Anthony Bucci: Opportunity Clicks

2011, Holiday Cheer & Eli the Elf

2011-12-10T12:07:00.001-08:00

I am still not quite sure exactly why our landlord loves to star in our RevZillaTV videos, but he continues to oblige us whenever we call - so long as RevZilla's rent is paid on time.

This 2011 holiday season Eli starred in a few videos and our latest for RevZilla's December Deals is one of my personal favorites of all time. Ironically enough, it had the lowest budget and took less than an hour to shoot.

Happy holidays to everyone out there and those folks who continue to help support RevZilla.com, whether by voting with their credit cards, busting their hump as part of TeamZilla or continuing to help guide Matt, Nick and I along the way.

2011 was big. Even bigger thangs to come in 2012.

I've got a feeling. (...woo hoo).

-Anthony

RevZilla makes the grade.

2011-06-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

I love customer feedback.

"Great prices and excellent video reviews...keep it up. I took an e-commerce class and my final project was an analysis of revzilla.com...got an "A" thanks"

... at RevZilla.com, we're doing it for the kids.

Cinco de Moto 2011 at RevZilla

2011-05-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

We are still unsure about the lasting impact on this one or the brand message it conveys to our audience. While we were filming it, it felt a bit "phoned in". We only became more comfortable with the fruits of this effort after one of our staff choked due to spontaneous, uncontrollable laughter during the internal screening. The title of said screening was "are we sure we want to do this?"

I am also still not sure if we produce these for our customers or purely for our own amusement. Some days it feels like 11th grade video production class - with a real budget.

Submitted for your approval, I give you Cinco de Moto 2011: A Revolution of Savings.

On a side note, we wished we would have filmed the looping sessions with Eli playing Castro. He kept doing this odd high-pitched half French, half Gollum from Lord of the Rings, voice. There was a welcomed, yet slightly confusing, absurdity to it all.

Anthony

Thanks for the MBA, Fred Wilson. Fake Grimlock is the Bonus.

2011-05-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

After being at the co-helm of a start-up (which is now an emerging business) for the last 3.5 years, I have learned a ton about what I know, what I thought I knew and what I need to learn more about. There are many online resources that I follow and digest daily, as well as some which serve as great reference points on a slew of business topics which are both leading edge and fundamental.

Since I graduated in '04, I have always had a twinge of "would an MBA be coming in handy right how" as we have enacted strategies for RevZilla.com addressing business elements which we know have been solved by every other company in their comeuppance. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling of reinventing the wheel.

These days I have more of a comfort level in the fact that over my education and early career I had "learned how to learn". If I don't know something, I am confident in my ability to get the answer through a number of channels; the interwebs, my colleagues, advisors, mentors etc. Being secure on that front helps me to sleep a bit better these days.

One of my favorite daily resources is AVC.com, the blog of venture capitalist Fred Wilson. It's a great commentary on the current start-up ecosystem, market trends, investment community and his "MBA Mondays" section continues to be interesting and valuable. The community leaving comments on any of his posts are the icing on the cake.

My co-founders and I always joke that we are getting the "start-up MBA". On the fly. On the web. Putting it to use, every day. We are living our own case study.

It's thanks to guys like Fred, who are sharing a career worth of knowledge and insight, daily, which continue to make this possible and allow us to learn from his wins and losses, albeit at an arms length. I hope to be able to pay it forward like that at some point. It would also be nice to bump into him and get a chance to say "Thank you" in person as well. The tech entrepreneur world is becoming big and small at the same time. It will probably happen.

If you still are not sold, they also have Fake Grimlock. Find his comments. Thoughtful and funny. You will laugh. Unless you are unfunny.

Anthony

StellaService - The Best of the Best. Get us nominated.

2011-04-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

A friend recently turned me onto StellaService - they are positioning themselves as the Michelin Guide for online retailers. Seeing as "customer experience" is what we believe to be RevZilla's holy grail, I am eager to get enough nominations for them to take a peek at us - and hopefully shower us with rose petals, adulation and potentially Cristal.

I also had a chance to chat with one of their co-founders on the phone and ended our conversation thinking they were pretty sharp in their approach to an already crowded space. I wish their company success in the start-up ecosystem.

