Icebreakers With...E-Commerce Mogul Marc Lore
Marc Lore
Marc Lore has been dubbed the "LeBron James of e-commerce" for his many accomplishments, most notably founding Jet.com and selling it to Walmart.
He recently left running Walmart's e-commerce division to get his hands dirty with new initiatives, like buying the Minnesota Timberwolves with A-Rod. We talked to Marc about his next steps and how he managed to qualify for the US national bobsled team.
You've said your next project is to build a city of the future supported by a "reformed vision of capitalism." What about capitalism needs reform?
Income and wealth inequality is a result of capitalism as we know it today. And the problem that we will continue to face is that, in spite of all the material progress, there's always a class of workers who just barely sustain a living.
Take land appreciation for example—especially in the early days when land went from being virtually worthless to worth something when you've actually built a city. Land appreciation is caused by primarily two things:
First is when people build communities, other people want to join those communities and live in those locations. The second is about the tax dollars that go to infrastructure to support the city: roads, bridges, tunnels, subways, things like that, which increase the value of land.
It seems to me that the fair way to do it would be for all this land appreciation—appreciation caused by the people within the city—to benefit those citizens and come back to them. We're calling it Equitism. And it's about being more equitable and giving citizens an ownership stake and, as the city does better, the residents do better.
You've said that the "vision, capital, people" (VCP) framework is fundamental to every business. Rank those three factors by importance.
That's a tough one and really against the framework. VCP isn't hierarchical—they all really play hand-in-hand. But if I had to pick the top spot I'd say people. Like most entrepreneurs, I didn't put enough importance on the Chief People Officer or Head of HR function early on in a company's existence. And now in the startups that I'm creating today, the Chief People Officer is typically the first hire, because people are the most important asset within a company. Having a really strong Chief People Officer can help set the culture and values and bring in the very best, most diverse talent.
Vision is probably next. It's crucial to spend a lot of time on the vision, making sure it's super clear and everybody knows where you're headed. Then, of course, it's all about raising capital to put that plan into action.
What will be the most disruptive force in e-commerce in the next 10 years?
I think we've only touched the surface of conversational commerce. By 2040, the retail search engine will be what the CD is today. Just imagine kids 20 years from now—they're going to be shocked to hear that we had to use a search engine when buying something. The fact that we actually had to type in what we wanted, look through thousands of options, filter by price, colors, style, and then read through reviews.
In the future, buying something will be like having your own personal Jarvis. It'll know your preferences and likes/dislikes as well as your best friend does. In the future, you'll just say, "I need a toaster," and one within your price point, aligned with your kitchen style, and the colors in your home will arrive that same day or even within the hour.
What is a fact that most people don't know about you?
People always love hearing my bobsledding story.
I was in my twenties and working in banking. One day I was having lunch down at the World Financial Center, and I see a bobsled track set up...for like five bucks you could come down, push the sled, and they'd time you. That was fun and interesting, but more interesting was that they were going to take the fastest time of the week and send the person to the US national team training camp.
The next day, I brought my sneakers, pushed the sled, and the guys there were like, "Whoa, that was the fastest we've seen anybody push the sled so far." It turns out I had the fastest time of the week and they invited me to Lake Placid to train for the next month. At the end of the month, there were tryouts and the top 13 would make the US national team. I finished 13th.
What would you write on a gigantic billboard?
The values create the value.
When I graduated college in 1993 and started in banking I was making a $34k salary. The first thing I did was put a sign in my cubicle that read:
SALARY GOAL
6 figures by 26
7 figures by 37
8 figures by 48
While those were ambitious goals, they weren't backed by purpose. I grew up a mercenary. I was born thinking that jobs were all about making money. I couldn't have been more wrong. Becoming a missionary was learned, and, when I became one, my career took off. I'd love for people to learn that earlier than I did.
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