Chapter Two

The title of this blog post is in homage to a challenge we set one of the UK’s most successful business-to-business delivery networks back in January.  We told them that the SendSocial story had only just begun, and asked them to ‘join us for Chapter Two’.  They did.

Shortly afterwards, we found ourselves with a pretty mammoth deal on the table, and I am delighted – no, honoured – to finally be able to announce our partnership with ByBox.  You might not have heard of these guys before, but I can safely say that I have never been so excited about receiving a book than when Stuart Miller, ByBox’s CEO, popped one into their network for me.

Not even 48 hours later, I woke up to find a text message on my phone.  It read something like this: “Your parcel has been delivered into your chosen ByBox.  Please type in 600679 on the keypad to retrieve it.”

Obediently following Stuart’s instructions, I hopped on a tube to Victoria Station, in Central London, and discovered the ByBox lockers outside by the car park.  A few seconds later, and there I was: book in hand, amazed look on my face.  I fell in love with the service instantly.

No more ‘missed delivery’ cards ever again, and a 48-hour service through SendSocial.  The price?  Just £2.99.

As well as adding ByBox as a delivery option alongside myHermes on SendSocial.com, the deal we struck with them means that we are now able to drive things forward faster than any of us had ever thought possible.  Perhaps one of the most important things about our deal with ByBox is how incredible the people there are.  We’d always said that if we were to take on investment, it would be from people we enjoyed spending time with, and people we could learn from.  We didn’t want investment for the sake of investment, but ‘intelligent money’.

I was originally quite surprised by ByBox’s enthusiasm towards us, but I quickly realised where all their energy came from: they’re nice people.  Stuart, Dan and Indi are the sort of people who I would more than happily spend my holiday with (although I’m not sure they’d share the same eagerness).  They don’t have work hats, and their hours aren’t 9-to-5.  They live and breathe what they do, and you can tell that they love every minute of it.

I’d like to extend a very public thank you to everyone at ByBox for their faith and support over the past few months.  To Indi, for that first phone call, and for forcing Stuart to meet us.  For working so closely with me.  You rock.  To Stuart, for letting Indi force you to meet us on that foggy January afternoon.  Here’s to Dan, for your ‘that’s great’ attitude and help on the development side of things.

To the ByBox board: thanks for saying yes.  Hats off also to ByBox’s developers, for working with Antony and James to make all of this happen, and of course a big thank you to the men and women doing the hard work on the ground.  Without you we have nothing.

SendSocial is a business built on trust.  We wouldn’t have even launched back in November had myHermes not agreed to take a leap into the unknown with us, but it is that faith and vision of what could be that is pushing things forward day in, day out.

It’s crazy to think that all of this started as an idea posted on Twitter.  It’s even crazier to look back and realise that we’ve never actually all been in the same country at the same time, let alone the same room.

But the unconventional nature of everything we’ve done hasn’t mattered one bit.  Why?  Because I’m working with a dream team, whose commitment and dedication never staggers to amaze me.  We have Antony, Marc and James, who slave away making our crazy demands a reality.

We’ve got Glen, our astonishing CEO, and Ben, who I can safely say is one of the most remarkable people I have had the pleasure of getting to know.  You wouldn’t expect a non-exec to meet you at 10 o’clock in the evening, ‘just for a chat’, but Tom does just that and, to top things off, there’s Simon, who’s knowledge and expertise proves to be invaluable time and time again.

I’m having the time of my life, learning things no university degree could ever teach, and meeting amazing people every single day.  I wake up every morning buzzing for the day ahead.  I settle down by my laptop at 9pm, and before I know it the sun is rising and the birds are singing.  And it’s so much fun.

Things can of course be a bit of a rollercoaster at times.  There was a two week period not too long ago when I experienced the biggest highs and the deepest lows ever.  Peaks and troughs that I didn’t even know existed.  But as they say, what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.  2010 has really taught me the value of friends, so here’s to Chloe and Verity, Oscar, Steph and Nat, for keeping me going and pushing me on.  Good luck for the rest of your exams, I know you’ll all do just fine.  There would be so many more grey hairs if it weren’t for you guys.

It’s funny when I think about it.  So much doom and gloom in the economy.  A potentially unstable coalition government.  Global warming, and a list of 100-or-so other odd things that are wrong with the world.  Aliens must think we’re all mad.  But then you sit back and realise that, you know what, actually none of that matters.  To have a positive impact on the world and be the change you want to see, you first have to do one very, very simple thing: stand up and have fun.

Do that and everything else will follow.

SendSocial isn’t where we want it to be just yet.  It might take us a few years.  It may even take us a decade.  But oh boy will we get there.

One tweet, eight people, and a desire to change the world.  The SendSocial story has only just begun.  Will you join us for Chapter Three?