Business
LocalStove Satisfies Your Cravings For Homemade Food
Published
6 years agoon
Steve and Greg believe that everyone deserves homemade meals, but realize that with our busy lives, homemade meals are not always possible. As a result, they cofounded an online platform called LocalStove that connects the best home cooks in your neighborhood to you. On their website you can select which dishes you want from a variety of home cooks, and the food will be made and delivered to your event. We had the opportunity to interview them and learn more about their entrepreneurial journey and startup.
What inspired you to become entrepreneurs in the food industry?
Steven Finn: Food has been an obsession of mine for as long as I can remember. I started developing my own skirt steak marinade at age five, had a few years where my primary source of media was the food network, and have traveled as far as Australia and back in search of the best food out there. Wherever I go, I want to eat like a local. I spent several years as a software engineer for Bloomberg, and was ready to go out on my own and build something that I had a burning passion for. I decided I wanted to found a startup before we had the idea for LocalStove, and was exploring a variety of ideas. When it came down to actually doing something, working with incredibly talented local chefs who make authentic food from all over the world made so much sense!
Greg Dubin: I learned about the power of food to bring people together at a really young age. While growing up, my grandfather owned a restaurant in a small town in Wisconsin. It was the type of place where almost all the customers were regulars and everyone there knew everybody else’s name. People were drawn in by amazing comfort food (like deep fried balls of cheese as big as your fist!), but would stay for hours because they were made to feel like family. Spending a lot of time at the restaurant from as long as I can remember left a deep impression on me about the emotions that food can bring out in people and drove me to find away to impart this gift on to others, like my grandfather did. Yet, this exposure also taught me how tough owning a restaurant is. Between the brutal hours, high risk and thin margins, I realized it wasn’t the right business for me. LocalStove came about as a result of the realization that we can still create amazing culinary experiences, without a brick and mortar establishment. So, I sought to abstract away the worst parts of the restaurant business and harness tech to enable talented, passionate cooks to share their creations with the world.
What was your biggest challenge when founding LocalStove?
Steven Finn: Our biggest challenge was in deciding to take the plunge to pivot our business model. Our original model was to have our chefs offer individual meals through our website with us providing marketing, payment processing, and delivery logistics, and more. While this business was growing, it was difficult to spread the word. Then, we fell into office catering, mostly by accident. We originally viewed it as a marketing activity to sell individual meals, but corporate clients kept calling us back. We discovered that there was a real gap in the market serving small to mid size offices, where groups of around 10-75 people are too large to order effectively from restaurants and too small to get good menus for good prices from traditional caterers. These groups were regularly ending up with pizza and sub platters. This is the perfect size group for one experienced cook with no help and low overhead to cook for, and it allows us to sell much better food to offices for prices comparable to (or better than) existing options. On top of that, our cooks are making a lot more money per hour of labor than they would on virtually any other “gig economy” platform. As catering became a larger and larger portion of our revenue, we noticed that the catering model actually solved a lot of the problems we were having in individual meals. Having office catering become our primary business model was a tough call to make, but one that has worked out and allowed us to build the beginnings of a sustainable and scalable business.
Greg Dubin: The biggest challenge was probably emotional or mental in nature. Mainly, just taking the plunge into pursuing our endeavor full-time. Doing so at the end of business school was particularly challenging. Right when the majority of our friends were accepting high-paying jobs in lucrative industries, we were committing to having no income for the foreseeable future with absolutely no guarantee of success. The fact that all of us were married and either had kids or kids on the way certainly made the consequences of failure feel more daunting.
How was your experience like having 2 other cofounders?
Steven Finn: Having cofounders is great. I’ve worked on a startup alone before, and it’s hard to keep moving! Having cofounders gets everything done faster, provides a source of instant feedback on your work, and allows for rapid iteration. We are lucky to have complimentary skill sets. At this point, we know almost without talking about it who should take responsibility for something that needs to get done because we each know our cofounder’s strengths and weaknesses as well as we know our own.
