This article first appeared in the Venture Atlanta blog.
Venture Atlanta concluded yesterday with round of presentations from promising early and venture stage companies and two fantastic keynotes: Niraj Shah, CEO of Wayfair.com, and Lori Greiner, the Warm Blooded Shark™.
John Imlay Posthumous Tribute
Day 2 commenced with opening remarks by Sig Mosley and a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to the late John Imlay, the godfather of Atlanta’s technology community.
Touching tribute during #VENATL2015 to Atlanta Tech legend, John Imlay. Thankful for his impact on me and ISS. pic.twitter.com/W1E1LvPZbe
— Michele W. Cramer (@michelewcramer) October 21, 2015
Niraj Shah Interview
The morning keynote speaker was Niraj Shah, CEO of Wayfair.com, interviewed by Catherine Clifford, a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com. Founded in 2002, the Wayfair team wanted to go as far as possible without taking capital. To do this, they carried no inventory and had a negative 28-day float.
According to Shah, Wayfair eventually realized they could not build a sustainable business with this structure. In order to achieve their overall mission, a pivot to building a consumer brand was necessary. And to do this, they had to take seek external capital. They raised venture capital in 2011 and three short years later, in 2014, they went public.
Excited to hear @nshah10 ceo of @wayfair who is under 40! #venatl15 #VENATL2015
— Jacqui Chew 🇺🇦 (@jacquichew) October 21, 2015
Key to marketing for #eCommerce be hyper quantitative and have more than 1 channel – @nshah10 #VENATL2015 #venatl15
— iFusion (@iFusion_co) October 21, 2015
#IPO benefits lead to filing in 2014: access to capital, employee equity, raises profile, investors needed liquidity @nshah10 #VENATL2015
— Venture Atlanta (@VentureAtlanta) October 21, 2015
You're always either expanding or shrinking the moat that defends your market share from the competition #CEOtoCEO @nshah10 #VENATL2015
— Atlanta CEO Council (@ACEOCouncil) October 21, 2015
Surprised an #ecommerce company uses direct mail? @nshah10 "Our brand is visual. Direct mail is great for visual engagement" #VENATL2015
— Venture Atlanta (@VentureAtlanta) October 21, 2015
.@Wayfair is worth $3.8B today. Before filing, it was worth $1B. #VENATL2015
— Venture Atlanta (@VentureAtlanta) October 21, 2015
Venture Stage Company Presentations
Early Stage Company Presentations
~100% of #VENATL2015 attendees are present for keynote @LoriGreiner. After 50+ VC conferences, great 2 c this level of engagement!
— Dale Kirkland (@dalekirkland) October 21, 2015
What a memorable keynote from Lori Greiner! Greiner has 120 patents, 450 products, numerous investments, and is known as the “Queen of QVC.”
She shared stories and lessons learned from her first product, an earring organizer in which she walked the audience through the idea, the design, the prototype, meeting her patent lawyer, calling retail buyers non-stop, sweating production quality control, and her first show on HSN.
Tweeting and photography was not allowed during her presentation, so you had to be there to appreciate it.
Lori Greiner Keynote: Memorable Quotes
“You have to grab opportunities when they come your way.”
“Always have a can-do attitude.”
“I’ve never thought of myself as a woman in business. I’ve always thought of myself as a person in business.”
“Who you work with is critical to your success.”
“There are no nos. Just how can I?”
“Persistence pays off.”
That's a shark! Thx @VentureAtlanta #VENTATL2015 4 having me speak 2 an amazing crowd of investment firms & ents! pic.twitter.com/2ad271oGUs
— Lori Greiner (@LoriGreiner) October 21, 2015
