Alok Ahuja, co-founder and CEO of Trexity, is hoping a compelling elevator pitch will soon open the doors to the U.S. market for his Ottawa-based on-demand delivery company.
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Alok Ahuja is hoping a compelling elevator pitch will soon open the doors to the U.S. market for his Ottawa-based on-demand delivery company.
The co-founder and CEO of Trexity recently landed a US$200,000 investment for the fast-growing startup after appearing on the season nine finale of Entrepreneur magazine’s online series Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch.
In the episode that dropped last week, the energetic Ottawa businessman’s passionate 60-second pitch prompted two of the show’s three-member board of investors – Marc Randoph, the co-founder and original CEO of Netflix, and serial entrepreneur Kim Perell, the founder and CEO of Miami-based investment firm 100.co – to bid for a piece of Trexity.
Ahuja, who taped the segment in Miami in mid-May, said he rehearsed his pitch in his hotel room for about an hour the night before, knowing he was only going to be allowed one take to get it right.
“When I went in there, I just did it, and it came out the way I wanted it to,” Ahuja said of his pitch, which was indeed filmed in an elevator at a Miami television studio. “The judges all seemed to think so as well.”
After Los Angeles-based angel investor Jonathan Hung passed on making an offer, Randolph initially said he was prepared to invest US$100,000 in the startup based on a valuation of C$15 million.
Perell then upped the ante, bidding US$200,000 for a stake in the company.
“I love Canada,” she said, noting she had just made an investment in another firm based north of the border. “I think it’s a great target market. I think there’s a huge opportunity that you can literally own it. That’s why I feel that, if you can own Canada, you can definitely own the U.S.”
Randolph rebuffed Ahuja’s suggestion to join forces with Perell, explaining, “She’ll be saying, ‘Go this way,’ I’ll be saying, ‘Go that way.’ It’ll tear you apart.”
But he did sweeten his offer to US$150,000, prompting Ahuja to admit that before entering the room he was hoping to do a deal with Randolph, an entrepreneur he has long admired.
Instead, after a moment of hesitation, Ahuja chose to go with Perell, the only woman investor on the panel.
“There’s something that’s more important to me, and that’s my daughter and female empowerment,” he explained, fighting back tears. “I’m trying to teach her that my biggest job right now is being a father and making those right decisions for her, for her future.”
Even the panellists themselves appeared to get caught up in the moment.
“I might cry, too,” Perell said as she hugged Ahuja. “I’m so excited.”
In an interview with OBJ on Tuesday, Ahuja said the boardroom scene was done in one 12-minute take and was entirely unscripted.
“The three producers were all bawling their eyes out, hugging me,” he said. “It was crazy.”
Perell finalized her deal with Trexity just weeks after the segment was filmed, Ahuja said, adding that the bestselling author and sought-after keynote speaker is now one of his most trusted advisers.
“She’s been incredible,” he said. “She’s just very hands-on.”
Since the segment aired, Ahuja said he’s been deluged with questions about how he could turn down an offer from Randolph, a legendary tech entrepreneur whose book, That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea, is one of the Ottawa founder’s go-to business bibles.
But the father of two said the inspirational example Perell has set for his 10-year-old daughter Aria trumped even his high regard for Randolph.
“I really did look up to this guy, and I still do,” Ahuja said. “The minute I got in there, I went into war mode. I said, ‘I am not here for me, I am here for this company.’ It was kind of surreal to get two offers, to be honest. It definitely was a bucket-list item to look the (former) CEO of Netflix in the face and tell him, ‘No, I will not take your deal.’ It was like an out-of-spirit moment.”
Three months after his boardroom meeting in Miami, Ahuja has no regrets.
“It was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made in life, because when I was there talking to them, I knew in my mind that the only people that were truly going to care about this whole ordeal after it’s done will be my kids. For me, the most important thing was setting that example and doing right by my family and my kids, who are the reason that I continue to push myself.”
Meanwhile, he remains optimistic that Randolph will eventually be part of Trexity’s investor mix.
“We’re still talking,” Ahuja said. “He’s still a firm believer in what we’re doing and I’m sure I’ll make something happen there, but for me it was really important to choose Kim.”
Founded four years ago, Trexity has 22 employees. Thousands of merchants in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Winnipeg – including well-known local retailers such as Dominion City Brewing, Happy Goat Coffee and Kettleman’s Bagel Co. – now use its platform to provide same-day delivery to customers via a network of thousands of freelance drivers.
Trexity’s recurring annual revenues are well north of $2 million and doubling year-over-year, and the firm is eyeing a move into other markets, including Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver, in the near future.
“The (merchant) sign-ups are coming fast and furious,” Ahuja said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction.”
Yet as pleased as the die-hard entrepreneur was to gain a high-profile new investor from his online appearance, it was his daughter’s reaction to the show that meant the most.
“After it was done, she just looked at me and she gave me the biggest hug and didn’t let go. That was everything for me.”
