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We expect people to dive deep into things like that. It was event networking, but this led to your real first experience, which was Konnects Inc. Tell us about this. OfferUp has raised over $221 million from some of the smartest minds in technology and finance, including one of its most recent investors, Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and co-founder and chief executive officer of Affirm. What would you say was the most painful and the biggest lesson, at the same time, for you? I could design all the apps, but Im not a great back-end engineer at all. : Yeah. The first thing in my mind was not, Hey, theres something here. northern state university softball roster. Its not just up and to the right. I think were probably one of the top places in the country in terms of units. One is promotions, and thats simply helping sellers to be more successful. Then, also, the dot-com bubble hit, and everyone stopped sponsoring those events. On the promotions bucket, we have what we call 1P ads, and thats simply going into the product, and the seller can decide to increase their visibility and pay either one time or a subscription to dramatically increase the visibility of their listings. Its become a part of peoples daily lives that use it on an ongoing basis throughout the country. Is that right? Its become a part of peoples daily lives that use it on an ongoing basis throughout the country. I think it was good. He was able to figure things out. Successful minimalist websites are a rarity, but Drudge Report (which generates more than 750 million page views per month) and Craigslist are two that have bucked the trend. What is in the retail store down the street, and why dont people know that those things exist in there. I need to understand how these things work. So, I finally bought one, and then I graduated and worked in a startup for one of my fraternity brothers, making half as much as all my friends did. We had SUN and Cisco sponsoring these events to the tune of $10,000 each, every month. The pitch is, why is value sitting, and why is it sitting all around us, and why cant we see it. I remember when we launched it, one of the questions was, Are we now becoming like other online businesses wherewhy are we focusing on shipping? My response to that was, We are about removing friction. There are many times when you wont even get in your car to drive 30 minutes for an item. Nick Huzar: By the way, he would hate it if I called him an engineer because he is definitely more than that. I think I knew, right out of the gate, what I wanted to do with my life, which was something involved with the internet. He is a founder that has done it multiple times. I would build out the website. I cant exist without my computer. Under Huzar, the Bellevue-based company reached a valuation of $1.4 billion as of 2018 and had over 56 million users in 2020, but Huzar said he hopes letting go of his CEO duties will give him . : When I left Konnect, I had no intention of leading another company. We were not paying ourselves. You went to Washington State University, and you got involved with business and computers. The show takes listeners inside the business end of the sports world, and explains what it means to fans and their pocketbooks. I need to have it. I have a trampoline that I purchased. Our homes are actually 30% larger than the 1950s, but were having less children. OfferUp has a very visual interface so the quality of your photos can impact how many offers you receive. What do you think? I said, Hey. Nick Huzar: I had, of course, a ton of energy and excitement. Well continue to obsess over liquidity. Alejandro: Very nice, and very timely given the times that were living in. The first year, thats what we did. Nick Huzar is the co-founder and CEO of Offerup which provides an online and mobile C2C marketplace app for people to buy and sell electronics, furniture, and cars. I am excited to work with Nick, Arean and the team there to continue to usher in the era of mobile-driven local commerce.. Nick Huzar: What I love about building companies. Today, you see a lot of apps that have this long, infinite scrolling pic list of pictures. To date, OfferUp is the largest mobile market place in the United States, where people are using our app to buy and sell anything from cars to shoes to furniture. Nick Huzar: Today, years and years later, we try to figure out how can we help buyers and sellers be more successful? : And this led you in your 20s to your first company. Thats been the whole focal point of the business since Day One. : Ive heard you talk about core values a few times and how that ties into culture. Huzar, 39, serves as chief executive officer and van Veelen, 43, is chief technology officer. Like I said, in any small startup, thats got to be there. While consumer commerce continues to evolve in specific areas, its rare to have a company completely redefine the marketplace experience from start to finish. Can I communicate succinctly? Dont cut corners on that. Moreover, I also provided a commentary on a pitch deck from an Uber competitor that has raised over $400 million (see it here). We started very early, way before Friendster, way before Myspace. So, good stuff. Unlike EBay, OfferUp currently does not charge sellers a listing fee or transaction fee. Find out