How small business can win

Bonus: Stephen Colbert talks about his satirical run for President.

This week, we’ve been thinking about how to win in spite of structural disadvantages. It’s something that Max Rhodes, the CEO and co-founder of Faire, explains from the perspective of retail in Thursday’s Rapid Response episode.

Faire is a wholesale online marketplace for independent retail businesses, driven by a mission to level the playing field for small business owners by offering tech-driven advantages to help them compete with the retail giants.

As he recaps the current state of retail, Max spells out what the industry has looked like for independent retailers for the last 50 years. He classified the ‘70s through the ‘90s as “retail apocalypse,” as big box stores popped up around the world.

“They made life really difficult for small retailers,” Max says. “They were able to offer convenience where you could get all of these products all in one place. And then they were able to use their scale to get much lower prices. And that led to a wave of closures from the '70s through the '90s.”

But Max paints a picture of independent retailers fighting back, leaning on their experience, curation, and ties with the community. Ironically, Amazon’s rise has actually threatened the big-box retailer, offering lower prices and “the largest assortment in history” — while small, independent retailers have thrived.

“Our thesis with Faire is these stores are succeeding in spite of all of these structural disadvantages,” he says. “Traditionally, these stores have operated in silos. Large retailers have always had the ability to try something out in one location, and then if it works, double down in all the other locations. We bring that ability to small retailers.”

Listen to Max's’ appearance on Rapid Response for his full retail breakdown, and read more about how to compete against giants below.

This week’s featured episode:

Rapid Response: How Main Street retailers are out-pivoting big-box giants, w/Faire’s Max Rhodes

Small, independent store owners have been perpetually hit by waves of disruption: from malls to big box stores to e-commerce giants. But Max Rhodes, co-founder and CEO of the $12 billion online wholesale marketplace Faire, argues that Main Street retailers are actually better positioned right now to navigate today’s stormy shopping landscape than the competition. Max digs into how Faire is using technology and data to help stores maximize their advantages — nimbleness, adaptability, and smaller inventories — and combine them with the scale benefits enjoyed by the likes of Amazon and Target.

Listen now

Building on this...

Reid Hoffman:

"Almost all entrepreneurs do end up facing — if you have a sufficiently ambitious goal — a David-versus-Goliath situation. Startups have to use their unique advantages. One is speed across all levels. Another one is risk, because large companies have a very difficult time taking risks." Listen here>>

Dropbox's Drew Houston:

“Your playbook should read differently from your competitor’s — or they’re just going to play your playbook with a lot more resources.”

Listen here>>

Birchbox's Katia Beauchamp:

“We had to take the gifts — and the challenges — of being the first mover, and run as fast and hard as we could.”

Listen here>>

New course in the Masters of Scale Courses app!

Brand-new course: The Power of Partnerships

Your business is on the verge of scale and is ripe for expanding its capabilities, reach, and impact. The key to unlocking its potential? Strategic partners.

In this 5-day course, The Power of Partnerships, join Reid Hoffman, Daymond John, Stacey Abrams, Bill Gates, and others as you learn how to find, cultivate, and grow partnerships that drive massive scale.

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Bonus: Stephen Colbert on DonorsChoose (The Complete Interview)

Bonus: Stephen Colbert on DonorsChoose (The Complete Interview)

In June 2020, we sat down with comedian Stephen Colbert to discuss how, as host of The Colbert Report, Stephen pivoted a satirical run for U.S. president into a massive fundraiser for the nonprofit DonorsChoose. He shares how that presidential run came to be, and how DonorsChoose helped Stephen solve the challenge of collecting “campaign contributions” without breaking federal election law. It’s a master class in “Yes-and”-ing your way to scale.

Listen now

We were nominated for 12 Signal Awards — cast your vote!

The Signal Awards celebrate best-in-class podcast content & production. This year, Masters of Scale received an unprecedented 12 recognitions.

Here’s a look at all our finalists, with links to cast your vote! mastersofscale.com/vote

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