She Built an App That Sends Drinks to Strangers: Now It’s Going Global

15:00Rebekah:We're growing so much. We have such a great momentum. If you ask me a year ago, I would cry. you know i was like this is never gonna work that's the things that people don't talk about

15:10Mara:yeah those are the things that people you know had you what are the people asking me if i knew then what i know now you know what would i do different i wouldn't do anything different but the thing that people don't talk about about the journey of success is the anxiety at night right the anxiety where your mind won't stop or the amount of times that you're crying silently at least for me like nobody can see me cry or you know the amount of doubt self-doubt that you put in your head, is this going to work? You know, and like, I'm always living in this like, oh my God, is the rug going to be pulled out from underneath me anytime?

15:41Mara:So those are all the things they don't warn us about success at all. You know, or the, you know, or you're right, they look at the stories, they're like, they're just so successful. Well, how many failures did you have in order to?

15:52Rebekah:But you forget, I forgot about mine. I'm like, everything is great. Dion is such a good, it's such a success. We have a moment. But you forget that you didn't feel like that because you enjoy the moment and you know, you get away but I think it's important to say that it's a long journey yeah and for me the most important thing and what I advise every you know entrepreneur I met is I meet is do it with a co-founder it's a very long journey and lonely and you need to have people that you know you can actually share everything because your family or your friends except if they are in the same business yes they are great and they support you and it's so important you know and I'm very grateful But they cannot understand what you're going through.

16:36Rebekah:You need people that actually have skin in the game and they're actually going through what you're going.

16:41Mara:Now, your co-founder, is it like a friend of yours or is it somebody that maybe met them on D? No, is it a...

16:48Rebekah:After we meet them.

16:51Mara:How did you intertwine with your co-founder?

16:54Rebekah:So we met socially many years ago and we started working in a side project. they were like five co-founders, which was an amazing experience because when you work with many people, you realize that there's never, I don't know, it's so hard to make a company work with five co-founders, too many cooks. But you also can understand who are the people that you can actually, you know, get along together and work together. So I went in because another friend introduced us and I realized, And this friend of mine, we were starting a side business, a side tech platform together. But I realized that I cannot work with them because the work ethic was nothing to do, you know, like mine.

17:38Rebekah:But my co-founder's work ethic was exactly the same and we were super alike. So we had these five people, founders called, but everyone was fighting. We couldn't make a decision. And the two of us would call each other after. We'd be like, yeah, they don't know what they're doing. This is how we should do it. So at some point we're like, look, let's read something that we're both very passionate about. And this is how it started. And then my CPO came in. He was also, you know, it's the three of us, essentially.

18:05Mara:That's amazing. And then, and you've been in business together for how long? Now, the three of us, it's been like three years. Three, three, three, five years. Has there ever been a moment where you're like, I don't know.

18:19Rebekah:Four, four, five. Well, there you go. See, you were.

18:23Mara:Has there ever been a moment where you thought to yourself, like, how am I going to get through this? Can I even pull this off? Yes. Yes.

18:31Rebekah:But I have this thing that I will think I will have these thoughts, but I will never entertain them. So I'll never be, you know, someone, this is me, every person, everyone is different. But I'm never crying or saying what I'm going to do or complaining. I just put the hours in. So when I moved to Dubai, I moved to Dubai to launch the Ontario. It was a very difficult market. It's a great city and great people, but it's a very close community. And the US is insane. There is a reason why most of the startups happen here, because they are first movers. They love technology. They love trying new things.

19:14Rebekah:They are a very passionate advocate of innovating.

19:18Mara:In Dubai, it's not exactly like that.

19:20Rebekah:You know, in Europe as well, but Dubai is almost there. So I was trying to launch something that has never existed before. People, even now, cannot necessarily understand what is the ethos of the old, what we're trying to do, or how is it going to work? I had people, okay, but how does this work? Does the waiter come to me, they bring the drink to my house? What does this mean? How does it work? Exactly. So it's like a gifting map. So essentially, I see you in the app. And if I want to connect with you, the only way is if I send you your favorite drink at your favorite place. So you can unlock it.

