Newsletter Nº 4 ·
Would you push your plan back two months for one hire?
Here's a question for you: Would you push your whole plan back two months for one hire? I did it on Saturday. Without someone to bake the challah, Braid & Berry has no product, and the first store slipped from March to May. Today: why, what didn't move, and the three Remi devices that now send their data to the app.
1. Braid & Berry
The first store moves 8 weeks
Last week I promised to tell you who made it to the taste test.
Nobody yet.
I kept interviewing people who really bake, but I haven't hired anyone.
The problem? The whole plan hangs on the bread.
Without a baker I can't test the menu. Without a menu I don't know how big each sandwich is or what it costs. Without that there are no taste tests with customers. And without taste tests I'm not opening a store.
A plan with dates I already know I'll miss doesn't help me decide anything. On Saturday I pushed it back:
- November 13: baker hired.
- December 4: menu and packaging ready.
- Mid-December: taste tests with customers, wrapping up by January 15.
- February 5: online launch.
- May 7, 2027: first store. It used to be March 12.
What doesn't move
Incorporating the company, the bank, Stripe, the brand and the website all keep their dates. None of that needs a sandwich.
I talked it through with the lawyer and Braid & Berry will be a C corp. On Monday I started the incorporation through Stripe Atlas. The bank account comes next.
On Thursday we locked the final colors.
And the designer is already working the packaging down to exact sizes, for this menu:
- The Braid: challah triangles.
- The Whole Braid: a whole round challah.
- The Triple: three layers.
- Short braid sticks, kettle chips in a sealed branded bag, smoothies and fruit cups.
Even the packaging is waiting on the same thing. Boxes are designed to fit the sandwich, and the bread sets the size.
The decision: push back only what depends on the bread. Everything else stays put.
The number: 8 weeks. The first store moves from March 12 to May 7, 2027.
The mistake: I built a plan where the whole product hung on one person I didn't have yet. It cost me two months.
The win: going with a C corp. That let me start incorporating on Monday without waiting for the baker.
What's next: hire the baker before November 13.
Read how I pushed back the plan
2. Remi
All three devices now talk to the app
Remi is a membership in Mexico for people with diabetes, high blood pressure or weight issues.
The platform is almost fully built. Last week the scale, the blood pressure monitor and the glucose meter arrived from the manufacturers.
On Thursday we connected the scale and the blood pressure monitor straight to the app.
Not the glucose meter. We needed specs from the supplier.
By Friday it was connected.
You step on the scale, take your blood pressure or check your glucose, and the reading shows up in the app.
Legal and regulatory aren't the same thing
A week ago I was looking for a lawyer to do in one month what I'd been quoted seven for.
I talked to regulatory consultants who work with COFEPRIS (Mexico's health regulator) and to an IP firm that also does regulatory work. That's when I understood Remi's problem is more regulatory than legal.
Three things I didn't know:
- Every product needs a Mexican health registration, even if it already has FDA clearance.
- Software that helps with diagnosis can count as a medical device.
- Registering a device can take up to a year. It can't be sped up.
My goal is still to launch in two months. Anything that needs its own registration runs on a separate track, in parallel.
In the meantime, I've already written the drafts of the privacy notice, the terms and conditions, and the AI and diagnosis policy. They're 70-80% done. They need a lawyer's review.
On Monday the first proposal came in, from the IP firm. I'm going through it now.
18 specialists
My doctor friend from the ABC hospital sent me the list for Remi's Medical Board: 18 diabetes specialists.
Nine chosen for their track record, from endocrinology and cardiology to nephrology, ophthalmology and bariatric surgery. Nine opinion leaders.
Now I have to call them one by one and invite them.
The goal: launch in two months.
The number: 3 of 3 devices connected to the app.
The blocker: Remi doesn't get incorporated until I choose the lawyers.
The win: writing the legal drafts myself before hiring anyone. The lawyer reviews; they don't start from scratch.
What's next: choose the lawyers, incorporate the company and start calling the 18.
This week on the blog
If someone asks you what I do, this sums it up: the two companies I'm building and my investments.
That's it.
Next week I'll tell you whether there's a baker yet and who's incorporating Remi.
Carlos
Learn how to build a company by watching me build mine.
Every week: the decision, the number, the mistake and the win.