Student Entrepreneur to $10M Revenue Run Rate: Extrabux CEO Jeff Nobbs (Part 7)

Sramana: Do you have any unique challenges that you overcame? Most entreprenuers have a chicken and egg challenge that they have to overcome.

Jeff Nobbs: We definitely had a chicken and egg problem with our merchant relationships. To work with Victoria Secrets, JC Penny and others you have to be more than just a little startup company. It is hard to get traction without the big stores, and it’s hard to get big stores without the traction. We were fortunate to have started this in college because we had two slow years to gain that traction organically. We did not have spouses, kids and mortgages.

Sramana: Talk to me a bit more about the problem with the merchants. Who was your first big, attractive merchant?

Jeff Nobbs: I don’t think it was any one big merchant. We slowly increased the quantity and quality of merchants. By the time we got WalMart we expected to get them because we were at that point in our growth.

Sramana: WalMart.com has an affiliate program. Why can’t you just join that program?

Jeff Nobbs: That is what we did, but they will not just accept anyone. You have to prove you are respected in your category. You can’t have dings against you and you need to have a certain size.

Sramana: How do you and your co-founder split the responsibilities?

Jeff Nobbs: I focus on new feature development, design, marketing, and merchant relations. He focuses more on strategic alliances, business development and the backend systems.

Sramana: Did the two of you finish college?

Jeff Nobbs: We did. I graduated in three years because I was eager to get out and get started. It was good to be able to apply everything I learned to something actionable. My co-founder finished college as well.

Sramana: I think it is great you were successful as students and entrepreneurs. For every Bill Gates and Steve Jobs there are thousands of did not make it. You are then at a huge disadvantage entering the workforce if you have not finished a degree. I definitely prefer your scenario.

Jeff Nobbs: I’m glad we did something right! Like you said, there is a lot to gain. We were 17 and did not know what we were doing. There is so much learning to do. I don’t think that is something you want to rush. It is going to take a while to get everything down. We are still learning every day. It is good to do that as a student. We made so many connections at our university, that was very helpful.

Sramana: Most of the time when you are starting a business it is in a business that is not fully fleshed out. You don’t know how the market will play out. It is better to experiment at a small scale until you hit the inflection point.

Jeff Nobbs: That is where most innovation comes from. You don’ t know what the experts know so you are willing to experiment and challenge the norm.

Sramana: This is a great story. Congratulations, you have certainly earned your success.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Student Entrepreneur to $10M Revenue Run Rate: Extrabux CEO Jeff Nobbs
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