Local Delivery Service Wins Pitch Challenge

Teddy Gold ’16 won the Middlebury Entrepreneurs Pitch Challenge during J-term with his local delivery project, Otter Delivery. Otter Delivery functions as an on-demand delivery service, allowing students to place pick-up requests at stores in town and have it delivered to their dorm room later that day.

The Middlebury Entrepreneurs Pitch Challenge, also known as the Schiller Cup, was named after Pieter Schiller ’60, an alumnus who went on to have a successful venture capital career. Participating in the Pitch Challenge was the final assignment of the Middlebury Entrepreneurs J-term class, a student-taught course for students wishing to start their own business. Twelve student-run companies gained experience and feedback from over a dozen experts in entrepreneurial and business fields, who served as visiting advisors to the students.

President of Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) David Bradbury and Vice President of VCET Andrew Stickney served as visiting professors and head advisors for the students. Bradbury and Stickney helped the students throughout the month to develop their ideas and prepare them for their final presentations to be pitched before ten entrepreneurs.

Vice President for College Advancement Jim Keyes ’71 presented Gold with the Schiller Cup on behalf of the Project on Creativity and Innovation in the Liberal Arts at the College.

Gold says the idea for Otter Delivery arose when he and his friends were building a TV stand, could not find a screwdriver and resorted to purchasing one online.

Knowing the impact that the College has on local businesses, Gold said that he “realized there should be a local Amazon.com system, where [students] would use the stores in town as [their] own personal delivery warehouses.”

Through Otter Delivery, Gold believes that it is possible to instill students with a sense of pride for living in Middlebury by “[providing] a convenience for students who are geographically separated from town.” By making local businesses more accessible for this population of students, Gold believes that local businesses will benefit from a new and increased clientele.

Gold initially envisioned Otter Delivery in the form of an application to allow students to browse the inventory of local stores. His advisors helped him to refine his vision, suggesting that he “start small and scalable.”

VCET has provided crucial support to Gold for his effort to counteract the student population’s tendency to buy from mega-retailers such as Amazon.com instead of local businesses.

Gold now has a team of six student workers, dubbed “Otters,” who are on-call for two hours each day to take orders, pick up goods and make deliveries. Otter Delivery charges five dollars per location visited plus the cost of the order.

While Gold is enthusiastic about the benefits Otter Delivery will provide, some students are more skeptical.

“[The College] already makes our lives so easy through the dining halls and custodial services, for example, so I see little purpose in paying students to do the few errands and extra tasks we do have,” Elisa Berger ’17 said.

Rene Gonzalez ’17, however, noted the benefit of using a delivery service such as Gold’s every now and then.

“If you have to acquire many supplies and do not have any mode of transportation, then having the bulk of the work done for you by people who [do it as part of their job] is absolutely legitimate,” she said.

Looking ahead, Gold plans to create locally sourced move-in kits for members of the Class of 2018 with dorm room essentials purchased from local businesses. Gold is also looking to expand Otter Delivery and will be speaking with administrators at local retirement facilities to see if they are interested in using his business.

Otter Delivery can be reached at 802-444-1490 or teddy@otterdelivery.com. Same-day delivery is guaranteed for all orders placed before 3 p.m.