If you would like to nominate us I would greatly appreciate it. You can find the RevZilla StellaService nomination page here.

-Anthony

RevZilla Supporting the Youth with a Scholarship in 2011

2011-04-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

I love that RevZilla has made it to the point hat we can help the next generation via a RevZilla Scholarship. I guess it's a bit of a side affect of being old and somewhat successfully running the business - yikes. But I like affecting the youths none the less.

I'm also not sure if I am most happy about offering the help or thinking that the winner might just throw a ridiculous party with his or her winnings and maybe "make it rain" at some point.

Either way I am happy to do it and got to have a bit of fun writing up the entry form.

Here is how I started:

-->

We're giving away $1000 bucks. You could win. It would obviously rule.

Headed to college and want to win $1000 bucks to buy books, food or other "stuff"? Enter the RevZilla.com College Scholarship Contest and win $1000 bucks. Its simple, answer in 500-1000 words one of the following questions...

<--

Who would of thought I could add "Donor" to my credentials at 30 in a way that did not involve my organs.

See the full post in all it's glory here: http://www.revzilla.com/college-scholarship-contest

Anthony

RevZilla.com Named to Internet Retailer Magazine's Hot 100 2010 List

2010-12-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

I guess the silver lining on the flurry of sales call's I will be getting soon would probably be RevZilla's name in "lights" again.

Even still, its pretty cool to be on the merchant side of things building something that has been deemed noteworthy by an industry I have spent so much of my professional life involved in.

See the Internet Retailer Hot 100

RevZilla.com Win's 2011 Emerging Business of the Year for the Philadelphia Region

2010-11-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

Very proud to be included in the list of Philly's favorite sons for 2011. The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce is a well respected entity and this year marks their 28th Annual Business Awards for the Region. We are obviously ecstatic to be chosen at the winner of the Emerging Business of the Year.

You can find the full article on GPCC.com at this link to the full RevZilla Article.

Begin RevZilla Article Excerpt -->

“RevZilla is a proof that innovation and teamwork can still allow you to make your own luck, even in tough economic times.” – Anthony Bucci, RevZilla.com

In 2006, no online retailer addressing the 38 billion dollar per year power sports vertical had truly adopted a next generation, consumer-centric online strategy. The “big bet” was that a “Zappos style” approach to customer service coupled with leading edge eCommerce technology could enable three friends to bootstrap and launch a multi-million dollar online business from the living room of their apartment – without external investment.

From rough idea to a launched eCommerce site in about four months, RevZilla.com began selling motorcycle gear and parts online in November 2007. In spite of the failing economic climate, at the ninety day mark RevZilla.com was cash flow positive and Matt, Nick and Anthony had a feeling their “big bet” could be a winner.

From time to time RevZilla’s founding team can be heard referring to the business’s near instant success as the “perfect storm” of ingredients. Their complimentary skills in internet technology, marketing and design for consumer-facing eCommerce coupled with a shared passion as motorcycle hobbyists lent itself well to developing new ways to serve other motorcyclists online.....

For more check out the Revzilla article on the GPCC web site.

Anthony

Halloween is not to be missed... ever...

2010-11-09T14:58:00.001-08:00

As you get older, don't lose Halloween. There is plenty of other time to be a parent, work hard, do old people stuff. Don't miss Halloween. Do it every year. Rope your wife in. It will keep you young.

Russell Brand, Katie Perry and Elmo had a night out on the town.

Like I said. It's not to be missed.

Anthony

RevZilla.com in the Philadelphia Business Journal

2010-10-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

They certainly got the headline right, as we do seem to be this "Internet Bubble" throwback startup in the midst of the social and mobile revolution - using social and mobile of course - albeit started in our living room.

It's nice when your hometown gets behind your cause and wants to help highlight what you're currently losing your hair over... er I mean "building and enjoying".

I love the picture, you can call us the "Ghetto Avenue Street Boys" fresh off our Canadian tour opening up for Justin Bieber. Sad when you company photo could be a bad boy band album cover. Ha!

Check out the RevZilla Article here.

Thanks Peter for a great article and for the kind words from David as well.

Now back to the fun...

