Building A Niche E-Commerce Powerhouse: Coastal Contacts CEO Roger Hardy (Part 5)

Sramana: Did you build your entire company through debt financing, or did you eventually take equity? Roger Hardy: We did eventually take equity. In 2004, we did a small IPO on the Canadian Venture Exchange. We raised $6 million at that time based on a $30 million valuation. Our revenue at the time was $24

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Building A Niche E-Commerce Powerhouse: Coastal Contacts CEO Roger Hardy (Part 4)

Sramana: Let’s talk some about your supplier terms. As a fresh company just getting started in 1999, were suppliers willing to give you inventory on credit? Roger Hardy: Initially we were pretty constrained. Often we would get half-way through the month, and we would have to take the revenue from the previous couple of days

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Building A Niche E-Commerce Powerhouse: Coastal Contacts CEO Roger Hardy (Part 2)

Sramana: How big did your t-shirt venture become? Roger Hardy: The biggest weekend I had was about $30,000. I had secured the rights to a music festival, and we did well there. I actually took on some shareholders and paid them a return on their money for funding that business.

Building A Niche E-Commerce Powerhouse: Coastal Contacts CEO Roger Hardy (Part 1)

Roger Hardy is the founder and CEO of Coastal Contacts Inc, the world’s largest online retailer of contact lenses and eyeglasses. While working for a contact lens manufacturer, he became aware of the optical store mark-ups on contact lenses and eyeglasses and recognized an opportunity to serve customers better. As a result he founded Coastal

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Next 1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For E-Commerce Entrepreneurs On September 23

For e-commerce entrepreneurs interested in discussing all aspects of a startup venture, we will be cohosting the next FREE online 1M/1M strategy roundtable with Volusion on Thursday, September 23, 2010, starting at: 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT/8:30 p.m. IST.  We hope you will join us and let other entrepreneurs know. You can find more details and register

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1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For E-Commerce Entrepreneurs On September 23

Especially for entrepreneurs interested in e-commerce, we will be co-hosting the next FREE online 1M/1M strategy roundtable with Volusion on Thursday, September 23, 2010, starting at: 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT/8:30 p.m. IST.  We hope you will join us and let other entrepreneurs know. You can find more details and register here.

The 1M1M Deal Radar 2010: Plimus ,Fremont, California

Deal Radar continues its comprehensive coverage of e-commerce solutions with Plimus, a hosted e-business platform that clients use to market, sell, and distribute digital goods online. It comprises a hosted e-commerce application, which the company believes is particularly suited to enabling independent companies to quickly get their products and services available for purchase online across

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1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For E-Commerce Entrepreneurs On August 26

For entrepreneurs looking to discuss positioning, financing, and all aspects of a startup venture, this FREE online 1M/1M strategy roundtable will be held this Thursday, August 26, 2010, starting at: 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT/8:30 p.m. IST. Cohosted with Volusion, e-commerce businesses will be given first priority to pitch during this special roundtable. We hope you will join us

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