CoffeeSpace Cofounder Success Stories #4: Abdul, Dave & Youssef

Welcome to the section of our blog where we showcase inspiring, successful matching stories from the CoffeeSpace community. 

In this feature, we are shedding light on our first founder trio: Dave, Abdul, and Youssef, where they are all part-time founders working on roadtripAI, an AI-enabled platform that provides the most reliable EV chargers along your route, along with insights to help you find the most reliable public fast chargers. This platform aims to alleviate the burden of EV owners having to do a significant amount of research and planning, which gas drivers do not have to deal with. With roadtripAI, an easy all-in-one EV route planner is ready for assistance.

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What are your roles and responsibilities in roadtripAI?

Dave: I am CEO, so a lot of my focus is on business development, focusing on pitching a company, trying to find investors, so investor relations, trying to source accelerators, incubators that could be good partners, reaching out through the different communities networks that I'm a part of to kind of get our company name out there. So that's kind of my focus right now. I’ve worked with Youssef in the past and his technical expertise in the automotive industry makes him the perfect person to be the CTO. Abdul on the other hand is our COO and he mainly navigates investor relations, business development, connecting with accelerators, partners, and networks with communities to help get us off the ground to reach our users as well.

Tell us more about what you are building at roadtripAI!

Dave: RoadtripAI is essentially a platform which focuses on easing the transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) by addressing common misunderstandings and challenges associated with EV ownership. The platform aims to educate drivers on optimal charging practices, such as avoiding charging to 100% to prevent battery damage and recognising that charging from 80% to 100% is significantly slower. Additionally, the initiative highlights the reliability issues in public charging infrastructure, where about 25% of stations (excluding Tesla's network) are non-operational at any given time. To empower users, roadtripAI is developing tools that serve as a "lie assistant," providing essential information on vehicle care and helping drivers make informed decisions about where and when to charge, ultimately enhancing the overall EV driving experience.

All of us (myself, Abdul, and Youssef) are as of now part-time Stealth founders, working on the MVP as well as trying to line up initial contacts with customers and users as quickly as possible with other groups to build out our network. 

What was the ideation process like?

Dave: The ideation process for my current endeavour started at the beginning of this year when I initially focused on the reliability of EV charging, specifically targeting the needs of charging companies in sourcing reliable repair technicians with an entirely different group of cofounders that I knew were interested in that kind of space. That group ended up just not being as engaged and founder-oriented, as we had initially thought we would be.  And we also got some industry intel that suggested that this was sort of a problem, not everybody acknowledged existed and that would exist, and that would be sort of an uphill climb to try and address.

So I pivoted to this new idea, and used that as an opportunity to let my cofounders at the time know that I don't think the original idea is working. I want to look at this other thing, which became the road trip concept, and that was a good opportunity for them to sort of do a gut check and say, “You know what? I don't have the time or the energy to devote to this. I'm out.” So this was sort of a reboot for me.

I was sort of floating ideas past Youssef, since we were working together in our day jobs. And he also had this automotive background and a real interest in doing something of his own. At the same time, I was also on CoffeeSpace, because I was like, “I'm rebooting, but I definitely need at least one cofounder to keep me honest, keep me motivated, to help me do some of the stuff I don't have time to do right now,” etc.

Dave and Youssef knew each other from their jobs, while Abdul joined after the three connected on CoffeeSpace! How was the process of meeting Abdul? 

Dave: So Abdul and I connected on CoffeeSpace. But interestingly enough, before Youssef formally said “Yes, I'm part of this now”, but it might have been exactly at the same time, I'm not actually sure. But yeah, Youssef knew there was something interesting going on. I knew that even if Youssef joined us,, he and I would be sort of necessarily duplicative with our technical backgrounds, but that also we would need someone who was able to focus more on operations and business development while we were trying to build up technology, which is exactly what I was looking for on CoffeeSpace, and when Abdul and I connected, he seemed to have all the relevant expertise I was looking for. The interest in his role was exactly what I was looking for. 

We had a call, I sort of pitched the idea. And actually, if I recall correctly, Abdul was like, “Cool. So, you want me to maybe start as an intern?” I was like, “I'm not looking for an intern. Man, cofounder, you good.” 

Abdul: I kind of acquainted myself with Hazim through some WhatsApp tech focus community groups that we were in. He reached out to me, actually to see if I’m interested in trying CoffeeSpace. For a while, I had used the YC cofounder matching platform and didn't really enjoy it. It wasn't the best in terms of, like filtering, maybe the kinds of people you wanted to talk to. Also, a lot of the people didn't really seem super serious, or a lot of their ideas didn't really have a ton of merit to them. So when I connected with Dave, I was really happy to be able to find someone and something I was interested in.