19:56Rebekah:So in order to unlock it, you have to send me a message. And if you do, then it's like a gift. You have 30 days to go to, I don't know what I mean. Starbucks. To Starbucks to get your matcha latte. So this is it. But it's very new, you know. So it wasn't very easy to understand. So I moved there and in order for Dion to work, I had to sign venue partnerships. So the venues had to be aware that, you know, if you go there and say, hi, I have a drink, by the way, it's treated by Dion. They will actually serve it to you. So I was going around to the venues and no one was signing. They were like, interesting, but no, we don't understand how this works.

20:39Rebekah:You know, we don't love it. and they would throw me, you know, they would like, oh, speak with this guy, speak with the others, speak with the owner, speak with the manager, speak with the beverage. It was very hard. I remember I had the worst... Yeah, I thought I was trying and trying and trying, but I've reached the point of like, maybe this will never work out because no one will ever sign. And it got worse because I managed to find someone like that is running a big company there with many venues, influential as well, and he loved it. He was like, guys, I love it. Let's do it. I was so excited.

21:17Rebekah:I was like, this has happened. This is it. So I started doing the whole training because now the world has changed, but in the past we had to do a training to onboard the venue, to explain how it worked, so many steps. So I did everything. I prepared the tweaking menus. I did the sales training material, whatever, and we were ready to go live. I remember still the date. I was out speaking with another venue owner for drinks like 7 p.m. And I see an email one day before we bought live saying, we're so sorry. The other founder of the company sold the app and they cannot be, and we don't want our brand to be associated with payments app.

21:58Rebekah:The app was never payment app. So I don't know how this happened. So we are not going through all the best. I still remember it. I lost my sleep for like five days. But as everything's life, you know, I continue. I didn't stop. For me, if something like that happens, I just say, yeah, I have to try more. Yeah, I tell my own lesson. You get your break and everything works.

22:18Mara:Yeah. It was a learning lesson what you learned from it.

22:21Rebekah:I learned that you have to work hard. No. For me, it's always the same learning lesson that I take away from every failure. That at this point, maybe this seemed like the worst thing that has ever happened to you. And you don't see necessarily the way out. But it's a small thing in the scheme of everything. So you cannot let it affect you. Or, you know, if there is something that you need to learn, for example, if they were telling me this cannot work because there is a structural or fundamental issue, go and fix it and try again. But if it's something like that, like, oh, we cannot use that because it's a payment app or a QR app, something that's not even the reality.

23:08Rebekah:We're like, okay, this was not it. You keep pushing, and the results will come.

23:14Mara:I love that. And the other important lesson is hard work is going to beat out talent every single time. And it doesn't matter if you have one hurdle. It's just a test. You've got to keep moving, which is incredible. Tell me about a mistake that ended up becoming an advantage for you.

23:31Rebekah:Personal or professional life.

23:35Mara:A mistake. Maybe there hasn't been any.

23:39Rebekah:No, there have been many mistakes. But anything that turned out to be an advantage where you're like, all right, well, it worked out. I cannot think of something very, very obvious, but I can speak mainly about hiring. so there has been instances that you know you make some decisions about so I have some exam in my mind from last year that you know you hire some people and maybe it doesn't work out right and even if at the time you're like look it maybe it was a mistake to bring them in or you know it wasn't the right fit the for whatever reason I feel it becomes an advantage because everyone it's like a relationship if it doesn't work out it's not a mistake necessarily but you learn more about yourself and you learn more about what you like and what you want so this is the process that we're going through now we are interviewing for the marketing and growth team and this is what you do essentially i mean you see a few people if i i know that in the beginning i was looking at different profiles so this was a mistake on my end because now as time goes by and things are not working out either in interviews or after

24:52Mara:i know exactly what we're looking for yeah and which makes total sense it's exactly what you said when you're dating and you know you you it doesn't work out the guy at least you know this time that's not the quality i want so now you know exactly your um your avatar person that you're looking for for your company which is incredible all right we're going to do something called um first move files okay i'm going to give you real scenarios and you're going to tell me what a boss would do. You ready? I'm ready. All right. You're at a venue. You see someone you'd actually like to meet. Your brain says, don't.

25:25Mara:What's the boss move?

25:27Rebekah:I hope you'll be on. I send them a drink. Easy. This is why we did it. So people don't have to actually walk up to other people.

