Lessons from Running and Growing Multi-million Dollar Online Businesses with Joel Stevenson [The Opportunity Ep.118]

Running a big online business can be like captaining a
large ship. As the business grows, it can become less nimble and
harder to adapt to new trends and changes in the
industry. 


But, with the right kind of foresight and knowledge of the
online business landscape, you can steer your business to even
greater heights. 


This is where Joel Stevenson thrives. With his experience
as Vice President of Wayfair and now as CEO of Yesware, an email
outreach software, he's helped take multiple industry giants to
new heights of success.


In this episode, Joel gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse
at his approach to growing businesses and explains some of the
unique challenges that large businesses face as they scale. We
discuss the differences between growing eCommerce vs SaaS
businesses, and how to navigate the competitiveness of mature
markets. 


Joel also shares details of Vendasta's recent acquisition
of Yesware, explaining how the acquisition came about, and how he
worked to make Yesware an attractive asset for interested buyers.
According to Joel,


"I really tried to rebuild the company in such a way that
it would be acquisition friendly.
We tried to have a minimal overhead cost
structure. We tried to be very
efficient. We paid down a ton of
tech debt. My goal was for somebody to see our
product, and see that the business itself is in good shape, and
know that it would be easy to take it over and
really accelerate it."  


We also dive into why Yesware opted for a stock sale over
an asset sale and discuss the appropriate use cases for each
option. 


If you want to peek behind the curtain to learn more about
the operational intricacies of large online businesses, then look
no further!
Topics Discussed in This Episode:


How Joel achieved incredible business growth at Wayfair
(03:02)


Joel's approach to growing businesses and solving
problems (05:49)


The differences between growing eCom vs SaaS businesses
(13:51) 


The roles that SEO and SEM played in the growth of
Wayfair and Yesware (17:12)


How Joel navigates mature markets (22:40) 


The story of Yesware's growth and an explanation of the
product (29:15)


Vendasta's acquisition of Yesware (34:46)


The differences between a stock sale and an asset sale
(44:44)


The common mistakes people make when sending out cold
emails (48:10)


The best piece of professional advice Joel has ever been
given or heard (53:37)

Mentions:


Empire Flippers Podcast


Empire Flippers Marketplace


Schedule a call with our expert sales
advisors 


Yesware


The Hard Sell podcast


The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt


Winning by Design



Sit back, grab a coffee, and discover what it takes to
operate and grow a large online business!