Hack//Meat SV Update: Cow Share With Us Splits Into Beef Buying Platform & Online Store

28 Oct 2013

A little over three months ago, we hosted Hack//Meat Silicon Valley, a hackathon that brought together 250 food industry leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives to develop hardware and software solutions to sustainable meat challenges. Ten winning teams were awarded prizes worth more than $125,000, including cash and consulting services from industry leaders to help them continue development of their projects.

Since the hackathon, many teams have continued working on their projects, so we’ve decided to share their progress through a series of blog posts over the coming weeks.

We kicked off the series with grand prize winning team, Farmstacker, which began as an eHarmony or AirBnb tool to connect young farmers with land and capital. Then we shared best social good winner Buyotic’s progress – its project is a mobile app that helps consumers shop their values by locating antibiotic-free chicken and make pledges to purchase it.

This week, we catch up with best business winner, Cow Share With Us, to find out how their concept has changed, what challenges they’ve faced and what may be next on the horizon.

Please share your feedback or resources in the comments below to help Cow Share With Us continue developing its project.

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FTC: Has your team continued development of Cow Share With Us after the hackathon? Why or why not?

Cow Share With Us: The hackathon was the catalyst we needed to get serious about our project, Cow Share With Us, and we’ve maintained our momentum for building the business.

The project is now two: CowTippr, an online grassfed and grass finished beef buying platform, and The Honest Bison, an online store for grassfed and grass finished bison. Danny and Hannah are working on the former while Sean is busy at work on the latter, and we continue to collaborate both personally and professionally.

COWTIPPR:

FTC: What challenges have you faced in continuing to develop your idea and testing your prototype?

CowTippr: We’ve been taking small, incremental steps to keep the challenges reasonable. Scaling the hands-on process of in-person distribution will be a difficult problem to solve since we currently have folks meet at our home to pick up their meat and trade with others. This will be impossible to sustain as we increase the range of our customers and have more meetups. We’ve got some ideas about how to solve this, so stay tuned.

FTC: How has your technology and business model evolved since the hackathon?

CT: CowTippr’s online presence is still a work in progress. We’ve got wireframes and basic functionality, and we’re working with a great designer to build a fantastic experience to make buying grassfed beef an amazing experience. Once the site is up and running, we’ll begin testing the business model since we’ve continued to charge a flat per purchase.

FTC: What additional feedback, support or resources do you need to move forward?

CT: We continue to get feedback from customers about packaging, transportation, and recipes. We have a cohort we work closely with to test out different ideas in these realms, and we’re making continuous progress toward our goals. We will unveil the site soon so everyone can buy through it, and we’ll turn the marketing hose on much higher to find the best channels for finding those interested in all the benefits grassfed beef has to offer.

THE HONEST BISON:

FTC: Has your team continued development of Cow Share With Us after the hackathon? Why or why not?

THB: My company, The Honest Bison, will use a white label version of CowTippr and serve the same functionality for 100% grassfed bison. Having two companies commit to the platform should ensure the value of the investment. At least that is what I am hoping for.

FTC: What challenges have you faced in continuing to develop your idea and testing your prototype?

THB: The Honest Bison has faced some of logistical challenges expected with a frozen perishable product. However, I continue to market test with my new customers to see what trade offs they are willing to make with delivery times and locations. I can see some innovative solutions, but customer adaptation will be key.

FTC: How has your technology and business model evolved since the hackathon?

THB: The business model for CowTippr for The Honest Bison will stay the same until it begins testing sometime in early 2014.

FTC: What additional feedback, support or resources do you need to move forward?

THB: Addition feedback, support, or resources… Personally I just need more time…. where can I buy more of that?

FTC: What are the next steps for The Honest Bison?

THB: Next steps for The Honest Bison is to wait patiently for the software to be developed and prepare my customers to engage with the buying platform when ready. This platform will be one of at least 3 ways to buy from The Honest Bison. My web site is currently in development with MVP rolling out November. I hope to have a more complete story to tell in January as I will be sponsoring several events in the first quarter of 2014 with more customers, a full story to tell and a web portal to sell through.

BONUS QUESTIONS FOR BOTH PROJECTS:

FTC: What kinds of insights into the industry have been most helpful?

CT & THB: We had no previous experience working with farmers and processors, so it’s been a great experience talking to them and learning their perspectives and desires.

FTC: Why did you decide to split into two projects?

CT & THB: Hannah and Danny came to the hackathon with the CowShareWithUs idea and there met Sean who came with his Honest Buffalo business. We realized how similar our projects were and decided to join together and focus on one for the hackathon. We knew that what we learned would apply to both ideas.

FTC: What has been most helpful about the mentorship you’ve received so far?

CT & THB: We’ve had introductions to many in the various industries we’re working with, farmers, processors, and others who are willing to help out. Everyone has been very nice and eager to answer all the questions we have.