ecommerce Archives – Page 2 of 2

Rob Go of NextView Ventures on Ecommerce, Consumer Tech and Investing in the Everyday Economy

January 22, 2018 by Matt

Rob Go is a founding partner of NextView Ventures, a seed fund focused on consumer and the everyday economy. Based out of Boston and NYC, NextView has been leading the way on East Coast consumer innovation and built a great brand through their podcast and constant content. Prior to this, Rob worked at Spark Capital

Listen and Learn:

How to go about getting a job in venture
What is the everyday economy and how is it impacting consumers
Where to look to get outsized returns
Why the venture landscape is changing with stages and rounds of funding
How to think about niche business models
What will ICOs do to VC
How to build an ecosystem around a venture firm
Why ecommerce is still an incredible opportunity
The truth about VR

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Don’t Mine for Gold When You Can Sell Shovels

January 15, 2018 by Matt

Originally posted on mattward.io

Get rich or die trying — that’s a common mantra among entrepreneurs, gangsters and drug dealers.

I know that was my mindset. How can I hustle my way to a million bucks?

That was the question I asked myself every day, and night.

Looking back, this was the wrong question to ask. But as Kanye says:

“Money ain’t everything, not having it is” — Kanye West

When you’re broke and need a quick buck fast, nothing else matters. Food, shelter, survival… these are all dependent on wealth. And the poor rarely plan in advance — it is all hand to fist.

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Uber is Going to 0, and Benchmark Knows It!

December 13, 2017 by Matt

“Moving first is a tactic, not a goal….It’s much better to be a last mover.” — Peter Thiel

On the surface this seems contrarian. When is being last better than being first?

Steve Jobs understood this. Apple didn’t make the 1st MP3 player or the 1st smartphone. Yet in consumer tech, Apple is synonymous with both.

That was no accident. This is Thiel’s theory in practice. Wealth accrues not to the first but to the monopoly, the company that captures the market, makes consumers forget all others and rides the waves as long as profits pour.

They are the last. There is no successor coming. That is where the money is made and that is where startups and businesses should strive to be.

Move slow and be boring?

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The Broken Business of Ecommerce and Why Your Startup Won’t Be The Next Casper

December 9, 2017 by Matt

If you haven’t heard, Amazon won ecommerce. Bezos’ juggernaut is the most powerful marketplace and brand the Western world has ever seen (get my analysis here as an ex 7 figure Amazon seller).

But it isn’t the only game in town.

Every year new startups appear, looking to compete and grab their piece of the pie. As an ex-Amazon seller (and host of a top Amazon podcast), I can say for certain that the majority of the action in ecommerce is on the brand side. It gets easier and easier to source and manufacture product and put your label on it.

These businesses ARE NOT fundable. There is no disruptive innovation, there is no world shattering business or venture scale profits in the pipeline. That is fine.

But if you are here, you want to go big. You’re an investor or an operator interested in venture scale ecommerce and looking for an edge.

There are two fundable categories of ecommerce: marketplaces and ecommerce brands. To date, the majority of the money and returns have been via marketplaces. Look no further than Amazon, Ebay and Etsy.

(NOTE: SaaS/Shopify for ecommerce merchants was not included in these categories as it is a B2B SaaS play.)

When it comes to marketplaces, I have covered the topic extensive. I will link to these articles here to avoid repeating myself.

Brand’s business models are getting more interesting, lets take a look.

There are 4 types of disruptive ecommerce businesses:

Direct to consumer brands
Subscription companies
Delivery companies
Experiential commerce companies

Let’s look at each of these, their outliers and what the future holds.

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Marketplace Monopolies and the Cult-Like Religion of ICOs

November 21, 2017 by Matt

As an angel investor, I am always looking for transformational businesses. And marketplaces are arguably one of the strongest and most time-tested business models of all time. From early Rome and milenia earlier, merchants conducted commerce in markets. Thanks to efficiency gains for both buyers and sellers, the market thrived. Sellers could set up shop and instantly access customers. And buyers found everything under the sun, all in one place.

While initially these merchants operated caravans to cover more ground, reach more consumers and acquire more valued commodities, the model has changed. Today more and more commerce happens online. You buy an iPad, book a room, grab an Uber and get Ticketmaster tickets to the last game — all online, all in 10 minutes.

Everything is conducted online and marketplaces are the means that make this happen. They are the backbone of the modern economy and are constantly changing and evolving, adding efficiencies while stripping out waste.

(For more on the dangers of marketplaces and Amazon, be sure to read how Amazon is killing ecommerce.)

Why marketplaces make so much money

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The Amazon Apocalypse of Ecommerce

November 1, 2017 by Matt

Jeff Bezos is the Terminator… and he is killing competition and ecommerce faster than Arnold can say “I’ll be back”

Hope you are hooked. Let’s go for a ride.

My background is ecommerce. Before starting The Syndicate and investing in early stage disruptors, I cut my teeth in ecommerce, specifically Amazon. I had learned a fair deal about sales and copywriting and after seeing other successful ecommerce entrepreneurs decided to try it myself – this was at the start of 2015.

Fast forward a year, and from an $8k investment I scaled our brand (primarily via Amazon) to a successful 7 figure exit. I’d built a top 3 Amazon podcast and somehow solidified myself as an expert on the subject.

And here is what I learned…

Amazon are assholes. They do not care about anyone except themselves and customers. And they routinely screw sellers – think million dollar businesses shutdown overnight, for no reason, with no warning. And it gets better.

Amazon also rips off their sellers. Between failing to refund fees and directly copying and cutting out successful products and brands, I have seen everything when it comes to Amazon. They are the 800lb gorilla that couldn’t care less.

And every day Amazon gets more and more integrated in everyday life. From 2 day shipping to same day delivery, from in home Alexa to acquiring Whole Foods, Amazon is aggressively eating EVERYTHING.