Who to Watch Wednesday: Nick Nanakos, CEO & Founder of TruckBux
He’s young, hungry (in more ways than one), and rapidly transforming the way food trucks do business.
He’s Nick Nanakos, CEO & Founder of TruckBux.
What the f*ck is a truckbux?
Case: You’re an urban citizen and work in your busy, vibrant city. You decide to grab lunch outside to give your eyes a break from the fluorescent office lights and are excited to try out that fabulous new Mexican food truck your co-workers won’t stop talking about. You walk across town, but…
The truck is long gone - or for all you know, wasn’t even there that day.
The truck is there! You can’t wait to try it. You step up to the window, order the chicken tacos, and are informed payment is CASH ONLY. You only brought your badge with your credit card in the back.
You have cash. You’re ready, you’re excited. You wait for 20 - 30 minutes before you can’t wait anymore. You head back to the office empty-handed and still hungry.
You don’t even walk across town. Your day is so busy that you only have time for delivery. Guess you better kick that craving and settle for the corporate cafeteria.
Enter: Truckbux.
Nanakos’ revolutionary app allows food truck fanatics everywhere to easily view truck hours, locations, ratings, cuisines, and photos. Even more convenient, the app enables users to discover nearby food trucks and order ahead for pickup and delivery. The BEST part? Your taste buds will never miss out due to not having cash. You can pay using Venmo, Apple Pay, or card at food trucks everywhere.
Screw your co-worker, Jane! This app just became your new lunchtime BFF.
In just a few shorts years since its conception, TruckBux is approaching a quarter million in sales, raised six figures of investment capital, fed over 30,000+ mouths, reached over 8,000+ users and over 50 trucks (some being in cities outside of Philly such as LA, Austin, NY.)
Nick and his growing team of 10 also recently added Delivery to TruckBux’s services, which, to Nick, is “essential for us scaling and reaching customers outside of TruckBux’s initial market.”
This Blonde Wishes She Thought of This Idea Herself
I remember seeing TruckBux’s branding start to pop up around campus. I also began to see Drexel publications around Nick’s new business and genius idea, like “The Hunger to Succeed” and university blog posts, both written in 2018. Since these publications, TruckBux has made tremendous strides and continues to grow at an impressive pace.
In our conversation, I asked Nick how he thought of this concept. It seemed like such a smart solution to a blatantly obvious problem. Tons of (Drexel) college students ordering from food trucks on campus. A plethora of food trucks around the city. Many cashless users, the need for “fast” food, with little time to spare.
He admitted that it was an idea hidden in plain sight.
“While studying at Drexel University, I observed a rapidly growing industry on campus, which people relied on daily; food trucks. I noticed that people were constantly in a rush, yet waiting in line for 20 - 30 minutes, many of the trucks were cash only, so they were losing sales, and customers were becoming aggravated. Lastly, most people could never locate the trucks or know their operating hours. So I created TruckBux to which was to provide convenience for the food trucks and customers, but ultimately develop a non-existent relationship.”
In 2017, Nick started at level 0. With no experience in app development, he carefully chose developers, assembled a team of individuals who shared his appetite for success, and got to work. After placing 3rd in Drexel’s Close School of Entrepreneurship’s annual “Startup Fest,” Nick incubated his idea at the Baiada Institute. Much of the startup of the actual business itself was research. Nick took to the streets of Philadelphia to determine the market feasibility by talking to who would be his customers, the food trucks.
Crunch Time for TruckBux
Nick explained that the preliminary conversations with food truck owners were a matter of identifying a problem in their daily business operations, which his app could solve. He skillfully recognized the problem as an opportunity and presented it. Nick’s upbringing around his family of food entrepreneurs, owning several successful restaurants, helped him understand the food truck owners’ point of view, and communicate his vision effectively.
It wasn’t all in the presentation of the problem, though. As many of the food trucks were local and “small businesses” in nature, Nick knew he had to develop and maintain genuine, personal relationships. Nick told me that in the beginning, he gave out his personal cell phone number to every truck who was on his app. (Unclear if he will continue to do this considering the rapid expansion Truckbux has been facing, although that’s one way to assure your phone is always buzzing).
