Summary
Welcome to the Startup Junkie’s Podcast!
Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Davis McEntire are joined by Evan Mullins, data-scientist and founder of Pebble. A startup that’s goal is to help grow and build up other small companies, We want to hear all about it! From a childhood spent innovating, to seeing a problem and solving a problem in school, to the creation of Pebble, we were able to hash it all out with our good friend Evan on this week’s episode. You will want to hear all about Evan and Pebble, and maybe even get on the platform yourself after listening to this!
Thanks for tuning in!
Shownotes
(0:49) Introducing Evan Mullins of Pebble
(2:12) Always an Entrepreneur
(7:13) Empirical Evidence and Marketing a Startup Up
(9:29) Why work with Pebble?
(10:41) Business Model of Pebble
(15:03) Pebble’s Online Process
(18:22) Data Analytics of Pebble
(22:32) Market Expansion
(28:33) Advice to Younger Self
(39:58) Wrap Up
Links
Quotes
“I knew that small businesses really value their time. It’s really hard to get on their schedules and it’s really hard to get them to pay for things.” (4:37) – Evan Mullins
“It’s all about exposure. You’re getting access to a whole other market of people and getting to see and interact with customers” (9:46) – Evan Mullins
“What we’re offering is whenever someone goes to buy anything, they’re going to find you.” (10:27) – Evan Mullins
Make A Ripple in Your Community by Shopping with Pebble starring Evan Mullins
“Our conviction is that we want to support small businesses in our world. I think there’s just so much against them.” (11:33) – Evan Mullins, Founder of Pebble
The Startup Junkies, Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Davis McEntire sat around the table with Evan Mullins, data-scientist and founder of Pebble. This platform is solving a problem we all have been faced with before. What is that problem you ask? Keep reading to hear all about it!
Always an Entrepreneur
“I was always coming up with solutions that they [his parents] had trouble like finding logical holes in…”
(2:43) – Evan Mullins
Evan Mullins has had the entrepreneur’s itch since childhood. What his parents may have experienced as a relentless habit of pushing the limit and pushing buttons, was really the inner workings of an innovator. Whether it was borrowing money and then making a system to pay it off, seeing a new way to expedite a process, or being able to do a job perfectly as long as he was not micromanaged, Evan knew his brain worked differently. He would later decide to lean into this difference rather than feeling shame for not being able to follow rules and stay on track like those around him in his small town in Texas.
See a Problem, Solve a Problem
The idea of Pebble came around Christmas time during the pandemic. Like most people, he was surfing the web, via Amazon to find the perfect gift for family members. Much to his chagrin, he felt a sudden conviction for not using his dollar to shop locally. The theory that the dollar can either circulate through the community or go off to a large conglomerate struck a chord with him. Upon trying to look up small businesses and local stores around his community, a set of problems occurred. First, the pandemic made it impossible to go to stores in person. Second, the online presence of these stores was either obsolete or difficult to navigate. Third, even if he wanted to buy, say, a coffee mug, he would have to find it on each individual site and then compare prices and possibly not even look at the other items that could be purchased as well.
The idea was born out of a desire to fix those problems. The problem is not trying to get people to shop locally. A large population of people desire to shop from their community. The more significant issue was the time it takes to find their product and compare it to other locals stores. Even in a pre-pandemic world, people often look up gifts and products online over in-store purchases anyways, so adding in the holiday season and a lockdown, local stores would be toast without a platform such as Pebble.
Helping, but Not Overwhelming, Small Businesses
With Pebble, local businesses do not have to put one more thing on their plate. When you have a small company or startup, everything you do is performed by the few team members, and often an online market and e-commerce are not in their wheelhouse. Even if someone is skilled in that sector of marketing, it can be overwhelming to try to handle an entire online platform and brick-and-mortar company. Pebble understands this pressure and wants to relieve small businesses of it.
The best news, so far it is doing so Pebble has been able to come alongside the brands, companies, and local stores you love and set them up for even greater success on avenues they would have never been able to be reached prior. Evan knows that the uncertainty of an online market and the time it takes to manage one would be overwhelming and burdensome to small businesses, and Pebble will do all of it for them!
“We’re the middleman and we get small businesses on board and then we get the customers to come to us. So we have a two-sided market where we’re trying to get both sides.” (10:49) – Evan Mullins
Next Up for Pebble
What’s next for Pebble? Expansion into the cities and towns not only near you, but near your family, near places you want to visit, and to towns that have no access to competing with huge conglomerates until Pebble shows up! So next time you want to get your mom in Houston something from a local store, use Pebble! Wanting to find the local shops in the small neighborhood you’re visiting in New York? Use Pebble! Wanting to create an itinerary of visiting the local on your next business trip? Use Pebble!
Evan has the heart to build up the small businesses that are already working to create quality products and healthy economies for their communities. We had a blast discussing this platform with him today, and we encourage you and your business to check it out!
Let’s Keep This Friendship Going
Each episode continues to get us PUMPED about the innovators and entrepreneurs breaking the mold and shaking it up! Whether it’s a new idea, product, service, or innovation, send it our way because we love to hear about it! Do you have some Startup Junkie in your blood? You probably will after listening to this!
Startup Junkie wants to come alongside these entrepreneurs every step of the way. Want to learn more about our services? Contact us today!
English 
Spanish 
Korean