Dan Gilbert, who runs multiple billion dollar businesses including Quicken Loans & the Cleveland Cavaliers, is one of the best entrepreneurs in the world.

But like any great entrepreneur, when he saw a market ripe for disruption, he had to get involved.

Time for a thread

1) Let's start in 2015...

Dan Gilbert started to notice something interesting:

“The amount of interest & activity among my boys and their friends about sneakers was just crazy."

Thinking it might just be his kids, he asked other parents.

The answer?

"95% said the same thing”

2) As Dan Gilbert dug deeper into the secondary sneaker market, he saw glaring issues.

"Transactions were murky, information was limited & it was based on trusting strangers with your money"

His idea?

A stock market for shoes, where efficient pricing is set by supply & demand.

3) Armed with an idea to disrupt another multi-billion-dollar industry, Dan Gilbert went looking for an entrepreneur to take charge.

Enter, Josh Luber.

Luber was gaining attention in the sneaker industry for his startup Campless, which aggregated sneaker pricing data from eBay.

4) After finding someone who he thought could build the business, Dan Gilbert convinced Josh Luber the only way he knew how — floor seats at a Cavs game.

Within weeks, Gilbert had acquired Campless and Luber moved to Detroit.

Next up, StockX.

5) So what exactly is StockX?

Think about it this way...

Before StockX, sneaker buyers had to shift through hundreds of listings, risk receiving a counterfeit, and had no idea if they were actually paying a fair price.

With StockX, you're relieved of all those concerns.

6) StockX acts as a stock market for the secondary sneaker market.

You'll find a bid/ask pricing system & green-and-red arrows showing whether prices are going up or down.

The best part?

StockX authenticates the sneakers for you.

But how do they make their money?

7) StockX makes their money through 2 main revenue streams: Processing Fees & Transaction Fees.

For each sale, the seller is charged a flat 3% processing fee and a transaction fee ranging from 8% to 9.5% is applied.

With over 7 million trades annually, those fees add up.

8) Over time, StockX has leveraged their existing authentication infrastructure to expand their product offering in a cost-efficient manner.

Today, you'll find everything from $5,000 Air Jordans to a $70,000 Louis Vuitton x Supreme Trunk on StockX.

9) Just 4-years after launching, StockX now does over 7M trades annually worth a combined $1.7B.

2020 Forecast
— $350M in revenue
— $141M in gross profit

StockX now has ~1,000 employees across the US, UK, Netherlands and Japan.

But with success came additional investors.

10) As StockX continued to expand aggressively, adding additional categories like handbags & watches, celebrities took notice.

Investors Include:
— Mark Wahlberg
— Scooter Braun
— Karlie Kloss
— Steve Aoki
— Marc Benioff
— Eminem

Currently, StockX is valued around $2.5 billion.

11) Now with a $2.5B valuation, StockX wants to redefine retail.

Imagine this: What if Nike sold shoes directly on StockX?

Rather than selling them for ~$150 at retail & watching them trade for $600+, an efficient market like StockX could set initial price.

That's their future

12) In the end, will StockX be able to redefine the future of primary market retail distribution?

Only time will tell, but with a world-class entrepreneur like Dan Gilbert involved, I certainly wouldn't bet against them.

Remember, winners win.

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