OpenSky Blog

I’ve always loved qualitative research and how helpful it can be. Listening to consumers has become a daily part of what we’re doing and I will continue to share their feedback openly.

Consumers love what we’re building.  It feels great to hear this.

The recent feedback organizes around seven basic areas:

1. Clarify network
2. Reinforce shopping
3. Simplify labels
4. Make navigation simpler
5. Feature the uncommon goods
6. Clarify role of shopkeeper
7. Emphasize credentials of shopkeeper

The work we’ve done to address this list and drive our next release has been really exciting. We’re simplifying everything and working towards an even more clear presentation live w/in 10 days.

- john caplan

Last week, the NY Times had an article about how Amazon is successfully becoming the Wal-Mart of the web.

It’s an interesting comparison.

Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 as a discount department store.  It is now the world’s largest public corporation (by revenue), and is the United States’ largest grocery retailer and private employer.

Amazon was founded in 1994 as an online bookstore.  It is now the largest online retailer in the US.  Moreover, sales of media products in the US — the books, movies and music that it started with — has been surpassed by sales of other merchandise on the site.  Soon the same will be true worldwide.

What began as an online bookstore has become the biggest online general store.

According to the article, many believe this is a great place for Amazon to be and has caused its rivals to scramble to compete:

In August, Target, which allowed Amazon to run its Web site for the last decade, announced it would end the affiliation when its contract was up in 2011, following other one-time Amazon partners like Borders and Toys “R” Us. This month, Wal-Mart said it would allow other retailers to sell their products on Walmart.com, mimicking Amazon’s third-party marketplace and trying to match its vast selection. Analysts believe Sears, which owns Kmart, is preparing to allow outside sellers on its sites as well.

But the Amazon effect may be most deeply felt by small independent stores, which cannot hope to compete with Amazon’s selection and prices and recall in fear how the company hastened the fate of both independent booksellers and prominent electronics chains like Circuit City.

It seems the retail giants are in a race to see who can offer the biggest online selection of goods, the first to reach “the holy grail” that is endless lists of products.  It’s a race that Amazon is winning and from which it is building a big business ($40 billion big!).

However, the article goes on to highlight that in niche, passionate categories these massive lists of products do not create the same advantages for Amazon and other retail giants:

In markets like consumer electronics, where Amazon increasingly prevails, products like HDTVs from different companies are usually made by the same Asian factories, with little technical difference between brands. Shoppers then look for the best price and most convenient delivery, which Amazon can offer.

But the dynamics are different in categories like outdoor sporting goods. Different companies offer drastically different products, and the right brand of bicycle or snowboard matters to enthusiasts. Shoppers might also prefer to seek the guidance of an experienced sales clerk.

For many of us, and for many passion categories, shopping is more than a transaction. It’s an experience, an extension of our passion. It’s meaningful and thrilling.  For us, Amazon and Wal-Mart leave us longing for more.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, once said “Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community.”  I’m not sure this holds true today, making the Amazon comparison even more interesting.  In response to Walton’s quote, Matt recently wrote:

Wal-Mart isn’t the same place as when Mr. Sam was alive.  He understood that shopping is about people.  You won’t find that feeling at Wal-Mart today, as humanity and expertise has been brushed aside in favor of large amounts of inventory and self-serve checkout lanes.  Get in, get your stuff, and get out.

…Shopping needs it’s humanity back.  There are still some stores that offer a human experience — John discovered a magic shop in New York City that does.  We remember these experiences, where a passionate shopkeeper brightened our day, gave generously of his time and expertise, and inspired us to share in his passion.  We almost always leave with a bag in our hand and a smile on our face.  We pass the story on to our friends and family.

OpenSky is bringing it back, and taking it online.

OpenSky and its network of expert Shopkeepers don’t aspire to be the Wal-Mart of the web.

OpenSky aspires to connect consumers to experts and the products they love. OpenSky aspires to help its amazing Shopkeepers maximize revenue from their influence.  OpenSky aspires to bring humanity back to shopping.

- kevin ambrosini

Hi Everyone,

I just got home from an amazing 3-day trip to Southern California. I finished my visit to CA with a great dinner at Sham Restaurant in Santa Monica, where I met up with Casey (Modern Hiker), Denise (DeDeMed) and Sean (PutterZone).

I learned an incredible amount meeting with Shopkeepers in person this week. We had great discussions around the OpenSky mission and what we can do to help improve the experience for both the Shopkeepers and the consumers.

My entire flight home I had the chance to reflect on our conversations and, as John mentioned earlier in the week, I couldn’t help but think about how important simplicity is to our model. As we continue to develop the consumer experience and tools for Shopkeepers, we are going to be hyper-focused on creating a clear message and simple process.