how former world number one professional tennis player, writer, and politician Ilie Nstase earned his net worth. There are two areas in which OfferUp generates revenue. We do a lot within the product to connect buyers to the right sellers. Ive got to go get a job. Im out there interviewing for a job and spending a bunch of time on that, but I think like any good ideas, for entrepreneurs that are out there, I believe that if you cant get it out of your head, you should listen to that voice. Okay, great. Why? If you can leave a review as well, that would be fantastic. We partner a lot with local car dealerships, and we help them to be more successful by integrating with their inventory management system. Nick Huzar, CEO of OfferUp at a Startup Grind event. I grew up in a suburb about 20 minutes south of Seattle. is the queen taller than the king in chess; all inclusive wedding venues under $5,000; david meade obituary We would find that handful of engineers, and we would pay them. Why I definitely appreciate him is, he definitely thinks a lot like an engineer, but he also has a great business mind. For me, the most basic way, when I started an offer up, I came up with a design. Neighborly: we have a no asshole policy. So, you get the green light, and what happened next? Nick Huzar is the Founder, President & Chief Product Officer and CEO at OfferUp. People were throwing money everywhere. Again, because were always focusing on removing friction. Despite these statistics, 68% plan to donate their unneeded items, and more than one in eight people planned to throw them in the trash. I used to go to Goodwill stores, and Id realized the cars never stopped. I think that also ties nicely into culture and the intention about that. So without further ado, Id like to welcome our guest today, Nick Huzar, welcome to the show. Even though we have these amazing giant tech companies, we still think theres a huge opportunity in local, and thats going to be our focus and continue to be our focus. I know that OfferUp was also a result of doing a pivot. I think it was good. Hes seen the ups, the downs, and obviously, now, hes seen a lot of traction. That is a combined net worth with his wife, model/actress Vanessa . Im happy to chat. Nick Huzar: I think businesses are about people, so when I think about it and when I think about the investors and the team. A few other stats that I think might be interesting about our OfferUp community and usage is, especially with this transaction coming together, well have 20 million users across the U.S. We also have a lot of our top markets where we started to see double-digit growth. Thats been a big part of it. You can be the most brilliant person and work hard, but if you cant work with others, its just not going to work well. Its also a lot of work. I analyzed every way, everybody. They created OfferUp to create a simpler and more trusted way to buy and sell locally one in which users leverage the power and ease of their smart phone to take photos and then list and sell items in a more seamless way. In this case, it led you to where you are today. I look forward to it. Weve always focused a lot on this excess of sellers and buyers and connecting them. Well continue to obsess over liquidity. I was just a sponge. I was fortunate to sit next to engineers who taught me how to code. Im happy to chat. Tell us about the turning page here, going into a new chapter. What would you say really made him such an amazing tech co-founder? In this technology shift, Huzar and van Veelen saw massive opportunity, particularly as Craigslist did not adapt to the new mobile paradigm. Alejandro: What ended up being the business model of the business? Theyre constantly in this process of bettering themselves. According to Jordan, as a mobile-first platform, OfferUp emerged as a disruptor by providing an improved user interface, frictionless experience and on-demand transactions from anywhere. We would find that handful of engineers, and we would pay them. I didnt get halfway through it, and my wife said, This is the biggest idea youve ever had. I think the learning lesson was interesting because we realized that networking is valuable, but its also inefficient. I used to go to Goodwill stores, and Id realized the cars never stopped. There are so many things that you can influence and help drive. As of January 2023, The net worth of Nick is $2 million, and he earns $19K-$32K per video. I would build out the website. You went to Washington State University, and you got involved with. In this case, it led you to where you are today. You can literally use it for almost anything. Or, diving deep. During his time at T-mobile Nick Huzar helped to redevelop the online channel enabling the company to accept over $45 million a month in payments and 8 million customers. But if you peeled away the branding, you realized that under the hood, they all kind of functioned the same. What are your core values at OfferUp? Arean van Veelen (left) and Nick Huzar (right) are the co-founders of OfferUp. Read More: Bill Powers On Raising $500 Million To Improve Your Driving Behavior. So, we got very intentional about that. We had been married, and we always wanted to have kids. If you can imagine five guys sitting down in a room coding with just stuff everywhere, thats what our first office looked like. How is your office laid out? Youve