Bootstrapping an E-Commerce Startup from Utah: KURU CEO Bret Rasmussen (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. To succeed in e-commerce today, you need to look for unserved niches with unique products. Sraman a Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?

Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Uppler CEO Grégoire Chauvin (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: In a way, you’re doing PaaS, but I’m talking about something that’s slightly different. For example, Shopify is doing a very good job of this. They have a core e-commerce platform. They’ve opened that up for developers to add to additional apps. They have an app marketplace built on their platform. That is

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Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Barry Adika, CEO of Brandefender (Part 1)

Brand fraud is rampant in e-commerce. Barry discusses brand protection. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself and to Brandefender.  Barry Adika: I’m the Co-Founder of Brandefender. We focus on brand protection in general. We are experts in cyber security. I used to be in retail and wholesale. I’ve been engaging with

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Building Businesses in Aftermarket Designer Merchandise: ShopWorn CEO Richard Birnbaum (Part 6)

Richard Birnbaum: When I gave you the example of their cost of goods at 8% of retail, nothing is a secret. If we’re able to buy aged inventory from the stores, depending on the brand, deal and condition, it’s worth paying anywhere between 15 cents to 35 cents on retail price. We’re giving a terrific

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Building Businesses in Aftermarket Designer Merchandise: ShopWorn CEO Richard Birnbaum (Part 5)

Richard Birnbaum: We also noticed that the brands were beginning to end distributor contracts and were setting up their own distribution companies in the United States. For example, their cost of goods on an item was 8% of retail. Their biggest cost is not the cost of goods. It’s the marketing and advertising. It’s the

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Building Businesses in Aftermarket Designer Merchandise: ShopWorn CEO Richard Birnbaum (Part 4)

Richard Birnbaum: Even though distributors around the world were back-dooring the goods into the United States through e-commerce, I personally believe that the brands just closed one eye. It gave them deniability. The deniability factor is very important for them because when the dealers would start to complain, the brand would say, “We have no

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Building Businesses in Aftermarket Designer Merchandise: ShopWorn CEO Richard Birnbaum (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: This business started with you taking consignment inventory. Is that how you continued or did you switch to buying inventory? Richard Birnbaum: The next step was going to the 47th Street in Manhattan and checking out all the different vendors. I was trying to learn the distribution model of dealers of these great

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Building Businesses in Aftermarket Designer Merchandise: ShopWorn CEO Richard Birnbaum (Part 2)

Richard Birnbaum: We realized that the garment business was not for long term. We were buying back in the late 80’s. We were buying designer goods in the United States. We were buying Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. Back in those days, e-commerce was not what it is today.