EP 621:BluePrintRegistry Raises $1.7M, Passes 2500 Postings and $10M in Transaction Volume with CEO Nevin Shetty

In Episode #621, Nathan interviews Nevin Shetty. He's the co-founder and CEO of Blueprint Registry, an innovative wedding registry platform where you can shop for products from a variety of retailers based on the layout of your home. The company has generated over $10M in their first 2 years of operation.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Smarter Faster Better
• What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Bezos
• Favorite online tool? — SimilarWeb
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "I should've learned computer programming"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:25 – Nathan introduces Nevin to the show
• 02:00 – Blueprint Registry is a wedding registry platform for newly-engaged couples
• 02:23 – Blueprint Registry gets commission from the retailers on their platform
• 02:38 – An example of Blueprint Registry's partners is Target
• 02:43 – Nevin explains how their platform works and how it is different from the traditional wedding registry
• • 03:08 – Instead of couples going to different retailers physically, they can just go to Blueprint Registry
  • 03:23 – Blueprint Registry has a unique visual representation of your home
• 03:45 – Blueprint Registry was conceptualized in January 2015
• • 03:49 – Nevin shares how he came up with the idea
• 04:04 – Blueprint Registry's co-founder is a designer
• • 04:13 – Nevin found his co-founder through networking
  • 04:55 – The equity conversation with the co-founder
• 05:21 – Blueprint Registry was launched in 2014
• • 05:29 – Blueprint Registry did $225K of gross sales
  • 05:44 – Average cart value
• 05:53 – Blueprint Registry raised $700K with friends and families
• 05:58 – Blueprint Registry did $4M in sales in 2015
• 06:04 – Blueprint Registry did $6M in sales in 2016
• 06:12 – Blueprint Registry has had 2000 users
• 06:19 – Blueprint Registry is originally focused on weddings but now they have people who use them for baby registries, house warming parties, and fundraising
• 06:40 – Blueprint Registry spends the most on development and marketing
• 07:25 – Team size
• 07:46 – Blueprint Registry just closed a million dollar seed round
• • 08:00 – It was an equity round
  • 08:09 – The friend and family round was a convertible note
  • 08:12 – Nevin shares why he decided to have an equity round
  • 08:45 – Blueprint Registry's value depends on gross and growth
• 08:55 – 2017 target revenue
• 09:09 – Blueprint Registry deals with seasonality
• 09:30 – There's no monthly subscription
• 10:20 – Nevin wants to keep Blueprint Registry as accessible as possible
• 10:35 – Blueprint Registry was founded in New York and they stayed for a year and a half
• • 10:38 – Blueprint Registry is currently based in Seattle
• 11:15 – Blueprint Registry's biggest competitors
• • 11:26 – The wedding registry market is a huge market
  • 11:38 – Zola, Myregistry, Honeyfund are some of the newest in the market
• 11:53 – Blueprint Registry has the lowest fees
• • 12:00 – 2.5% of credit card processing fee
• 12:25 – Nevin will accept Zola's $20M imaginary acquisition depending on their vision
• 13:43 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Finding co-founders is easy, choosing the right one is hard.
• In a saturated space, having the best features that set you apart can make all the difference.
• An acquisition will not always depend on the price.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Organifi – The juice was Nathan's life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
• Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
• Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives