BETTER DEAD THAN RED: FIVE WAYS TO KILL AN E-COMMERCE

STARTUP

SEAN PERCIVALVENTURE PARTNER – 500 STARTUPS

1) Passion Outstrips Experience

Pro tips:• Constantly be hiring smarter people than you• Know your arrogance is going to be expensive• Get some serious industry BFFs

2) Shipping Fail

Order Placed Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Customer Happiness/Patience Over Time

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- Hap

pine

ss -

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Stoked

Concerned

Pissed

You Ruined Christmas

Happy

Out for blood

We both said things we didn’t mean

2) Shipping Fail

Pro tips:• Go to a 3PL ASAP• Fight with your vendors more• Set good expectations with customers• Worth discounting when you screw up

3) Margins You Can’t Fix

Pro tips:• Test upfront (then test more) • Avoid discounting• Make the tough price switches early• Find secret unsexy revenue

4) Fundraising Screw-ups

Pro tips:• Ecom words to never use with a VC:

• Subscription commerce (or the trend of the moment)!• Lifestyle brand!• Curated artisanal experience!• Celebrity endorsement!• It’s Pinterest for…..!

• Never go out in Q4• Know your numbers

5) You Suck at Marketing

Pro tips:• You have try 10 things to get 1 that works• Learn to ankle bite the big dogs well• Assume 100% of sales come on a 2nd visit

…and if that all fails?

Thank you.