Episode 43: David Rabie, Tovala

52 Founders

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Tovala controls the entire end-to-end experience of each meal, from sourcing the ingredients to creating unique recipes with its in-house chefs -David’s background in the food industry, and how he found himself creating Tovala shortly after arriving at Chicago Booth -How the advice David received from the founders of Airbnb helped him go after such a bold idea -The decision to go through Y Combinator after winning Booth’s New Venture Challenge, and how it gave the Tovala team an excuse to focus on nothing but the business for a few months -The benefits to growing an IoT startup in the Midwest, and how it has allowed Tovala to rapidly scale -How David’s parents, who are both Iranian immigrants, molded his ideas on entrepreneurship and healthy eating Catch the end of the show, where David shares another Chicago startup he’s a fan of and the founder he’s most keen to interview. P.S. Thanks to 52 Founders alumn Kevin Marvinac for the intro!