Greg Dubin: I believe there is a study that correlated three cofounders with the highest chances of success for a startup. I completely understand why. First, launching a startup requires so
much work every day, across literally dozens of areas of expertise. I truly cannot
comprehend how sole founders can do it alone. Second, I cannot overstate the
importance of having a diversity of opinions and perspectives when formulating strategies and finding solutions to problems. Moreover, having three cofounders instead of two helps break through impasses where only two equal founders may be at a stalemate.
(Side note: Our third cofounder Henrique left the company a few months after launching to take a full time job. He left on good terms and retained a tiny bit of equity, but isn’t involve in any day-to- day operations of the business)
Why did you focus your business around home cooked meals?
Steven Finn: We believe that the best food in the world is locked behind the front doors of our neighbors. It doesn’t necessarily take years of culinary training to make food that resonates deeply with people. To us, home style cooking is Grandma’s recipes. It’s something you’ve made 1,000 times, but you still love to make it. It’s cooked with feeling, passion, and editorial control. We find that we’re more likely to get this type of food from a local, independent cook who works for his or herself than we are from a professionally trained line cook who spends their days pumping out somebody else’s recipes in a restaurant setting. We don’t tell our cooks what to make or what to charge. They give us menus of what they’re best at, they set their prices, and we match them with offices whose budget and dietary preferences are a good fit. On a personal note, some of our food is some of the best food I’ve ever had, and I’d eat at Per Se for my wedding anniversary or drive to South Dakota for a rack of ribs (Bob’s Broasted Ribs in Sioux Falls!).
Greg Dubin: I’ve always loved to travel and quickly came to appreciate what an immense impact food has on culture. When visiting other countries, I truly believe there is no better way learn and understand about another culture than through its cuisine. A single dish can represent the mosaic of hundreds of years of history; a cross-section of the country’s plants, animals and ecology; and the long-held, rich traditions of the people. However, you don’t have to get on a plane to have these experiences. Philadelphia represents a rich tapestry of cultures, be them ethnic, religious, or simply socially-based. All these cultures have unique, exciting and authentic foods, which until now had been locked inside people’s own kitchens. The best cooks aren’t the ones on line pumping whatever they are told to cook for minimum wage. They are the ones who truly live and breathe their cuisine, because it is a part of who they are. LocalStove’s mission is about unlocking the kitchen door and enabling these amazing cooks to share not only their food with the world, but their passion, history and story as well.
How do you choose and evaluate new cooks?
Steven Finn: Most of our best cooks have come to us. The value proposition of LocalStove for them is very strong. We bring them new customers who otherwise would never have found them, we handle payments, we provide them with a web presence, we deal with delivery logistics. We like to say that our cooks only have to worry about the cooking, and that they should let us worry about the details of running a food business. Evaluating cooks for LocalStove is the best part of our job. We meet with the cooks, learn their stories, and eat their food. Our cooks are great people to work with, but it’s their food blows me away almost every time.
Greg Dubin: Finding new cooks is actually one of the easiest parts of LocalStove. We developed a comprehensive marketing plan to attract new cooks, but haven’t had the need to implement it yet. Whenever we explain to anyone what LocalStove is about, the most common response we get is, “I know the perfect cook for you.” Pretty much everybody knows the “best cook in the world,” who makes incredible food but has no desire to actually open their own restaurant. As far as evaluation, the cooks have to go through our screening process before being allowed to post food on the platform. Part of this involves us trying the food first, which is definitely one of the best perks of the job. We also usually to have friends and loyal customers sample the food as well and give us their honest opinions. Ultimately though, it is really the user ratings that will determine how successful a cook will be on LocalStove. The best cooks rise to the top pretty quickly and can command higher prices for their meals. Cooks who aren’t incredible fall to the bottom pretty quickly and don’t get orders. Furthermore, if their rating falls below a certain threshold we remove them from the platform.

What are some memorable company milestones, and what developments do you project for this year?
Steven Finn: Getting our first “subscription” customer for LocalStove was amazing. Having somebody tell us that they loved our food so much that they wanted to have it again every week was something I’ll never forget. Passing $100,000 in sales was great as well, and we can’t wait to add a digit and get to $1,000,000 and beyond!
