ChefHangout.comChapter TwoWho will be the next owner?Hello everyone,
We launched ChefHangout.com here on Google+ with great fanfare as a place to take live cooking classes from the comfort of your own kitchen using Hangouts. We accomplished awesome things (covered below) and proved that a magical and delectable experience with repeat customers could be delivered via webcam effectively.
Today, I’m very excited to announce the sale of ChefHangout.com and with great anticipation, I look forward to seeing
who the right buyer will be. Chapter two will begin soon as we embark on finding the right company or individual to take it to the next level.
Reason for sale.My work at ChefHangout was that of creator and builder, visionary and dreamer. It now requires a company or an individual who will bring full time leadership and the resources necessary to realize the fantastic potential that ChefHangout possesses.
Another reason I’m selling is that my primary business, Merger Partners, has become very successful and is growing. We’ve created something new in the investment banking industry, and as a result, very substantial growth is underway and I’m hiring. It requires my full dedication and focus. Therefore, I cannot devote the time necessary to take ChefHangout to the next level.
Two Types of Buyers for ChefHangout.comStrategic buyer - A companyThe right strategic buyer could acquire ChefHangout.com and very rapidly scale it to hundreds of chefs teaching thousands of classes. There are dozens of strategic buyers that we’ve identified and will be approaching. There are compelling reasons why ChefHangout is an interesting fit for each one of these companies. Some include
+Blue Apron (how about it
+Matt Salzberg?) You said that more educational content could be a part of Blue Apron’s future plans. Why not offer some of your meals with a cooking class?),
+Sur La Table,
+Munchery,
+Plated,
+Whole Foods Market,
+Epicurious, Central Market,
+Yummly …… and even
+Helpouts by Google, but I imagine Google will be more interested once an entrepreneur grows the company to over 1,000 chefs. Do you have ideas for companies that would be strategic fits? Please me know.
EntrepreneurThe right entrepreneur can grow the company into a phenomenal destination and would do the things necessary to create a very successful business. As Chef
+Adam Massimo Mazzocchetti said, ChefHangout.com should be the first place anyone on the planet thinks of when they want to take a cooking class. I will work with the right entrepreneur to grow the company into a cash flowing success that can either be sold to a strategic buyer or grown through venture funding when certain metrics are achieved. VCs are pouring money into food startups and this one could be very appealing once a larger cash flow stream is maintained and strategic partnerships are formed with bigger brands.
Are you an angel investor who’s intrigued? I know one individual here on
+Google+ who is an extremely capable guy and with the right backer, could grow this business dramatically. Let’s connect you two.
The ProcessI’ve hired an advisor to lead the effort in selling ChefHangout.com. That firm will field inquiries from here along with our own contacts we are making to prospective buyers.
The process is very simple. After my advisor has conversations with interested buyers, we will schedule conference calls with my advisor and myself, and exchange any confidential and detailed information.
We will assess indications of interest and term sheets from various buyers and choose one during the month of November with a December closing targeted.
Contact InfoPlease contact me at JoeSaad@ChefHangout.com and we will respond to inquiries. Feel free to ask questions by commenting here if you like. There is certain private, proprietary and confidential information that I will not be able to answer publicly, but I’ll certainly address privately with credible buyers.
Stories of Success & Awesome ThingsDate Night InvestorA husband and wife bought a date night cooking class with our amazing
+Chef Dennis Littley. The couple are friends of mine and twenty minutes after the class, I received a call from John. He was practically giddy! He went on and on about how much fun they had and then dropped the news. He and his wife had saved $50,000 and they wanted to invest in ChefHangout.com. While I didn’t take their investment, it told me a lot. The experience was so much fun and so awesome, that they wanted to immediately invest.
William Burdette from NoSatiation.com+William Burdette is a podcaster at No Satiation, “a podcast for food nerds”.
After taking a cooking class at ChefHangout.com, he of course did a podcast about it and said, “I left my kitchen kind of euphoric. When people talked about the promise of the internet, 10, 15, 20 years ago, this is what they were talking about.”
