How HN Helped Manpacks Take Off

http://mixergy.com/manpacks-ken-johnson-interview/

by gatsby • 16 years ago

34 27 16 years ago

I think this is a great idea. I'm only 1/2 through the interview, but it seems like it's inspired by things Amazon Fresh, etc.

What does <demographic> hate to do? Shop for food, shop for boring types of clothes.

zaidf2• 16 years ago

I posted this on HN. I'm always interested in how messages spread, so here's the breakdown AFAIK:

1. manpacks guys make the product.

2. post facebook ad

3. my brother see fb ad(nice targeting?)

4. bro shares link with me on gtalk

5. i post on HN

6. <lots more coverage?>

7. profit???

The real thanks should goto my brother Shadab!

Here's our original chat between me and my bro from March 8(he works in advertising so I thought he was doing a campaign for them):

12:46 AM Shadab: http://manpacks.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&...

LOL

12:47 AM me: LOL!

doing campaign for tht?

Shadab: clicked on FB ad

hahahahahaha

What I'd like to know from them is what other marketing ideas they tried?

How much did they spend on FB?

How did they go about targeting?

How are they scaling sales now(all WOM)?

I'm yet to watch the interview so I'm sure they've answered some of that there!

tbeseda• 16 years ago

My 3rd manpack will ship this weekend. Found via HN.

AndrewWarner• 16 years ago

I'm a customer too, thanks to zaidf.

zaidf2• 16 years ago

Tiny correction: so it was the facebook ad which my brother saw which then made it to me; not springwise as you guys credit in the interview :)

ajb• 16 years ago

Currently, http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=manpack shows luggable military radios. Wonder how long that will take to change.

rsheridan6• 16 years ago

I'd like to see something like manpacks, but with food (not pizza-style junkfood crap, but something good and healthy like you would cook at home if you were inclined to cook).

spydertennis• 16 years ago

Zerocater.com solves this problem for small businesses.

dot• 16 years ago

wow. i'm not sure about the financial potential, but i like that idea a lot... pick a dish, how many people you want to cook for and when you want it delivered... or the weekly featured dish in a subscription.

yaknow3• 16 years ago

www.graze.com is doing snack subscriptions over in the UK. Haven't found a similar service in the US yet.

_dan• 16 years ago

It's a great idea, and the snacks they send are varied and interesting. But they're really not "meals", and it's far too easy to scarf an entire box.

I found myself eating normally PLUS whatever they sent, which kinda defeated the purpose for me.

(Their website is stunningly good, though)

jrockway4• 16 years ago

This exists, but is a local thing. I subscribe to Organic Life in Chicago. 3 medium-calorie organic meals a day, delivered 3 times a week. Other cities have services like this too, you just have to Google it.

For dry goods / energy drinks / etc., there is Amazon Subscribe & Save. I rarely need to go to the store with this and Amazon Prime. It's great to have 6 months of laundry detergent on hand :)

DevX101• 16 years ago

See http://www.nutrisystem.com.

They're making north of $120M per year doing just this.

ryanelkins• 16 years ago

This is called meal prep. There are companies like Dream Dinners and Super Suppers that do this. Usually you go and prepare the meals yourself (pick what you want and how many servings from their menu) in a few hours (to make a months worth of meals). Most places will prepare it for you too if you'd like - then you just pick it up. The meals themselves are usually ready to eat in 15-20 minutes. You usually put it in the oven or cook it on the stove top. I've done Dream Dinners before - it was OK, but the portions were a bit small for me and ultimately with my wife staying home it was easier and cheaper for her to just make meals herself.

prawn• 16 years ago

I want to see someone start a fruit delivery service to offices. You'd sign up for a weekly delivery and pick the pricepoint that matched your needs - maybe you have 4-5 people, or maybe 20 or many more. Perhaps you just want some basics (bananas, apples, etc) or maybe you want to spring for mangos.

The delivery guys would dress in gorilla outfits and drive yellow cars. They'd cruise into the office, high-five the receptionist. Someone would yell out, "It's the gorilllllla!" Maybe they'd do a brief dance after putting down the box/basket - something new each time and fruit-themed (picking apples, peeling a banana, etc) and then they'd leave. Out of work acting types and arts students could handle the deliveries.

frankdenbow• 16 years ago

www.freshdirect.com does food delivery in nyc, although not sure if they have subscriptions.

ahlatimer• 16 years ago

http://ypchef.com is another one. We built the site for them. The owners are good people, but I haven't tried the food (they don't deliver to my area).

jrockway4• 16 years ago

I am not that excited by Manpacks, and I hate shopping. It's the typical web startup. Web 2.0 design. A few famous brands. Lots of logos from "traditional media".

Then you look at the product and it's nearly twice as expensive as Amazon, if you are willing to get 6 pairs of underwear at once. So who does this target? People who are too poor to afford 12 socks at once? Not compelling. Amazon is trusted and less expensive. Where is the value add?

noodle3• 16 years ago

i tend to agree. my major gripe is the cost. something i've been considering creating for a while is a manpacks alternative.

yaknow3• 16 years ago

HN and Reddit have always been very helpful in pointing out Manpacks' price competitiveness with Amazon. :)

To put it into perspective, using Hanes crew necks (that seem to be a baseline for comparison) you're paying a "discounted" $12.99 for a 3-pack on Amazon. Not including shipping -- or what you pre-pay using Prime -- that's $4.33 a shirt. Manpacks lists them at $5, with free shipping on orders above $30.

If you just don't see the value in not having to think about or shop for the basics, then that 67¢ savings will be the deciding factor.

jseliger• 16 years ago

Where is the value add?

Not having to think about it, click any buttons, do anything, remember anything, etc. Buying socks and underwear is one of those tasks that's very, very easy to perpetually put off until tomorrow.

jrockway4• 16 years ago

And then you pay Amazon $6 for same-day shipping and get a crate of underwear all at once.

davi• 16 years ago

Interesting that HN now has enough reach that mainstream media mine it for new stories. From the transcript --

Andrew: How about that “Inc.” article? There was an article in “Inc.” which announced Manpacks, and then it asked other entrepreneurs to give feedback and suggestions for Manpacks. How did you guys get that article written about you?

Ken: The editor reached out to us in March. He said they would be interested in doing an article on Manpacks. Would you be interested in an interview? I said, of course.

Andrew: Okay. Was this after the Hacker News hit?

Ken: Yes. It was maybe a week and a half after.

Andrew: That’s so interesting. By the way, I found that other reporters will look at Hacker News and come up with stories. And then those stories end up just kind of growing and growing and feeding on each other.

How HN Helped Manpacks Take Off

Related Stories