probably thought about this very well at the beginning, and now as youre looking at pushing other markets, how do you guys think about liquidity in the marketplace? Tell us about the early days, and also how you incubated the concept of the idea. So, that was some of the initial sketches that we did. I was leading projects for Paramount Parks. I go back to even reflecting on my own decisions. We thought to ourselves, why couldnt you just build a platform that would enable anybody to build basically what is now known as social media? Then, also, the dot-com bubble hit, and everyone stopped sponsoring those events. Why? I think I was making $27,000 a year back then. Nick Huzar is CEO and Co-Founder of OfferUp. Buyers can then message sellers to meet, and then pay for items through the app or in person. The other one is payments. Thats interesting. Huzar and van Veelen focused intently on understanding the competitive landscape, consumer behavior and the economic backdrop to design a tech-enabled solution for its customer base. So, obviously, part of the startup experience too. In her 2016 Internet Trends report, Mary Meeker, a senior partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, wrote that OfferUp users spend an average of 25 minutes per day on the OfferUp app, which is the same amount of time users spend on Instagram and Snapchat (and more time than on both Pinterest and Twitter). I just wanted them to believe it actually worked. : Id say definitely the people. I kept thinking about that moment in the doorway, and I kept looking at my iPhone, which is the second-gen iPhone, and at this time, theres no Android phone even on the scene. He has appeared in shows as well as advised some companies. Probably just not the best advisors and folks around the table. So, Nick, for the folks that are listening, what is the best way for them to reach out and say hi? I came back to my wife after probably four-and-a-half months, at least, and she kept asking, When are you getting your job? One day, I said, You need to come home tomorrow. 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For some people, thats not comfortable, so you need people that can zig and zag with the company as it scales. I had a room full of stuff. We raised a little bit of money. We have really good features like search alerts and things you can say that will notify people right away. 'America needs our help': Q&A with OfferUp CEO Nick Huzar after Seattle-area startup lands $120M by Taylor Soper on March 25, 2020 With many physical stores closed and online retailers facing. There were thousands of them. We have markets like LA and Phoenix, for example, where over 18% of the adult population is now using OfferUp on a monthly basis. I think they were all great people in their own right, but for what we were trying to build, probably not. Im thinking to myself, Chill me now. He was able to figure things out. Nick Huzar: It was great. So, we found a handful of people that were willing to actually do that at that time. Youve been at it now for quite a while with OfferUp and also what you did with your previous initiatives, like Konnects. As youre looking back, and after the time with Konnects, Im sure you had a lot of time to reflect. One is core values, and the other is operating principles. The only examples we could look to at the time were dating sites. If you look at annual adoption from our customers, were looking at over 44 million. : Very nice, and very timely given the times that were living in. How did venture capitalists view the investment opportunity? Follow Zack on Twitter and read his columns in Forbes. We dont have to send out our phone numbers and our emails anymore, and we can make it much more secure. To date, OfferUp is the largest mobile market place in the United States, where people are using our app to buy and sell anything from cars to shoes to furniture. I wont list them all, but thats everything from simplified. Biden Hears Oval Office Plea for Alaska Oil Project in Lobbying Frenzy, Your Saturday Briefing: Trumps Comeback Plan, Wall Street Whistles Away, British Parents Turn to Home Equity to Help Young Buy Property, Japanese Unions Seek Biggest Pay Rise in 25 Years for Workers, Sorry, Fed, Most US Mortgage Rates Were Locked In During Pandemic Lows. In fact, the first code that I ever wrote for OfferUp was sitting in a Goodwill parking lot all day, and I was just sitting there starting to code, starting to think about and mapping out how Goodwill works or how Value Village works or how the existing eCommerce players work. Van Veelen also worked at start-ups, including with Huzar at Konnects, a networking platform. I think they were all great people in their own right, but for what we were trying to build, probably not. How do you guys make money for the people that are listening? Thats equally as important. And I didnt tell my parents, and then my mom found out about it because they wouldnt buy me one. How many employees do you guys have, Nick? If you want me to help you with your fundraising, just book a call. The company has raised $380 million from top tier investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, GGV Capital, Tiger Global Management, Warburg Pincus, T. Rowe Price, and Allen & Company to name a few. We had SUN and Cisco sponsoring these events to the tune of $10,000 each, every month.