25:35Mara:I like to do it behind their screen. Someone says a drink, but you're not interested. What's the most respectful way to handle it? As a founder of the app or as a user of the app? because it's different. I know because you can't unlock it, right?

25:50Rebekah:As a founder of Rion, I unlock it. I send one back if I'm not interested and I ask them for the feedback and how is their experience so far. Very difficult. If I'm a user and I'm not interested, you know, advise users not to unlock. But you never know. I think it's very... Because we curate the community so well and everyone comes from a referral. It's super organic. They have very deep profiles about where they work and what they do. I feel if you actually give someone a chance, there will be a connection. Either it's dating professionally, etc. So my advice is, you know, spend the time. Someone actually invested on getting to know you.

26:30Rebekah:So do the same thing and you never know what is going to happen.

26:35Mara:That's a boss move. Like, give them the respect. If they had enough time, unless they're a weirdo. But I imagine that maybe there's something. Do you vet for weirdos?

26:43Rebekah:We have a very curated community, so this is why we see a great unlock rate. So we have more than 53 % engagement, like people unlocking a drink and actually interacting and send messages. And this is often because people feel comfortable. They know that someone waited for anyone who was here.

27:03Mara:All right. Your friend is chronically online and never shows up in real life. How do you coach them back to being a human?

27:11Rebekah:it's very hard to convince people sometimes that you know real connection happen outside of their screens it's very easy to hide and everyone does that i mean even my default is like okay i'm gonna wear you know my pajamas i'm gonna stay behind my computer i'm gonna code i'm gonna do the things that are easier and we are more comfortable with coding is easier for me

27:34Mara:Yes. Much easier. It's really serious. My husband loves HTML. Like, we don't know what that is.

27:40Rebekah:For me, it's super. It's much easier. I prefer it. Yeah, but the important thing is, you know, to get out of there. So in this case, you know, altas ketita. This is what I do. You book something, you go to their house, you literally drag them out of the door. Like tonight, you and me, one of their favorite things. So you can glue with them.

27:58Mara:There you go. All right. If Dion had a rule book for modern dating, what would be the three rules?

28:07Rebekah:Break the ice with a drink. So break the ice intentionally. The other thing is, you know, don't spend so much time chatting. Go online. Go online. I mean, sorry, going physically meetings. And this is what we see. We see that most of the people, they will actually say, oh, do you also want to grab this drink at this place Friday 8.30? 30. So skip the chit chat, get to the point. And the third thing would be, you know, you never be open. You never know who is the person that's going to change the course of your life.

28:41Mara:I love that. I'm absolutely, I got to get on this app and see, maybe I can get, I don't know what I can get out of it. I'm going to drink and even say shit. Yeah. I mean, I love making connections. All right. Let's turn this into some boss fuel for founders, creators, anyone building the community what advice would you give and what metric system would you use i think that it's

29:03Rebekah:as i said in the beginning it's super important to do something that we are very passionate about so it can actually guide you through the journey it's very important to surround yourself with the right environment and and that depends it could be even yours the support you have in your family but for me it's also the friends I think you know you are the some of the people that are around you so if you want to be then you want to actually get better at something you have to find people that have the same treat and because you and it's also the same with the relationships for me it's much easier you know to be in a friendship or relationship with someone that we have the same mindset and goal otherwise there is always conflict and it's not gonna to work.

29:52Rebekah:So for me, it's very important, you know, have your goals, be very intentional about it, have your vision. It has to be very authentic and something that you believe in and surround yourself with the environment, the opportunities and the people that will help you get there.

30:07Mara:Yeah, perfect. I love that. I love exactly, you know, my husband is very different than me, but the two of us together, because I think it's important. I don't know if you have a significant other or you're married. But one thing that happened for me in my personal life is I married somebody that was very intentional and very driven like myself. And what happened for our income is we were both doing good independently, pretty good, but our income rose exponentially when we were together because our interests were aligned. And while we're so different, like our personalities, our end goal is the same.

30:42Mara:And that's really important. It's very important to have the support. and with the people that you hang out with. You know, everybody, if you're not aligned with people that don't have the same vision, it's not going to work in the end. It definitely says. But someone's vision will change.

30:55Rebekah:Yeah. And maybe that's you. So this is a problem. That's why I had divorced the first time.