Anthony

ReturnFail.com - The best of the worst.

2010-08-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

At the volume that RevZilla.com does at this point we get over a hundred returns a week. Typically customers seem to get it and take the time to send us gear back in the condition and shipping container that we originally sent it to them in. Normal decent people understand this. We clearly outline it through the entire process.

I would say that 1% of those customers dramatically miss the mark in some fashion. Its comically bad, almost. Its at the expense of our time, money and sanity, usually.

We have had a few times where we could not accept a return at all because it was in such bad condition. We unfortunately have to send those instances back to the customer - and that is the most terrible mess for us and them that can possibly happen. I shudder thinking about those instances.

In a recent debacle a customer challenged us and we rebutted with pictures of the damaged items which we now save and catalog to guard against credit card chargebacks, BBB Issues and defensibility of our reputation in the forums. The process for documenting bad returns is named after the customer who created such major problems returning items that he spawned an internal process which now bears his moniker.

If there was ever a silver lining, it would be using these rotten examples as a point of reference for new customers returning an item for the first time as an example of "what not to do".

The bonus is the amusement factor in all of this because god knows I love to nickname things.

Today I am proud to give you returnfail.com.

-Anthony

RevZilla Named to the 2010 AlwaysOn.com's Top 100 Companies on the East Coast

2010-06-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

Let the ink flow... :-p

We were excited to find out this week that we were named as one of the Always On's Top 100 Companies on the East coast for 2010.

"After examining the companies that are on the AOE100 list, it's obvious that innovation is not only alive and well on the East Coast, it's accelerating in economic power and scope." says Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. "The companies certainly represent some of the highest-growth opportunities in the private company marketplace."

We were one of their 17 picked in the Consumer Internet Category.

Check out the AlwaysOn.com 2010 Top 100 Companies East Article.

You gotta love the fluffy awards...

Anthony

RevZilla in the News

2010-06-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

What can I say? RevZilla has been kicking ass and taking names for a while now. We're no longer the new kids on the block in our industry anymore - now we're just the intersting kid on the block, the one that the bigger guys are watching like hawks as we continue to eat our spinach. As long as it's still fun.

Got some press this week within the industry. They asked for a picture of us and we still don't have a staged shot of us on bikes or in our showroom so they got the classic (low budget) Indy Garage tour pic which we all think makes us look like we are ten. Hilarious.

Full Article about RevZilla.com bringing it in the CS department.

A Q&A I did for the Mag

As well as an eCommerce Round Table with some other industry guys

I guess we need a pic for this so this is the one I will choose.

Here is us having a pose off with John from Colemans in DC somewhere in Northern Italy. We called him the "Fake Ric Flair" for the entire trip.

Anthony

The things we do for our kids....

2010-05-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

My daughter recently turned 2. Instead of doing the stock $400 little kid pizza party at "barneys playland" we opted for the much more intimate backyard party with close friends and family using my parents house as the venue.

While $400 initally seemed steep for the alternative, after mulching the backyard, food, prep, setup and tear down, it was clear to me that the premium for "barneys playland" is the ability to show up, play, make a mess, eat then leave. But I guess deep down we wanted something a bit more memorable for Isa and ourselves.

So what started with cake and ice cream for family turned into food, tents, a pinata, jumping castle and pony. Yup I said pony. Slightly embarrassing.

All of it went off without a hitch. Many thanks for the help from all our "helpers" - Even the crazy pony lady that showed up in an Eagles sweatshirt with the pony in a white molester van. (I actually still have some residual guilt from this)

Any parent reading this understands the why behind it all. To eventually get to the following moment, which you hope they remember forever. As parents you now you will.

Not sure how we'll ever top her second birthday. But maybe she'll just remember that she had a blast that day.

Anthony

RevZilla Indy Biz Trip Recap with the RevZillans

2010-02-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

This whole "starting a business" is now almost 2 and a half years old and I have to admit it's becoming a lot of fun.

Check out this video from last week's trip to Indianapolis for the big industry show.

TeamZilla was out in fullforce. In the industry they're calling us the "RevZillans" now.

Anthony

I hate being such a fan boy... but... Tony Hawk made my week.