Greg Dubin: One of our cooks is a culinary student who was also working a part time job to help put herself through school. She recently told us that she was able to quit this job that she hated, because LocalStove was giving her enough income to support herself. This was a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.
What is one character trait that defines you and why?
Steven Finn: I love to learn new things, and I always have. I like to understand how things work. I have three Penn degrees in totally different subjects (Operations, Entrepreneurship, and Computer Science), and am always reading about something new. Entrepreneurship is the best way to learn rapidly that I’ve found yet.
Greg Dubin: Believing that there is always a solution to any problem. This means never admitting “it’s impossible” when faced with a challenge. Instead of asking “can we,” I only ask, “how can we?”
What are your tips for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Steven Finn: Don’t pursue a great idea that you aren’t passionate about. If you wouldn’t be a user of your product, it doesn’t matter how great the idea or opportunity is, you are not the person to execute on it. Make sure if you get into something that it’s a field that you’re willing to spend the next 5+ years in and be eager to learn everything about it. Also, I can’t stress the idea of putting something out into the world quickly enough. We started selling food less than three weeks after we initially had the idea for LocalStove, and we’ve learned so much because of the pace. I’ve worked at a startup where we spent way too long in a room, figuring out every little detail of our product to make it perfect before launching, and we failed before we’d even finished the product. Startup guru Steve Blank says that “No business plan survives first contact with customers.” He’s right. The only way to move quickly enough toward real product market fit in an industry like ours is to put something out in the world, double down on what works, and quickly abandon what doesn’t.
Greg Dubin: Focus all your energy on finding product-market fit and don’t be afraid to pivot. Don’t spending all your time and resources developing what you think is a perfect product before you know if enough people are actually going to buy it. Instead, get your MVP out there as quickly as possible and see how it resonates with various audiences. If the product-market fit is right, they will accept an imperfect product because they innately see the value of what you are trying to do. Once you’ve identified the right customer base, engage and listen to them. They will be your most valuable resources for perfecting your product and driving your company’s direction.
Aaditi Tamhankar is a student at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. In her free time she can be found cooking healthy food, running, and watching too much Youtube.

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Business
Adam Neumann: Crashed WeWork, Got $350M from Silicon Valley
Published
6 days agoon
July 24, 2025Was it good for the economy or an embarrassment for Silicon Valley? The bottom line is, Adam Neumann is now $350 million richer. The current state of the world has divided us into two camps: those who believe we’re headed for a recession and those who think it’s just a rough patch we’re experiencing.
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, announced a massive investment in Flow. It is the real estate company of Adam Neumann, who dragged WeWork from a $47 billion valuation into bankruptcy in just six weeks.
On the Optimistic Side
Image credit: VOX
Economists who lean towards the optimistic side point us in a “not a recession” direction. Proof of this is that no company would give away $350 million if it were experiencing a decline in business. Silicon Valley has just handed ousted WeWork founder Adam Neumann, the guy who crashed WeWork, just that amount.
This may be a good sign that the economy is indeed not going down the dumps as some would want to believe. However, it is an embarrassment for Silicon Valley in particular and the tech industry as a whole. A founder of Y Combinator said redemption is easy for a white guy who f*cked up in the biggest ways and is incredibly wealthy. It’s saddening that not everyone has those qualifications.
Adam Neumann Now
During his WeWork days, Adam Neumann came up with the concept of WeLive. Now, his new idea is a rebrand of WeLive, called Flow. It aims to own and manage apartments with the special Adam Neumann touch, which borders on being obsessive and faddish.
In his statement, Andreessen seems to believe that the housing problem in the US stems from a lack of branding. That is, apartments are not stylish or sexy enough, which is an about-face from what the real issues are: there aren’t enough supplies, plus the high costs of renting.
This is in contrast to what Andreessen said two years ago, that we should be building things. Neumann, on the other hand, plans to acquire already existing buildings to turn them into giant playhouses for adults. That, with a bit of glamming and styling, the housing problem would be easily solved.
In a letter to the mayor of Atherton, California, Andreeseen and his wife said that multifamily housing zones would “massively” decrease the values of their homes. This is in response to the city’s efforts to address the housing shortage. The couple also said that these houses would reduce the quality of their lives as well as their neighbors’ and will increase noise pollution and traffic immensely.
