Today I have the pleasure and privilege of sharing an interview that Alec gave us and that I am sure, like me, will give you valuable business principles as well as a fabulous vision of the future. Not to be missed!
Some previous data:
- . was founded in 1999 and sold in 2005 for $ 40 million
dollars to an Ebay affiliate
- . was founded in 1999 and sold in 2005 for $ 40 million
- During this time the company exceeded
$ 1 billion dD in sales
- During this time the company exceeded
- OLX today has about 50 million
visits per month
The interview with Alec Oxenford:
1. What motivated you to start an Internet business?
In 1999, together with a group of friends we met at Harvard, we identified that the Internet would be a revolution and that it would offer important opportunities for those who could take advantage of the trend. The first market was Latin America, which was just about to take off. We launched . on August 31, 1999 and later several other projects. They were moments of unprecedented speed and intensity.
2. How did you get started with OLX?
The idea for OLX came about when Fabrice Grinda and I, the founders of OLX, realized in early 2006 that there was a unique opportunity to create a leading free online classifieds platform for the world. This opportunity was given by a conjunction of very special elements. First, the free online classifieds model was already well tested with the resounding success of Craigslist in the USA; secondly, outside the USA, or there was no online classifieds brand positioned; third, the general trend of internet use was increasingly towards free internet, benefiting OLX’s business; finally, the development of Google as the main source of traffic on the internet would help a new player with good content and finally the adsense platform would allow us to monetize OLX worldwide at a very low cost.
All these factors combined created an exceptional opportunity to launch OLX in early 2006. Three years later and with 22 million ads posted we think it was a good idea to attack this opportunity!
3. What feeling did you experience when seeing the growth of your network?
Infinite energy. The satisfaction of seeing how a product we launched was massively adopted. The gratification of the mission accomplished.
4. What would you say is the key to your success?
It’s early to talk about success. But i would say to be successful on the internet passion, focus and leadership skills are key. It is key to identify very rigorously what business model one wants to carry on. Then imagine a dream, translate it into a vision, and finally get a team excited to implement the plan.
5. What business habits have gotten you here?
* Focus on people
* Take care of the box
* Think big
* Don’t underestimate the competition
* Keep the word
* Do not panic when faced with difficult decisions
6. If you could start over, what would you do differently?
* Trust me more
* I would try to limit the dilution of my shares
* Would communicate more
7. What business person do you admire (why)?
* Jeff Bezos (Amazon) because he is ultra successful, but it did not go to his head.
* Mark Zuckerberg because he maintains idealism (facebook)
8. What recommendation would you make to entrepreneurs who want to venture into online business?
* Hurry up !!
9. How do you see OLX in 5 years?
I imagine OLX as a consolidated company. More global. More diverse. With offices in more countries. With new lines of business, depending less on Google. With a brand positioned in 10 or 20 countries. With hundreds of millions of happy users!