2010-02-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

Via twitter, Tony Hawk is all over the map and remains a notable personality who does a great job of engaging with their fan base.

At 29, I am still an engaged fan.

I have always had a soft spot for skating and when I was a kid Tony Hawk was my favorite skater. Actually he's still my favorite skater now. My biz partners give me enough grief on a regular basis about my fandom and I still get the occasional barb about "even though you built a halfpipe in the RevZilla warehouse - Tony Hawk is still not coming to skate with you. ever." It's comical and I always take it in stride. I think I knew the stakes going into it when I turned 29 and decided to take up a reasonably sized footprint in prime dotcom warehouse real-estate for a miniramp. I had not skated since I was 16.

Well for some time I have seen the Tony Hawk Foundation (tonyhawkfoundation.org) raise money, with Tony as it's obvious pitchman, for skateparks in different communities both in the US and internationally. Well a while back he called for a donation and I decided to chip in $25 bucks. I think it builds 1 square foot of concrete "obstacle" at the park to be built. The bonus prize for my generosity? An Autographed picture sent my way with whatever I wanted on it, mailed directly to me.

I wanted it made out to "Rad Anthony", and I was obliged with a full color 8x10.

I spent most of my life not being rad. As I head toward 30 I am changing all that. I now have a daily reminder on my bulletin board to be rad from another rad dude. Thanks, Tony!

And oh yeah, and if you ever want to donate to a good cause to "help the kids" - THF fits the bill.

-Rad Anthony

(for the record my wife and biz partners think this is ridiculous, but I don't care. )

Excerpts from RevZilla Negotiations are Always Amusing

2010-02-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

I just posted a note to our RevZilla customer base explaining the lengths that we go to offer them the best experience. I think it's funny. Maybe you will too.

I hope everyone sees the humor.

Read High Noon in West Texas on the RevZilla.com Blog

2009 New Years Resolutions Recap - Revisited by Line Item

2010-01-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

This writeup has been sitting in my draft folder since mid-December. I was about to write another post tonight and when I did I found this gem, which I barely remember writing.

This would be my list of 2009 resolutions and then a commentary on how they went down last year - in their full unapologetic glory.

1. Have 1 phone that lasts the full year without getting destroyed or thrown.
- Didn't Make it. Not even close. 3 iPhones this year. Loss.

2. Care more about parking tickets. ie try to avoid getting them.
- Got new house with 2 spots in Old City and RevZilla's new DC has Parking. I Cut PPA donations from thousands to probably a couple hundred bucks for the year. Winner. Win.

3. Be more detail / roi oriented in the office.
- Always have room to improve, but am happy with gain. Push.

4. Make it to 2010 without losing a fight with another credit card terminal.
- I actually think I pulled this off. No stitches or bloody clothes in 2009. Win.

5. Be more patient with everyone.
- Meh. Push.

6. Get a piece of my once strong tolerance back.
- Parenting got more manageable. Tara and I bounced back a bit socially. I can hang again. Win.

7. Build a halfpipe in my warehouse and ride it.
- Shockingly I pulled this off. I can do 7 tricks. Win.

8. Strive to continue to grow RevZilla smartly and organically
- blew the doors off it during a frickin recession no less. Such a win.

9. Be more humble
- I was the same humble. Push.

10. Start buying and wearing funny t-shirts again.
- Not taking off my glasses, LMAO, Santa is Coming - Busted Tees. Win

11. Start my own lifestyle clothing brand.
- Gracefully abandoned it for more profitable ventures. Focus is a virtue. Loss.

12. Practice what I preach 100% of the time
- So tough. Had my moments of hypocrisy. Loss.

13. Play more guitar and start learning piano
- Absolutely picked the guitar back up, now doing it with my daughter. I sing and play she sings (jibberish) and dances. No piano though. Half Win.

14. Surround myself with more people who I aspire to be like
- Met some great new friends in 2009 and grew stronger friendships with solid current acquaintances. Win.

15. Go from journeyman to ninja of Analytics, SEO and SEM
- Not there yet. Loss.

16. Hang out with Tommy Lee, Axl Rose and Mr. T & See a good concert.
- Hung out with none of them, but talked to Charles Barkley (fav athlete of all time) twice. Also saw Motley and Def Leppard from the 5th row. I'm taking a win on this.

