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- The Accelerator Conundrum
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E-Commerce
Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 6)
Sramana Mitra: When you say B2B, what kind of B2B? Did you go after commercial? Did you go after restaurants? Steven Annese: We did a lot of things. We instituted a pro-trade account. If you were a contractor or designer, you could basically sign up for our account. Once we scan the application and verify that
Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 5)
Sramana Mitra: It looks like that at the end of 2006, you were back to being able to have multiple distributors for your business and were able to get back to your top ranking in Google bids. Is that correct? Steven Annese: Correct, in Google and Yahoo!. That was probably about 2007. Sramana Mitra: What
Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: There’s an electronic integration that you were able to put in place with these distributors? Steve Annese: Yes, there was only one distributor at that time. Sramana Mitra: They were electronically and sufficiently together to be able to establish that bridge with you. Steve Annese: Yes. Sramana Mitra: What year are we talking?
Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: How much inventory did you take on and how did you source that inventory? This is one of the key questions for every bootstrapped e-commerce entrepreneur. Steven Annese: When I first started, I didn’t take any inventory on. I basically had a drop shop agreement with a major distributor at that time that
Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Flywire CEO Mike Massaro (Part 5)
Sramana Mitra: Where do you recommend entrepreneurs to focus on if they’re looking to work in this space? What kind of problems would you steer them towards? Mike Massaro: In financial technology cross-border transactions, I think the traditional money remittance space is prime for disruption. It’s not a space we’re directly in, but a lot of
Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: Did you know anything about the lighting business? Steven Annese: I didn’t but my sister was working at a lighting distributor. She told me that there were some companies that were trying to do business with them in the online world. That’s actually where my lead came from so I have to thank
Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Flywire CEO Mike Massaro (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: What are the segments besides education? You’ve taken the education use case and fleshed it out. What other big-ticket items are you catering to? Mike Massaro: Back at Money 2020 Conference in Vegas, we announced medical tourisms reports. In a similar manner to what we do with educational institutions, a number of the
Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 1)
I’ve always been bullish about niche e-commerce. Here’s yet another story of an entrepreneur who has successfully bootstrapped a company in high-end light fixtures. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Steven Annese: I’m a child
