Ben Jones, founder and former CEO of on-demand delivery company Skipcart, has been named Geekdom’s first Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR).
The serial entrepreneur launched the on-demand and same-day delivery services for restaurants, grocers, and retailers in 2017. The four-year-old startup developed a major network of drivers for fast delivery of restaurant food and other goods in the U.S.
Skipcart crowdsources drivers to deliver goods for grocers, retailers, and restaurants in 37 states, primarily in the Southeast and Midwest. Whataburger, GameStop, Hooters, Chuy’s, and Freebirds are among its many partners.
Unlike many other delivery businesses, Skipcart doesn’t have its own consumer app. Instead, the company integrates with the digital platforms clients are using. If someone uses Whataburger’s app to order food for delivery, the burger chain checks to see if Skipcart has drivers available.
When Jones sold Skipcart to 7-Eleven earlier this year for an undisclosed amount. Today, the company is one of the biggest white-label delivery networks in the U.S.
Jones is passionate about engaging with his community, church, and local organizations to help grow San Antonio’s tech ecosystem. He sketched his idea for Skipcart on the back of a paper napkin. Over time, he learned about tech, business fundamentals, and scaling operations.
San Antonio almost lost Jones at one point in his entrepreneurial journey. He was looking at moving his company away from the greater San Antonio area to Austin. Then, he met San Antonio Zoo CEO, Tim Morrow.
Morrow connected Jones with Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, CEO of the (then called) San Antonio Economic Development Foundation (now called Greater SATX). Saucedo-Herrera quickly connected with Jones to San Antonio entrepreneurial resources available for local tech companies.
That intervention made a difference to Jones at a crucial time for his company’s growth. Now, Jones is looking to help make that difference for founders.
Jones is focusing his post-acquisition efforts on helping San Antonio’s entrepreneurs succeed. He has established an office at Geekdom and has begun meeting with early-stage startup founders. As EIR, Jones will provide 35 hours a month in one-on-one meetings with Geekdom founders, strategic support for the Geekdom programs staff, and workshops for Geekdom members.
“Founders with access to Jones, who has experienced every startup-to-enterprise evolutionary stage, will find his mentoring both informed and valuable,” said Geekdom CEO Charles Woodin. The Geekdom CEO said their search for the first EIR was for a founder who could mentor aspiring entrepreneurs at every stage of business development, from pre-launch to acquisition-ready enterprise.
Geekdom aims to grow more than 500 startups by 2030, to keep at least 75% in San Antonio. To do that will require more mentoring for early-stage business owners, hence today’s announcement of Geekdom’s first EIR.
“I decided to stay after selling Skipcart because I want to be a part of the exciting San Antonio startup ecosystem,” Jones said. “It’s important to provide continued support for founders. They’re going to hit their first roadblock in product market fit, then they’re going to hit a roadblock in building a team, then they’ll hit a roadblock in funding, then another in scaling. I look forward to supporting these founders through that journey as Geekdom’s EIR to help them understand how to overcome these hurdles.”
The featured image is of Skipcart CEO Ben Jones. He has been named Geekdom’s first entrepreneur-in-residence advisor. Photo credit: Geekdom.
