
Storenvy Goes From Getting Kicked Out Of YC To Raising A $5M Round - bjonathan
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/12/storenvy-goes-from-getting-kicked-out-of-yc-to-raising-a-5m-round/
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aviswanathan
Storenvy has an interesting model, but I'm a bit skeptical about their
scalability. I started a fashion brand in HS (backpacks, apparel) and we
launched a Storenvy store pretty much off the bat since there was no cost. The
issue is that they don't seem to have accountability for their customers. They
didn't run any checks to make sure my business is legitimate (obviously it
is), that we actually sold product before, that we even had a website. This is
polar opposite to Amazon, which runs several screens to make sure sellers are
legitimate (getting our products on Amazon took nearly two months).

Perhaps even more importantly, the marketplace model for e-commerce does not
align with individual sellers. Marketplaces are focused on expanding, adding
more sellers, and expanding product portfolios. Sellers, meanwhile, prefer to
be one of few on marketplaces so that they have greater visibility. With
Storenvy's model (basically no barriers), I don't see much value being
provided to sellers. Even if there is 0 cost to the seller, there is little
incentive for them to invest time into building out a profile and attracting
customers on the platform.

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NewMonarch
Hey Hacker News!

Thanks for the thoughts. Actually, here's how we're thinking about it:

Storenvy is a custom store platform first and a marketplace second. Every
merchant gets her own fully customizable storefront. We make it easier than
anyone else by getting up and running with your own store in minutes.

But after you get online, you immediately have the problem of figuring out how
to drive customers to your store. The next generation of merchants relies
solely on social media for this. Buying advertising typically isn't even
considered. So we created the first online store platform with a social
network built on top. When you create your store, you're immediately connected
with the rapidly-growing Storenvy marketplace where people are discovering and
buying your awesome stuff.

In short, we are the only online store platform that actually makes you more
sales. And "more sales" is the killer feature of a store platform.

Soon we'll start charging a commission on sales _that happen in the
marketplace_. You still keep all of the sales through your storefront.

We'll get better at things like seller ratings and reviews as we grow. That's
why we're hiring so many engineers. <http://www.storenvy.com/jobs>

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jsabo
>In short, we are the only online store platform that actually makes you more
sales.

Do Amazon and Etsy not also do this? By just searching for say 'cufflinks' on
Etsy I'm searching all of Etsy's "stores", and the same with Amazon. Although
granted, neither put an emphasis on a storefront for each individual seller.

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NewMonarch
Neither gives you a store. Every band, designer, boutique I've ever talked to
wants their own store at their own URL that looks like their own brand.
Storenvy let's you edit all the HTML and CSS to make your store look however
you want. Example: <http://cherrysauceclothing.com>

The other ones you mention _just_ gives you a marketplace where you're
essentially a classified ad without your own brand experience.

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dcolev
Curious -- I see a lot of baked goods for sale that look prepared from a home
kitchen. Is this legal? That's assuming many of these for-sale foods are not
FDA inspected. I'm not sure I would buy any baked goods from personal
storefronts if it was sold out of state.

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deefour
It goes by the local government where the kitchen is. Here in Connecticut the
home kitchen needs to be inspected/licensed/approved just like any other
commercial kitchen.

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kmfrk
So, were they rejected or "kicked out", i.e. accepted only to get thrown out?

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rm999
I just read his 'infamous' post. He explains that he got accepted, then found
out he would have to change his cofounders for personal reasons. This
concerned ycombinator, which changed its mind and decided not to fund him
because of all the sudden changes and the fact that it was affectively a
single-founder company.

[http://joncrawford.com/post/20378314843/how-i-got-kicked-
out...](http://joncrawford.com/post/20378314843/how-i-got-kicked-out-of-y-
combinator-and-then-raised)

~~~
colkassad
Not sure why it was called 'infamous'. Was inspiring, if anything. Good for
him and his wife for doing what needed to be done.

~~~
paulgb
Alexia called it 'infamous' in the TC post, I think rm999 is referring to
that.

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KMuncie
I just launched a custom store front for Storenvy that I built on Foundation
3.

<http://malibusown.com/>

It was more difficult than I had hoped to develop for. One of the biggest
issues in my opinion right now is the lack of proper mobile support. The
stores need to be responsive. With that said, I was able to have a discussion
with their community manager and it sounds like they are working to make
things better, no doubt this round will help greatly!

~~~
ericcholis
Random tip, try to run any PNG you have through a compressor like
<http://tinypng.org/>. For example by compressing your main logo, tinypng
saved you 68% of the original size.

~~~
KMuncie
Ah, indeed! Thanks for the heads up!

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abuella
<http://shoply.com> offers the same aggregated marketplace for small brands
and local businesses.

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edouard1234567
I'm wondering if YC tracks false negatives to tune their filters on the
application process?

