Calgary Stampede 2009

Some of the Shopster gang at the 2009 Calgary Stampede.

The Tough Guys... L to R

Sarath "Smiley" Samarasekera, Paul "too tanned" McCluskey, Mike "Danger"Barrette, Peter "Can't muss my Hair" Koizumi, Mitchell "Peter is stepping on my toes"Cowie

The Lovely Ladies

Suzy "yes that is a gun in my pocket" Vadori, Sarah "my bottle is empty"McVean, Suzanne "No I am not the shortest, I am just sitting" Lucas

pancakes again...?

For those of you unfamiliar with Calgary and the Stampede you will also be unfamiliar with a grand tradition called the Stampede Breakfast.

First of all, the stampede is a time where the entire city shuts down and revisits our frontier roots for 10 days. these 10 Days of bull riding, roping and other frontier skills are shown off and keenly contested in pursuit of a million dollars in prize money, but frankly that has just become a backdrop a motif for a 10 day paid vacation and publicly condoned extravaganza of excess. Too much alcohol, too many parties, too many rides, too many things deep fried, and too many pancakes.

Ahh the stampede breakfast. For 10 days breakfast is free. Ranging from the basic sausage and pancake breakfast to a full blown buffet, the stampede breakfast is free for any and all passerby,and forms the nutritional foundation on which the non-stop parties are built.

Yep free, yep open to the public, and 200,000 of them are served up each year.

The breakfast is more than just a moochers paradise... its a place where Calgarians meet each other. The great equalizer at the stampede is the cowboy dress code. This ranges from John Wayne copycats, to pink hat/skirt / boot combo monstrosities, to the urbane jeans and cowboy shirt. In the cowboy guise CEOs and interns mix and discuss the world at large... though in my experience rarely are cowboy events such as the rodeo discussed.

In the cowboy guise, everyone is approachable. The beautiful girl you wish you could say hello too. The VP whom you wish would notice that you are the perfect candidate for a promotion and the the CEO you want your company to do a deal with. Under the cowboy guise it just takes a casual "howdy" and anyone can start up a conversation. Under the cowboy guise you can buy anyone a drink and start up a conversation.

So for anyone serious about networking in Calgary, the stampede is a must, and many breakfasts, lunches and party appearances are a must.

Having said that i have had enough pancakes this week, the 6 pancake breakfasts put on by Shopster's lawyers, accountants, investors, friends and would be partners were great... but now 7 days into the Stampede... its just too many. I swear, no more pancakes for at least 6 months, no more sausages, no more lukewarm coffee, well except for tomorrow morning, but that's for sure it - I swear!

Remembering Robert McNamara

Today at 93 Robert S. McNamara died.

Some of us read history, and for a few hours I was lucky enough to meet someone who had created it.

I could write volumes on that meeting, it deeply impacted the way I think about the world. More than any other story, McNamara's personal recounting of the dark days of the Cuban missile crisis stands in vivid relief to the haze of all the books and movies on the subject that I have consumed over the years.

McNamara told me that they would have invaded Cuba if not for John F. Kennedy. That they believed that they had to seize the island before nuclear weapons became operational. The invasion strategy was in place not knowing that local Cuban commanders had both tactical nuclear weapons in the field AND the authorization to use them.

What would the world look like today if a US battle group was nuked in the 1962?

I think that McNamara realized that one man can change the course of world history the way JFK did, which is why he dedicated the last decades of his life fighting not just against proliferation of nuclear weapons, but for those who have them to vow never to use them.

The species above the nation. A pioneering humanist, a defender of all humanity.

Social Networking for your Products? What the Heck is that?

Social Networking for Products, Merchant Network... what is that?

Frankly they are terms that I hope will provoke questions. And they are terms that will define a new way of doing business in the future.

Social networks are all the rage because they allow us to understand how people are connected to each other and how those connections influence behavior - knowledge which we can then sell - or we at least that is the hope.

Social networks however are far more than that. due to sites like Facebook, my network or profile is not a mirror of my network rather a network that is creating deeper connections in ways that were unattainable in the past. There are reams of data, blogs, and epiphanies on this, so I won't share mine at this time.

