E271: Pivoting from a Gaming Platform to an Ecommerce Company

How time flies. We’re right past the middle of the year. Soon it’ll be the holidays, a busy time for any ecommerce seller.

People in ecommerce may have similar experiences, but stumble into the industry in a lot of interesting ways. 

Daniel Buelhoff’s story is pretty out there.

A short time after graduating from college, he and his partners were able to raise €12 million to fund Smeet, a social gaming company. When that venture went south, he pivoted to ecommerce with an expiring Nespresso patent. Now, he sells physical products online through Gourmesso and is expecting 8-figure revenues. 

In this podcast you’ll learn:

• How Daniel got his start in business (4:17)
• How he and his partners raised €12 million in venture capital to start the gaming company Smeet (6:14)
• How the changes in Facebook had an adverse effect on Smeet (9:54)
• Transitioning to ecommerce with an expiring Nespresso patent  (13:55)
• Achieving success with Gourmesso in such a crowded niche (22:23)
• Expanding to the other niches and acquiring more businesses (29:25)
• Some things that helped him grow his coffee business (34:53)

Listen as Daniel shares inspiring insights on finding a niche, maintaining it, and growing it to the n'th level.