Ed King, Chief Strategy Officer at Startups.com, discusses passing on an e-commerce investment despite liking its branding and traction.
Insight
King: Wealthy early adopters make the most effective evangelists for new products
“Instead of trying to sell to the base, which is probably your late majority, if you're looking at the innovation adoption curve, you know, crossing the chasm, or your even early majority, the majority, the biggest part of the bell curve, It is just asinine. It…”
Insight
King: Never launch e-commerce without manually pitching 200 potential direct buyers
“And I say, if you can't ring up 200 people and get them either interested in buying your product directly or know someone who would like that product, then you shouldn't get into it. You shouldn't begin.”
Insight
King: Founders should build owned distribution channels before launching physical products
“I think it's the single greatest thing that a founder or entrepreneur can do is become a channelpreneur first. What I mean is develop channels, own those channels, own the audience, have the email addresses, be on the multiple platforms, make that bulletproof,…”
Insight
King: Administrative friction destroys unit economics on five-dollar physical e-commerce orders
“The administration for e-commerce is just
Absolutely crazy, and that's where a lot of my e-commerce ventures have gone to die, but everything coming together, it was one of those ideas that if it worked,
And we started a new trend and don't get me wrong.
We…”
Insight
King: Commute habits dictate Asian visual mobile dominance versus Western audio dominance
“In the East, everyone's on a train, so they're on their phone, so they're scrolling.
In the West, everyone's driving, so they're listening, and that's the reason podcasts and audiobooks.”
Insight
King: The biggest e-commerce margins exist in support and financing infrastructure
“So if you can be in the support layer, the administration, the financing layer of e-commerce, well, there's a pretty penny to be made there.”