolutely. When you see, when you see a circular button and especially if it's red and especially if it's under glass, what do you want to do? You want to smash it? Right. But if I saw a button, it was super pointy and was forest green and was surrounded by candles. I wouldn't want to touch it. I'd think it was some sort of which ceremony.

Thea 24:53

Totally understand. I mean, we really worked on having, just putting the right curves in that tag to really, you know, encourage that poll ability.

Zach Lambic 25:03

voluptuous. Yeah.

Kate 25:04

So when we're talking about like red buttons and, uh, you know, glass containers, I know you walked by, um, a few rooms to get into this room. Um, this isn't a real example where you actually saw a red button and actually smashed in and pushed anything. Right.

Zach Lambic 25:21

Oh, you better believe it. I hit the hell out of that button.

Kate 25:25

guys, that's our, that's our only press in case the servers are our fire.

Thea 25:31

Oh,

Kate 25:33

right now. I think there's probably some sprinklers going off in our server rooms.

Eric 25:37

No, sir. Surely it, it just, it just alerts mad, right? He wouldn't.

Thea 25:41

it just alerts and mats mats in a place where we can alert him. Right. be

Zach Lambic 25:46

Oh, they

Kate 25:47

he's in a four hour long therapy session that he said, if we disturb him again in the middle of therapy, that he's going to quit. So.

Zach Lambic 25:54

Oh my God, I feel terrible. Can I give a half, half hearted apology?

Thea 25:59

Yeah, of course.

Zach Lambic 26:00

Oh, um,

Kate 26:01

how far did apology undo the past and not bring down our entire system?

Thea 26:06

I said, I think Zach said, he's really sorry. And you should just, just you know, give Matt another text. Just say Zach was sorry. And like, you know, he'll figure it out later.

Kate 26:17

He doesn't even know who sack is.

Zach Lambic 26:20

Well, I was just to be, just to be clear, I was going to say, um, if I upset you, I apologize, which I feel like is not a full on, sorry. I just want to say like, if, if that has upset you, I I'm sorry.

Thea 26:35

This is the nodder overweight, you know, never apologize for who you are.

Zach Lambic 26:38

Hmm. Thank you.

Kate 26:41

being an obstinate person who presses buttons that they shouldn't that clearly say don't pressing bless, it's an emergency. And your mat.

Zach Lambic 26:49

Kate.

Eric 26:49

this has, this is feedback for Matt to make a less, uh, pressable button. I think. Uh,

Zach Lambic 26:54

I don't want to be negative or I'm sorry. I don't mean to be negative or root Kate. I liked you a lot better in Lord of the rings. I don't know what happened to you. I don't know when you went sour on us, but I feel like you out of everyone here, you've been the most rude.

Eric 27:09

guess that's my answer to the next question.

Kate 27:13

No KA band Chet band Chet. It's a different, less, Nope, not bland. Shut it. The L is missing. It's a totally different last name. Um, it's I get this a lot. Uh, but, um,

Zach Lambic 27:26

um,

Kate 27:28

okay. And also, Eric, not everything is product feedback. Some things are real emergencies that need to be done. We can't just put this into a backlog format of like nice potential changes to not ruin our entire company's operations

Eric 27:41

be both. It can be both every, every, every mistake is an opportunity. Every mistake is feedback. I'll update the 20 years road map.

Kate 27:49

okay. Great. Well, let's, uh, we're pretty much at time anyway. And then we'll, we'll go ahead and give you a gift card of either a Chipotle or best buy, um, If you want to, it's not your choice. It's just random based

Zach Lambic 28:04

oh, cause I was going to say, damn, I would prefer best buy. Cause I love to over pay for electronics at real quick, before, or at a time a couch, you can drive a couch that does your hair, a couch that, uh, knows your name, a couch with memory foam, a couch, that's a blanket, uh, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, a couch. You can pet a couch that kisses you back a couch. Um, that's also, uh, has a memory picture.

Eric 28:29

Okay, now that you've gotten all those pre-prepared ideas out, what is the couch that you really want?

Zach Lambic 28:34

Ah, boy, if I had my druthers,

Eric 28:37

Yeah.

Zach Lambic 28:38

I would want a couch that tries to buck me off. You ever go to Jackson hole, you get on one of those, uh, you know, uh, rodeo horses, like the sort of mechanical bull.

Thea 28:49

All the time.

Zach Lambic 28:50

So much fun, so much fun, fun at parties everyone's to come ride it. Couch tries to throw you off. I think that's at least for the Wyoming demographic. I think that's a, that's going to be a big one.

Eric 29:01

I think that's good for Iowa too, honestly.

Thea 29:03

Yeah.

Eric 29:03

and we need, we need it for the race out there, so thank you for thinking we're being vulnerable with that

Zach Lambic 29:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thea 29:10

just appreciate breaking your genius and your light into this room. I

Zach Lambic 29:13

Wow.

Thea 29:13

has been amazing.

Zach Lambic 29:15

Thank you so much. I am from the genius. Mammalia

Kate 29:20

um, okay. And then I would ask that after we finish this, you do not leave your seat until one of us is ready to escort you out. Did you drive or did you take a.

Zach Lambic 29:31

here's your first mistake. You told me don't leave my seat. You heard my, you heard my point of view on authority.

Kate 29:38

Okay. Well

Eric 29:39

right. Well, I guess that's okay.

Kate 29:41

that's

Thea 29:42

Um, do you go, all right, and he touched the

Zach Lambic 29:45

the button again.

Thea 29:45

just

Eric 29:46

Yup.

Thea 29:46

know

Kate 29:47

no, these bursts of button wants doesn't really matter, but I just hope he doesn't find

Eric 29:51

it matters.

Kate 29:51

buttons.

Zach Lambic 29:52

It does

Eric 29:53

Yeah.

Thea 29:55

Kate. Actually

Zach Lambic 29:55

actually.

Thea 29:55

find him, maybe give him an employment application. He was

Zach Lambic 29:59

It's really great.

Kate 30:00

no, there was just a single room job that he could possibly do here. What?

Eric 30:06

I see a lot of that. I think he's trainable.

Kate 30:11

Okay. Well, hiring meeting on Friday and we will discuss this, uh, with the All right. Anything else? Or can I stop this recording and go save her company? Okay.

Ben 30:31

This meeting has ended. To subscribe to this startup is being recorded. Go to the podcast player of your choice and tap a button that likely says subscribe. More content is on Twitter at startup recorded, or shoot us an email with ideas, feedback, or your personal startup horror story. At hello@startuprecorded.com.

30:49

zach has played by Adal Rifai Adal is an improviser podcaster, producer and writer in Chicago. He's the creator and host of Hey Riddle Riddle and plays Chunt on the popular podcast. Hello, from the Magic Tavern, you can find him on Twitter at@adalrifai

Ben 31:04

Kate is played by Valerie Garrison. Valerie is a health tech product manager and regularly plays with the improv troupe letters to chicken online. You can find her on Twitter at the vulgaris Eric has played by Barry. Right Barry is a product manager at Spotify and a co-founder of high-wire improv. Find him by his name on LinkedIn, where he holds regular office hours or@highwireimprov.com Matt is played by Martin Maguire Marty is a senior web engineer and improviser in New York city. You can find Marty's comedy code and cats on his website at M M G dot R E. Califia is played by Robin Stegman Robin is a digital campaign manager for ocean Conservancy and is a comedian mostly found at Highwire improv You can find her on all the social medias And she does mean all at our steaky Thank you for listening.