30:59Mara:I love that. I'm just kidding. I'm not kidding. I mean, he happens to be like my really good friend. But yeah, it's absolutely true. But you have to be compatible. It doesn't mean that the line is right. No. He's just like, to be a line. It should be a line. Yeah, you have to be aligned and your vision has to be the same. You know, my ex-husband wanted to go play golf and kite surf. That's not what I want to do. Me too. You know, I want to eat cake and, you know, and weigh 100 pounds, but that's not possible, you know. But yeah, absolutely. You have to be aligned when you're doing anything in life.

31:32Mara:And whoever your partner is, it's the same thing. What about for, like, it's hard being a woman founder. It's very hard, especially I'm assuming because I don't know much about the tech world. But I'm assuming that the tech world is predominantly males. That's a very correct assumption. So what is that like for you as being a young female, a beautiful young female, and being in a male-dominated world?

31:54Rebekah:You reach a point that you're so used to it because for me it's very encouraging that it has improved so much. I remember when I was studying, I studied computer science. So it was literally like, you know, 10 girls and 200 males. So that was more, that was hard, actually. That was a lot. But now I feel everyone, you know, in the community is trying a lot to be more inclusive and to actually support young female entrepreneurs. It's still not there. You know, there is nothing, as everything in life. There is not always equality. But I feel it's super important to also find the people that support.

32:35Rebekah:So, for example, I have some amazing female founders in New York. We have this group chat where it's like the four of us now. We were three, but now we became four. And we really support each other. We're like, okay, what do you think I should do this? I don't know. One of us is fundraising. Guys, can you please connect me with investors? That really helped us. So I think everything is possible, but it's super important to have people that will push you and support you. And for me, the most important thing you can do is actually give back. because what I hate and I have seen in my life is the mindset that some people have like, oh, for me it was really hard, so I have to be really tough on you because you also have to get through it and be hard.

33:22Rebekah:I'm like, no, for me it was hard. And I remember all the times that I felt I didn't belong, all the times that people would comment, what is she doing here, all the times that I would feel and be excluded, it, not because people were necessarily bad, but because you're different. So people are also afraid of being someone different. You're like an alien sometimes. So I don't want anyone else to feel like that. So if, you know, I can help on anything, I've tried and I keep trying throughout my career, I want to push people, you know, not give them back tough love.

33:58Mara:No, it's nice. You pave the way for other women, young women, to know that it's possible. And I'm sure it's hard as a woman trying to fundraise, trying to get buy-ins from other people, especially men. I mean, how do you overcome that? You're already pretty. They always say you have a pretty privilege. But I feel like it's like a double-edged suit. It's not. It's a double-edged suit. It ain't about that. I mean, when I was going through sales my whole life, the whole go-to was like, you get sales because you have big boobs. Or you get sales because you're pretty. No. Could it just be that I'm good?

34:33Mara:Like, why is that? So how do you deal with that, especially when you're fundraising and trying to get money from other men to fund a project or whatever? Fundraise from women.

34:42Rebekah:No. First of all, you get used to that. Yeah. Through the years you're here, she has great grades because she's pretty or whatever. I feel it's a double-edged thing. I agree. It's great, of course, and you are grateful. but it's also you know it's also harder because you have to convince people to take you seriously and you know you are not just a pretty face or something but I approach things in life always the same attitude work hard and let your actions speak louder in one words because at the end of the day it's up to you to make an impression if and if someone doesn't see something or see it for their own reasons, you know, it's on them, not you.

35:26Rebekah:They might have to continue. Yes, because there are so many people out there and so many investors, founders, colleagues that are amazing. And, you know, they're super indifferent or super like rational and they will help no matter what. And they are not going to be subjectized. So just continue.

35:44Mara:It can be on the other side as well. Absolutely. Yeah, I agree. We're going to switch gears real quick. Basran, can't overthink this, all right? First answer is that comment. First answer that you can think of. Your personal power move when you walk into a room.

36:00Rebekah:I don't make eye contact. You know, I just go straight to the target. That's the power. Yes. No, I continue. You know, it's like my glasses. No, not. It's like a catwalk. You just continue. You know, you walk like straight. And then I start seizing around. I don't like people that enter a room and, you know, they're a bit closed and sizey. What should I do? Who should I speak?