Flow
According to Andreessen, Flow will offer renters the opportunity to build equity in their apartments. He didn’t provide details and how it would work, though. Vicki Bryan, a credit analyst and the CEO of Bond Angle, says that in that case, the renters would only get a microscopic share, which amounts to almost nothing.
The Flow deal is met with negativity, as it is seen as a quick way for Silicon Valley to throw money around. The concept does not seem to address a real problem, and worse, it’s going to be run by Neumann. Many liken his business skills to those of a child let loose in a park with a sugar high.
This will be an embarrassment to Silicon Valley, which has, over the past few decades, delivered little to no innovations amid being awash with money. As for Adam Neumann now, he should have learned something from the WeWork fiasco, but it seems he has not.
Business
Bit.ai Review for Businesses in 2025: Is It Still Worth It?
Published
1 week agoon
July 23, 2025When you’re collaborating on documents with other writers or co-workers, how do you keep everyone on the same page?
Truth be told, for most of you, the answer is probably Google Docs. It’s quick, efficient, and easy to share. But what if there was a better way?
Bit.ai professes to be “the world’s most powerful workplace and document collaboration platform.” In this Bit.ai review, we’ll put that claim to the test.
Bit.ai Review: What is Bit.ai?
Co-founded by Raj and Saje Sandhu, Bit.ai has been offering document collaboration to companies like Canon and Harvard University since 2007. The company employs a global team with headquarters in San Francisco.
What does Bit.ai offer?
Bit.ai has grown into a smart documentation and knowledge management platform tailored to businesses of all sizes.
With the release of Bit 3.0 and the built-in AI Genius Writer in time for other tech players’ version of AI boom, the tool is now as much about content intelligence as it is about collaboration.
Features include:
- Collaborative document editor with AI assistance
- Smart content library with internal linking
- 100+ file type support and embed options
- AI-powered writing and content structuring
- Automated themes, templates, and formatting
- Cloud integrations (Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, etc.)
- Document tracking and engagement insights
- Branded, interactive documents
- Customizable workspaces and guest access
- SSO, 2FA, and admin-level security controls
We’ll explore some of the key features in the next section.
How much does Bit.ai cost?
Individual users and Bit.ai offers a flexible pricing model suited for individuals, teams, and growing businesses. Here’s a breakdown of the current subscription plans (based on annual billing):
- Free Plan – $0/user/month. Includes up to 10 documents per user, 5-user limit, single document import, access to integrations and collaborative workspaces. Exporting, version history, and AI tools are not included.
- Pro Plan – $8/user/month (billed annually). Offers unlimited documents and users, bulk document import/export, access to version history, and 20,000 AI Genius Writer words (with add-on). Also includes advanced permissions and external sharing features.
- Business Plan – $15/user/month (billed annually). Includes everything in Pro plus more advanced collaboration features like guest access, embed options, and extended AI capabilities. Also includes top-tier permissions and document management features.
Monthly billing is available at higher rates. Bit.ai also provides custom enterprise plans and continues to offer discounted rates for education, startups, and nonprofits.
Bit.ai Review: How to sign up
Getting started with Bit.ai is as simple as inputting your email and receiving a six-digit verification code.
After that, you’re asked to fill out information like your name, your job title, and your department at your company, as well as create a password. Right off the bat, Bit puts businesses first, setting itself apart from Google Docs before you even log in.
But it doesn’t stop there. When you sign up, you create a profile for your whole company, getting a custom subdomain for your team to access your library.
And there you have it! Once you’re logged in, you have the option to see a tutorial. If you want to upgrade to a paid plan, use the handy “Upgrade” button in the lower left corner of your dashboard.
Bit.ai Review: Features
The Bit.ai web app includes tabs for your dashboard and a list of all your workspaces.
The Bit.ai dashboard
Your Bit.ai homepage allows you to view recent activity, featured templates, tutorials and updates, as well as see how close you are to your document limit if you’re a free user.
