- Laura, the founder of Shippo, discusses how their company powers shipping for e-commerce by connecting customers to various shipping providers and helping them choose the right provider for their packages.
- Shipping directly affects conversion rates for e-commerce stores, as customers expect free and fast shipping.
- Shippo offers an API and a dashboard for customers to interact with their services, with more flexibility for those who integrate the API.
- Shippo's customers are typically e-commerce stores that sell differentiated products and want to maintain their own brand experience.
- Shippo's main competitors are Stamps, DeShut Pitney Bowes, and Easypost.
- Laura is passionate about traveling, running, and reading, as they provide a different perspective and help her realize that the Silicon Valley mindset is not the norm everywhere.
- Shippo primarily uses an inside sales process to reach out to potential customers, as shipping solutions are not typically a passionate topic for businesses unless they are experiencing issues.
- Laura discusses the ease of building an e-commerce store online and the importance of storytelling and emotional connections with customers in today's e-commerce landscape.
- Glossier, a makeup company, is mentioned as an example of a company that has successfully built a following and launched their own product line.

- Glossier is a makeup company started by a blogger named Emily who gained a following and launched her own beauty line.
- Glossier's packaging and products are designed for Instagram, and they engage with customers through social media.
- Glossier only sells their products on their own website, not on Amazon, to maintain brand loyalty and prevent competition.
- Amazon is seen as generic and convenient, but not emotionally engaging like Glossier.
- Peer-to-peer selling and subscription boxes are growing trends in e-commerce.
- Some trends include selling used items, monthly boxes for various products, and surprise subscription boxes.
- Shippo, a shipping platform, noticed trends in late shipments of hoverboards, a rise in vape companies, and the popularity of sending joke items like glitter and poop in a box.

- The speaker discusses a service that allows people to print shipping labels for various items, including potatoes with messages on them.
- They mention that fidget spinners are too small to make money from, but they do ship accessories for medical marijuana.
- The speaker also reveals that it is still legal to ship baby alligators as long as they are smaller than 20 inches.
- They explain that their platform connects customers with specialized shipping providers for specific regions or products, such as wine.
- The speaker mentions the importance of tracking packages and engaging customers with notifications and suggestions.
- They discuss the challenges and best practices for handling returns, including the balance between making returns easy for customers and preventing abuse of the system.
- The speaker expresses their excitement and gratitude for the growth and success of their company, attributing it to the fast-growing e-commerce industry and the lack of competition in the shipping technology space.

- The speaker discusses the importance of having a supportive team and investors in their startup journey.
- They talk about their personal focus on improving their management skills and communication style.
- The speaker emphasizes the need for effective and authentic communication, tailored to each individual's preferences.
- They mention working with an executive coach and receiving feedback from leaders and team members through 360 reviews.
- The speaker acknowledges their flaw of not giving enough praise and expresses the desire to improve in this area with the help of senior leaders.
- They mention having conversations with a coach and their co-founder to address personal shortcomings.
- The speaker talks about the importance of creating an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up and providing feedback.
- They mention being inspired by the book "Shoe Dog" and admire Angela Merkel for her leadership style.
- The speaker discusses their perspective on being a female founder and the need for a more balanced conversation that highlights female accomplishments.
- They express the desire to encourage more women to join the industry and address the negative perception that can deter them.
- The speaker highlights the value of working on less "sexy" startup ideas that solve real pain points and are mission critical.

- Shippo is a company that solves real pain points in shipping and only has paying customers
- The founder advises other founders to solve problems that people can't live without and to focus on infrastructure businesses
- Persistence is key in pitching to investors and finding the right ones to pitch to
- Customer feedback was important in the early stages of building the company
- The founder developed a bigger vision for the company once they had the money to do so
- They were able to tell investors the story of the market size, growth of e-commerce, and the opportunity they saw in the shipping space
- The founder enjoys running in Golden Gate Park and Crissy Fields in San Francisco for fun, not for training.

- Shippo is a shipping platform that connects e-commerce stores with shipping providers and helps them choose the right provider for their packages.
- Shipping directly affects conversion rates for e-commerce stores, so Shippo's services are important for maintaining customer satisfaction.
- Shippo offers an API and dashboard for customers to interact with their services, with more flexibility for those who integrate the API.
- Shippo's customers are typically e-commerce stores that want to maintain their own brand experience.
- Shippo's main competitors are Stamps, DeShut Pitney Bowes, and Easypost.
- The founder of Shippo, Laura, is passionate about traveling, running, and reading.
- Shippo primarily uses an inside sales process to reach potential customers.
- Building an e-commerce store online requires storytelling and emotional connections with customers.
- Glossier is mentioned as a successful example of a company that built a following and launched their own product line.
- Peer-to-peer selling and subscription boxes are growing trends in e-commerce.
- Shippo noticed trends in late shipments of hoverboards, rise in vape companies, and popularity of sending joke items.
- The importance of tracking packages and handling returns is discussed.
- The speaker expresses gratitude for the growth and success of Shippo.
- The speaker emphasizes the need for effective communication and personal growth as a founder.
- The speaker discusses the importance of creating an environment for feedback and personal improvement.
- The speaker highlights the value of working on startup ideas that solve real pain points.
- Shippo advises other founders to focus on infrastructure businesses and solve problems that people can't live without.
- Persistence is key in pitching to investors and finding the right ones to pitch to.
- Customer feedback was important in the early stages of building Shippo.
- The founder developed a bigger vision for the company once they had funding.
- The founder enjoys running in Golden Gate Park and Crissy Fields in San Francisco for fun.

