Combating VH-store hype loss with a company restructuring.
VH-Store launched well and then fell off a cliff around Labour Day weekend. I tried several
things to pull it back. None of them worked, and it ended with me nagging people into using
our own product — a low I hoped I'd never reach. So the plan changes.
Orders a day since launch
before the drop — 26 orders in 10 daysafter — 7 orders in 11 daysLabour Day weekend
26 listings exist across six seller accounts. Realistically
there are two people who would actually stock food each week.
What we tried
Manufacture demandConvinced several people to convert real money into VHp, then pointed vendors at
the demand: there is money here to be made.No effect
Pay for consistencyOffered both potential vendors a reward for stocking food a week in a row.No one moved
Ask people directlyWhich is to say: nagging people into using our own product.Not a strategy
The honest diagnosis: Shaun doesn't need the money, and the seller interface —
built at 11:30 at night after homework — was convoluted enough to be an obstacle on its own.
No incentive survives a bad interface.
What changes
Effort moves off e-commerce and onto new products. The two e-commerce roles become research roles.
EmmettE-commerce Director→Product Research & Innovation Director
ParkerE-commerce Director→Product Research & Innovation Director
The job: test what already exists, find where it breaks, and bring
forward products worth building.
The rotation
For a week at a time, an innovation director steps up as CEO and I step down to software engineer.
They call the shots — what gets built, what gets fixed, what ships. I take the tickets.
September 2026weeks shaded by who is in charge
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14 – 18 Sep · Emmett is acting CEO21 – 25 Sep · Parker is acting CEOVan is on the tools both weeks