Next Friday, we’ll have the opportunity to get a great group of OpenSky Shopkeepers together in NYC.  In the coming weeks/months, I hope to meet as many Shopkeepers in person as possible to get feedback and ideas.

For those I haven’t had the chance to meet, I’d love to hear your thoughts on what we can do to improve the OpenSky experience.

- kevin ambrosini

I set up office all day in a Coffee Bean that is two blocks from the beach in Santa Monica. There are worse work environments to be sure. There’s beautiful weather, a short walk to the water and non-stop Ice Blended Vanilla coffees. Needless to say, I’ve had way too much caffeine for one day.

In a few hours, I’m heading to a dinner with Amy, Denise, Sean and Casey. I’ve been looking forward to this…it’s going to be a blast!

Sandi Genovese, host of DIY Scrapbooking on HGTV

My trip west has been amazing so far. I flew into L.A. Tuesday night and headed down to Laguna Beach to meet with OpenSky Shopkeeper Sandi Genovese. We’ve had many calls and exchanged a lot of emails…but this was the first time I had the chance to meet her in person. What a wonderful woman.

Sandi was the host of DIY Scrapbooking on HGTV for five seasons and has made numerous appearances on Good Morning America and The View. Her years of experience on television have provided her great insight into how to connect with audience.

We spent most of dinner discussing the power and importance of visual “merchandising”. In the past, John and I have described this as brilliant storytelling. I’ve occasionally referred to it as creative selling. Ultimately, its engaging the consumer through video (or photos and collages) by creating an authentic setting and SHOWING–not telling–what makes the product so special, so different and so interesting.

Sandi is brilliant at this.

It was great meeting her in person and sharing thoughts on visual merchandising. She’s incredibly talented, passionate and NICE.  I’m excited that she’s part of the OpenSky community!

-kevin

This is the beginning of a particularly exciting few weeks for OpenSky (and me personally). This week we had several people come by and visit us in the office and I’m currently traveling around Southern California meeting some of our west coast Shopkeepers. Next week we have our very first NYC OpenSky Meetup.

Early in the week, we had the opportunity to spend an entire day with Jean Ann (of Good Enough Gardening). Jean Ann has a deep understanding of social media marketing and is highly respected/recognized as an industry pioneer. Her list of honors goes on and on: “2008 Top 50 Tweeple to Follow” on Twitter… “50 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women in Social Media”… “30 Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter”… “50 Making a Difference” by the Oklahoma business newspaper the Journal Record… “2007 40 Under 40″ by the Portland Business Journal”. Most recently, she’s been busy pushing the boundaries on the book publishing world with her new collaborative, real-time edited book Grocery Gardening.

We are fortunate to have spent the day with her discussing social applications and their potential role in customer identification and brand building. We are even more fortunate that she is part of the OpenSky community. We can learn an incredible amount from her.

During our conversations with Jean Ann, we were reminded of something very important: simplicity.  John had a great post about this.

OpenSky is a big idea, but our mission is simple: to bring humanity back to shopping.

-kevin

My meeting with Jean Ann reminded me about simplicity. I can’t stop thinking about it. I distilled down my thoughts here:

Why OpenSky?:

• Maximize revenue from your influence

How?

• OpenSky is a free program that enables influencers and experts of all sizes to create great shops and earn 50% of whatever they sell.

Why now?

• Consumers crave authenticity and trust
• Influencers need an ethical way to make money
• Great products need distribution

- john caplan

I love it when OpenSky Shopkeepers swing by the office.  Just this week we had Marta, ruhlman and Jean Ann stop by to visit.

It’s a great opportunity to brainstorm and share ideas.  Every visit confirms our vision and reminds us why we set out to build OpenSky in the first place: brilliant, creative people need to be able to make money from their social graphs and be able to ethically leverage their influence.

The community we are building is, without doubt, an incredibly smart and passionate group of people that can and will change the face of commerce.

The investment bank Raymond James published a research report a couple of weeks ago that highlights the power of ‘real people’. According to the survey, “74% of respondents agree, and 14% strongly agree that they choose products and services based on what others say online about their user experiences.” Another report from the eTailing Group points out that “70% of online shoppers actively seek out consumer reviews before making a purchase.” While it’s hard to extract general truths from survey data, I think the results show that people trust each other and want to involve each other in their shopping experiences. They’re grasping for a more human shopping experience. It’s just better and more fun that way.