Free users get access to most core collaboration features but not premium functions like AI, exporting, or advanced version tracking.
You can open documents directly from the dashboard, but only using a featured template or a recently-opened one. To create something from scratch, you’ll have to head over to Workspaces.
The Workspaces tab
First thing’s first: create a workspace. Workspaces are where your documents are created, saved, and shared. Once you’ve made one, you can create a new document, either by using a template, importing an existing document, or starting from scratch.
Creating a document with Bit.ai
When you create a new document in Bit.ai, you’re taken to a bare-bones writing editor similar to Notion. In addition, AI Genius Writer is now integrated into the editor to assist with outlines, rewriting, or prompts. I always find it hard to start writing when you don’t have anything visual to guide you, but once you get the hang of it, it’s fairly intuitive.
I think the reason for this no-frills approach is to make it easier to take meeting notes and write down quick thoughts about a project. For more in-depth functions, however, you can highlight your text after you’ve written it to change the formatting. There’s also a + icon next to your cursor that lets you add links, embeds, files, code blocks, and more.
One neat feature of this text editor is the ability to link directly to other documents and content in your Bit.ai library. It makes it much easier to cross-reference documents than it is in Google Docs, Word, Notes, etc., another great benefit for businesses.
There’s no need to save your documents in Bit.ai—that happens automatically. When you’re done, however, you can share it with collaborators and others, lock it to prevent further edits, change its associated colors, view stats and version history. Note: exporting, version history, and AI writing are reserved for Pro and Business plans.
Bit.ai writing templates
Bit offers a huge range of templates, with themes geared towards managers, marketers, designers, educators, and much more. Some of these are designed to function as static documents, such as thesis papers. Others can be hubs for entire business processes, like the video production template.
After trying out a few of these templates, they’re great at showing off all of Bit.ai’s functionality, but they’re useful even if you don’t use Bit for everything. They offer great templates for outlining your processes, making it easier to set a roadmap and including things you might not have thought of.
Importing documents into Bit.ai
While Bit.ai professes to support a massive range of file types, their import menu is a little peculiar. You can choose to import from “Word” (which just allows you to import .docx files from your computer), from a number of cloud-based sources, or Markdown, .txt, and .pdf files.
The strange thing is, you can’t click on “Word” and then upload a .txt file, nor can you click on “PDF” and upload a Word doc. I have no idea why it’s formatted like this, but it made my upload attempts very confusing.
Not to mention, formatting isn’t included when you upload, and the first two uncommon file types I tried (Pages and Final Draft) were both incompatible.
As of 2025, Bit.ai also includes AI Genius Writer in its paid plans—an AI assistant built into the editor that helps generate content, rewrite sections, and build outlines based on your input.”
Bit.ai Review: Final thoughts
So, how does Bit.ai live up to its thesis statement? Is it really “the world’s most powerful document collaboration platform”?
It may not be the most powerful, but it’s certainly grown into one of the smartest options for teams and businesses. While it’s still not a traditional writing tool—you won’t get full font customization or a rich formatting toolbar—it now offers much more under the hood.
With features like AI Genius Writer, smart internal linking, advanced templates, and built-in document analytics, Bit.ai shines as a modern content hub for collaboration, documentation, and knowledge management.
The platform still has room to improve when it comes to document organization and formatting flexibility, but it’s made impressive strides since its earlier versions.
Final grade: 8/10
Business
Top 10 Best Places to Buy a Mid Century Modern Office Chair
Published
4 weeks agoon
July 4, 2025What was once old is new again: mid century modern is back in style. From architecture to furniture, the postwar look is in, and the hype extends all the way to office chairs.
Do you need a mid century modern office chair in your life? If so, there’s plenty to choose from. Your office chair should be tailored to your style, whether you like luxury, utility, or something in between.
That’s why we’ve put together our 10 favorite places to find your ideal mid century modern office chair.
What is mid century modern design?
After World War II, spirits were high in the US, and new technology was taking the country by storm. Mid century modern refers to the design concepts that came about during this time.
As opposed to the frilly, ornate designs of classical furnishings, mid century modern designs are angular, material, and functional. Wood is a common design element, especially teak. Mid century modern furniture may also have materials like glass, vinyl, and metal. Designs are simple and geometric, with bold accent colors to make them pop.
