S5E1: Jeremy Cai and Italic are Changing the Game for Manufacturers and Merchants

In The Room with Jeremy Cai, Founder, and CEO of Italic.

We start off season 5 of The Room with Jeremy Cai, the Founder and CEO of Italic. Jeremy and Italic are changing what it means to be a manufacturer by connecting directly to customers and consumers, breaking from the traditional path of utilizing a middle-man distributor.

Jeremy details the evolution of Italic, expanding on the changes they’ve made to the business model. Plus, we ask him about the future of the E-Commerce space and any predictions he may have.

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3:21 - Who is Jeremy Cai and how has his family background influenced his interests?
4:42 - Jeremy compares what he learned from his time as a Theil Fellow to his time running his two subsequent startups.
8:02 - What inspired the start of Italic?
12:37 - Who was the first manufacturer to sign up with Italic?
15:41 - What was the first product Italic sold and how did Italic get consumers to join?
18:01 - What is the design process of Italic’s product offering?
22:45 - Was getting a VC the first step in getting Italic off the ground?
23:18 - Who was the first Venture that said yes to supporting Italic?
24:48 - What led Italic to step away from their original mandatory membership model?
27:11 - What does Jeremy think the next innovation in E-Commerce is?
30:24 - Italic is not a brand but, they can create an experience.
32:56 - What is Jeremy’s favorite product on Italic?
33:51 - How has the current supply chain crisis affected Italic?
35:14 - What advice would Jeremy give to a new E-Commerce startup founder?
36:30 - What’s new for Jeremy in 2022?
38:29 - Who is a woman that has impacted Jeremy?

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Season 5 of The Room Podcast is sponsored by our friends at Silicon Valley Bank and Cooley.

WX Productions