How I Built This with Guy Raz Wayfair: Niraj Shah & Steve Conine (2018)
Aug 24, 2020
Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, co-founders of Wayfair, share their inspiring journey from college roommates to e-commerce pioneers. They discuss how an unforeseen trend in online furniture shopping led them to launch over 250 websites. From their ups and downs in earlier ventures to pivoting after the 9/11 attacks, their resilience shines through. They also reveal unique online marketing strategies and the evolution of their brand, ultimately transforming the retail landscape with Wayfair's expansive catalogue of over 14 million items.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Spinners: From Dorm Room to Dot-Com
- Neeraj Shah and Steve Conine reconnected at Cornell and started their first business, Spinners, building websites for companies.
- They sold Spinners after three years for a mix of cash and equity, experiencing the dot-com boom and bust.
Simplify Mobile and 9/11's Impact
- After Spinners, they launched Simplify Mobile, a software platform to manage mobile phone contracts for businesses.
- 9/11 and the subsequent impact on financial services companies led to the failure of Simplify Mobile.
Niche E-commerce Opportunity
- Despite the dot-com bust, Shah and Conine found that niche e-commerce businesses were thriving.
- Consumers sought online selection for products like birdhouses, unavailable locally.