In the Spotlight: Aram Street & Eric Griffin

Hi friends 👋 Logan here.

Early-stage episode coming to you this morning - we got to chat with the Cofounders of CleanSpace, Aram Street & Eric Griffin. CleanSpace is a newer company in the Lexington startup ecosystem, working to create an uber-like on-demand cleaning service

CleanSpace first came onto our radar in August of 2023 after Aram’s pitch at 5 Across won them the competition. Pitching a vision of bringing cleaning services to the gig economy, Aram and Eric see a future where home and business owners can easily find trusted cleaners to take care of their space.

As both Aram and Eric are new to the process of building a venture-backed business, we dove into the details around how each them decided to make the leap to entrepreneurship, their experience becoming involved in the Lexington startup ecosystem, and their experience raising capital from investors.

Key Takeaways

1. The Importance of Talking to Customers Early: Thanks to some time spent helping universities raise donations via calling alumni, Aram is no stranger to cold calling. He put that skill to use for CleanSpace by calling potential customers to tell them what they were building and hear their feedback. That feedback then influenced how they built their product.

2. From 5 Across Attendee to Winner: A testament to the effectiveness of Awesome Inc’s bi-monthly pitch competition, Aram tells the story of initially getting involved in Lexington’s startup ecosystem by attending 5 Across. Becoming inspired to build a business and then winning the competition says a lot about the role that the event plays in our ecosystem

3. The Complexities of Building an On-Demand Marketplace: As you can imagine, generating demand on both sides of the cleaning equation can be challenging. Through working with localized cleaners on a limited basis and being thoughtful about how they scale, Aram and Eric are navigating the complexities of launching their marketplace.

What Else We’re Listening To

• In Conversation with Sam Altman - I know you’ve missed my regular All-In pod recommendations here. I couldn’t resist with this one. Sam Altman is at the center of one of the most significant technological advancements of our lifetimes, and anytime you can listen directly to the source, you should.

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