麻省才女的創(chuàng)新狂想
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????對(duì)于阿曼達(dá)?佩頓這位現(xiàn)代發(fā)明家而言，想出好點(diǎn)子固然難，但使自己的發(fā)明到達(dá)消費(fèi)者手中也同樣不容易。“所以，雖然許多人對(duì)打造產(chǎn)品無(wú)比狂熱，但他們不得不花大把時(shí)間處理生產(chǎn)和銷(xiāo)售等各類(lèi)繁瑣問(wèn)題?！蹦陜H29歲的極客網(wǎng)站Grand St.聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人阿曼達(dá)?佩頓點(diǎn)評(píng)道。這些發(fā)明家無(wú)法對(duì)產(chǎn)品精雕細(xì)琢，只能疲于奔命地應(yīng)付和工廠和零售商。“太沒(méi)勁了?！迸孱D一語(yǔ)中的。 ????佩頓一直對(duì)《鋼鐵俠》（the Iron Man）中的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)情有獨(dú)鐘。她曾花了好幾個(gè)月時(shí)間，計(jì)劃去打造這樣的吞金怪獸。不過(guò)，這位科學(xué)怪才最后瞄準(zhǔn)了電子商務(wù)，創(chuàng)辦了一家專(zhuān)注硬件銷(xiāo)售的網(wǎng)站。當(dāng)然，佩頓信心滿滿地稱，亞馬遜（Amazon）、沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）和百思買(mǎi)（Best Buy）都存在不足。在這些地方，大部分產(chǎn)品僅僅被當(dāng)作普通商品羅列，而不是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的存在。 ????佩頓和軟件工程師喬?拉盧以及亞倫?漢莎一道在曼哈頓創(chuàng)建了極客網(wǎng)站Grand St.。去年秋天，Grand St獲得了150萬(wàn)美元種子基金，投資者包括First Round Capital、Quotidian Ventures以及視頻博客Gary Vaynerchuk等。網(wǎng)站的宗旨是：打造制作人社區(qū)，鼓勵(lì)創(chuàng)新，幫助推廣產(chǎn)品。 ????菲尼亞斯?巴恩斯是First Round Capital的合伙人，也是Grand St.的資助者之一。他解釋說(shuō)：“不少人在尋找獨(dú)一無(wú)二的東西。他們不愿意去百思買(mǎi)購(gòu)買(mǎi)千篇一律的產(chǎn)品。這些人更愿意支持獨(dú)立的匠人?！?/p> ????Grand St.的理念和百思買(mǎi)截然相反。目前這個(gè)網(wǎng)站只支持受邀請(qǐng)用戶，出售的商品絕對(duì)千奇百怪，而且包羅萬(wàn)象，例如使用方塊型手柄操作的互動(dòng)游戲、巴掌大的大麻汽化器，甚至還有成人玩具，不過(guò)這些產(chǎn)品都組織得很有條理。Grand St.每次推薦三到五種商品，每種都是限時(shí)銷(xiāo)售，每隔幾天Grand St.會(huì)更新一批商品。進(jìn)行推薦前，佩頓和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)花上幾周時(shí)間測(cè)試產(chǎn)品。 ????Grand St.的效率非常高。決定采購(gòu)第一批貨前，它會(huì)向發(fā)明家確認(rèn)有足夠的存貨。隨后Grand St.以批發(fā)價(jià)買(mǎi)入商品，再加價(jià)銷(xiāo)售。一旦真正開(kāi)賣(mài)，Grand St.會(huì)密切監(jiān)視銷(xiāo)售情況，同時(shí)預(yù)測(cè)市場(chǎng)行情，以決定后續(xù)采購(gòu)。佩頓表示完善的流程能確保Grand St零庫(kù)存，即存貨剛剛好或只多出一點(diǎn)。換句話說(shuō)，Grand St.極少有資金會(huì)浪費(fèi)在滯銷(xiāo)的存貨上。 |
????For the modern inventor, getting her creation in the hands of consumers can be just as trying as conjuring up the product in the first place. "So many people who build hardware love building products but spend all their time doing manufacturing and distribution," explains 29-year-old Grand St. co-founder Amanda Peyton. Many inventors would rather focus on polishing their product but get sidetracked dealing with factories and coaxing retailers. As Peyton puts it, "It sucks." ????Which is why, after several months of toying with the idea of building a cost-prohibitive real-world version of the supercomputer featured in the Iron Man flicks, the serial tinkerer set her sights on setting up an e-commerce site that improved how hardware is discovered. Surely, she reasoned, there's a better solution than Amazon (AMZN), Wal-Mart (WMT), and Best Buy (BBY), erstwhile warehouses where most inventory is arguably viewed as commodities rather than unique products. ????Together with software developers and co-founders Joe Lallouz and Aaron Henshaw, Peyton launched the Manhattan-based Grand St. last fall, a startup funded with a reported $1.3 million from First Round Capital, Quotidian Ventures, video blogger Gary Vaynerchuk, and others. The goal: establish a maker community where innovation is encouraged and wares can be easily discovered. ????"There are people who are looking for something unique," explains Phineas Barnes, a First Round Capital partner and Grand St. backer. "They know more than to go to Best Buy and pick up something that is one in a million. They'd rather support an independent craftsman." ????To wit, Grand St. does the opposite of a Best Buy. Visitors to the invite-only website may notice the site's selection is unorthodox and wide-ranging -- an interactive game with cube-based controls, a palm-sized marijuana vaporizer, even an adult toy -- but curated. Grand St. highlights three to five products at once, each one on sale for a limited time, swapping in a new one every few days. Peyton and crew will test products for weeks before they make a decision about whether to put it on the site. ????If and when they do, they're efficient about it. Grand St., which buys at wholesale prices then marks them up, will make sure an inventor has an adequate quantity of something in stock before snapping up a small initial order. Once the product is available on the site, it will closely monitor initial sales, predict how it'll perform overall, then put subsequent orders through with the inventor. Peyton says their process ensures there's always just enough product to go around but also negligible surplus. In other words, very little of Grand St.'s capital goes to waste on unbought inventory. |
