Meet the man behind DIVE

If you’ve ever played beer die in the backyard of a house on oceanside DP, you probably know the struggle of dice falling off the cliff and bringing your game to an abrupt end. Luckily, UCSB student and local resident Reese Hammerstrom has devised an ingenious solution to the problem. His business, DIVE (Delivering Isla Vista Entertainment) delivers party supplies to your house in IV in a matter of minutes.

Reese and his affiliates have created an iPhone app called DiveSB from which you can order anything the company delivers. Items they bring to you include dice, pong balls, red cups, lighters, and chasers.

Reese had much to say about his brainchild in an exclusive interview.

What is DIVE?

DIVE: Delivering Isla Vista Entertainment

DIVE is a party supply delivery service. Through our mobile app, we deliver you what you need within 10 minutes of you ordering. Right now we have the essentials: dice, cups, ping pong balls, lighters, sprite, coke, Gatorade, and monster. We also throw events – most recently, a beer die tournament.

How did you come up with the idea?

After I moved from mountainside to oceanside DP, in the midst of a game of beer die or snappa our die would bounce right off the balcony and over the bluffs. It was late summer and I was living in IV without much to do. I figured I wasn’t the only person in IV that consistently needed to replace their dice, so I created a service that only delivered dice to people’s houses within 10 minutes of them ordering. This essentially saves them significant time and allows them to continue their game in the event that they need a die.

After a couple of weeks of delivering dice, I realized there was an opportunity to expanded the product line – DIVE was created. My main drive behind starting this service is because I wish something like this existed for me to use. Turned out I wasn’t the only that wanted something like this, and I found myself in the midst of starting a business.

How long have you been in business?

I launched the first version of DIVE on October 24^th and operated during Fall quarter for about 6 weeks. Continuing this winter we have operated for the whole quarter and recently released the first version of our mobile app, which has been really exciting.

This is the kind of business that will take some time to gain significant traffic; the hardest part is just getting the word out. It only takes a few people to try out the service before everyone realizes how convenient it is.

Do you have any competitors?

Mainly the local convenient stores and other larger stores – IV market, 7-11, K & B, Albertson’s, and Costco – serve as competitors: those are the places where our ideal customer currently spends their dollars. Sometimes these options are better when preparing for a party, but during nights DIVE is by far the most convenient option to restock party supplies.

How many people work for the company?

Right now the team is a total of 5 with another couple people doing freelance work here and there. No one is “employed” per se; we all are excited about the opportunity to make something really cool and exciting for the community and all believe in a similar vision. We all really enjoy the things we each contribute to the business, which allows us to get things done quickly.

On average, what are your weekly sales? Which item makes you the most money?

Anywhere between 3 to 5 order per week have been the average. This makes sense considering there wasn’t an easy way to order. Now that we have a mobile app, we expect sales to increase over the upcoming quarters. Sales will also increase when people realize we have some the lowest prices in IV; our prices for die and cups specifically are the lowest in IV.

Lately, people have been jumping on our 12 dice for $5 deal. I guess you could say dice have been bringing in the most money. However every penny is being reinvested back into enhancing the service. Right now, only delivering party supplies does not make much economical sense. The delivery service is just the engine that allows us to take on much bigger opportunities around here in IV. In order to properly deliver Isla Vista entertainment, there are many other things we should and will do.

Have you seen anything out of the ordinary when delivering your items?

Surprisingly, I haven’t experienced anything too crazy… yet. The best part about what I have experienced thus far is the surprised look on the customer’s face when I show up within 10 minutes of them ordering. It is really cool being able to create a service that people are excited to use and find valuable. A lot of the time people are surprised about how fast we are; it is fun being the fastest delivery service in Isla Vista.

Do you aspire to grow the business?

As I alluded to earlier, expansion of our services is in the near future. Next quarter we hope to be implementing at least one new product as part of the delivery service. I won’t say what it is yet, but it’s something that has been requested on multiple occasions. In addition, we will continue our quarterly Beer Die Tournament where we bring out 24 teams to compete in a double elimination bracket.

Isla Vista is just the beginning. I can definitely see us testing this service in other dense college communities.

If you want to keep up with what DIVE is up to, feel free to check them out online.