Sooner rather than later, you may hear the phrase “Let’s Radoozle it” while walking around on Duke’s campus. Sophomore Sam Waters’ website is earning a name for itself. What does it do? It allows for all of us “I’d rather starve than leave my room to get food” people to order food online and have it conveniently delivered to our front door.
So how did he come up with the invention that saved my life (and others) during finals? Think back to O-Week 2011. Sam went to order food over the phone, but was put on hold for far too long. With everything and anything else seemingly going down the tech-route, Sam then decided to create the website which he so randomly named Radoozle.
“I thought ‘Twitter, where’d that come from?’ So I came up with Radoozle. It’s catchy,” Waters said. I checked out the site for myself and ordered some TGI Friday’s for a girls’ night. Chick-flicks and delivery = success! Oh, and I found out you can preorder The Loop and pick it up in between classes with no wait. What more could you ask for?
When Sam isn’t working on Radoozle, you can find this Econ major hanging out with his fraternity brothers in Alpha Tau Omega section. I even spotted him gettin’ his groove on at their 70’s theme roller skating event. Quite the bro, it must be said.
But wait, there’s more! Read on if you want to learn more about Radoozle…
1. How does Radoozle benefit the Duke community?
Duke students are constantly on their computers and smartphones. Radoozle makes it very easy to order food from those devices. It takes less time to order on Radoozle than it does over the phone and nothing gets lost in translation, which can otherwise happen via the phone. Students can also place takeaway orders to The Loop and skip the line if they have limited time in between classes. We are hoping to soon offer a similar service at other on-campus eateries.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of starting up a website like Radoozle?
Starting up a website like Radoozle is a massive time commitment. In the beginning I sank so much time into the project without having any clue as to whether it would work out or if it was even viable. It is the kind of venture that takes so much time so I have no choice but to sacrifice other things that I want to do. At the same time, I have learned so much from starting Radoozle. It’s hard to learn anything without actually doing it, so I think there are huge advantages of working through a process like starting a business.
3. What has been your biggest challenge and how have you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was convincing our first restaurants that Radoozle could work and drive them business. The idea was good in principal but we had no track record to go on. Luckily our first two restaurants, Dragon Gate and The Loop, were willing to give us a chance. We worked very hard over the first few weeks to iron out any initial bugs found on the site and secure advertising to get the orders flowing in. It all grew from there.
4. What is the funniest or most unusual thing you have come across by starting up Radoozle?
“Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Jimmy Buffett is the song that notifies The Loop when a new Radoozle order comes in. It was supposed to be temporary, but a few employees at The Loop ended up liking the song so we left it. So if you ever hear the song in the background at The Loop, you’ll know why!
Thanks to Sam, we can now be lazy and order food online from our bed. OR, we could be productive and order food online so we don’t ever have to leave the library. Either way, Sam’s business sure earns him Her Campus Celeb status among all of us foodies.
Check it out for yourself at http://radoozle.com and let him know what you think of Radoozle at hungry@radoozle.com!