Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Anderson.
Hi Ethan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
After graduating from Duke University with a BA in Economics and Public Policy Studies, I worked at a management consulting company McKinsey & Company, in DTLA, getting a first-hand view of how companies were incorporating the internet into their strategy and operations. I was particularly interested in the nascent field of ecommerce, so I took a job as Director of Strategy at Buy.com in Aliso Viejo. It really opened my eyes to how quickly the internet was transforming retail as we know it today.
After gaining my MBA from Harvard Business School, I worked in product management at Google and learned firsthand how to build game-changing web and mobile applications used by billions of people. It didn’t take long to realize that I wanted to try my hand at being an entrepreneur and start my own technology company, which I did in 2009. Redbeacon was a website and mobile app to easily compare prices, ratings and appointment availability for home service providers. Soon after we launched, we won the top prize at the 2009 TechCrunch50 Conference and the Business Insider Startup2010 competition, and then went on to raise $7.4 million in venture capital. My team had grown to over 20 employees before Redbeacon was acquired by The Home Depot in January 2012. Shortly after, I founded MyTime, which was a very organic process. While Redbeacon was more focused on lead generation, I was excited to create a software that was more of a destination, “one-stop” product. My team and I designed our software from the bottom up based on customer needs. After gaining the trust of multi-location companies like Petco, in which we worked with over 1,300 stores, we developed into a true enterprise system. Today, as CEO of MyTime, I lead my team to provide the best full-service suite for franchises and multi-location enterprises across many different verticals — from pet grooming to beauty salons to the County of Los Angeles itself! You can’t get a marriage license in LA without MyTime!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There were some struggles, as with all startups. First, we didn’t find our product market fit right away and had to pivot the product, team, and business. We were initially a marketplace like OpenTable where consumers could come to book beauty and pet appointments at local businesses near them. That marketplace model looked promising in the beginning, but after several years of trying to make it work, we ended up becoming an appointment scheduling and point of sale system for multi-location franchises and enterprises. It used some of the code we had written and knowledge we had gained from the marketplace, but ultimately it’s a very different business and team than the one we started with.
As you know, we’re big fans of MyTime. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
MyTime is a cloud-based software platform that handles scheduling, point-of-sale, customer engagement, and business analytics for multi-unit enterprises and franchises. Our customers include Petco, Lululemon, Tempur-Pedic, Harvard University and Pet Supplies Plus. What sets us apart is that our solution is truly built from the ground up to best match the needs of our customers and is tailored to each organization’s unique situation. We’ve heard consistently from our customers that we’re the most nimble vendor they’ve ever worked with. We understand our customers’ sense of urgency and match it, from implementation to daily support. Today, software is completely transforming the brick-and-mortar, traditional walk-in business into a dynamic multi-channel experience as customers interact with their favorite businesses through search and maps, review sites, social media, and the businesses’ own websites and mobile apps. We help our customers become the most competitive they can be in this new world by taking care of everything they need on the back-end, from omnichannel booking to social media to integrated payment processing.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Meeting Steve Wozniak (the inventor of the Apple computer) at Applefest at 13 years old.
Pricing:
- Our pricing starts at $129/mo per location
Contact Info:
- Email: press@mytime.com
- Website: https://www.mytime.com
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MyTime
