166 | You’ll Never Learn Until You Launch | with Joe Spector

Joe Spector has been a startup entrepreneur for over 15 years. Prior to Dutch, he was a co-founder of Hims (NYSE: HIMS), one of the fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands in history, which went public in January 2021. 

As a co-founder, Spector was instrumental in its success of helping millions of people; in fact, he built Hims national telemedicine and doctor network, set up the initial pharmacy supply chain, and launched wholesale partnerships. 

He holds a BS from the Haas School of Business at University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. 

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, three children and a corgi named Edgar. 

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:10] Startups are both easy and hard at the same time
• [02:39] The “scrappiness” of startups 
• [04:04] Silicon Valley show vs reality
• [05:20] Startups require “nerves of steel”
• [06:15] Joe’s Hims story
• [09:03] The names before Hims
• [09:46] Importance of startup names 
• [10:40] Skills that Joe brought to Hims
• [12:30] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [12:50] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [13:34] Sponsor: Gorgias gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• [15:00] Sponsor: Rewind rewind.io/honest
• [15:33] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [16:20] Product that makes people happy
• [17:51] Eight-figure brand vs nine-figure brand
• [18:57] From Hims to launching Dutch
• [20:45] Dutch working with Shopify’s “limitations”
• [23:12] Dutch’s sales process using Shopify
• [25:48] Chase analyzes what Dutch is doing
• [27:30] Make a choice, start a business
• [29:37] It’s about how fast you pivot
• [30:15] Understand the types of your consumers

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Online vet care and visits with licensed veterinarians dutch.com
• Connect with Joe linkedin.com/in/joespector
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• Respond to any of Rewind’s welcome emails and mention HONEST ECOMMERCE to get 1 month free rewind.io/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/honest

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