What Shopster is doing is acknowledging that relationships are more than just social, that in fact we have many types of relationships in our life that can benefit from the deepening and enriching of the possible interactions.

In commerce, relationships cost money. Money to develop, money to maintain and money to extend. We are willing t expend this money on certain relationships because they create more money than they cost. (enter caveats re: time and geography and goals)

Implied in this is that some relationships cost more than they create, and the astute business person will abandon these.

Also implied, though less obvious, is that some relationships will have such high up front costs, that even if they are net positive, the entry level cost is beyond our means and so we don't attempt to start. An example might be a franchise - $500K to buy in is beyond many people so they don't start a coffee shop franchise. The coffee shop franchise however has a 100% success rate of returning 15% ROI. This is just a lost opportunity for the individual because they can't meet the entry requirements.

Back to social networking for products.

This same issue arises in business. I may wish to enter the retail clothing business. The cost of start up inventory may price me out of the market. Does that mean i am less capable of running the business, or does that mean I am less capable of raising financing? If we create a system which allows individuals to leverage their strengths and support their weaknesses, then the entire system is more valuable.

simply put, the social network for products is about getting products to people who have the skills to sell. Those that can make - make, those that can sell - sell - but more so.

Let me give you an example of the extreme power of networking for products. Manufacturer A builds high end baby cribs in Michigan. They sell these cribs on their website and have a small sales force that travels from one retail location to the next trying to get in store product placement or floor space.

This is a typical small manufacturing business model.

Using Shopster's Merchant Network to run their website they can sell online. As they do today. They can also extend their online offering to sell linens, mattresses, children's toys - anything that a customer who is looking for high end cribs might also want. And with Shopster there is no inventory management of these other items, and no upfront capital costs of buying these items.

Result: Potential to earn more per customer than without Shopster.

But there is more. Manufacturer A can also decide to allow others to resell their cribs. So another Shopster user who sells children's toys can now add those fabulous cribs to their store.

Result: A new distribution channel. One more place they can make a sale.

Collaboration in a space with real exchanges of product and money is tough. Depending on your network for your inventory, for your fulfillment and eventually your reputation is also tough. The value of the network is in managing these collaboration risks and the sharing of resources. Your marketing talents no longer just serve you, they help someone else. Your manufacturing skill no longer just helps you they help someone else. Your financial abilities no longer just help you, they help someone else.

Social networking for retailing wont just be on online version of existing retailing relationships - they will deepen and change and intertwine merchants with each other, enriching the entire community.

Those outside the network will begin to suffer because they, as individuals, will know less, will have less, and can make less than those with the support of the network.

Going it alone will be increasingly difficult in a future world where all your competitors are working together.

The little things...about marketing

I am trying to understand marketing. I don't, and I realize that most people who claim too don't either.

5 years ago, we opened our first Shopster office in a not quite dilapidated building where the heating rarely worked and maintenance was ad hoc at best.

Lots of little offices around a central kitchen. Home to host of transient companies the kitchen had build up quite an inventory of partially consumed foodstuffs. Exploring amongst these leftover treasures I found a can of Nabob coffee. The coffee was old and seem to be of a non-consumable nature, however within the stale grounds was what I would later come to regard as a rare gem.. it was a coffee scoop.

The vast importance of this was lost on me at the time. As with most startups, coffee was the fuel we ran on, and so we bought a commercial grade coffee maker several tins of Folgers coffee - it was the cheapest at the local store.

Alas, whether as a cost savings effort, or a an environmental initiative, Folgers did not provide a scoop for the coffee. Then I remembered seeing one in that old can... which not being sure it was mine to throw out, put back in the cupboard to become more stale (if possible). I then stole the scoop and put it in my Folgers tin!

Just this morning I reached into the coffee can and pulled out that old broken scoop to make coffee. I know its a Nabob scoop and I see it on a daily basis. But I don't ever think about buying Nabob - you know, as a brand.

Not that I wouldn't buy Nabob, in fact I have. I just don't seek it out.

