A Race to Protect the Booty

A little storytime on what drives us to build Daraa…

Last month we celebrated a great deal while reflecting on what it means to be an American. Mothers, Mexican and AAPI Heritage, Veterans, and the rebels that bring us all joy. One thing we spoke about and reflected on was the concept Shoshin (初心) and the value of a beginner’s mind… Our team is composed of incredibly diverse backgrounds. An army vet with a passion for OSS, a hoop dreamer turned excel aficionado, a shawl collar enthusiast and triathlete, a former golden glove, a Chicagoan dreamer, a serial entrepreneur, and an F-1 fanatic (like walk-in traffic at 2 a.m. while talking to her partner talking about engines and pit crews, fanatic). Our views vary, but we all have a shared vision centered on precision, excellence, and doing things that might feel scary to the uninitiated… But we are initiated!

With that, let’s talk about diapers. Sola uses the example of diapers often when discussing our focus on urgent goods, not only because other parents can relate, but also because he has visceral stories around needing diapers urgently. Real, traumatic stories of which we will spare y’all the gory details, but we’ll share this... Prior to his son, Fela’s second birthday, they began running low on diapers. It was a particularly busy week and they couldn’t make their typical diaper run for the Mercedes of diapers, they’ve come to love (Coterie diapers, thank us later).

For the uninitiated, two things about diapers: 1) they are not all built the same. Great diapers are precise about comfort. Softness, wicking ability, fit - there may be more factors for choosing diapers than for choosing the greatest rapper of all time (Jay-Z, argue with your momma). Some diapers are just not made for your children and the diapers for Sola’s kiddos are not available on the Big Smile Company. 2) Diaper inventory management is a stochastic exercise - diaper bag, changing table, diaper box, in the car, under your bed, in your work bag… done well, diapers are like American Express cards - everywhere you need to be.

Back to the story. They’re running low on diapers and each “pit stop” increased the creeping dread that Sola would find himself at a random store at 2 am asking the cashier if they take Apple Pay. Between Zoom meetings, he finally seized the opportunity to make a run with 3 (diapers) left on the clock. As he turned into the diaper aisle and caught view of the last box of Fela’s diapers, he simultaneously felt the maternal presence of an elderly woman, next to him. He nodded southernly and began a slow amble towards the diapers. So did the woman triggering Sola’s spidey senses, urging him to pick up the pace. Laudalike, Sola shifts into gear three. So does the woman. Neck-and-neck. Wow, how is she so quick?

At this point, Sola hits his power-walk, half-jog to get to Fela’s diapers. As he grabbed the cardboard edges of the last box and cheered himself silently, he turned back and realized that Martha had stopped two paces behind him to grab the box of diapers she came for - decidedly not Fela’s diapers.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Why can’t the best diapers be easily available and delivered urgently? It turns out that everything necessary - the space, the technological capabilities, the fulfillment solutions - all exist, but no one has put them together yet and that’s what we are doing with Daraa.

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