"Scaling a Marketplace with a Physical Product” Shruti Shah (Move Loot, SVB)
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The document outlines Shruti Shah's journey as co-founder of Move Loot, a marketplace for buying and selling furniture, from its launch in 2013 through its growth phases and eventual shutdown in 2016. Despite initial success including funding from Y Combinator and raising additional investment, the company faced rising costs and struggled to achieve profitability, leading to a pivot towards a peer-to-peer model. Ultimately, after unsuccessful attempts to secure further funding, Move Loot ceased operations in July 2016, highlighting the challenges of scaling a tech-driven business with physical products.
"Scaling a Marketplace with a Physical Product” Shruti Shah (Move Loot, SVB)
- 1. Shruti Shah Scaling a Marketplace with a Physical Product: The Story of Move Loot
- 2. 2 A little bit about me…. • EIR at Silicon Valley Bank • Co-Founder and COO at Move Loot • Worked briefly for an education technology seed venture fund • Started my career as a public school teacher
- 3. On to….
- 4. Getting Rid of Furniture Buying Furniture
- 5. BENEFIT CUSTOMERS & PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY A Better Way to Buy and Sell PHOTOGRAPH + SUBMIT $400 LISTED FOR SALE SELL THE OLD$200PAID!SELLER BUYER FREE DELIVERY* WITHIN DAYS! SHOP PICKUP
- 6. 6 •Launched in fall of 2013 •Raised initial capital on Indiegogo •$15K got allowed us to rent 1400 sq feet in a shared warehouse space •We did all of the pickup and delivery ourselves The Beginning….
- 7. 7 • Applied and were accepted to Y Combinator - $120K in funding • YC Investment helped us grow • Eventually we were in 9 storage units in the shared warehouse space • We were doing pickups and deliveries all over the SF Bay Area (Napa to San Jose) with an external moving company Initial Traction
- 8. 8 • Needed a bigger warehouse space • No cash to afford a bigger space • Started raising money from investors • Closed a $2.8 Million Dollar Seed Round Then, things started to get interesting….
- 9. 9 Growth
- 10. 10 Growth Atlanta New York City Los Angeles Raleigh Charlotte
- 11. 11 Los Angeles San Francisco Hub and Spoke Fresno
- 13. 13 Costs and Funding • Raised $9 Million Series A and $11.7 Million Series A1 • ~200 employees + 6 markets • Costs spiraling out of control • Began focusing on profitability instead of growth
- 14. 14 The Pivot • Even after focusing on profitablity, we still needed to grow • We didn’t have the cash to launch new markets with physical operations • We started building a peer to peer marketplace • Launched nationally in March 2016
- 15. CASH IN THEBANK Pre-Launch Revenue $600K Monthly Post Peer to Peer Launch Revenue $150K Monthly Jan 16’ Feb 16’ March 16’ April 16’ Jun 16’ Post Pivot Financials Projected Post Launch Revenue $750K - $1 million
- 16. 16 The Shutdown • Talked with board and investors and tried to raise more money to keep the business alive but didn’t raise enough • Made the decision to try to sell • When the business didn’t sell, we fulfilled all of the remaining orders and in July of 2016, we shut it down
- 17. 17 Takeaways • Be thoughtful about costs - physical products = more cost • Tech driven businesses with physical products often can not scale as quickly as tech driven services BUT a common assumption is that they can • Bring in experts who have worked in the industry before to help you build systems and processes that can help you grow sustainably • Trust your instincts when it comes to growth
- 18. 18 Questions?