Youssef, since it’s primarily Dave who was talking to Abdul, how did the whole decision come around to be between the two of you? 

Youssef: I was a bit less involved, because at the time this was going on, I was taking a couple of weeks off and traveling. I was still in touch with Dave, but we basically had the discussion from a technical perspective to not look for anyone since we can have that covered. However, from business operations, investment, and all of the other sides of very important pieces we might need to find someone.

And I was in agreement with that. So basically, the way Dave had presented that to me is, oh, I he had mentioned CoffeeSpace before, then he looped back to meeting Abdul on CoffeeSpace. Seems like a good fit, and he's interested. I was like, I worked with Dave before long enough, so I trust his evaluation as well. 

And that's what I meant by being a little detached from the process in the beginning, but I trusted his process. I know he wasn't just jumping into anything. So my perspective of it was more, oh, that's an interesting platform to have. I did not even know such a thing existed. Pretty cool that you can go and get matched. But it was mostly all through Dave's lens as well. Like I didn't go on the platform. I mostly just reaped the benefits of the platform, so to speak!

How’s the working dynamic like between the three of you?

Dave: Youssef and I had ways of working with each other from our day jobs that were just known, so we put in a concerted effort as a group to have some real deep conversations a couple of times with the three of us to be like, "Listen, Abdul, we know you haven't been part of this working relationship before, but now you are. And there are going to be times when Youssef and I are going to be talking in what sounds like a coded language, probably because we're just so used to working together, and you need to flag for us when we're saying things that don't make any sense to you, or it seems like we're making assumptions that you don't have the context for, you know, sort of the equivalent of a professional inside joke, if you will."

And so we just had to be very real with everybody, in a way that I think if it had just been me and Abdul, it would have been obvious and natural, but since Youssef is now part of the team, we sort of had to get a little more structured in sort of addressing that, making sure everyone was aware that that was happening, and talking through tangible ways we could make sure that no one feels like they're outside the conversation at any given moment in time.

One thing we agreed to early on was the reflection of the seriousness of this when we were part-time. We each needed to devote time, with the expectation that it would wax and wane as availability existed, two to four hours a day, seven days a week, to try and make and keep making progress and all the various elements. And we also meet on Zoom primarily once a week to discuss progress live, but a lot of it's done by Slack chatter in between times. We also meet monthly in person and do a bit of co-working in a shared space in order to make sure that whatever stuff we might be missing from the asynchronous and remote aspects can be addressed on a regular cadence.It's something about being in person that allows you to easily look at somebody else's computer screen and give them live feedback and stuff like that. 

From speaking with each other to working together, how long did it take? 

Youssef: Oh, I know I was out of office for a bit, and then I know during that time Dave and Abdul had spoken. So maybe you can count that as when I got back and we met for the first time, like early August. Maybe that's when all three of us kind of officially started working together.

Dave: But I mean, basically right after Abdul and I met on a zoom call, I think it was from our CoffeeSpace match to make sure we agreed that this was a good match. Pretty much right after that, we started talking about, Okay, what do we need to do? How soon, how often we're going to meet? We're going to use Slack as our platform of communication, blah, blah, blah. We sort of got a lot of those operational bits online. Started marching towards some of the stuff that Abdul and I had talked about I needed help with. And then when Youssef rejoined and was like, “What's been going on here?” I think that's a fair point when it comes to all three of us. Early August, sounds about right.

What is the biggest challenge in finding a cofounder for you?

Dave: For me, speaking with the context of how we all know each other, Abdul and I from CoffeeSpace, Youssef and from work, it's the things you can't easily put in a scorecard. It's the things like, sure when, as far as our stats are concerned, we seem to fit each other's needs very well, which is a great starting point. But like with any dating website where a very similar process happens, you still don't know if there's going to be chemistry between two people and they're going to sort of resonate until they actually meet. And you know, having had the experience I did with my original idea and founder group, who turned out not to be as engaged as I thought they would be, I was very keen to index on you know, is this a person who wants to talk as soon as possible, who shows up to the conversation, who is communicative on Slack, when things need to be done, etc. 

Fun fact, I think Abdul even started our conversation with, like, I'm a serious person who's serious about doing this, and I just want to make sure you are too. And I was like, Oh man, that's music to my ears. That is exactly how I came into this conversation, too. But yea, I would say it’s the commitment and dedication from people to actually want to build this thing together.

Abdul: Having used the YC platform before, I think it's a blend of the technical and non-technical portfolios, especially because I'm a non-technical person who’s in more of the strategy and ops space for startups, and I haven't done coding.

