Alum’s Y Combinator Startup Aims to be New Model in Tech Support
It’s not uncommon these days to meet people who have or plan to start a business, but even in this culture, alum Guy Morita stands apart as someone uniquely driven toward entrepreneurship. He started a business at 21, and at one point had a practice of writing down a business idea every day. Still, having learned the challenges of running a business from his venture, he was willing to be patient to accumulate the right skills and team before embarking on his next one. Now he is one of four founding members of Eden, a business that offers high-quality, on-demand tech support. Eden has been accepted into the highly competitive Y Combinator startup incubation program.
“Our vision is to take away tech frustrations in the home,” Morita explains. “Technology is supposed to make people empowered, but it can be disempowering if you spend more time troubleshooting your devices than actually using them.”
Guy Morita (left) with his Eden Cofounders, Susie Sun, Kylie Wilkinson and Joe Du Bey.
Eden has recruited a team of technical support experts, each with at least 10 years experience. This goal is to create a first line of defense against a wide range of technical issues one might have with a growing number of devices. Tech-related frustrations are multiplying, Eden’s website explains:
“Due to the proliferation of consumer devices, rise of e-commerce, and emergence of the connected home, there is a general lack of time and expertise for installing, repairing, and supporting technology in our lives.”
Through the Y Combinator program, which takes under 1% of all applicants, Eden receives $120,000 in funding and ongoing mentorship. The team is gearing up to pitch Eden at Y Combinator’s demo day.
“They said we were one of the best teams they met all day,” Morita mentions, of the selective, fast-paced interview process.
“I don’t think I’d be where I am today without Hack Reactor.”
For Morita, the motivation to join Eden’s founding team came from both the business idea and the group he was joining. As a technical person, he is all too aware of other people’s frustrations from the frequent requests he gets for assistance from family and friends. But for someone who used to write down a business idea every day, just a good idea wasn’t enough to draw him in.
"I really wanted to work with my cofounders," Morita explains. "Finding the right team with the right idea at the right time is extremely rare."
The last piece, of course, was feeling personally ready to dive into a venture like this. Morita credits Hack Reactor for efficiently developing his skills and providing an entrance into the software world. After Hack Reactor, he worked at the flight aggregating company Hipmunk, which he eventually left to start Eden.
“I don’t think I’d be where I am today without Hack Reactor,” he states. “Hack Reactor got me the developer skills I wanted at the quality I wanted, really fast.” Beyond just the technical skills learned at Hack Reactor, Morita feels ready to contribute on a wide range of projects.
“Ultimately, you learn to be a good engineer,” he explains. “Hipmunk was all in Python. Eden is all in Ruby. If you’re a decent engineer, you have no problem jumping in between.”
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