36:23Mara:That's a boss move. I think you need to say that. You can tell when somebody feels like they don't belong in the room. I always belong. Yeah. The room will belong around you. Absolutely. Yeah. You know who's in charge, right? One belief you had to unlearn to become a CEO.

36:39Rebekah:That you always have to do. I'm one of those people, actually, that I used to believe that if I want to get something done, I have to do it myself. and sometimes that's the case unfortunately so it's very hard it was very hard for me to delegate because I would push myself a lot so many times I would bring amazing results so I was like look no I want to do it myself because I'm gonna do it better but it doesn't matter the most important thing that I had to learn the hard way is to have people that are better than you and people and And even if they are not and they will become better, it's better, you know, to have 10 people give 90 percent, which is not the case.

37:20Rebekah:Sometimes people are amazing and much better than you. Give 90 percent than you trying to do everything on your own. So now I'm focusing much more on, you know, hiring the right people and enable them to become the best versions of themselves. So my belief is that everyone in the team has to be much better than me and I have to learn from them, not the other way around.

37:43Mara:I absolutely love that statement like that. I you need to rerecord that because it's so true. Like when you're a CEO, you're not a manager, which is like that's not a term I even use. You're a leader and you want to empower your people. And it's been a journey for me because I like to do everything myself because I don't think anyone could do it as best as me. But what I find is when you do that, you take away other people's powers and they shrink at your table. And if you are a good leader, then you're going to empower and uplift people. You don't have to give a handout, but you can definitely give a hand up.

38:14Mara:I love what you said. Absolutely. Okay. A book idea that shaped how you built product.

38:22Rebekah:From Zero to One. It's like a very classic software book that explains how you should start small. It talks about so many different things. I think there's no one that is bringing a startup that has not read it. If they're not, they're crazy. They should. but one thing that changes and for me it was a big change from the corporate world to the startup world was that in the corporate world you have a very you have a timeline so you can see and you can plan six months down the line one year down the line in the startup world you cannot so you have to release super fast you have to get customers feedback and based on that feedback Like, you know, adapt everything and release again.

39:07Rebekah:So especially coming in as an engineer, engineers, I don't want to generalize, but we have this approach that we know better than the users. We know what they want. So you have to learn that. You have to understand that you have to let users guide you.

39:22Mara:Yeah. Okay, next one. You're non-negotiable when it comes to partnerships in business.

39:30Rebekah:And transparency, one. and I can, I really like, you know, to be direct. I'm also Greek, so I'm very direct. But don't leave me on, you know. Either it's working or it's not working, and this is why. Better we both know where we stand than actually, you know, not replying to messages, letting things sleep. And I want to be efficient. I want to be, this is it, we are doing it or we are not doing it. It's working because of that. It's not working because of that.

40:00Mara:Yeah, dull sugar coat. Just to see what it is. Yeah. Love it. What's more important, being liked or being trusted? Being trusted. Best city in the world for meeting people?

40:12Rebekah:New York. I can't compare. There's nothing like New York. Okay.

40:19Mara:So anytime. I'm from London. Yeah. Anytime you build something around nightlife, dating, and human behavior, people project a lot onto it. Some people hear social club and assume it's shallow. What would you do? What's your opinion on that?

40:35Rebekah:People project on everything. But I think the most important thing for us is the feedback we get from the users that actually use it. So if you never use something, how can you have an opinion? This is always my approach in life. If you don't know someone, let's say, how can you express an opinion? So for us, it's super empowering because we get constantly feedback from so many people for everything. Thank you so much. This is such an amazing idea. This is such an amazing app. It helped. I moved to a new city and it actually helped me create, make friends. Or again, it was like, look, I met my boyfriend.

41:12Rebekah:Now we're living together. I have people sending me DMs, drinks actually, and telling me, look, I wanted to join this startup. I applied on LinkedIn. They never got back to me, but I found the founder here, sent him a coffee, and we met, and I got the interview, and I got the job. So for me, this is why I love also consumer, and I wanted to live to streets. It's because it's so meaningful for me, the impact you can have, even if it's small or it's big, to other people's lives. Even if you make someone's life like 10 % better and you help them find a job, find love, find friends, for me, there's nothing else you can do.

41:56Rebekah:Nothing is mean.