I had advised a pre-seed startup before, and what I learnt about those cofounders was the idea of founder-market fit, where it's not just the person coming in and kind of creating a product for a market they know nothing about, but they're actually really well versed in that market, right? I think that's extremely important; you can have a great idea, but if you don't know how to execute it, you're going to fail. And I think just like a seriousness about dedicating your time and effort into bringing this idea to fruition and not just giving up, because after the first week, no one really bites.

So, like, we've been at this for a couple of months now. And like, you know, we're still trying to get investors; we're still trying to get partnerships. Yes, it's tough, but like, we're all kind of committed to the idea of it, and I think that's something that I really appreciate, is like, not giving up very quickly, because finding a company. So those two factors, for me, would be the challenges that I found before.

Dave: Yea, sounds like Abdul’s Y Combinator experience is the most relevant example there. I didn't. I knew about the founders network, or something like that, but Y Combinator, that I hadn't used before, but I could totally see what Abdul was describing. In some ways, the success of YC has led to probably a glut of people who want to be associated with the program, but maybe aren't as serious about it.

I think we're probably seeing a similar pattern with Product Hunt, where people are complaining about how it used to be a great place to launch new products with makers and get feedback quickly, and get exposure and all but some folks I've seen started to complain about being able to buy rate reviews from third parties that didn't actually use the product and stuff. 

Have you used any other cofounder matching platforms or channels prior to CoffeeSpace and what are the differences between other platforms and CoffeeSpace?

Abdul: I think on top of what we mentioned above, the users are also more active on CoffeeSpace. And also more serious. I also think that the person’s background is a very important factor, so having the LinkedIn integration is perfect just to see what they are actually working on and how it is going for them. From the start I knew I was interested in a startup that has 2 cofounders, so the filters are definitely helpful for me to better choose who to engage with. 

But what I enjoyed about CoffeeSpace was I could see the backgrounds of the people. I was also specifically interested in a startup idea that had at least two cofounders already because I had noticed that that probably would lean more towards being successful as a startup than kind of just one guy who's working on a technology. But I just think that there was a level of maturity that I think that, like, Dave, and because Dave and Youssef were working on this before, I knew that this would have a little bit more legs to it. But, yeah, I like the UI; I like that the LinkedIn profiles were there so that I could reach out and kind of see what people were working on. So yeah, to me, it was a great platform.

Dave: CoffeeSpace so far has been a pleasant experience, I found that the filtering criteria were  really good for figuring out what experience someone had, they worked at a startup before, had they founded the startup before? Where were they in their current career? What level of involvement did they want, and how soon, etc. It was really quite handy to have all those scorecards in the Tinder Interfaces.

What is one piece of advice you would give to founders building or just people exploring ideas? 

Dave: I'd say, personally, the main piece of advice from me, is to take the common wisdom seriously that you need at least another founder. Don't try to go into it alone. There's too many things testing the validity of an idea, coding reviews or whatever you're doing for your product that are very easy to stay and be stuck in a bubble. I mean, you get in the bubble even as cofounders certainly of thought and like alignment and belief that the world is a certain way. But when you're doing it alone, it's even easier to do that and to have no one to gut check. So try to find someone who's as serious as you are to help you with your idea, as soon as possible so that it has a better chance to survive.

Abdul: I think my advice would be especially for pre-seed companies. From just my conversations with many other investors when it comes to investing in a pre-seed company that's pre-revenue, they focus a lot on the founding team. What they're trying to see is how successful the founding team is going to be. I think my advice goes back to founder market fit. For example, if you're trying to build a company and you're trying to find somebody to build that company with, do the both of you actually know the market enough to be able to really solve a problem there? Are you technical enough? Do you know the major players? Do you think you'll be able to get the partnerships needed to launch your product?

So with that in mind, I think the number one advice from me is to find a space that you're most knowledgeable in, and find people who are just as interested and knowledgeable in the field that you are building since that dictates the foundation of a more likely to be successful team from the get go. 

Youssef: On a more personal side, my one piece of advice would be to not let hesitation or fear hold you back from doing what you want to do, even if those steps do not amount to a whole lot at the start. It’s easy to get caught up in our own bubble and overthink things, which can prevent us from actually doing it and making progress. Push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone, embrace the discomfort of being proactive, and remember that every small action contributes to your overall journey. Don’t be afraid to reach out, seek feedback, and engage with others, it is the small steps that make a big difference. 

‍If you’re inspired by Abdul, Dave, and Youssef's story, check out what they’re building with roadtripAI, or follow their LinkedIn page for more updates.

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