ZAGAT and ChefHangout.com at SXSWWe did a cooking show (photos below) with
+ZAGAT so take a peak at the YouTube video of it here:
http://youtu.be/hZT_XC79qZEHere’s How it Workshttp://youtu.be/0yBB3vW5ZcYOne Chef. Three Cities. One Family.This family likes hanging out together. But, separated geographically, it's challenging to meet sometimes. So, they decided to have a private cooking class at ChefHangout.com. They laughed and had fun while making an amazing meal together, and when our chef left after class, they dined together, family to family, face to face. Watch some of it here:
http://youtu.be/CJwkEiId868Great media coverage, including this from +The Next Web“ChefHangout is a Genius Use of Google+ and Could Actually Make Money”
goo.gl/D7Kga Thanks to
+Drew Olanoff for recognizing us!
Happy Repeat Customers+Jeff Karpinski our number one customer, bought ... well let’s just say, over a dozen classes. When I asked Jeff one day why he bought so many classes given he was already a pretty darn good cook, he said this. “Because I’m willing to try cooking things I never would have tried by myself. With a chef standing with me in my kitchen, I’m willing to try things like tiramisu.”
Master ClassesTen Classes. One Subject. Be an Expert.There is nothing else like this in the market, and it serves a need for those who crave deeper culinary knowledge and want more than just one class, but aren’t interested in going to get a formal education in culinary arts. Once completed, the customer gets a ChefHangout chef jacket and the satisfaction of knowing they’ve accomplished a level of expertise in one particular area of cooking.
Our brand age here has over 1.6 million followers
Check it out here:
+ChefHangout.com Massive thank you to our chefs!Our chefs inspired me throughout the process of building something great. They signed on before they even saw a website. Our first developer just couldn’t build the sort of site we needed and the chefs hung in there. Our second developer was nothing short of genius as they were able to build things that people to this day, can’t seem to replicate and approach me to buy.
Our chefs motivated me and more importantly, many of them became my friends. Chef
+Jake Croston, the popular, handsome and funny chef whose skills should be on TV,
+Chef Dennis Littley's wisdom and knowledge proved again and again to be of great value, Chef
+Haylee Otto,
+Mary Helen Leonard,
+Stormy Sweitzer,
+Jessica Chiasson Wood,
+Jackie M,
+Adam Massimo Mazzocchetti,
+Jenny Kelley,
+Janice Mansfield and many more were all instrumental in building something brand new and unique.
And, a huge thanks to all of you!There have been tons of awesome relationships built along this path! I’ll never forget the launch day announcement Hangout with
+Sarah Hill on the news, a pioneer and trailblazer here for human media, many Hangouts with
+Bruce Garber, the co-creator of
+Virtual Photo Walks™, strategy discussions with
+Peter G McDermott,
+Chris Hill,
+Michael Sitarzewski &
+Chris Yates and hanging out at
+SXSW in Austin with
+Amanda Blain,
+Daria Musk and so many others. Hangouts with
+Laurie DesAutels,
+Mike Downes,
+Kim Beasley,
+Elaine Lindsay, and even superstar
+Mark Cuban! I’ll never forget those early creative discussions with
+Paul Allen founder of Ancestry.com. I’m grateful for friends from Google like
+Loren Groves who was valuable and supportive as we developed ChefHangout.
+Vic Gundotra you’re inspiring and thank you for your kind words not long ago in Dallas,
+Anne Espiritu your knowledge of PR and marketing is second to none.
+Denis Labelle your insight and wealth of information on Google+ has been massively valuable and the same to
+Ronnie Bincer – hanging out with you in Austin was a blast!
+Pelpina Trip what an amazing video you did for our site!
+Dan McDermott's outstanding expertise here has been of great value! You and many more like you have been huge parts of building this, and I’m deeply grateful for each of you.
Thanks to all of you from the bottom of my heart!First in social media?Has any business ever been both launched on a social network and sold there too?
Have you ever seen someone announce the upcoming sale of their business via Google+, Twitter, Facebook, or other social networks?
+Robert Scoble have you?
+Danielle Gould maybe you know? I never have, and nobody I’ve spoken to has but after careful consideration, we thought, why not. :)
Media, please cover this if you deem it newsworthy,
+The Next Web,
+TechCrunch,
+Mashable,
+Inc.,
+Jason Salas,
+Amber Mac,
+Cali Lewis,
+Mike Elgan,
+Leo Laporte, and others! :)
Share pleaseThere are oodles of entrepreneurs and companies who might have an interest in buying this business, so please share away. Let’s make history as the first company both launched and sold on Google+!
