Back in the early days of ecommerce, Marc Lore took a classic retail loss leader–diapers– and turned it into a DTC giant– Diapers.com. It did so well that it attracted the attention of Amazon, which slashed prices on its own diapers until Marc was forced to sell them his business.

It was not a happy moment, but it was a galvanizing one: Marc went on to launch another ecommerce company, jet.com. Within a year, it was bought by Walmart in a deal valued at $3.3 billion.

This is a story about a devastating corporate surrender, a multi-million dollar comeback, and a founder with a relentless ability to re-invent himself.

Timestamps:

10:04 – Marc’s “boost-your-grades” bet with his college coach

14:21 – A job on Wall Street and a Master Plan: 8 figures by age 48

16:28 – How a lunchtime lark turned into a spot on the U.S. Bobsled Team

27:44 – How random Google searches led Marc to diapers

35:29 – Guerilla tactic: Buying all of P&G’s diapers to get their attention

40:07 – The simple packaging hack that boosted sales

45:53 – Building a retail empire (and getting on Amazon’s radar)

47:52 – Amazon’s scorched earth strategy forces Marc to sell

1:00:11 – Raising $750M to take on Jeff Bezos

1:03:02 – A brand new business and a $3.3 billion exit: Walmart’s record-breaking deal

This episode was produced by Casey Herman with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant.

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Serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore — founder of brands like Beauty Pie and Soap & Glory — joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage founders managing uncertainty and risk.

Today, we meet Victor in Fort Worth, the co-founder of a Mexican-style sweets and treats venture who wonders if he should focus on expanding brick-and-mortar operations, retail presence, or both. Then Lydia in Seattle, a former disease researcher who is ready to grow her small batch botanical skincare line, but needs help overcoming her fear of failure to get to the next step. And Jack in San Francisco, the founder of a custom bike bag and accessories brand who’s trying to figure out how to maintain customer excitement throughout the entire purchasing process so as not to lose momentum.

Thank you to the founders of Sol Dias, Clērstory, and Wompy Bikes for being part of our show. And stick around to hear a brief update on all three callers!

If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298.

And be sure to listen to Marcia Kilgore’s original How I Built This episode as told by Marcia on the show in 2018.

This episode was produced by Carla Esteves with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Andrea Bruce. Our audio engineer was Cena Loffredo.

You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram and sign up for Guy's free newsletter at guyraz.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.