[Ad]: This episode of the Checkout is brought
Nathan Bush: to you by Mobile Digital. Are your email and organic social engagement rates like Tom Petty free falling? Ever considered text messaging? It's one of the few mediums where you can expect 98% of your messages to be seen. That's 98% cut through. Talk about. Look at me, look at me. If you want to get your brand messaging in your customer's hand, head over to Mobile Digital. That's Mobile dot Digital as the URL where you can get started today with a three months trial for as low as $147.
[Voiceover]: Welcome to the checkout. We catch up with previous add to cart guests and ask them five quick questions to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get you through your Friday.
[Ad]: Today's checkout features James Chin Moody, founder of Sendal, a shipping company focused on helping small businesses thrive by making package delivery simple, reliable and affordable. They recently raised $45 million in Series C funding and are the only 100% carbon neutral delivery service in Australia and the United States.
Nathan Bush: James, welcome to the Checkout. We've heard a lot about yourself and the Sendal journey in an earlier episode, but we're really keen to learn a little bit more about you. So I've got five quick questions for you. Number one, what is the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
James Chin Moody: Probably the weirdest thing. I actually once bought a piece of the moon. I knew very well that they weren't actually able to sell the moon because of the moon treaty, but it was pretty cool that someone decided they were going to carve up the moon and sell real estate on the moon. That was. You get a nice certificate and a picture of the bit of the moon you bought.
Nathan Bush: I see you don't get like a fake piece of cheese or something in the moon.
James Chin Moody: Oh, don't be. No, you don't get actual piece of the moon. I know it's a piece of piece of real estate. It's pretty cool.
Nathan Bush: Do you know how much real estate of the moon that you own?
James Chin Moody: There's a lot of. Ah, it's a couple of hectares.
Nathan Bush: What?
James Chin Moody: I could create a farm there.
[Ad]: That's incredible.
James Chin Moody: Moon farm. Moon farm.
Nathan Bush: There we go.
James Chin Moody: But a non legally binding moon farm. Indeed.
Nathan Bush: I love it. That is probably the weirdest thing that we've heard. That and butt implants is probably up there with the weirdest thing. So you're winning that race. Well done. All right, number two, who is your favorite retailer which is putting you in A hard spot because you deal with so many retailers, but where do you shop?
James Chin Moody: I think that's a bit unfair because it's being like asking, who's my favorite child? It's a bit hard to say. Look, I think, you know, I love subscription services, you know, particularly ones that are sustainable. For example, we get our toilet paper from who gives a crap. I've got my coffee pod provider. Like, yeah, those things. But look, I can't. I can't really stay my favorite because I just love them all.
Nathan Bush: I could imagine. Number three, which retail fad do you wish was history?
James Chin Moody: Anything that the kids need immediately because all the other friends are doing it, I think is the other retail fads. And, you know, I'd add, you know, we have so many different types of trading cards and, you know, spinning things and puzzles. So those, that'd be great. But I always understand the power of them.
Nathan Bush: So it's the Beyblades that get you those little spinning tops. Like, I'm like, I don't get it. Because they're just spinning tops, but they're so loud and destructive. They do my head in.
James Chin Moody: They're wonderful, aren't they? Yeah. You know, we've been through all the phases. Yes, I can imagine. And then. Yeah. And if family is trying to reduce consumption, it's really hard, particularly about. So we will try to buy them secondhand. You know, that's probably the best way to get those going.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, yeah. All right. Number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
James Chin Moody: I'd say anyone who's running a business, particularly a small business, I think there's an amazing book called Traction by Weinberg. And really for me, that was quite fundamental, particularly in our early days of thinking about our business, because what it really does is it pulls out this idea that you're chasing product market fit. But actually it's not about product market fit. It's product market traction, channel market fit. It's the stuff in the middle. And understanding how your market finds your product is just as important as getting the product right. You know, great ideas without traction are nothing. And so even if you're very product focused, which most startup founders are, and most small business, you know, and even if you're marketing focused and you're really good at that, understanding that stuff in the middle is critical. And that's what that book opened up for me.
Nathan Bush: Was there anything in the send all journey that you implemented in that middle that you think got you the most traction?
James Chin Moody: I think the biggest thing was to say when we started, actually, because you get a lot of advice which is, have you done this? Have you done social, have you done conferences, have you done trade shows, have you done this? And you get pulled in a lot of directions because a lot of well meaning advice is saying this works. And I think the biggest thing for us was to strip that back. We got to a point where we said, no, we just want to become really, really good at a couple of. And doing those really, really well was quite a fundamental thing. And so that's what that book helps you to do, is to say it's okay to do less, but do it really well.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, nice. All right, last one I've got for you. Finish this sentence.
James Chin Moody: The future of retail is digital and sustainable.
Nathan Bush: The two go hand in hand.
James Chin Moody: They should, they don't always. But my view is that the, you know, if you think about it, you know, there's a, it's an old joke of, you know, there's two types of businesses, those that know their digital and those that don't know their digital yet. Right. And I think, you know, even if you're offline retail, you need to be thinking about your digital capabilities in that world as well as if you're online retail. And I think that's one thing. And then I think the other thing is it's very clear that when more than 10% of global carbon issuance come from transport and logistics, right. This industry needs to get a grip on the externalities of the impacts of the business and retail in general. And so I think really those are two, both imperatives and inevitabilities.
Nathan Bush: Well put. Thanks for joining us on the checkout, James.
James Chin Moody: Thanks for having me, Nathan.
[Ad]: To hear more from James, jump back into episode 103, where James gives us an insight into the systems engineering approach that guides Sendal's operations. He also shares what it's like to take on a national institution like Australia Post, and why being humble and honest is at the top of his list when it comes to success in business.
Nathan Bush: Thanks for listening. And until next time, keep adding to cartoon.