Relationships that Translated into Dollars
I asked Nick how the relationships affected his business. He shared his “This is viable moment,” when one of his food truck owners was able to take their first vacation in 17 years, after making close to $100,000 in sales in less than ten months through the TruckBux app. Nick said it “felt really good to know something you’ve built is impacting lives.”
In 2018, just around a year of starting development, TruckBux launched. In our conversation, Nick and I talked about what a fast turnaround time that was, something pretty uncommon for most entrepreneurs. I asked how he knew he was ready to launch so soon after development. He explained that some people wait for the “right moment,” but the prime moment never comes. “A beta period is your experience; you learn by launching,” Nick said. He had the motivation to “just go for it.” He also recognized that starting a company meant that you assume significant responsibility and accountability.
According to Nick, that accountability meant “having people rely on you; customers, investors, your team, and of course yourself.” Furthermore, he went on to explain the difference of this responsibility as an entrepreneur, versus an employee of an enterprise: “As a founder, you don’t have the fear of someone firing you and requiring you to clock into the office at a set time each day. It’s really the inner fire that you ignite on your own, which forces you to keep moving.”
Accountability was a critical factor in helping Nick realize and cope with some of the sacrifices that accompany the commitment to his business. “It’s a constant hustle, which requires an immense sacrifice that most people aren’t prepared for,” he said.
I asked Nick what personal lessons he learned in his journey that he would share with other aspiring entrepreneurs. Nick’s advice was to “Be ready to sacrifice a lot. Emotionally, socially, financially. That’s not a negative thing, because you get out what you put in.”
Becoming Full-time Foodie
Nick found that those sacrifices weren’t exclusive to just his business or personal life. His entrepreneurship motivated him to decide to leave Drexel before graduation.
In his time in college, Nick pursued Finance at Drexel. As many recognize about Drexel, it is a co-operative university, with its majority of students completing one, or three six month work experiences. Nick’s background in corporate Finance & Real Estate at companies such as JP Morgan & Chase, Investors Capital, & Balfour Beatty Investments directed him toward the entrepreneurial path.
“It was through co-op that I made my self-discovery of the journey I was meant to take. Sometimes, it’s more important to identify what you don’t want to do before proceeding with a life-changing decision that will consume your life.”
In our conversation, Nick explained the careful, unsustainable balancing act of waking up for co-op at 6 AM, working his corporate job, getting on skype with partners/donors after work until midnight or later, and waking up to do it again. He said that it was manageable to a certain point until he considered his education as an investment. Due to the attention and immense amount of work his startup required, Nick realized he wasn’t deriving the full return on his investment in his education. You can read more about Nick’s decision to leave school at 22 in his insightful and inspiring self- published article.
Something that stuck out to me from my conversation with this young CEO was the following quote: “The reward as a result of your sacrifice is far more enjoyable than the complacency of your comfort zone.” It’s a pretty articulate way of applying the economic principle of opportunity costs to life decisions. Nick and team seem to have mastered this mantra.
The sacrifices and investments he has made in himself and his business have also led to significant recognition across various facets of his brand. The team has won over $10,000 in legal services, over $10,000 cash in pitch prizes, and over $40,000 of Amazon Web Services Credit. Those are some mouthwatering numbers.
Despite the numerous awards TruckBux has received, Nick claims the thing that makes him most proud is giving advice and sharing his experience with others. “Many people will advise you to go against your intuition or doubt the viability of your vision. I’ve become a better person through this, and in doing so, I’ve helped others reach their full potential.” He also credited never taking no for an answer, and building those relationships with his customers, the trucks and the faces inside them, as an integral part of his success and overall pride in his business.
“You have to love it, that’s the only way you will succeed...”
In the future, Nick predicts that TruckBux will be present in every single food truck city, although the company will be much larger and evolved. He sees TruckBux “advancing the industry forward through technological advancement and constant innovation.” Despite its innovation and growth, Nick says ultimately, TruckBux “will be built upon the fundamental values that we started with, listening to our customers and believing in our unified vision.”
Download TruckBux on the App Store
Read more about TruckBux through other publications/podcasts below:
