Laura Behrens Wu is the CEO of Shippo. Shippo is the best multi-carrier shipping software which empowers retailers, e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, logistics providers with the building blocks they need to succeed with shipping. They basically offer Amazon-level shipping for all their clients. Processing millions of shipments each month for 35000 customers, they have grown to a team of close to 100 staff and have raised around 29 million so far from various investors.
Laura Behrens Wu is the founder and CEO of Shippo. Laura, 26 years old, and Simon Kreuz, 28 years old, they started Shippo in 2013. Laura had her first experience with a startup while working as an intern at a start up company LendUp, which was a Y Combinator alumni start up (as the combinator that invested in Dropbox, Airbnb, and many other top start ups). She grew up in Germany, China, Ecuador, and Cairo, went to school in Switzerland and started Shippo in the U.S.
Listen to the full discussion here:
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- How they work with some of their partners: Shopify and Facebook Marketplace
- Why building the best tech experience for their clients is their focus?
- How are they helping FedEx and UPS – the traditional players – to reach more clients
- Amazon and Alibaba – how do you compete with this guys?
- Amazon is driving the shipping standard – so our clients come to us for help to compete
- Why they focus on customization and authenticity?
- Tell a compelling story
Show notes:
- [01:43] How was it to grow up in so many places and also how is it to be a founder at such a young age?
- [03:19] How old were you when you started Shippo?
- [08:20] Can you tell us a bit more about some of your clients? I know you have some great case studies with some clients – would be great to hear more about their results after they started working with your clients: VNYL, Bean Box, MeUndies.
- [11:40] How did you manage to convince the traditional players – UPS, FedEx, DHL – to come on your platform?
- [14:10] Shippo has a very big potential competitor in the form of Amazon.com or Alibaba – how do you compete with these guys?
- [18:01] What is your customer acquisition strategy – who is your target?
- [19:40] What are some of the most important e-commerce trends you see at the moment? I was reading on your blog: 68 percent of sellers consider the cost of shipping to be their biggest operational challenge. Plus, shipping has become a key consideration in the consumer purchasing process. 31 percent of consumers will wait to make a purchase until there’s a free shipping offer.
- [21:18] The solution we’re offering is especially valuable for Europe and the US. In the rest of the world, however, finding the right courier service for international shipment is a big hassle. How do you fix this challenge – where would you expand next?
- [26:34] What are some of the key attributes you look for in the leadership team?
- [30:57] What is the most challenging part about finding and attracting the right talent?
- [34:42] You are one of the few females founders in a male-dominated industry. How has this affected your journey so far? I imagine there are some challenges to talk about around this.
- [36:51] What were some of the lessons you learned so far as an entrepreneur? Key Takeaways.
- [39:55] Looking back at the Shippo story so far, what are the things that make you most proud of?