The mid century modern aesthetic never really went away, but it’s made a noted comeback in recent years. Some have chalked it up to Boomer and Gen X nostalgia, others point to mid-century-set shows like Mad Men and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Why should I buy a mid century modern office chair?
Mid century modern is the perfect fusion of style and utility. If you want to cultivate an office space that commands respect without being ostentatious, mid century modern is the style for you.
When it comes to office chairs, an MCM one is often made with sturdy wood and vinyl. They combine the ergonomics of a modern office chair with old-fashioned grace.
If you’re concerned with utility and utility only, a more bog-standard office chair may suit you. But a mid century modern office chair is great for someone who wants to wow colleagues with a mature, thoughtful business space.
Where can I get a mid century modern office chair?
1) Wayfair
When it comes to furniture, Wayfair offers the best of both worlds. Their goods, including their mid century modern office chairs, are stylish and affordable. You can get a sturdy task chair for less than $100 or a more distinguished seat for less than $350.
MCM office chair examples: Dovray ($126), Bradford ($139), Lithonia ($133)
2) France & Son
Wayfair’s chairs are affordable, but France & Son is the perfect option for luxury shoppers. Their mid century modern office chairs are robust and sleekly designed. If you dress to impress and enjoy the finer things in life, these are the chairs for you.
MCM office chair example: Brooks ($695)
3) Houzz
Started as a community for people to share home decor tips, Houzz has become a great ecommerce platform for finding stylish furniture. They’re more known for home decor than desk chairs, but they have plenty of great, affordable finds if you know where to look.
MCM office chair examples: Arvilla ($173), Rathburn ($259)
4) Laura Davidson
The Laura Davidson collection offers a fairly limited selection of classic office furniture. Still, there’s a reason they’re trusted by big-wigs like Apple, Disney, and Salesforce. Their chairs are sturdy and beautifully designed, reimagining classic Eames and Knoll designs.
MCM office chair examples: Rockefeller ($275), SOHO II Soft Pad ($450)
5) Icons of Manhattan
Icons of Manhattan has a simple philosophy: do one thing, and do it right. Their office chairs are handcrafted from premium materials and tailored to a mid-century modern style. If you want that Mad Men energy in your office (hopefully with a lot less angst), these are the chairs for you.
MCM office chair example: Ribbed Medium ($219)
6) Amazon
Yes, the internet’s premier shopping destination has a robust collection of mid century modern office chairs. Like with most products, their selection of seats is vast and can be hit or miss. Still, they’ve got stunning chairs available for any style, whether you care about comfort, class, or ergonomics.
MCM office chair examples: IDS Home Modern ($219), Art Leon MCM Swivel ($139)
7) AllModern
AllModern’s collection of desk chairs and other furniture truly embodies the mid century modern spirit. Their work is tight, angular, and functional above all. They’re part of the Wayfair family and they traffic in a number of modern styles, but their sleek chairs are perfect for any mid century modern space.
MCM office chair examples: Frederick ($229), Kealey ($349)
8) Overstock
Overstock is known as a one-stop shop for quality home goods at sub-wholesale prices. If you want a spiffy mid century modern office chair that won’t break the bank, they’re the first place to look. While they’re somewhat less reliable than the more upscale platforms on this list, their selection is massive.
MCM office chair example: Joseph Modern ($163)
9) Walmart
Hayneedle’s selection of mid-century modern office chairs falls somewhere between the minimal Laura Davidson and the endless Amazon catalog. Their array of mid-century designs is affordable and versatile, with chairs that match almost any style. While they may be part of the Walmart family, these chairs are anything but second-rate.
MCM office chair example: Waleaf ($97)
10) Target
Why splurge when you can save? As usual, Target is a hidden gem, offering a sturdy selection of mid century modern office chairs for some of the cheapest prices out there. Many of the chairs they offer are from the same designers as these other stores—Christopher Knight, LumiSource, Armen Living, etc.—at reduced prices.
MCM office chair example: Lombardi ($136)