Interview with Martin Hosking and Peter Styles of RedBubble
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“RedBubble”:http://www.redbubble.com is a new Australian site which celebrates creativity. It aspires to allow everybody to participate in the creative process as creators, purchasers or commentators and in so doing enrich people’s lives.
Martin (in the jacket) was born in the last year of the baby boom. He studied history and then learnt Arabic and worked as a diplomat in Egypt and Syria. Martin was at the search company “LookSmart”:http://www.looksmart.com from the start right through to the boom and the grim days after the bust. He lives in the Dandenong hills with his family, horses and cows. Peter has always had a bias for the road less travelled – fed by an insatiable curiosity to explore life. After studying Engineering at Melbourne University, he joined the Army. After the Army there was more time spent at university, including an MBA from Melbourne Business School, and a corporate job. It was during the MBA that Peter discovered his professional calling – entrepreneurship. |
How has it been for each of you to found RedBubble together? Martin, do you see Peter working through the same sorts of issues that you worked through when you began “LookSmart”:http://www.looksmart.com?
Martin: I think Peter and I are very compatible from a business perspective. We each have strengths, which we respect in the other and weaknesses, which we forgive. He has a feel for process and people which I lack. I think I bring an experience of what it is to turn the seed of a company into something that endures. Peter will inevitably have to work through many of the same issues at RedBubble that we had to at LookSmart (financing, partnerships, international expansion). I think my experience will make this process easier.
Peter: There is a huge strength in the combination of different skills that Martin and I bring to RedBubble. I should also point out that there is a third founder of RedBubble, Paul Vanzella, who has an artistic style and flare that Martin and I admire deeply. Perhaps the key factor underpinning the strength of our working relationship is the respect we have for each other – this has enabled us to challenge each other and argue very constructively.
Peter, do you find that Martin’s extensive entrepreneurial experience makes him more or less willing to take risks in this venture? What do you think about your risk tolerance, Martin?
Peter: I think RedBubble is more about ambition than risk. We do take risks – but we expend a lot of effort taking the risk out of risky decisions. One of the things that Martin brings to RedBubble is a level of ambition that’s only possible when one’s been involved in a company like LookSmart.
Martin: My tolerance for the risk of a start-up is high because many of the risk factors are under my control. For example, at RedBubble a key risk was raising the first few million dollars to ensure the company had a decent runway. This was a factor which I had a great deal of influence over. It is not like sitting at a roulette table where chance determines whether you win or lose. Yes, luck is important but if you are patient enough, persistent enough and agile enough, you can make a lot of luck.
Does RedBubble maintain its own printing and shipping facility? If not, how did you approach potential partners for that aspect of the business?
Peter: We have a very deep partner relationship for our production and logistics. We are a very relationally driven business – so we just found some people we really liked and we worked with them to build up the capabilities required.
Bonus: What is your favorite piece of artwork that you have acquired through RedBubble?
“Martin’s favorite.”:http://www.redbubble.com.au/works/show/1209
“Peter’s favorite.”:http://www.redbubble.com.au/works/show/913
Copyright © 2007 by Sonia Aggarwal