So - marketing Nabob

coffee.... good (enough)

everyday front of mind - good

tangible item - good

no brand loyalty... bad

I'm no coffee snob - just need my caffeine fix in the AM... so I should be somewhat susceptible to a brand like Nabob since its right in front of me.. right?

So what am I missing.

At least I have the scoop... it measures the right amount every time, of someone elses coffee.

Life lessons #316

The best tip I ever got was to assume that kids will take everything you say literally. This evening I was at my good friend's house for dinner. At 2 and a half Blake was becoming quite a character. he had a huge vocabulary and his proud parents were showing it off. When asked his name, Blake would respond Blakey... in the affectionette tone used by his mother. When asked what his long name was - in an attempt to have him say his full name - Blake responded "Blake Everett Trudel come here!"

Walking a mile in her shoes

Part of starting something new is nostalgia.

As we get closer to the next big product release from Shopster, one which I know will change online commerce and how we think about it, I am forced to assess the past, and our journey here.  The Shopster merchant network is not an epiphany, rather the culmination of years of learning and a rapidly evolving market.

Customer support and supporting the customer are, to my chagrin, quite different ideas.  When the first alpha version of the Shopster platform went to market in 2005 it failed to meet several aspirations we had.  We wanted a store system that was intuitive and simple to use, the reality was less so.  To bridge the gap - our customers need support - we decided to offer enhanced customer support.  1800 numbers, email, and live chat.  Heck, if you wanted to, you could even come to our office and we would sit down with you and walk you through any issues you had (yes, they did come, from as far away as Austria even)

those early days there were 8 of us, and we all took turns doing lots of jobs.  One of my most interesting jobs was to be on live help chat.

Talking to customers first hand was important, made me understand what was working and what wasn't.  I was also witness to the full gamut of personalities.   The serious entrepreneur, the casual entrepreneur, the user looking for some social interaction, the crooks who were looking for a quick scam, the dreamer looking to get rich without effort, the surreal customer who thought that $29.95 guaranteed success and millions in profit, and the hero, who unexpectedly found us, and made themselves successful.  The full rich potpurri of internet users can overwhelm the senses.

The name Sarath is interesting.  Interesting because it is very close to Sarah.  "smart" software often catches the "t" error and auto deletes it - which really really helps me sort spam and junk mail.  This auto deletion of the "t" also happens with people.

Back in the day, 90% of the people I chatted with would repeatedly refer to me as Sarah, despite the fact that each time I responded, Sarath would appear next to my chat.

Many a time I was propositioned, and flirted with, and insulted with vulger language.  None of this made sense at first since there was no picture, we were talking about highly non-sexual topics such as importing graphics to a store template... but yet, there it was, the 'you sound like a very nice person, you wouldn't happen to live near XXXX would you?"  

As a test, I would sometimes login as "Steve" and miraculously, my experience was quite different.  No more flirting, seems 'Steve' is not an attractive name, and I also realized that the customers, especially those with grievances were far more aggressive in dealing with Steve.  Steve got ultimatums and Sarah got commiseration.  Steve got yelled at, Sarah was asked to put her supervisor on the line...

I don't get to do customer support as often, but still do some occasionally - but at least now i feel like i understand what our customer support people go through.

For those of you who propositioned Sarah, sorry to disapoint.

There and Back again...

Five years ago in a galaxy far far away an idea was being conceived over the course of several happy hours in some of the most pocket book friendly taverns in Calgary.  

It was exciting, it was new, it was such a simple idea… shhh… don’t tell anyone or they might steal it. The best part was, that after each beer the idea became easier, better and more brilliant. Make retailing easy by solving the supply chain issue, make building stores simple so our users could focus on the part of retailing they were best at. I am of course talking about Shopster.com.

Looking back on 2004, when an idea became a company, I see the delusion in all its glory, the delusion of entrepreneurs about to start a bold adventure. Delusion? Sure! We thought it was going to be easy. We thought we had all the problems thought out. We thought this would be quick and successful and like the conquering heroes, three young(ish?) men would shake up the retailing world.  

Over the next few months Shopster is going to undergo a massive transition. I will be sharing the goings on here on this blog, if for no one else, than my mom. (As always, with each major new release, our existing customers get to move onto the new product with bonuses. We don’t forget where we came from.)  

