In this episode, I sit down with Adrien Nussenbaum, co-founder and US CEO of Mirakl. Mirakl is part of France’s 40 most promising startups and widely seen as the next French “unicorn.” Their online marketplace technology today powers over $1.5B gross margin value (GMV).  In our talk, Adrien discusses the big trends in eCommerce, how companies need to do to adapt, and how they built a $100M ARR business.

[1:00] - How you came about starting Mirakl and the significance of the name

[6:52] - How does Mirakl fit into the e-commerce landscape

[11:25] - How Mirakl helped the French government during the coronavirus crisis

[19:09] - What are the typical use cases for online marketplaces in B2B and B2C scenarios

[24:26] - Trends in e-commerce

[31:17] - Trends in buyer behavior

[35:27] - Who are the losers going to be in e-commerce?

[37:37] - How will online marketplace technology impact amazon?

[41:10] - How did you build your brand and get your first few customers?

[47:39] - As a coach to Harvard Business School, Rock Accelerator Program. What are the most common problems or questions you get from the startup founders?

Favorite book: The Sun Also Rises by Ernst Hemmingway