Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Warman.
Hi Brandon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
It all started 9 years ago when my cofounder Daniel Vitiello was trying to access his purchasing data from Safeway. They said there was no way to access the data digitally, but if we sent them a $1 check with a handwritten letter, they would mail us a copy of his records. A couple weeks later, a stack of papers showed up and we realized that wasn’t going to work for our version of a digital pantry.
In 2017, grocers started making a big push online to compete with Amazon after its acquisition of Whole Foods. Soon it became possible to connect directly to 80 of the largest grocers in the United States to download all of our purchase data digitally.
We got to work and built a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that allowed users to connect their store accounts to Cooklist to track their grocery purchases. This became the Cooklist digital pantry which has evolved into today’s product, an end-to-end grocery app for consumers.
We applied and got admitted to the Techstars accelerator program, a premier program for the country’s top startups to incubate their ideas and grow their business. As a result, we ended up with a partnership with Target, which helped kickstart our efforts to work with consumers and retailers nationwide.
Fast forward to today, over half a million people have downloaded Cooklist to manage their pantry, get recipe recommendations to use their food before it goes to waste, and put together their shopping lists of the items they need to buy.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Certainly not. Building an experience that works with the nation’s largest grocers and the millions of products they sell, along with millions of recipes from 50,000 different sources across the internet, requires a robust system trained on millions of data points to accurately identify products and recipe ingredients. Done right and the result is a smooth and seemingly simple experience for users. Done wrong and people get upset when their ‘avocado hand lotion’ is being matched to a recipe calling for avocados.
It has taken many iterations of a model we’ve trained countless times over the past 5 years to get to where we are today. And we still have a long road ahead of us. New products, product categories, and recipes are constantly being invented so we have to continuously improve the model.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the co-founder and COO of Cooklist. This is the third successful venture that I have started. I enjoy all things consumer-product related and all that goes into creating a business in this field. That said, my background is in finance, and I typically settle into an operations management role once the business I am building begins to walk on its own and can support specialized employees who are better at specific roles such as marketing, UI/UX design, web/app development, etc. I am most proud of the individuals I have surrounded myself with over the years and believe my ability to bring these people together sets myself apart from other entrepreneurs.
How do you define success?
Success, in my mind, is very similar to fulfillment. If I feel fulfilled in what I do, then I consider that success. I don’t believe you need to become rich or famous to be successful. I’ve met people that live on very little and enjoy a very fulfilling lifestyle, and I would consider them to be successful. This is very subjective, and I believe everyone should have their own definition of success. This is mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cooklist.co/
