The frenetic pace that's associated with launching a tech startup burns out plenty of would-be entrepreneurs. Not Jimmy Odom. The 31-year-old founder of Chicago-based WeDeliver says he used to stay awake for three days as he bounced between film school at Columbia College Chicago and jobs as an emergency medical technician and Apple Store employee.
So when Mr. Odom left Apple last year to concentrate on WeDeliver, he wasn't intimidated by the challenge. Indeed, after WeDeliver won the Startup Weekend Chicago competition in November, he plunged headlong into the new business along with several colleagues. The company began testing its product this week with a single client — Lincoln Park florist Dilly Lily.
WeDeliver aims to turn regular folks into delivery personnel for local merchants. It's a similar concept to home- or car-sharing companies, but in this case you're sharing your time. Have a couple of hours? Then sign onto WeDeliver's network and make a couple of deliveries. For local merchants, WeDeliver promises a way to keep up with e-tailers by offering same-day delivery.
Mr. Odom expects to add more merchants this spring; he says several are ready, but he wants to make sure the service works smoothly before adding them. He also says 130 people signed up to be delivery specialists during the week he hosted an application form online. He tells Crain's contributor Steve Hendershot more about the business.
