The goal of Hardly Hustle is to provide inspiration, drive and motivation in a 10 minute read or less. What you see is what you get. This is hot off the press without an editing team. Cristina Carvallo is up.
Who are you and what do you do?
Im Cristina Carvallo and I am passionate about challenging the way we think, how we work and what we do. I believe that there's always a better version of ourselves and of the products we use.
What is your business advantage?
PlayGabu is the first online platform for kids where they can play videogames online while developing abilities, learning, and playing, all in a safe space.
What drives/motivates you to keep scaling your business?
Digital citizenship is really important in our daily life and we want to prepare our children to face this reality with good a conscious. To do so, they need to know how to interact in the digital environment, have criterium and to not be taken advantage of by others. To help them, we will teach them the course of Life Skills and Digital Citizenship which are basic courses that every person should know to face the future, digitally.
What advice would you give someone interested in getting to where you are?
As a startup from zero to one, it’s been challenging and exciting at the same time. We overcome difficulties because we believe in our product, who uses it, and what it can bring to all our users' lives.
Listen to users and not be afraid of trying new things to pivot. Contradict yourself when needed, but be consistent and persistent in your decisions. Our team is passionate about the gaming industry and helping to create a positive impact on the lives of children, parents, and providers all over the world.
What has been the hardest part of running your business and scaling it to where it is?
Achieving product-market fit, because it is not only about listening to feedback but about asking the right questions and reading between lines to discover the unhidden needs. Even if we ask the same question differently, we get a different answer. Keeping in mind that sometimes you have to decide between customer service or customer acquisition... know how to prioritize a problem from a need to a must.
What are 3 things you would say have contributed to your success the most?
1. Be curious: I don't have the answer; I'm on a constant search to find it; it's in an infinite game, as Simon Sinek talks about in his book.
2. All minds together its always better than one; create a strong, passionate team you can trust in good and in bad situations.
3. Be passionate about the problem
Who or what has helped you the most in your journey so far?
I have had a lot of great advisors, Beto Lopez from IDEO, a specialist in human-centered design, and Beth Davies from Tesla, an expert on company culture. And always keep learning from books and courses.
Are there any "musts" you have on a daily basis?
Meditation, Exercise and breaks from work, it the best way to be productive and to come with new ideas.
What mindset shifts were required to achieve the success you've experienced?
Challenging the myths about kids playing video games. Video games can be a fun way for kids to learn. Many people think that video games encourage kids to waste time, are addictive, get too excitable and aggressive, make kids lazy, and make them lose focus at school! But that's not true, it is just that we only hear the negative stuff, so we need to create a lot of content and awareness to change that approach.
What are a few resources that you'd recommend?
For company culture, no rule rules from Netflix culture, Dare to Lead from Brene Brown, The advantage. To create a startup, the book zero to one, Lean Startup, and Blitzscaling.
The STATS
List the founders
Fernado Corral, Mario Garcia
How many hours a week do you work on this hustle?
40 to 45
# of Employees?
5 full-time
How much did it cost to launch?
We started with a seed round from a VC
How much have you raised?
Not provided.
Annual revenue?
Not provided.
Projected revenue?
Not provided.
Any call to action?
For now, we are centering on acquiring users and achieving product market fit.