Wize up on what to buy (Part 3)

[Part 1] [Part 2]

I asked Tom for a TAM analysis, as I ask all entrepreneurs. The analysis is not as crisp as what Shiva presented, and I suggest you tighten it up, Tom. I think, the segmentation also needs finetuning. Nonetheless, here it is.

SM: How big is the market for what you have to offer? (TAM analysis is essentially what I am looking for here… )

TP: According to Pew Research, product research is the fifth most popular
activity on the web (and growing). Pew Research also reported that more than
78% of all online and offline purchases in the U.S. start with product
research online. A recent Forrester Research report determined that 50% of
online shoppers use customer reviews before purchasing.

In short, the market is big. It’s still too hard for people to figure out
what to buy, and there are huge opportunities to improve how to access what’s out there in
terms of ease and confidence.

SM: Tom, what is your personal background?

TP: I’ve got an extensive Market Research background, and I’ve held strategic
roles at Procter and Gamble, PeopleSoft, and Respond.com. In my last
operating role, I was the SVP of Technology Development and Operations for
MarketTools, where I was fortunate to take part in five years of amazing
growth. Just before becoming the CEO of Wize, I was an Entrepreneur in
Residence with the Mayfield Fund. My undergraduate degree is from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and I’ve got an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Doug Baker, the founder of Wize, is a serial entrepreneur – he even had his
own restaurant. In 1999, Doug founded Private Accounts, an online money
management service that was acquired by E*Trade in 2000. Before starting
Wize in 2005, Doug was the chairman of Airforce Nutrisoda, which was
acquired by Pepsi Americas in 2006.

SM: Under what circumstances did the company get started?

TP: As an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) position at the Mayfield Fund, I’d
spent many long nights researching the “what to buy” space – in meetings
with venture capitalists, thought leaders, entrepreneurs and everyday
consumers, it became really clear to me that the process was broken. I
remember that my father was trying to buy a computer, and it was painful to
watch him struggle with the information that was available. It seemed like
the web should be able to make this easy. And that’s when it really clicked.

From that point on, I kept waking up everyday with a growing inner voice
telling me “that’s it. Go do it.”

That’s what I was doing when Wize launched in beta in September 2006. I met
the founder, Doug Baker, and we talked for hours – I almost felt like he’d
read my business plan. Doug had bought a metasearch engine on eBay in 2005,
and his team was applying the same technology to product research. On every
level, Doug and I agreed about the problem and the solution. A few months
later, we had Bessemer Venture Partners and Mayfield Fund behind us.

SM: Wize has raised $4 Million Series A from those two firms recently.

(to be continued)

[Part 1]
[Part 2]
[Part 3]
[Part 4]
[Product Review]

This segment is part 3 in the series : Wize up on what to buy
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