Laura Behrens Wu is the CEO and cofounder of Shippo - https://twitter.com/LauraBehrensWu

https://goshippo.com/

YC's podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon - http://twitter.com/craigcannon

How about we just start with a quick intro?

What that means is we connect our customers who are e-commerce stores, platforms, and marketplaces to a network of different shipping providers.

Then we help them figure out which provider to use for which 1 of their packages.

The reason why people care about shipping today is that shipping directly affects conversion rates.

So it's no longer just a means to an end to get your item from A to B.

E-commerce stores, they needed to be able to convert their customers because customers are expecting free and fast shipping.

And whenever they see shipping rates at checkout that are unexpected or too high, they drop off and they go to Amazon to try to find the same things.

And so how does your customer interact with Shippo exactly?

It's a RESTful API that they can integrate.

Either they integrate the API or they use the dashboard that we've built on top of the API, both works.

If you integrate the API, there's more flexibility, you can do more with that.

SMBs that are just getting started that don't have developers in-house, they typically just use the out-of-the-box dashboard solution.

And so what's a normal customer of yours like?

So a normal customer of ours, They're an e-commerce store that's, they sell products that are differentiated.

They don't want to sell their products on Amazon.

They want to own their own brand experience, sell through their own e-commerce store and ship typically either out of their own workshops or a warehouse, a 3PL, that takes care of shipping for them.

Okay, and so what's a 3PL for people who aren't in the game?

Okay, and did you know anything about this stuff before 2013 when you guys started?

I did not, and I would never have imagined that I now know all of these things.

I started this as a complete logistics noob And I got into e-commerce by pure chance when trying to build an e-commerce store on the site together with my co-founder Simon.

We built an e-commerce store using Shopify.

It was a really easy solution and it was just a fun thing to do on the site.

And then when we tried to integrate or connect with different shipping providers, we realized that the technology experience provided by shipping providers was just so different compared to the technology experience provided by Shopify or Stripe.

Like the shipping providers aren't tech companies, so their API documentations aren't as great and intuitive.

You have to be a logistics expert to be able to read the documentations.

Sometimes you have to request API access or it's a SOAP API.

It's just strange to us that everything's been solved except for the shipping component.

So we were like, why is there nothing comparable to Twilio or Stripe in the shipping industry?

And were there other like kind of critical understandings that you didn't quite get in the beginning that now are like obvious as in rural to running a shipping company?

I mean, we didn't know anything about shipping back then, and we tried to solve shipping from the customer perspective.

And I think that was a good perspective to have.

So we weren't influenced by the restrictions coming from a shipping industry.

We're able to look at it from the perspective of this is how an e-commerce store wants it to be and this is what modern technology looks like, let's build it like that.

I would say, We back then, I'd say underestimated just how different the different shipping providers are.

There is no standard across different shipping providers, not in terms of pricing, not in terms of technology.

They're all totally different and building that layer of abstraction on top was harder than expected.

But that's now also a great competitive advantage

Okay, because who are your competitors right now?

So there are a couple of incumbents out there like Stamps and DeShut Pitney Bowes, and then there's another company in this space called Easypost.

We would consider them our main competitors or the most comparable companies out there.

So, as I was listening to a bunch of the podcast interviews you've done before, I've heard you talk about many of the same things because, You know, like it's obvious that you want to talk about tripping and you're excited

1 of the questions I kind of wanted to start off with then is like, what are you passionate about that you don't get asked about a lot?

So I think what I would like to do more of is traveling, running, and reading.

There's not that much to say about all these things.

When I go travel, I think leaving the valley, as soon as I leave the valley, I'm able to see or look at things from a different perspective.

I'm not in the nitty gritty details anymore.

I don't really care about how it's being done operationally.

I can think about the big picture and come back with great ideas.

And then also just look at how people, like last year, traveled to a wedding in the UK and there was no cell reception in that little village where the wedding was.

People were living in a village without self-acception.

Helps me realize how things here in the Valley are just not, they're not normal.

And they are maybe solving the problem for a small amount of the population, but that's not how everyone thinks out there.

and we for sure want to build solutions that are for more people than just people living in the valley.

