The halls of the Marvin Center were filled with students hanging out and cramming for their exams.  Every couch was taken and some managed to grab a nap in between classes.

I was showcasing my startup at the GW Startup & Internship Fair with high hope, but low expectations.  A couple of other co-founders from DC Nightowls meetup group were in attendance, and those adventurous self starters were eager to explain their big ideas.

One particular enterprising young man came to my table.  He was a cheerful happy-go-lucky undergrad who looked every bit a techie, but also a guy who liked to have fun.

“Hello, I’m Zach,” he introduced himself excitedly.

“Are you from here?”

“Originally from California, but went to high school in the South. I’m passionate, over-caffeinated and goofy, some say.”

Zach loved the pictures of food, and he was happy to hear about the web app.

“I love tasting different food and I’m a technical product guy, so this could be the right fit.”

“Are you sure the startup world is a good fit for you as opposed to interning for Uncle Sam?”

“I’m a business student, so I’m all about process improvement.  I have lots of innovative ideas that I would like to see put to work and don’t have patience for the government to implement them.”

“I’m more enamored by the startup life than working for the government.”

I described to Zach the whole concept of the Vapiano ordering system. You get a store charge card as you enter, and then you walk up to different stations to order pasta, pizza, antipasto, salad and drinks, scanning your card at each station.  Often you have to have to queue up for 15-20 minutes before you even get to order from the line cooks, so it’s important to have your selection ready. If you’re not a regular customer, it can be difficult to know what type of dish to order and what toppings and ingredients you want.

“So we should feature each dish and break down by specific type and category and then list all their ingredients.  Then customers can preselect their preferences and taste and the site will show them the name and picture of the dish which they can use to make an order with the cooks.  We can provide the QR code to customers when they queue up, and they can use their phones to make their selections.”

The following week, Zach and I spent an afternoon at Vapiano like food nerds, snapping pictures of dishes as they were prepared.  Lunchtime was crush time from a rush of mindless govies, so major kudos to the white coats who let us photograph the dishes while juggling orders from impatient customers. The work was exhausting but stimulating, and the best part, the starving sophomore and I were able to sample several dishes that are renowned across Italy.

“What’s next? I’ve eaten my share of fettuccine to last the whole school year.”

“I’m afraid there’s plenty more pasta on the horizon. Now we gotta do all the grunt work.”

We headed to the Gelman Library on campus to post the dishes and categories on our site. There we met up with my friend and fellow entrepreneur JD Pagano. A software developer by trade, JD recently returned from a two-year stint in the Peace Corp.

“This country is very grateful to its veterans. But we need to appreciate the service of the Peace Corps, also. How did you enjoy your tour?” I asked.

“Very meaningful and impactful service. The experience was life-changing.”

“That’s awesome. Anywhere exotic?”

“The beautiful country of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia.”

“Was there lots to see and do?”

“Absolutely. Great place to hike and ski. Loved the traditional Kyrgyz dancing and amazing folklife.”

After the three of us got done adding the content to RUNINOut, we planned the next step.

“Let’s organize a food tasting event at Vapiano’s for later this month,” I suggested. “We want people to test out our platform.”

“Great idea,” Zach said. “Just advertise on campus that they’ll be free pizza, and you’ll get a ton of students there.”

“College students are not the right audience for our survey. We’re looking for young professionals in their 20s and 30s with more refined taste,” I replied.

JD started creating an event on Facebook. “I can ask my friend Misha to help promote it. Between the two of us, we know a ton of people in that demographic.”

Together we sent out a boatload of invitations to our friends from that category, and we were delighted to see a few dozen foodies and govies show up with curious minds and ravenous appetites.

In the beginning, the three of us stayed busy doling out dishes of Carbonara and Margherita. But once everyone was served, we were able to mingle and obtain feedback.

I approached a cute girl with long black hair. “So you must be Misha, JD’s friend who you met in Kazakhstan.”

Misha chuckled. “You got the right girl, but the wrong stan. It’s Kyrgyzstan not Kazakhstan.”

“Oh so sorry, Kazakhstan was the country portrayed in the movie ‘Borat’ — a lot different than Kyrgyzstan where you served.”

“No worries, almost everyone gets the names mixed up. The Peace Corp recently left Kazakhstan and hopefully, there’ll be no more mockumentaries.”

Kanita Williams left her job early from the D.C. Superior Court and made the 10 minutes walk over.

“The pizza is awesome, but not great for someone on a minimal-carb diet.”

“You should meet Orlando. He’s a personal trainer and runs a company called Bodyfit D.C.”

Orlando walked over to introduce himself. “Nice to meet you. Where do you currently work out?”

“LA Fitness but with work requirements, I find it challenging meeting my fitness goals.”

“Skip the gym and get an awesome workout outdoors. Come join me for a boot camp workout three times a week. We do high intensity interval training.”

“But my schedule at the court is so unpredictable. Can you be flexible?”

A woman in her early 30’s with dirty blonde hair and a beaming smile took a bite of her pasta. “Mmm, the Pasta Basilico is cooked perfectly, al dente.”

“Tender but firm is how I like it, too. So what do you think of this crazy concept?”

“Not a fan of having to wait in line and returning to my table, only to find out that my friends have already started digging into their Greek salads. But I like how your site helps customers choose their orders while they wait.”

“Super to hear. Zach and I spent last week, photographing each dish and then painstakingly adding them to the site.”

“Wow, just the two of you? There’s a ton of different dishes here.”

“Yes, my co-founder, Senodja, is deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and Kanita is busy clerking in the D.C. Superior Court. So we have room for one more.”

“I think this would be fun. My name is Suzannah by the way.  I’m a foodie just like you, and also an entrepreneur, specializing in marketing and business development.”

“Super Suzannah, maybe we can help each other. We could use help reaching out to restaurants, and you can gain priceless experience working with a budding startup.”