Bringing Together Content And Commerce In Men’s Fashion: JackThreads Founder Jason Ross (Part 3)

Sramana: How did you finance that inventory?

Jason Ross: I financed it from my savings, from the money I made on my first business, and debt. I never raised any money. Everything was bootstrapped.

Sramana: How much money did you have?

Jason Ross: A low five-figure amount.

Sramana: How much money did you put into acquiring your initial inventory?

Jason Ross: Every penny that I had and then some. It was close to six figures at its greatest point.

Sramana: How did it feel to put all of your money into inventory that you were not sure if you would be able to sell?

Jason Ross: It was scary at times. The way I justified it was that I spent a lot of time planning and meeting the right people. I felt I had made the right decision. At the same, time I made a pact with myself that I would make this business work no matter what. I promised myself that if I could not find products that sold I would find ways to get rid of them and that I would go buy something else. Fortunately, I did the right research and planning up front, and the initial inventory that we bought turned very quickly for us.

Sramana: Who were you selling to, and how did you acquire those customers?

Jason Ross: Originally I did not have much money for a marketing budget. I knew that if I did the research to get the right brands, then we would get a customer base because brands have loyal customers. For us, having those brands at heavily discounted prices meant that I just had to find the bloggers or writers online who covered those brands and get them interested in the JackThreads business model. For the first year I relied on as many blogs and media outlets that would listen and write stories about what I was doing. After that I started search marketing.

Sramana: What year did you manage to get the site live?

Jason Ross: We went live on August 1, 2008.

Sramana: When you launched your site how many visitors did you get and what was the conversion rate?

Jason Ross: We had zero customers on the first day. There was not much traffic for the first month or two. There were no orders coming in, and to see no traction was very scary. That is when I really started reaching out to the blogging community. I reached out to any blog who was writing about the brands we were selling. I had been following most of those blogs as a customer anyways. Not all the blogs listened, but I just kept e-mailing and calling. I was not moving inventory, so I had to the time to do that.

Sramana: What was the story or the angle that you pitched to the blogs?

Jason Ross: The fact that they were already writing about the brands we were selling, so I just explained that they should write about a business that was selling 100% authentic merchandise for great prices. Our prices were better than any other prices I could find online. I was able to share my story with some of the blogs, and they respected the bootstrapped venture with two years of sweat.

Sramana: When you were telling your story, did you explain the flash sale notion as well?

Jason Ross: The flash sale was important because it illustrated that there was something new every day. There were no stale offerings. That helped to keep people engaged.

Sramana: How did that work since you had already bought the merchandise and it had been sitting for a couple of months?

Jason Ross: It worked in the beginning because our audience was so small. By week eight we would have an entirely new group of people. The product was fresh for that group of people. It was the way I had to do it in the beginning because I had no more capital to invest in inventory.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Bringing Together Content And Commerce In Men’s Fashion: JackThreads Founder Jason Ross
1 2 3 4 5 6 7