17. Retire the Trash Truck.
- Still have the trash truck. Wife drives it. Sucks. Loss.

18. Blog more about biz.
- I twittered more about biz. Doesn't count. Loss.

19. Start shooting skeet / trap again with my Dad.
- Nope. Bummer. Maybe in 2010. Loss.

20. Read a great book a month if not more often.
- Nope. Didn't have the frequency. Loss.

21. Learn 3 more staple dishes that don't involve a grill or beef.
- Yep. Asparagus, Baked Chicken, Fajitas and Fish. Win.

22. Snowboard with my wife at least once.
-Damn. Maybe in the next 60 days. Loss.

22. Reduce my red meat intake.
- Nope. Delicious murder all year long and was on a lamb kick earlier in Q1 of 09. Loss (secret win).

24. Spend more time with Family.
- Getting better at compartmentalizing. Win.

25. Stop and relax more often.
- Kinda Sorta, but not really. Loss.

26. Be less competitive outside of the office.
- Ugh. Just give me the fail whale. I still want to conquer it all. Ambitious to a fault. Loss.

27. A/B test when available rather than making a gut decision.
- More A/B testing than not. Its a good thing and we stepped it up. Win.

28. Meet more east coast tech rockstar vc's who shall remain nameless for the time being. Its a short list.
- I met them all. Mission accomplished. One of my favorite things about this year is that I forged some great new relationships with some really interesting smart and accomplished folks. Honored they would share their time with me. Big Win.

29. Become a better listener.
- Incrementally beter. If I was a 5 now I'm a 6. Push.

30. Take more pictures.
- Pictures, Video, Streaming Media etc. This was the year I became super-media focused storage is free or cheap. Why not record it all? Win.

31. Go on more fun "dates" with my wife.
-Mos def. Win.

32. Wear more gold chains and velour track suits around South Philly. (submitted by jody ferry)
- Even though I could, better judgement still got the best of me. Loss.

15Wins - 13 Losses - 4Push

I batted .535 this year. Not bad, but there is always room for better. I still need to make my 2010 list.

We will have to see how it goes.

Parents Guide: 8 Tips For Getting the Most Out of the "Mall Santa"

2010-01-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

We Took Isa to see the Mall Santa. Hilarity ensued. Enjoy. I love when my wife lets me make guest videos for her Mommy Blog. See the Full Post on BabyMommablog.com

Anthony

Article in KeystoneEdge.com on RevZilla.com

2009-11-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Got some other electronic "ink" this week from KeystoneEdge.com about RevZilla.com.

"Bucci proudly calls RevZilla's small and talented team the company's biggest marketing expense and encourages the under-30 crew play hard as well with pinball machines and a skateboarding halfpipe at its 18,000 square foot warehouse in Philadelphia, where it features a high-end showroom that regularly attracts visitors from more than two hours away. "

Finally a journalist tech-savvy enough to actually understand what we do! I was beginning to get jaded.

Check out the full article here: Three friends rev up the motorcycle market with eCommerce horsepower

Anthony

Interviewed for Starter Stories

2009-11-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

I was interviewed last Friday for the Starter Stories video series. It was a fun experience looking back - and looking forward.

You can see the rest of the Starter Stories Video Series here.

Anthony

My Wife vs. The RevZilla Ramp

2009-10-13T15:44:00.001-07:00

Tara has infiltrated the "man room" at RevZilla HQ. I know its been a lot of half-pipe blogging lately, but it is still new and has brought a lot of joy.

Watch Tara vs. the Ramp. It's amusing. I promise.

Anthony

The Best Customer Feedback RevZilla has Received in 2 years

2009-10-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is how my Monday morning started this week. I am still grinning. It's nice when customers really "get it".

=============== Begin Email ================

FROM: Bill S.
TO: RevZilla Customer Service

Once in a great while, like in almost any circumstance of life, you run across someone or something that's doing it well.

You feel good about having worked with them.

A collaboration of sorts.

Like a custom set of Snap-On's box end, open end combinations.

Ta Da.

