Seit fast zwei Jahren nun schon befindet sich Spreadshirt auf Selbstfindungskurs, dreht eine
Strategieschleife nach der anderen, will sich öffnen, sucht ein neues Logo, macht einen
Laden auf, übernimmt eine Community, will kreativ werden, übernimmt einen
Wettbewerber, lässt den Gründer ziehen und sucht gerade wieder mal ein
neues Logo - mitsamt neuem Slogan ("Spreadshirt. Your Own Label").
Wohin die Reise geht für Spreadshirt, weiß derzeit wohl niemand so genau. Denkbar scheint inzwischen alles. Spreadshirt ist der heißeste Börsenkandidat genauso
wie der heißeste Übernahmekandidat. International rüsten Cafepress,
Zazzle und Threadless auf, national wittern Shirtcity und Shirtinator
ihre Chance.
In den kommenden zwei Jahren wird es sich also entscheiden:
hopp oder top.
Vor einem Monat hat Jana Eggers das Ruder von Lukasz Gadowski
übernommen. Ins Spiel gebracht hat sie schon sehr früh der neue Investor. Und in einem
bleibt sie ihrem Vorgänger treu: Auch unter ihrer Führung wird sich
Spreadshirt nicht am Umsatz messen lassen.
Trotzdem war sie so freundlich, sich im Exciting Commerce Interview den drängendsten Fragen zu
stellen. Die Spreadshirt-Strategie für den Moment heißt im übrigen:
"Going Mainstream. Der Sprung in den Massenmarkt":
Exciting Commerce: Jana, now that you are the boss, what is your most ambitious goal for
Spreadshirt?
Jana Eggers: Crossing the chasm. (An interesting recent article on this, as
background.) Yes, we still have fun and work to do in the "early" markets,
but the ambitious goal is going "mainstream". The market is there: shirt
sales are rising, personal expression is rising, and expectations of quality
are rising.
So, why is it ambitious? Because what we do is not understood by
the mainstream -- in the way for example, that mp3s were for the iPod.
People do not know that they can create "me representing" quality on a
shirt.
"Handelsblatt" recently reported that Spreadshirt is satisfied with a
growth rate of less than 10% in 2007. That´s below market growth. Are you
serious?
No, this number is not from us. "Handelsbatt" gave that number
without confirming with us -- or even asking us. When we asked where they
got this number, we were told it was standard for the textile
industry.
But yes, we are serious about our growth. We target keeping our
3-year CAGRs (Compound Annual Growth Rate, jährliche Wachstumsrate, Anm.) over 80%, while continuing to be profitable. Compared with our
industry, these are exceptional numbers, particularly considering the
profitable part.
We have seen some slowing in our growth rate, as we shift
focus from new market entry to crossing the chasm in core markets. This will
take effort and time, but the rewards (see the area under the curve) are
worth it.
How much revenue does Spreadshirt expect in 2007? What about your
growth rate?
It is a tough decision, but we are not releasing revenue
numbers publicly. Growth rate is discussed above.
How do you want
Spreadshirt to grow in the future? Will there be more acquisitions like
LaFraise or eQuisto?
We will see continued growth in our newly entered
markets (like Scandinavia and Benelux), and growth in our core markets as
our "crossing" strategy begins execution.
We will expand opportunities
for shop partners, designers, and direct customers within our strategy to be
experts in print technologies that matter, which will also open new markets
to us.
Any of the above could involve acquisitions, but that is not a focus
for us, as we do not see a need to "buy" market.
Spreadshirt seems to
have a hard time in the US. How would you describe the market situation
overseas?
In the US, we focused first on building a quality production and
customer service team, and some market tests. Over the past year alone, we
have more than doubled the number of North American selling shop partners,
meaning shop partners who have sold something in the last month. And that
was with a 2-person marketing team! We are just hiring someone to lead sales
in the US, and we are also expanding marketing. So, overall, I don't think
we've had a hard time. We have just been slow to market and sell our
services, as we focused on building quality operations to deliver on the
promise.
Regarding the situation, it is definitely different than in Germany,
and the EU in general. We have some heavily venture-backed folks that are
doing custom shirts with different print technologies. What Spreadshirt
offers is unique and differentiable. We can't wait to have the North
American market see the difference, and we see this as opening new markets,
rather than just taking a piece from the current players.
There are
ongoing rumours that both Zazzle and Cafepress are preparing for an IPO. Is
this an option for Spreadshirt?
All of our options are open! We are focused
on building a great business, not exit strategies at the moment. We love the
business we are in.
These days you try to bring your contest site LaFraise to
the US, at a time when Threadless is expanding heavily and new competitors
like Shirt.Woot! enter the market. Why do you enter the market now?
We
have opened a North American store for some of our winning designs on
laFraise - the ones we feel fit the North American market. We have not
started a North American-specific contest, though anyone, worldwide, can
enter our French, German, European, and Mad' (female focused)
contests!
Why now? North American visitors are the second largest number of
visitors to laFraise after visitors from France. We wanted to offer them the
shirts! We make moves when we are ready and the market is ready. It is going
well so far.
And one last question to you as an expert in American
culture. Interestingly enough LaFraise launched in the US with a Bush
bashing contest. Isn´t there still this rule that you shouldn´t make jokes
about politics and religion, if you want to make friends with the US?
If
there is a rule in the US about no jokes about politics, Americans are not
taught that - have you noticed the popularity of shows like Jon Stewart's
Daily Show? One of the greatest qualities of Americans is their ability to
laugh at themselves.
To be clear though, the contest is not Bush bashing,
but a theme on American politics. (Of the over 30 designs submitted so far,
only 2 are directed at Bush.) We thought they would have fun seeing the
European ideas, and hoped to come up with some best sellers, as the US
political campaigns start heating up. There is a market, as most people want
to express their views on politics! And that's what Spreadshirt is all about
- expressing yourself!
Thank you very much and good luck for you and Spreadshirt!
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