A missed opportunity
A few years ago, a friend and I were doing the tourist thing on Venice Beach and enjoying a ride on some rented bicycles. (No, that's not us in the picture.) We were taking in the sights and generally having a good time when we saw a young couple playing with a dog. Both of us thought that looked like lots of fun, and a brief conversation ensued.
"Oh man, it'd be perfect to have a dog right now."
"Yeah, that would be sweet."
We look at each other, then at our rented bicycles. Light bulb.
"I want to rent one," my friend says.
We instantly became convinced that this was the best idea anyone ever had.
For the next few days, we mostly discussed our world-beating Rent-A-Dog concept. We mulled over the logistics (how many dogs do we need, where do we keep them, which beaches are dog-friendly) and possible legal liabilities (what if they bite someone, what if they get hurt, and so on). We worked out an interim breakdown of responsibilities and pseudo org chart. We even continued to ruminate on the topic via e-mail for about a month afterward.
So it's no surprise to us that these chowderheads stole our entire business plan. I mean sure, they financed an actual business and have real customers. And okay fine, their approach of "buying into" a dog like a timeshare or corporate jet solves a lot of problems we couldn't get past. And I guess you could nitpick about the fact that neither of us ever owned a dog.
Whatever. We totally thought of it first.