Revzilla needs to recognized and thanked, and I'm here to do it.

From the word "Go," I had a smile on my face for the entire marketing trip.

The website is easy to navigate, there's a price off, and you get it in my hands in a hurry.

Another company includes 2 day delivery in their price, recognizing that the purchase high is starting to wane at that point.

Putting the product in the customer's hands at that point, extends the enjoyment of the purchase.

OK, I'm off my soap box.

Follow-up (some inaccurately call this post sale or back room) was beyond its pedestrian duties of taking the money and putting the product in the consumer's hands;

Would that be called the actual, instant of the sale ?

Sometimes, we forget the sale takes place at the point of exchange.

Where the rubber meets the road, even.

Many organizations, on-line and off, never get the shiny side up.

They leave the customer ambivalent, at best, at the end of the sale.

No loyalty is created.

It takes so much money to make that first sale, it's cheap at almost any price now to make that customer come back.

Revzilla is doing that.

My gosh, you've even got admirers for the way you're handling yourselves!

You even go right to having the product either drop shipped or coming directly from a mechanized warehouse, I would suppose, with minimal handling and in mfr. wrap.

However you do it, it's delivered in an acceptable range of days.

It's certainly a psychological distance from over a week (8 - 10).

Now cap that off with an icing of Olympia packaging.

Superb.

Better than the norm.

It looks good even in the box.

The folding adds to the selling of the product.

The included hangers will continue to advertise Olympia from the closet, every time the door is opened, for years.

This is a far cry from pulling it off a rack in a store, and dealing with a clerk that is working to get discount pricing.

The requisite "Thank You" note is 8 1/2 X 11 no less.

You're serious about this.

You mean it.

But, sales.

Smooth.

My memory of it is nothing.

Seamless.

Invisible.

An example to be emulated.

Thinking back, I can't remember a time I was sped along so quickly to the sale.

The guy I worked with, not even ordered from, worked with. . . .

Have him teach how he does it.

Collaborative.

You've got this marketing thing dialed in.

From here out, it's fine tuning.

The tough part.

You've done the first 80, no, 86 % percent so well.

Now, it gets tough, but, you guys are so far ahead of the curve already.

My advice to you is to hold onto your hats.

You really see the customer as more than a number.

Maybe you got some of the good Markeing MBA's, those that go behind the research and numbers, get out from behind the screen.

I just wanted to tell you Revzilla's on track.

Wow.

You're a breath of fresh air in the on-line retailing business.

Thank you for the transaction.

Bill

=================== End Email ==================

No, thank you, Bill. You made my day.

-Anthony

Congrats to my Brother Carmen & Lora on their Marriage!

2009-09-22T09:41:00.001-07:00

My baby bro got married last Friday night! Congrats to you both!

You gotta love iMovie and Grandmoms who throw gang signs!

Step #2 bring the work and play together... SkateZilla eCommerce & Meat Consortiums

2009-08-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night we had our first official SkateZilla at the RevZilla warehouse. Skating the miniramp has been great - skating the miniramp, eating grilled meat and talking eCom / social networking is that much better.

I invited a bunch of old friends who I know skate and also happened to be talented web dev / designers over to "play". What on a whim started as a miniramp distraction in our motorcycle warehouse, has now very quickly evolved into a chance for me to bring two things I love together and be reasonably productive.

It also gives me an outside chance of getting hurt a couple times a month and everyone knows that I can't resist danger.

About 8 of us hung out from 6-10, ate drank, dropped in and talked a ton of shop. I will take that over the standard "meet after work for a dink" any day of the week any time I can.

Our SkateZilla tweets even got retweeted a bit and next time around - in two Wednesdays on 9/2 - we may have a coupe more talented new web people whom I don't know previously, coming to play - Granted they sign the waiver. :-P

We are shoting for every other Wednesday. If you are a web geek who rides, shoot us a line.

Obviously we took some shots for posterity. You can see them on RevZilla's Flickr. SkateZilla #2 Gallery

...and here is an obligatory video of me falling down the ramp - in High-Def, no less!

Before you comment, yes I know it blows out the layout, yes I know I am not that good at skateboarding and yes I know that pads are for wusses. I don't care.

Booch