a16z Podcast

a16z Podcast: Building Brands and Running Retail

Tristan Walker

Posted September 4, 2014

 

“Unfortunately we are in a period where [physical] stores will become increasingly less important in the total distribution mix for brands,” says Ron Johnson, the man who built arguably the world’s most successful physical retail outlet — the Apple Store. Given that physical retail is expensive, what’s the right mix for startups here?

In this podcast with Tristan Walker (who is building health and beauty brand Walker & Company from scratch), Johnson shares lessons learned from Apple (and other parts of his career) on the challenges of brand and retail in a multichannel world, and Walker shares why the black barbershop will never go away.

More About This Podcast

The a16z Podcast discusses the most important ideas within technology with the people building it. Each episode aims to put listeners ahead of the curve, covering topics like AI, energy, genomics, space, and more.

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