How To Seed Two-Sided Marketplaces

How can you seed two-sided marketplaces? Not easy, but …

Watch this inspiring 1 minute 30 seconds video and learn more:

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Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Brand: Big Barker CEO Eric Shannon (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: How long did it take you to get up to a point where banks were willing to give you lines of credit for inventory?

Eric Shannon: We never had a problem. I never got a no when I asked. By the time I asked, we were well in the seven figures in revenue. I was getting offers before that. The two that I can think of off the top of my head was once I started getting sales, we had a company called Kabbage.

Sramana Mitra: I know Kabbage very well. We’ve covered them extensively. In the kind of work that you do, >>>

Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Brand: Big Barker CEO Eric Shannon (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: How long did it take you to get to a million dollars in revenue, and was that how you got to a million dollars in revenue?

Eric Shannon: The first 12-month period in which we did a million dollars in revenue was probably 75% Amazon.

Sramana Mitra: Got it. What was the second channel after Amazon?

Eric Shannon: The second channel was our own website based on the strength of Facebook. >>>

Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Brand: Big Barker CEO Eric Shannon (Part 3)

Eric Shannon: In my previous business, we had worked with a guy who has a workshop in California. This guy is just a world-class expert when it comes to polyurethane, which is what foam is made of. In his workshop, he’s been making furniture and bedding since the late 1970s.

I went to him and said, “Here’s what I’m looking to do. I’m looking to do a bed and I’m looking for a manufacturing partner to make this for me. The specifications are, number one, it has to be big enough for big dogs. Forget about the flattening issue. Most beds that were being made just, literally, didn’t have enough surface area to contain a Mastiff or a Great Dane. >>>

Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Brand: Big Barker CEO Eric Shannon (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What kind of trajectory was that company on? You were doing e-commerce?

Eric Shannon: Yes, exactly. It was strictly dog supplies and things that you couldn’t find at the pet store.

Sramana Mitra: For example, what were you selling?

Eric Shannon: The same categories that you would find at a pet store. We were sourcing products from very small mom-and-pop boutique manufacturers. It was at the higher-end of the price spectrum. It was primarily search engine driven. We didn’t >>>

Can You Still Compete with Amazon in Niche eCommerce?

Can you still compete with Amazon in niche eCommerce?

You can, but the rules of the game have changed substantially.

Watch this inspiring 1 minute 33 seconds video and learn how:

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Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Mark Lavelle, CEO of Magento Commerce (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: The model you’re talking about existed and Nordstrom is the one that pioneered it. The Nordstrom Personal Shopper was somebody who would have to curate something before you come in. You’re using digital technology to scale that. If you’re trying to do some commodity stuff, you really have no chance to compete. 

Mark Lavelle: Price arbitrage on commodities is not a good place to be in right now. We have Nestlé on our platform. They create whole products that are direct to consumer. We see B2B and manufacturers and consumer-packaged goods getting more aggressive and bullish in this area. The focus is back to your audience and the creation of products. The ability to source capital as your source demand is a huge change in how we used to do things.

Sramana Mitra: Is it in your product roadmap to do any integration with stuff like Kickstarter where a retailer who takes those orders will have to fulfill those orders as well. Is that part of the Kickstarter platform? >>>

Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Mark Lavelle, CEO of Magento Commerce (Part 1)

This is a comprehensive discussion on the current state of the union in e-commerce with the CEO of one of the most popular platforms on which thousands of e-commerce sites are built. The outlook is somewhat scary with Amazon dominating at an alarming scale. But democratization is also on the horizon. Very interesting conversation, and a must-read for everyone who is involved in the e-commerce space.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing yourself as well as Magento.

Mark Lavelle: I’m the CEO of Magento Commerce. We are the largest global platform for digital commerce in the world. We recently spun out of eBay when eBay and PayPal split up about a year ago. >>>