Yeah, because you guys are, I mean, if you're selling to small businesses, right, that are like trying to differentiate themselves and not go on Amazon, how do you reach out to them if they're not necessarily even that technical?

So I'd say like small businesses is 1 area that we're selling into.

We're also selling into platforms and marketplaces and then anyone who wants to compete with Amazon.

1 of our customers, for instance, is eBay.

But we've learned that it's really hard to sell someone a shipping solution if they're not looking.

Like it's not, it's not something that other people are passionate about.

So we typically, it's more an inside sales process when people are looking, when something is wrong, something's broken, too expensive, shipping is vital enough that they do pretty thorough research and then they will find us at some point.

And when they find us, we want to capture them at their intent and make sure that they're finding what they want to find.

So like having the right keywords, having the right landing pages and just handing them exactly what they're looking for.

But it's really difficult to get someone excited about shipping when it's not a need.

Okay, so before we started, you were talking about people, you know, like basically connecting all of these things together now.

I mean, you said it wasn't a fully formed idea.

No, what I was thinking is like, it's easier than ever today to build your e-commerce store online.

There is less upfront cost because you don't need to invest into a physical retail location.

You get Shopify, you get Stripe, you get like Shippo maybe or another shipping provider, like Facebook ads.

You just connect it together and then like you don't have to build your own infrastructure anymore.

All you have to do is find or make a product that is differentiated enough so that it's not out there on Amazon or somewhere else where people can undercut you in terms of price.

And then you need to build an emotional connection with your customer.

I think e-commerce today is a lot about storytelling.

It's about like making sure that customers connect with you and like develop some sort of feeling or attachment for you.

And then you use the channels like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat if you're like a millennial or Gen Z, whatever those generations are called.

Like, you use the right channels to reach your audience and you tell a personal story to them.

And then people are proud like to wear, I don't know, all birds or to travel with their, it's called Always, is it whatever that luggage thing is called?

And it seems like, oh, and then there's the unboxing experience.

Every part from When you ship the item to when the customer receives it, like every step is carefully coordinated.

You get the box, you unbox it, people film themselves unboxing it.

Or you packages, packaging is being designed to look pretty on Instagram so that people can take pictures and share it with their followers.

So that was just my thought, how infrastructure is, how people don't need to invest in building their own infrastructure anymore.

And how today e-commerce is all about like getting your customers to feel something for you, to feel attached to your product.

And I think we're seeing a lot of companies, both, you know, YC like venture backed and not venture backed companies that are really crushing it.

Is there anyone out there that you think is doing it particularly well?

You mentioned Allbirds and this luggage thing.

Maybe someone who's less well-known that maybe even your customer that's doing it really well that you can like, you can point to a reason why they're successful.

Yeah, so I think Glossier is pretty well known as well.

Should I talk about Glossier or something less well known?

mean Glossier is this makeup company and I think and I know her story, Emily's story just from reading about it, I think she started as a blogger just creating a great following with unique content online and then when she had that following and people were like looking at her as an authority in the beauty blogging space, she was able to launch her own beauty line.

And that, like on Instagram, the pictures are beautiful.

I think it's the product, the packaging looks like It's designed for Instagram.

When I get the box, you open it, there are stickers in there, there's a little pouch in there.

So stuff that I didn't order that she's giving me for free, and I'm excited about it.

And on Instagram, people are engaging with the posts in the comments, and she gives out referral codes.

So people keep talking about and refer their customers, their friends, I mean.

And then they also, oh, they re-block or re-gram.

Yeah, I'm not up to date with all these fancy terms, but they re-gram.

If I post a picture of Glossier, and it gets a lot of likes, they might re-gram it on their professional site.

So I am incentivized to post some things so that I can get more followers if they re-gram it.

It's, yeah, it's, I think they're doing a phenomenal job just making sure that their followers are being engaged on the right channels, the channels that they're active on, and that it's not that corporate.

Like it does not, when I look at their site, I don't get a corporate feeling.

I get the feeling that it's a girlfriend telling me about makeup.

Like you're in the demographic and it's working on you?

Oh, and the other thing is like, you can't find it on Amazon.

You can't find it anywhere else except for on their site.

Like, if you sell a product that is too generic, someone else can sell it on Amazon, and it's easily replaceable or interchangeable.

And then Amazon has some, like, you have Amazon Prime, so you save on shipping, it's convenient, and you just get everything on there.

Is anyone, I'm trying to think of a good example of someone doing well on Amazon and outside of it.

I, what I'm seeing or what I hear from friends who run e-commerce stores is they have tried Amazon as a channel, but it's basically just cannibalizing themselves.

