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Name: Cameron DoodyAge: 30Hometown: KnoxvilleFamily: Wife, Hannon, baby daughter, MargotHobbies: Mountain biking, hiking
Cameron "Cam" Doody first got the idea to start a moving business as an Auburn University student when he and fraternity brother Stephen Vlahos helped move a girl's couch from one apartment to another.
The girl's mother gave them $100, each, for 30 minutes' work.
"We said, 'Oh my gosh, that was easy," Doody remembers.
Fast-forward to today, and Doody and Vlahos run Bellhops, an Internet startup company headquartered in Warehouse Row in downtown Chattanooga with about 75 full-time employees and 35 part-timers who help people arrange moves in 85 cities around the country.
"It's been super fun, and it's been super stressful," Doody said of the duo's five-year journey from a shoestring business called The Dorm Movers to Bellhops, an Internet platform that helps adults find student movers, which has attracted some $22 million in venture capital investments.
Bellhops is on track for profitability, Doody said, because it bridges the gap between do-it-yourself moves that 75 percent of Americans make and the professional moving companies that 25 percent of Americans hire.
Do-it-yourself moves are inexpensive, but no fun, Doody said, while hiring a full-service moving company is cost-prohibitive for many.
"Nobody wants to move themselves," he said.
Bellhops hits the sweet spot between the two options, Doody said. The company charges an average of $185 for a move with "your truck, our muscle." And, in select markets, including Chattanooga, Bellhops will provide "our trucks, our muscle" for an average of $365 for move.
"The average cost of a local move for us is currently right under $400. The reason we're able to do that is through technology," Doody said. "Bellhops is making full-service moving accessible to everybody."
Doody and Vlahos were lured to Chattanooga because of the Lamp Post Group, a business in the Loveman's Building downtown that invests in and advises startups.
They grew up with the little brother of Ted Alling, a serial entrepreneur, partner at the Lamp Post Group, and co-founder of Access America Transport, who became a millionaire in his mid-30s when Coyote Logistics bought Access America for $125 million.
Doody loves Chattanooga, and says the city's vibrant downtown, startup scene and outdoor amenities make it a great place to live and recruit employees.
"We're very bullish on this city, the startup scene here - it's really cool to be involved with," Doody said. "It's such an awesome place to recruit to, as well."