Will the company disapoint or « Dazzle » its investors ? GROUP 2

1. Will the company disapoint or « Dazzle » its investors ? • GROUP 2

2. Company Profile • Zazzle is an online retailer that allows users to upload images and create their own merchandise in the printed apparel industry • Its major competitors include CaféPress & Spreadshirt • Use a patented color print technology to manufacture multicolored items

3. Company Profile • Users are allowed to open their shop for free and set the» profits they wish to make • Founded in 1999 by Robert Beaver and his sons • In 2010, Zazzle was recognized as the « Hottest Silicon Valley Company 

4. Discussion questions Question 1 • I think that Kleiner Perkins and Sherpalo Ventures investment in Zazzle was a good decision. • These venture capitalists saw Zazzle as a significant breakthrough in e-commerce with the ability for mass customization. There was also a strong culture fit and shared vision between the entrepreneurs of Zazzle and the VCs, as the VCs are interested in break-through ideas in consumer internet services with the objective to guide and mentor entrepreneurs to take good ideas and technology and make them into successful businesses.

5. Discussion questions Question 1 • Described as a cross between eBay and Dell, Zazzle combines a buyers’ and sellers’ marketplace with customized manufacturing of prints, apparel and gifts. • While Zazzle’s entrepreneurs had developed and perfected a new manufacturing technology, they bootstrapped their website and it needed work. The venture capital would allow Zazzle to improve the functionality of their website, expand their market and increase the span of products offer to meet the demands of their customers.

6. Discussion questions Question 1 • Leveraging the expertise and connections of the VCs enabled Zazzle to build the company much quicker than they could do on their own. • While financial results are not available as Zazzle is a private company, I believe the investors have made tremendous steps in elevating Zazzle evidenced by their new partnerships (Disney, Keds, Rockyou, Warner Music, etc.), new product developments (embroidery, custom shoes & skateboards, etc.), strategic acquisitions (Confego and Goodstorm) and tremendous growth in visitors hits on their website.

7. Jason ball’s criticism • In my opinion, his critics are not relevant, because from the beginning he doesn’t believe in the company • He has a biased image of it • His arguments are 100% off-base

8. Zazzle Exit Strategy • Since the items are printed on demande, no need to worry about inventory management • Doing business with this company can be considered as « safe » • Since they handles all customer service, production, shipping, returns, payment processing, and technology, you can focus on creating and selling products

9. Positive aspects • Free to join • Can set up your own online store • Sell as much pdts as you want • Free to set the prices on items • Provide useful tracking report & promotional tools

10. Bottom line • Zazzle is a great option if you're disatisfied with the free version of CafePress or want to offer a wider selection of products than you can with Printfection. • While CafePress remains the big player in the merchandising realm for bloggers, Zazzle is gaining popularity and may be worth testing.

11. Negative aspects • Limited store customization • Quality of the products can be improved much more • In btw their two competitors CaféPress & Printperfection

12. Return on investments • In 2007, the company was recognized as the one with «The best business model » • As a matter of fact, thanks to the 16 M fundings, the company continues to expand its partnership and businesses • Recognized as an easy-to-use technology according to B.Joseph Pine

13. VS • License agreement, at Zazzle we cannot remove our products from their gallery unless we e-mail them. At CafePress we can control our artwork • Customers can choose to become a contributor by sharing their unique creations in Zazzle's public galleries. They can browse, comment and connect with others who share the same interests. Contributors also earn royalties every time their creations are purchased by others

14. VS • Zazzle if free to use, whereas CafePress has a free service and a pay service. The free one is very limited, we can only use an item once per storefront. The pay one will allow us to make unlimited items and a little freedom to change the look of your storefront. Zazzle we can make as many items as our imagination will allow. • Customize Items . We can choose what size they want and also have a wide selection of frames to choose from, whereas at CP we get a frames matted print at set sizes

15. VS • Selection of items at each site is good, but Zazzle does have a wider selection of mugs, tees print sizes and papers to print on. CP is limited. • The storefront on CP is more like a business website where Zazzle looks like it's trying more for a community type. Allowing the comments is a good thing, but can also lead to problems from unhappy customers or anyone else on the internet with a chip on their shoulder.

16. VS • Broader range of products on Zazzle. Zazzle does have a wider selection of mugs, tees print sizes and papers to print on. CP is limited • The prices at Zazzle are higher than CafePress and Printfection. For example, a plain white single-sided T-shirt is listed at $14.95 at Zazzle, $13.99 at CafePress

17. Application Questions 2 • I was extremely impressed with Zazzle’s website.   Creating products is a relatively straightforward process: choose a product, upload image or choose a user-created image, then customize) and the website is easy to navigate.   • They have a broad selection of traditional products (apparel, mugs, cards, art, etc.) along with specialized products (ties, sneakers, skateboards, postage, and dog clothes) and there are over 500,000 user-created products available in many variations.   

18. Application Questions 2 • I liked how easy it was to upload an image to a product and their technology displaying t-shirts on three dimensional models, however, they could improve their product by providing better editing cropping, and lighting of the photos.   I really liked their new embroidery product providing a higher quality and more durable product.   • In addition, there is a Stitch Player that shows 3D animations of exactly how the embroidered design will be stitched.   However, figuring out how to convert an image to be embroidered was a little difficult.  

19. Application Questions 2 • After visiting Zazzle’s website I can see the potential opportunities for the company are very large and understand the VC’s interest in the company. There is a very large market of consumers, artists, small businesses, and major companies that Zazzle can tap into.   • I can see consumer’s using Zazzle’s service to create one-of-a kind gifts and team jerseys, promote corporate or organization identity, for self-expression, to preserve children’s artwork, as well as make income selling designs.  

20. APPLICATION QUESTIONS 2 • Zazzle’s services make it easy for consumers to create customized products at an affordable price and since there in no minimum quantity requirements Zazzle offers a great value to consumers and small organizations.   • The VC’s believe the Zazzle is the outlet to next generation of commerce which will utilized on demand, made-to-order technologies to completely eliminate the economics of scarcity and empower a truly democratic marketplace where anyone can create and/or sell products with no upfront costs.   • Zazzle’s mission is to re-define commerce powered by the world’s imagination. While it’s a very big vision, I think they are on the right track of the future company.

21. Thankyou !