Taking on Amazon by Changing Consumer Behavior, the Evolution of Customer Acquisition, and How to Vet Investors, with Zach Hudson of Deft

<p>Justin Gordon <a href="https://twitter.com/justingordon212">(@justingordon212</a>) talks with Zach Hudson (<a href="https://twitter.com/nosduhz">@nosduhz</a>), co-founder of Deft, an ad-free, SEO-free search engine for e-commerce. A VITALIZE portfolio company, they are building the future of e-commerce search by enabling its users to find, research, and buy products all in one place.</p><p>Zach has 7+ years of experience in e-commerce and gaming technologies, and is a second-time founder. He is a product manager by trade, and a self-taught developer.</p><p>Website: <a href="https://hello.shopdeft.com/">Deft</a></p><p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonzp/">linkedin.com/in/hudsonzp/</a></p><p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/nosduhz">@nosduhz</a></p><p><br>Show Notes:</p><ul> <li>How Deft is enabling trustworthy e-commerce searches</li> <li>The evolution of Deft’s product over the last 2 years (since<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s3sz18xPac"> their presentation to Tyler Cowen</a>)</li> <li>Zach’s background and how he teamed up with co-founder <a href="https://twitter.com/thealexgunn">Alex Gunnarson</a> </li> <li>Narrowing down their target and why they started in the furniture and home decor category</li> <li>Early customer discovery and product development via their “Wizard of Oz” approach</li> <li>How they drove early customer acquisition via organic communities</li> <li>From non-scalable acquisition strategies to the diversification of channels</li> <li>The challenges and complexities of indexing products</li> <li>The evolution of Deft’s business model</li> <li>Determining where to establish a paywall for their product</li> <li>Taking on Amazon and Google, and what differentiates Deft</li> <li>How they vet investors</li> <li>Establishing roles and responsibilities as co-founders</li> <li>How being data driven fuels their growth</li> <li>Which metrics they value most</li> <li>Creating stickiness in their product</li> <li>What’s next for Deft</li> <li>Developing a br