10 Questions with Will Emmett

10 Questions with Will Emmett

This is the second interview in my series of chats with the people behind some of Australia’s most interesting new tech start ups. I caught up with Will Emmett of meemeep.com and was impressed by his intelligence and his vision for meemeep and the collaborative consumption movement. At 23 he’s wise well beyond his years.

 

1. What is MeeMeep? When and where did the idea come from?

Meemeep is a social network that connects people on the move with people with things to move.

The idea came to my uncle three years ago who noticed all the empty space in the cars and trucks next to him whilst driving. He investigated the idea and found that the courier market was quite over inflated and saw a huge opportunity existed for a shake up in this space.

2. How long has it taken to implement? What has been the biggest setbacks along the way?

It’s taken three years to bring the idea from concept to reality. The biggest setbacks have been operational like trying to create a great user experience on the website, but we’ve also been challenged with building trust and safety into our brand as well as communicating what is effectively quite a complex offering.  

Some of the difficulties we have faced stem from not having much to model the idea on. You know when we started out, the term “Collaborative Consumption” didn’t even exist to describe the business model we were trying to achieve.  It wasn’t until six months into the project that Rachel Botsman released her book and the term and the idea was popularized. In fact I remember listening to talking business on a Qantas flight and hearing her being interviewed about “What’s Mine is Yours” which had just been released and I was instantly able to draw the links between what we were attempting to achieve and  the “Collaborative Consumption” movement she was describing.

3. What are your thoughts on the Collaborative Consumption movement?

I look at the Coll Cons idea as having two sides. The first being the movement itself and the people that are championing it and secondly the outcome of what Coll Cons actually achieves.  I think it’s important to note that the outcome of the idea itself is so much more powerful than the actual movement at the moment. When you think about it Coll Cons really is a perfect economic example of creating shared value amongst a huge range of people.

 

4. Where’s Coll Cons at in Australia currently? Are the consumers ready?

Australians are such a strange bunch. I’ve actually had this exact conversation with a number of people in the Coll Cons space over the last few weeks. I think for the size of our country we’re actually a fair way along the path. I think there’s always going to be leaders that are in front of Australia but I think we’re gaining in the Coll Cons space pretty quickly as far as our adoption to the use of it is concerned.

(Are we at a disadvantage with our low population density?)

 

We’re less dense, we consume more, we have a much bigger impact on the environment than most other countries in the world. I think we are a little bit disadvantaged but where there’s disadvantage there’s opportunity.  Using meemeep as an example, the low population density and the great distances between cities means that travel is more expensive for us and that we also drive more often and cover further distances than other countries which manifests in an economic opportunity.

 

5. What other Coll Cons Start Ups in Australia have you been impressed by?

There are two that instantly spring to mind: Ziilch and Openshed. I really like what they’re both trying to achieve and the passion they both have for their mission is admirable.

6. What are your thoughts on the current global explosion of start ups? Where has this come from? Are we in a bubble?

I think that it’s very easy to deny that you’re in a bubble when you’re in a bubble… However we’re probably not there yet and things are a little different this time around. The best thing about this explosion of tech start ups has been that they’ve all been driven by revenue generating companies which is unique in comparison to the last two dot com booms. And whilst past tech booms have been based around the technology itself I think now the start ups are using the tech to solve real world problems.

 

 7. Let’s Move on to Marketing. What do you think makes a good brand?

It’s a very big question…The common theme that I think runs through a good brand is a belief by the consumer that the brand represents something that is good, something that is bigger than themselves, and something that they can be a part of. I think a good brand has a deep connection with their customer. No matter how far away you are from that brand you still feel connected in some way.

 

8. Is the role brands play in people’s lives changing?

Yes. Absolutely. I think religion is out and brands are in.

People are looking for something to believe in. There’s a void that brands are filling in and in some instances it’s going to explode. The good news though is that the open, transparent nature of the internet is forcing brands to live up to the values they preach so perhaps it’s not as dangerous as it might have once been!

9. How are you marketing MeeMeep?

We’re a company that lives very closely to its brand. At a fairly deep level we know that we’re all about helping people help each other and this naturally flows through in every single thing we do. Our goal is to have our message spread naturally by providing a great service and being true to our values. We’re putting our message out there in the hope that it resonates with  like minded individuals to create a community that is self sustaining.

 

9.5. Is it hard to connect to the people that are actually willing to transact on meemeep rather than just like the idea?  

Yeah and that’s where the idea of being ‘seamless’ comes in to it. Having businesses that fit into and help people’s lives rather than expecting people to change their ways to embrace a new idea. We still have a long way to go in making our product entirely seamless for the consumer but it’s definitely one of the biggest issues that  Coll Cons start ups face. The key is to put yourself in the stakeholders shoes at each touchpoint and ask “where’s the value for me?”

 

10. What / Who Inspires You?

I’m lucky that I have a great number of people very close to me in my life who inspire me. Generally speaking it’s the people that are willing to push the boundaries, be unpopular at times and who have a very strong resolve to what it is they’re trying to achieve – the trouble makers!

With regards to Meemeep and the Coll Cons movement I’m inspired by the fact that I’m a part of something that really has the power to change the world in a very significant way.