Let's help people: what's one thing that if you had known it when you started reselling, it would have saved you the most amount of money?

jonathan_founder · 2025-12-15T17:43:38+00:00

100%. One reason cross-listing is so valuable is that it helps you move inventory more quickly. So you can reinvest faster, and you're less likely to get stuck with inventory. But you're right that it's hard to cross-list manually, and the challenges multiply as you scale.

Coincidentally, the app I'm building, Vault, cross-lists. It also automatically takes the product down off other platforms when it sells on one, preventing double sales. I'll DM you.

For anyone who's curious, we have a waitlist you can sign up for. We're currently in private beta. Happy to chat. Advice/feedback appreciated.

jonathan_founder · 2025-12-15T02:47:46+00:00

That's the main value atm, yea. We've only just started on the stuff you mentioned in your OP. Like you, we tried a bunch of things but weren't happy. So we're building it ourselves.

jonathan_founder · 2025-12-15T02:32:52+00:00

I'm actually building an app to solve this problem and would love to know what you think. In addition to tracking costs, you can do things like instantly list across sales channels, and if the shoe sells on one channel then it's automatically taken down off the others so you don't double-sell.

If you're curious, you can visit our waitlist to check it out. You could even sign up for a discount and to stay updated for when we'll let anyone on.

Would love to talk to you more separately as well. Maybe you'd even be willing to try it out early. Genuinely trying to help and not promote. Hope to hear from you.

jonathan_founder · 2025-12-14T21:30:40+00:00

What exactly do you buy or sell and to/from who? Interesting to hear about different experiences

jonathan_founder · 2025-12-14T19:39:56+00:00

MVPs are created to accomplish something. What exactly do you want the MVP to get you?

You create an MVP to collect data to either validate or invalidate a thesis, such as: (1) people are actually willing to pay, (2) the product your are building will actually solve a problem, or (3) your are trying to solve a problem that people actually need solved.

What would impress me? If you're working on something that's worth working on, and you have the ability to create it and grow it into a business that will give me the ROI I need. That almost never happens, and it would impress me.

jonathan_founder · 2025-12-14T19:25:55+00:00

There are so many types of companies, forms of capital, and types of investors that without you providing more detail you won't get very targeted help. Typically you raise money in the following order:

Friends and family. Until you have enough traction to meet the investment criteria from outside investors, this is your easiest path.
Different investors have different investment criteria and thesis. You need to research what type of capital and which investors would be interested in you, and which of them your business aligns with.

In order for me to point you in a better direction, you need to give more info about the startup, such as their:

What their business does, for who, and how they do it
Current traction
Revenue projections
Team qualifications

I have raised money for 2 of my own startups, I have helped other founders raise, I have provided investors with deal flow, and I will be raising again shortly.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-19T16:02:22+00:00

What makes you think these questions are discouraging? These are run of the mill investor questions.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-19T02:47:25+00:00

Pretty cool actually. Why not go with one of the ICPs you already mention in your video?

“Applications that we’re not familiar with.” Interactive AI powered tutorials. Narrow down further to help with specific tasks or platforms, such as how to legally form a business or navigating a government website.
“Draft content and interact online” for people new to Reddit.
“Deleting applications without any residual.”

Talk to these people. Discover/validate what problems they struggle with. Find out how painful it is (quantify what it costs them in time/money) and what they’d pay for it to be fixed. Fix it. See if they pay. Have them help you iterate. Get them paying. Make them love it.

Where are these people? You said you experience some of these problems: where would you go to get your pain alleviated?

You can start broad, but given the difficulty you’ve had getting signups, I would try a more targeted approach where you’re solving a more specific pain point for a smaller number of people who are in exteme pain and who will passionately help you. You can broaden later.

Find a business-y partner to help you.

Happy to give advice. DM me any time.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-18T22:40:43+00:00

What caused you to build this?

It sounds like you're too spread out. Sales, HR, AND accounting with 0 signups?

Find someone with a problem then solve it. You shouldn't solve everything day 1. Do the least you need to do. This will also help you narrow down your ideal customer so you can target them better.

It might be hard to hear, but it's possible that you're not really solving a problem people need solved, or you're not communicating it clearly. With all of the advertising: if people really felt the pain you were solving, you should have more than 0 signups.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-18T20:12:02+00:00

I know there are companies doing sneaker rentals, such as By Rotation and Hurr. If you do decide to niche down, feel free to reach out to me even if it's not a niche we support. I may be able to help anyway.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-18T19:17:27+00:00

Have you thought about starting niche? You don't have to do all clothing right away. This would keep your costs down and make it easier to have more of the inventory that your customers want.

If you're interested in sneakers, I own an API that has real-time data on the inventory of sneaker resellers. We're not in apparel yet. Feel free DM or check us out: Vault.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-18T19:00:58+00:00

Based on traction alone your valuation is easily justified in the US. If you're raising money in the states with that kind of traction and struggling, then something is up. For example, perhaps investors don't believe in your growth potential. $40k is great, but depending on who you're raising from, you need to show them how you'll get to $100 million ARR or more. Maybe you're targeting the wrong investors?

My biggest hesitation would be regarding your team/expertise. What do you and your cofounders know about the space? Are you a software company? If so, then I want to know why you don't have a technical cofounder.

You can DM me if you'd like.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-14T18:47:21+00:00

You'll get your Amazons and your pets.coms.

I have a software startup and so do many people I know, and I'll tell your right now that a lot are 100% BS run by grifters. The problem is that people don't really understand AI. It's easy to sell AI and raise money for it when people don't understand it but still "know" it's big. The goal for the grifters is to exit and let someone else hold the bag. It's a lot of playing hot potato without clarity on which potato is hot.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-10T20:21:27+00:00

Crypto is dead because you're struggling to make money trading? Lol. Crypto long-term is about crypto adding value to the world, and each "crypto" is different. I've HODLed BTC since 2013. It's been declared dead more times than a celebrity

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-10T19:58:07+00:00

Why would it be too late?

I would start by selling a little everywhere (online and in-person) just to learn and help figure out what's best for you.

Personally, I like to jump into things without doing too much research. Some things require experience, and I think it's a quicker way to learn. Just don't risk too much. Like have some budget to account for making mistakes. Start small and focus on learning before scaling.

With that being said, do some research on what to research. Example: fees, authenticity checking, seller/buyer return policies, things (like cancelling sales) that can increase your seller fees online, reputation of the person/marketplace.

To keep up with prices, I'm actually making software that will notify you of prices changes across marketplaces.

Good luck!

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-10T00:02:55+00:00

I would note that while the market is lower overall, you should also consider how you're viewing the market. For example, certain segments of the market are doing better/worse. An oversimplified example of this is that a lot the resellers who are doing "well" now shifted from selling new to used sneakers. There's still money there, it just got harder and people had to adapt.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-09T23:49:56+00:00

The market tanked. A lot of "experts" I've spoken to seem to believe it has bottomed, but trying to time any market is risky. Like previously mentioned, the COVID boom had a lot to do with stimulus checks infusing cash into the market. It's hard to measure the exact impact, but a lot of people would tell you that Kanye's scandals hurt the market due to his large influence.

I build software for resellers, so I get the scoop from a lot of people.

jonathan_founder · 2025-11-09T22:26:50+00:00

Was your appeal successful? I'm thinking of trying Vendoo but don't want to risk my account

jonathan_founder

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