And it's not, they prefer to keep their own brands or to be able to manage their own brands on their own websites to have to create that experience to create the feeling and the loyalty

yeah yeah that's probably a good point because I don't like they don't give you a lot of analytics around discovery I actually yes, I wrote a book about shipping containers with my really yeah Yeah, we did that.

We did a Kickstarter a couple years ago and Amazon's been I mean we were immediately like on there afterward, because we spent the extra Kickstarter money buying more books.

And I don't really know if we would have captured fewer sales because we weren't on Amazon.

Because discovery-wise, I think it has less than 10 reviews.

So I don't feel like we're getting sales that way.

So if you're selling something on Amazon, the customer will also see other products that are comparable, which means that customers might get directed to your competitors products.

And if it's not something that's like heavily reviewed, there is no incentive for the customer to buy your product versus another product that's been on Amazon for longer that has more reviews.

I, I think Amazon is great for generic purchases, but it's really like you don't see Amazon making funny jokes on Twitter as a corporate account.

Like you don't see anyone tagging Amazon in their Instagram posts.

It's just that people in their free time don't enjoy, like it's not a brand that people think about or talk about.

It's just generic, convenient and pragmatic thing, but it's not this emotional thing.

Do you think then that like Amazon will like completely like take over all of these pre-packaged meal kits now?

Like, is that a thing that's actually brand differentiated or not?

So yesterday I saw 1 of my friends post on Twitter that normally he would never make this peach-based sauce for dinner, but because Blue Apron sent him a kit with peaches in there and a recipe for whatever peach dish he was making it and he was loving it.

That's why he loves Blue Apron because it gets him out of like just cooking the same thing every day and cooking something special in the same amount of time.

I don't know if Amazon, if like Blue Apron is differentiated enough, but it seems like people get a homey feel from using Blue Apron products.

So, I mean, maybe they're just 2 different markets.

So like personally I am way too pragmatic.

I might be the wrong target audience here.

Like Blue Apron, when they sent you stuff and it's like 1 egg in a packaging and the egg is labeled egg and I'm like, I know this is an egg.

It does make you feel a little gross when you're like, I think Trader Joe's for me at least is like the worst of them.

You know, like everything's in a little plastic bag.

And so I moved into an apartment a couple of years ago and I had bought so much from Amazon that I was taking out the recycling that day.

And I actually felt nauseous, like as I was breaking down all these Amazon boxes.

But talking about recycling, The other trend that I'm seeing in e-commerce is peer-to-peer selling.

If we look at, I don't know, Poshmark, Vinted, Macari, eBay, whatever those are called, or even Facebook Marketplace, like where stuff, especially it seems like young women and mothers selling, like, used items and getting a lot of fun out of that.

Plus, having the personal connection with the seller.

So, like, selling out of their own closets, telling the story about when they bought this item, modeling this item themselves.

And then you like, they put a handwritten card in there.

I, yes, we have a lot of those on our, on our platform, like using Shippo to ship for their secondhand marketplaces.

I think it's still a very small segment in overall e-commerce, of course.

What about all those like box of the month clothes?

I was surprised at just loot crate, for instance, is a big 1 that we're just looking at.

And then there are like sex toy boxes, like really everything.

Anyway, I think it's the convenience and as soon as you subscribe to something it is hard to unsubscribe.

So and then people like to be surprised like if you're already paying for it it's like you gave them your credit card number once and then you forget that it's a recurring payment and then you're just getting the Vox every month making you so happy all that adrenaline and happiness endorphin rush oh and then get 1 for your dog and your cat as well yeah it's crazy

yeah I think a lot of those people are like infamously known for you know like you can sign up online and then you have to call in to cancel it's like that kind of stuff are you are those on the rise though oh sorry

and then you're they're giving you the first box for free, but you have to give them your credit card number and then they charge you automatically afterwards.

I don't know if they're on the rise still.

It feels like something that was on the rise 2 or 3 years ago and now it's like dabbling, but I don't see it going away.

But I'm also seeing that some of these box companies, they're also, in addition to the monthly box thing, they're selling, having an e-commerce store where you can buy these items one-off.

Because now I'm just realizing that like by being at the hub of all this you kind of like see what businesses are like taking off.

Yes, so we saw all of these segways being shipped late

Same thing for me, yes the hoverboards we saw them being shipped and then the USPS or the shipping providers actually had an extra regulation for hoverboards not allowing them to be shipped anymore because they were dangerous and exploding.

We also saw like a huge rise in vape companies signing up.

Then there was this couple months where people loved sending each other just like joke items.

There was this, when you open the package, it's like glitter coming out.

we weren't selling them, we were just shipping them.

And then, yeah, so that was big or like, we even had poop in a box.

And then, oh, that was a very smart idea just financially, having a message on a potato.

It was like, I think $10 to get a potato shipped and the potato would have your message written on top of it.

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Spotting Ecommerce Trends in Shipping Data - Laura Behrens Wu