Marcello Giannuzzi (MG) and Kartikeya ‘Kat’ Shukla (KS) (Both Executive MBA, 2014) and Finn Callaghan (FC) are the team behind DubbaHood, a company that connects home cooks with people looking for freshly prepared meals in their neighbourhood a la ‘Airbnb for Food’. We chatted about entrepreneurship, belief and, of course, a lot about food.
Tell me about your time at Cass!
MG) I had a great experience. I remember the first day, when I came in for the introduction and I was wondering what the hell I was doing at Cass as London was such a different experience from my background – but step-by-step I discovered how much I would enjoy the people and being around that environment. It was a fantastic adventure and it really opened my eyes to new possibilities.
KS) I could not agree more; landing in the middle of London was quite an experience! You have to figure out the rules. There are so many people from different parts of the world and you all have to try to get on, which was a challenge at the beginning. But then sometime along the journey you end up forming life-long relationships.
KS) I think that’s a little bit of what the Business School is about. Marcello is from Italy and I am from India, and we met in London and decided to start a company together. Cass played a big role in that but we mustn’t forget Nancy (O’Hare) either, and she’s from Canada! So many people come together and met at a place called Cass, in London, where many of us had never been before. This international aspect is an important part of our company’s story.
What did you do after?
MG) It’s been about three years since we left. We finished at Cass in 2014 and didn’t go straight in to this. I’ve been working in Switzerland in the meantime. I clearly remember being on the New Venture Creation module, thinking that’s definitely not me! But the concepts were in the back of my mind, so when Kat and I talked about this idea a couple of years later it really turned a light on in my head. I realised that this is what I want to do and is right for me.
How did DubbaHood come about?
KS) My background is in business development and sales in the technology start up space. I have travelled 200-250K miles annually for the past 10-odd years, which has taken me around the world. Many people find that tiring but I enjoy it, meeting people and eating good food wherever my work took me. It just so happened that during my MBA I ended up living in Surrey in a very white neighbourhood, without many international food options or restaurants, so if I wanted to eat authentic food from somewhere like Brazil, then I would have to travel in to London.
So I was thinking, how do I get authentic food? Where do I begin? I went to Vietnam for an elective in Hanoi and the food places there, wow! I went to a place recommended to me for chicken by a local friend. It was the most authentic, delicious BBQ chicken cooked along the side of a road and over the course of the week we were there for the elective, I took several groups of friends and they all loved it. Marcello was one of the guys I took there and we ended up bonding over this amazing barbecue chicken and potatoes done in the Vietnamese style.
We talked about life and work and food and that’s when the idea really came together – we realised that what brings people from around the world together is a love of food and music. Well, we decided to focus on food! It was in Autumn 2013 that we had the idea, and it took from then until 2015/16 to say we need to do this; the world needs this. Once we started working on it, Nancy stepped in to help us and then we approached Finn to join the team to lead marketing and growth.
Where does the name DubbaHood come from?
MG) The name for me is about discovery. In DubbaHood, the first part of the name comes from the Dubbawallas in India. Dubba is the container in which fresh home cooked food is carried by these food couriers from your home, through this incredibly complex transport system, ending with the delivery of the meals to the right office where you work. That means they offer something that you don’t get elsewhere, the ability to eat home-cooked food, and to help communities get together, and this is where the “Hood” comes in, as we are connecting neighbourhoods through great food. We are trying to marry the concept of authentic and fresh home cooked food within neighbourhoods and brining people together using that hook.
What does DubbaHood do?
KS) We are a tech company which helps connect people who cook great food with people hungry for great food. We want people to connect with each other in their neighbourhoods. Nothing brings people together more than stories about food. It’s about the passion for fresh and authentic flavours; we’ve had enough of fast food and ready-to-eat. For this generation, it’s all about finding out what say, Marcello is cooking, what Kat is cooking, what Emma is cooking and how do I get a portion of that food for my own meal tonight. If you know the food is good (and our ratings and review system helps you with that), you will want to get your food from there, and that also helps the cook make a little money, as well as make new friends and connections along the way.
MG) Behind any recipe there is a story to tell, and it’s that connection to other people that you just don’t find everywhere. Those memories that home-cooked food brings and the story that is behind each meal is something not on the market today.
FC) It’s convenient too. Perhaps on a Monday night the last thing you want to do is figure out what you’re cooking. So what if you could meet with someone who has already done that for you so you don’t have to cook tonight? You find the person in your neighbourhood, take a short walk to pick up the food and it’s job done! And having someone in your neighbourhood who would cook you a fresh meal when you’re entirely focused on starting a company and don’t want distractions… that would be heaven to me right now!
What’s been the biggest challenge?
MG) Really for me it’s been to get out of my shell and stretch myself. I live in Switzerland and I work in the regulatory department for a big corporation. Even though you can definitely be an entrepreneur, building your own company requires a different and a more flexible and resilient approach to work.
KS) The biggest thing for me was to get the idea – and now we are moving to the execution stage in the journey. Execution of the idea is key and it requires incredible focus, resilience, and belief in your team and yourself. We are constantly looking for people who love the problem we’re trying to solve and want to come in to start contributing, and making a real difference. HR and organisational behaviour problems, these are the biggest priorities for us right now – it is critical to have the right culture to enable growth.
FC) When you’re a start-up, you could be the tech person one day, the customer service person the next and the marketing person the day after that, depending on your current list of priorities and deadlines. You have to make sure that you don’t let something important slip through the cracks or it could have a knock-on effect on other areas. It can be incredibly daunting to learn everything you can, about an area where you have little experience, in as short a time as possible. As Marcello said, it certainly forces you out of any comfort zone you may have. But it is truly exhilarating when whatever piece it is that you’re working on is successfully completed.
Do you have any advice to share?
MG) One word: Belief. You need to really believe in your idea, even if it’s a stretch and not within everybody’s grasp. Believe through the ups and downs, and it will become reality.
KS) Communicate. Good communication is key, whether internally for good or bad news, or externally to investors and people you are hoping to get interested.
FC) Patience. Working in a start-up is an entirely different experience to an already established company. In a company, there are processes in place and established roles and responsibilities. In a start-up, there is no structure, you’re figuring it out as you go along and success doesn’t happen instantly, so you need to be patient. Yes, you will have setbacks, you always do in a start-up, but you’ll have many more if you’re not patient with yourself, with others and with the journey.
So you’re looking to hire new people?
MG) One of the things at Cass that is very important is access to talent. The journey just started for us and we want to tap into the Cass network to say we are here with this great opportunity, get in touch with us if you want to find out more or of you think this is a business you’d like to be contribute to!
KS) Hiring is critical and so is putting a good Advisory Board in place. We’re a growing company so it is critical to put the right team together including getting the right investors on board.
Finally, it’s the quick-fire question round!
| Marcello | Kat | Finn | |
| Favourite place in London: | Tate Modern | Borough Market | Tate Britain and Modern |
| Favourite holiday destination: | Cambodia or Vietnam | Hanoi | Palau |
| Must check every-day website: | FT | News sites in particularly Tech Crunch | Twitter (for multiple news sources) |
| Dream travel destination: | Myanmar | Alaska | Vanuatu |
| Cheese or chocolate: | Cheese | Chocolate | Cheese |
Find out more about DubbaHood on the website.