41:57Mara:Amber, bye. So what's next for you? I mean, you have accomplished a lot, the 30 under 30. Can you talk about that for a second, the 30 under 30 hat? Like, where did that come from? Were you nominated? How did that happen?

42:09Rebekah:Yes, this was when I started, when I left Bloomberg to start my own thing, essentially. So it was always in tech. So my whole career has been in tech. And this was it. It was a great stick. But I think there are so many things happening. And for me, you know, the things that are super impactful and meaningful are the things that I mentioned before. when I get messages from people and they tell me how I'm, you know, the on and the team and everyone actually managed to help them. So for us, for me, the most important thing looking forward is building the on. We are now in a very, in an inflation point.

42:51Rebekah:We are releasing the on 2.0. So we're super excited about that. And we're changing the model completely. So we are removing all of the previous partnerships that we have and we are going into a completely new redemption method. So everything happens through Apple Pay, so we can be global with a push of a button. And we are also not moving, evolving, I would say, to communities because we were creating essentially a high-intended community, but there are so many communities out there that they don't have a digital space for the members to connect. So now Dion is evolving around giving all these different communities and digital specs to the people, you know, to the run club, to the yoga club, to, I don't know, Greeks in New York, etc.

43:38So it becomes a very powerful ecosystem that connects individuals with individuals, communities between them, and brands with individuals and communities.

43:48Rebekah:So this is something that is movement culture. And this is something that's so blended in our real life. So for me, at this point, life, the own, is like one thing.

43:59Mara:I'm lazy together. Amazing. You are really such an inspiration, especially to young women. What's next for you? Maybe personally, professionally?

44:08Rebekah:Building the own. Yes, building the own is very important. And the next thing that is going to happen, which I'm super excited, is we're going to be launching major cities in the U.S. and Europe. Actually, I think it's something that happens, you know, in parallel. You cannot say this is the only thing that is going on with me. So as you move through different cities and countries, you are meeting people, you are making new friends. And one thing that I'm super passionate about, I have fallen behind the last years, unfortunately, is traveling. But when I say traveling, I like to be in places that I've never been before.

44:45Rebekah:So I go there with friends. We have these annual trips at Christmas, during Christmas and Easter. And we always pick a place that we haven't been, which has a very unique culture. And we go there and try to learn as much as possible and explore. So this is something that I'm super passionate about. I'm counting the countries. Now it's 66. But the last years have been so stale because I don't have the time. But I'm going to get back to it.

45:15Mara:Wait, what does Dion stand for? I even asked. Yes, everyone asked.

45:19Rebekah:It's from Dionysus, who is the Greek god of going out and socializing and drinks and why.

45:26Mara:There you go. I love that. Okay. And if people want to find you and get connected with you, where will they find you?

45:32Rebekah:Intin, under my name. Good luck spelling it. We'll put it in the solid step of our Instagram, Rebecca Pal, which is easier.

45:40Mara:That is so exciting. And one last piece of advice for like a woman that's like, I would say, yo, woman. I mean, one last piece of advice. Anything.

45:47Rebekah:It's very important to know that you don't belong because of, you know, how you grew up or by privilege, but you end up belonging by your actions. So it's very important to have goals and work till you actually reach them. And if you put the effort, if you put the time, no one is going to stop you. You know, it's just up to you. And this is what I say to myself all the time. It's like it's up to me what I'm going to make out of myself.

46:16Mara:Yeah. if it's not you then who no if it's not now then when absolutely well today's episode was absolutely incredible for you ladies out there i mean just get outside of yourself you know you can tell you really can do anything in this life that you want you see rebecca she had or rebecca sorry you see rebecca she has been i mean a breath of fresh air just talking to her and breaking barriers, defying all odds. I love it. Male dominated industry and just crushing the game. So if you liked today's episode, go ahead, like, subscribe, tell a friend. If you don't like, unsubscribe, I don't know. But if you want to see more, no, don't.

46:57Mara:It's been absolutely, it's been so incredible just sitting here and talking to you. You're inspiring me. Like I don't have enough on my plate. Now I want to do more things. But it has been absolutely incredible spending the afternoon with you. Thank you so much for coming on. It's been incredible.

47:12Rebekah:Thank you for having me. Sounds a pleasure.