S5E1: Jeremy Cai and Italic are Changing the Game for Manufacturers and Merchants

In The Room with Jeremy Cai, Founder, and CEO of Italic.  We start off season 5 of The Room with Jeremy Cai, the Founder and CEO of Italic. Jeremy and Italic are changing what it means to be a manufacturer by connecting directly to customers and consumers, breaking from the traditional path of utilizing a middle-man distributor. Jeremy details the evolution of Italic, expanding on the changes they’ve made to the business model. Plus, we ask him about the future of the E-Commerce space and any predictions he may have. For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.  3:21 - Who is Jeremy Cai and how has his family background influenced his interests?4:42 - Jeremy compares what he learned from his time as a Theil Fellow to his time running his two subsequent startups.8:02 - What inspired the start of Italic? 12:37 - Who was the first manufacturer to sign up with Italic? 15:41 - What was the first product Italic sold and how did Italic get consumers to join?18:01 - What is the design process of Italic’s product offering?22:45 - Was getting a VC the first step in getting Italic off the ground? 23:18 - Who was the first Venture that said yes to supporting Italic? 24:48 - What led Italic to step away from their original mandatory membership model?27:11 - What does Jeremy think the next innovation in E-Commerce is?30:24 - Italic is not a brand but, they can create an experience.32:56 - What is Jeremy’s favorite product on Italic?33:51 - How has the current supply chain crisis affected Italic?35:14 - What advice would Jeremy give to a new E-Commerce startup founder?36:30 - What’s new for Jeremy in 2022?38:29 - Who is a woman that has impacted Jeremy? Be the first to know when new episodes drop - Receive Our Newsletter Season 5 of The Room Podcast is sponsored by our friends at Silicon Valley Bank and Cooley. WX Productions