As corporations continue to integrate themselves into the social media landscape, transparency and authenticity will become even more critical. People want to know in very clear terms who’s making recommendations and who’s trying to sell them stuff. When they learn it’s a real person who shares their passion, and not just another institution, the shopping experience is more gratifying. John recently wrote about an incredible experience he had with his son at an NYC magic store.
Has anyone else had a great shopping experience with a real person lately?

-mike novotny

I often stumble over my words when attempting to describe what exactly I did this summer. Sometimes my answer will describe how my job started with four guys sitting around an empty white board and concluded with a tangible product and community. Other times I’d curtly reply, “something different everyday.” And at times my answer would be “attempted to change the world.” But unlike most of my peers, I could confidently claim that I never once filed one sheet of paper. In fact, I remember fondly the look of excitement around the office when we received our first office supply shipment. I love to tell how early on I sat around a table with a group of business heavyweights, yet I was the only one with much experience in building an online store. To be asked for my opinion in an environment where I felt extremely overmatched was exhilarating. I felt valued and even respected. From day one I was an intern in title only. Given the responsibility of developing a taxonomy, reaching out to hundreds of bloggers, and sourcing unique goods, I felt I had to be excellent every moment of every day.

Arête was the term the Greeks used to describe the virtue of excellence. Such a virtue seemed a bit esoteric when studying it in my freshman year philosophy class, yet at OpenSky there was an unspoken thrust toward arête. Whether we did something right or wrong the culture was that we could always learn and do it better—to never be satisfied. One day I screwed up pretty badly when reaching out to a prospective shopkeeper and I knew it. A feeling of deflation consumed me that day and I promised myself never to fail like that again. I discovered failure and, in turn, craved success. That craving assisted me in squeezing every last drop I could out of this internship.

So what DID I learn this summer? I learnt how to problem solve. I learnt how to be a professional. I learnt how to navigate a bustling metropolis. But most importantly, I learnt how or what it feels to be inspired—to leave work, but not have work leave you. That was the thing about this job—it never felt like a job. It felt like a lifestyle. I may have only interned for three days a week but my thoughts—day or night—were always about OpenSky. Was it unpaid? Yes. Did I feel like any sum of money could parallel the knowledge and experience I gained? No.

Perhaps that is why when waiting for the elevator to descend my last time I was suddenly overtaken by emotion. It is difficult to leave a place full of awesome, remarkable, passionate people. Leaving the building I looked up to the open sky and saw the sun shining brightly. Looking back, I can only recall one day that I came into work when it rained. It was as if every day I went to work the sun came out to see how such a diverse group of people were slowly—but surely—changing the world from an 11th floor office.

For my whole life clear paths have been paved in front of me. Do well in high school and SATs in order to go to a competitive school. Perform well in college taking certain specific classes in order to get a job at company X or Y. Parlay that job into a career. Let that career lead you back to school for a graduate degree. Then, at some point, happiness would ensue. But what I learnt from the people who worked at Open Sky and the bloggers we encountered along the way is that the only clear cut path to happiness is to follow your passion—whatever that may be.

–Evan Waters #4 at OpenSky, #1 in your hearts.

When John asked me to write a post about working at OpenSky this summer he said to be honest.  I told him that I would.  I don’t lie, so here’s the truth:

This company is full of talented, bright individuals who are engaged and who are engaging.  They are working around the clock but they are working passionately and they are driven to make a change.   Like John says (frequently) “we’re changing the world” – we’re creating goodness.  The thing is, a lot of people go out and say they’re going to change the world.  Then most people don’t.  But OpenSky is.   We are reinventing commerce and we are empowering people to do what they love.  It’s really not an exaggeration.

I remember walking into the office on my first day of work in July, with no idea of what to expect.  That was back when there were daily 9:30’s and the executive dashboard (version 1.0?) tracked everything.  At that first 9:30 meeting I was clueless, but then Jeff shared the GoogleDoc with me, and I remember thinking how that was nice of him.  That pretty much set the tone, and with everyone’s help I caught on quickly.  Within a week it felt like I had been at OpenSky for ages.

On my way back home Friday night I thought of everything we learned from the focus groups this past week.  One of the questions we almost always asked the participants at the end of their session was “What is OpenSky?”  Well, after three months of working with OpenSky I’d say there is no concrete, simple, or one line answer to that question.  But if I had to venture to give one, I’d say that OpenSky is a place where great people are working hard, to accomplish something that’s not easy.  Where people value one another and the contributions of individuals to the group; where motivation is derived from the formation of relationships and empowering others.  It’s an organization where creativity and individualism are nurtured by people who are driven to make a change, and by people who are bringing humanity and excitement to online shopping.

- Michelle Soloff