The next release of Shopster is the culmination of 5 years of tireless effort to create a retail business system that transforms the entire industry. Many facets of retailing haven’t been sustainable. The recent crash and upheaval in the industry has been a catalyst for Shopster, driving both our customers and us faster towards the Shopster Power Merchant Network… more on this later. Today I want to talk about delusion and those first days.  

Our first real (lots of test orders before) sale didn’t occur till October 29, 2005. One of our websites – gamingforless.com – sold an iPod – yes an apple iPod – the classic, the first and already a global phenomenon. The website went live and magically out of the internet forest someone found us and went shopping. 

In 12 not so easy steps…  

They looked around and added an iPod to cart. Check  

They hit checkout. Check  

They entered their personal info. Check

They entered their credit card. Check  

All done… nope, not yet  

Order came to Shopster. Check  

Order passed fraud review. Check  

All done… nope, not yet  

Order was sent to supplier. Check  

All done… nope.  

Order cancelled by supplier – out of stock. Oh crap  

When will supplier get next shipment of iPods – 2 - 4 weeks…? Oh crap.  

Now what? Cancel the order? Not our first one!!  

So, pull out personal credit card. Check  

Go to Amazon.com. Check  

Buy more expensive iPod. Check  

Ship it to the customer. Check  

That was our first order.  

The heady rush of going live, of watching our first customer buy something, followed quickly by anger and dejection of being out of stock, followed by a rueful acceptance of having to pay more for an iPod than your customer paid you just so you don’t let the customer down. Followed 42 months later by regret at realizing that the company never did repay you for buying an iPod on your personal credit card.  

That wouldn’t be the first time or the last we lost money on a sale… but there were some valuable lessons all along the way and today we have custom fraud detection system to protect customers, real time integrated ordering with suppliers, and detailed reporting on supplier performance, which allows us to identify potential problems before them become serious.  

Even when you try to do the right thing, customers can get mad, but many times, sometimes quite unexpectedly customers shower you with praise. Getting into business isn’t for those that can’t deal with emotional ups and downs.

Hockey Pools and Fools

April 15th... time to take your money.

Shopster's annual hockey pool draft begins at 12MST.

Today's pool is being preceded with significant smack talk... considering it is a winner take all, then it can only end with 1 winner and many many fools.

so then the cheats come out.

Suzy is bringing her husband in to make her picks.

A quick review of the web logs show a surprising amount of activity hitting Vegas betting sites for "tips" coming out of the Shopster office

And then there is the ultimate cheat... begging the almighty to help them with their picks.  You can see it in the scrunched up faces as each punter adds one excruciating name after another on their list.

2 things are certain... there will be a winner... and the winner will inundate the Internet with odes to their individual glory on any website that will let them...

When it comes to the pool their is no team here at Shopster, just a lot of me's.

More than likely I will spend a lot of time later this spring letting the world know how many fools and their money were parted.

Social Retailing

The concept of social retailing has existed as long as retailing has existed.  Social retailing is merely the the blending of the social circle recommendations with retailing.  Consider the last time you went out and bought a shirt with a friend tagging along... did you get their opinion?  That is essentially social retailing.  

A few parasites and trolls and out there trying and patent this concept - they are either too stupid to realize they haven't created a new concept or so dishonest that they try and manipulate the legal system in order to extort money out of legitimate businesses.

Some new  twists to social retailing involve application of specific technologies or managing the feedback loop in defined spaces - such as having a website where a social group can post items for their group to vote on, helping them decide.

I've seen literally hundreds of Facebook widget concepts to this affect, not to mention every combination of SMS/Photo/Video/conference call/IM "solutions"

Social retailing is however in its infancy... recommendation engines share data.. which can lead to buying but does not ensure it.  Social retailing hasn't much changed in several hundred years, but will see a significant jump forward when my social circle is able to predetermine what kind of jeans i would like, share that with a retailer before I initiate contact, and for the retailer to know to present it to me as an option when i decide want it.

Figure out what i want before I want it... and then let me know about it... that would be powerful.