eCommerce Evolution Episode 124 - Turning a Crazy Idea into a Multi-Million Dollar eCommerce Business with Chris Meade of CrossNet Games
CrossNet Game began as a crazy idea dreamed up late at night by two brothers and their best friend. But ideas are a dime a dozen. Chris and his brother Greg and co-founder Mike turned their crazy idea into a wildly popular product and a rapidly growing company. So what is CrossNet? It’s 4-way volleyball. Put another way, if volleyball 4 square had a baby, it would be CrossNet. And it’s amazing.
This is a phenomenal story about how to launch a product from total obscurity into a sensation. We talk about how the product came to be, how the founders successfully boot-strapped everything initially, and how a combination of playing volleyball all day on the beaches of Miami plus Facebook Ads fueled their launch. Here’s a look at what we discuss:
- How their first “prototype” and first test market let them know they were onto something big
- Why they packed their bags and moved from Connecticut to Miami to launch CrossNet
- Creating the snowball effect - doing lots of little things well and watching success and momentum grow over time.
- Their first brand ambassadors and their first influencer…all by accident (but still duplicatable)
- Their most important sales channels
- How they view Amazon
- How they are using events (pre-pandemic) to grow the brand
- Getting their product in 5,000+ schools
- Getting into Dicks Sporting Goods, Academy Sports and more
- What products are next for CrossNet and how they plan to grow (including running YT ads with OMG Commerce…)