In this episode of The Disruptive Successor Show, Jonathan speaks with lifelong entrepreneur Raine Mahdi, the Founder of Zipfox.com, as he shares his early exposure to entrepreneurship through the lessons of his parents, particularly his mother. Raine grew up in San Diego, where his father's brother was managing Muhammad Ali's business. His mother, on the other hand, took a journey to the United States from Iran which itself was an entrepreneurial story. He witnessed the radical transformation of his mother, who went from living on welfare to cashing in checks and proudly showing the envelope packed with hundred dollar bills. She taught him the lesson that nobody is limited by their circumstances and that you can go from welfare to wealthy with hard work. Raine talks about how his mom always encouraged him and made him believe in his ideas and business goals. He shares his first experience with arbitrage, his favorite way of selling when his mother taught him that he could buy a dozen donuts and sell them at school for a profit. This taught him that he could sell something and create demand. Raine describes his other early experiences as an entrepreneur and notes that he has always been interested in a lot of different things, a curiosity that has helped him become a successful entrepreneur. He also discusses how execution is a challenge for many entrepreneurs, and how he has always been a great taskmaster in getting things done. From being a young entrepreneur, Raine went on to reinvent dropshipping 13 years ago by connecting his love for arbitrage to the biggest suppliers in the world in China. Since then, Raine has gone on to grow Zipfox.com, the world's first global product-sourcing platform, and how he opened up trade to the US through Mexico. Raine explains that choosing between suppliers in China and Mexico requires a more profound look beyond the cost of the goods themselves. Now, what matters is geopolitical risk and shipping cost, as shipping from Mexico will be just a third of the shipping from China. Establishing norms around fair compensation is also at the heart of Raine’s business and he stresses the need for fair practices because companies that abuse this will not get away with it for far longer. HIGHLIGHT QUOTES RAINE: Seeing his mother rise from welfare to wealthy was critical "You're not bound by your circumstances. You can change your circumstances. I don't think I consciously thought that at a young age, but looking back, I did connect those dots that like, wait, we were struggling, now we're not. She worked really hard. You don't have to accept your circumstances. And that's critical, that's key to everything I do." RAINE: Take your idea and sell it to yourself first before anybody else "You start to realize, you have to know what ideas to sell yourself. The first person you have to sell on is yourself, and so now I'm a tougher sale than I used to be. Now, when I hear an idea or I think of an idea obviously, I'm vetting it better." RAINE: Sourcing from China, Mexico, or the US is about choosing the right supplier "You can find the whole spectrum of quality in China, and the whole spectrum of quality in Mexico, and the whole spectrum of quality in the United States as well. So it's really not a question of is, all-encompassing, is Mexico low quality or high quality, or China, or the US? It's how are you going about vetting the proper supplier?" RAINE: Grow your business by accessing talent from all over the globe "There is nothing that is more landscape-changing and pivotal than the introduction of the global talent pool and the access to that. It is a gold rush. It is a game-changer, and especially for small businesses." Connect with Raine in the following links: About Raine Zipfox.Com If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe, review and share with a friend who would benefit from the message. If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Jonathan Goldhill’s book, Disruptive Successor, go to the website at www.DisruptiveSuccessor.com
In this episode of The Disruptive Successor Show, Jonathan speaks with lifelong entrepreneur Raine Mahdi, the Founder of Zipfox.com, as he shares his early exposure to entrepreneurship through the lessons of his parents, particularly his mother.
Raine grew up in San Diego, where his father's brother was managing Muhammad Ali's business. His mother, on the other hand, took a journey to the United States from Iran which itself was an entrepreneurial story.
He witnessed the radical transformation of his mother, who went from living on welfare to cashing in checks and proudly showing the envelope packed with hundred dollar bills. She taught him the lesson that nobody is limited by their circumstances and that you can go from welfare to wealthy with hard work.
Raine talks about how his mom always encouraged him and made him believe in his ideas and business goals. He shares his first experience with arbitrage, his favorite way of selling when his mother taught him that he could buy a dozen donuts and sell them at school for a profit. This taught him that he could sell something and create demand.
Raine describes his other early experiences as an entrepreneur and notes that he has always been interested in a lot of different things, a curiosity that has helped him become a successful entrepreneur. He also discusses how execution is a challenge for many entrepreneurs, and how he has always been a great taskmaster in getting things done.
From being a young entrepreneur, Raine went on to reinvent dropshipping 13 years ago by connecting his love for arbitrage to the biggest suppliers in the world in China. Since then, Raine has gone on to grow Zipfox.com, the world's first global product-sourcing platform, and how he opened up trade to the US through Mexico.
Raine explains that choosing between suppliers in China and Mexico requires a more profound look beyond the cost of the goods themselves. Now, what matters is geopolitical risk and shipping cost, as shipping from Mexico will be just a third of the shipping from China.
Establishing norms around fair compensation is also at the heart of Raine’s business and he stresses the need for fair practices because companies that abuse this will not get away with it for far longer.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
RAINE: Seeing his mother rise from welfare to wealthy was critical
"You're not bound by your circumstances. You can change your circumstances. I don't think I consciously thought that at a young age, but looking back, I did connect those dots that like, wait, we were struggling, now we're not. She worked really hard. You don't have to accept your circumstances. And that's critical, that's key to everything I do."
RAINE: Take your idea and sell it to yourself first before anybody else
"You start to realize, you have to know what ideas to sell yourself. The first person you have to sell on is yourself, and so now I'm a tougher sale than I used to be. Now, when I hear an idea or I think of an idea obviously, I'm vetting it better."
RAINE: Sourcing from China, Mexico, or the US is about choosing the right supplier
"You can find the whole spectrum of quality in China, and the whole spectrum of quality in Mexico, and the whole spectrum of quality in the United States as well. So it's really not a question of is, all-encompassing, is Mexico low quality or high quality, or China, or the US? It's how are you going about vetting the proper supplier?"
RAINE: Grow your business by accessing talent from all over the globe
"There is nothing that is more landscape-changing and pivotal than the introduction of the global talent pool and the access to that. It is a gold rush. It is a game-changer, and especially for small businesses."
Connect with Raine in the following links:
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe, review and share with a friend who would benefit from the message. If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Jonathan Goldhill’s book, Disruptive Successor, go to the website at www.DisruptiveSuccessor.com