OnBuy boss Cas Paton discusses ‘horrible’ six months and major plans
Cas Paton, Founder and CEO at British online marketplace OnBuy, has opened up about the trials and tribulations of e-commerce startup life.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “I’m not going to lie, this past six months has been horrible.”
“Focussing on product and getting our house in order after significant growth over the past four years has been nothing short of horrific. I've never worked harder in my whole career, and that's a big bold thing to say, coming from someone that has never stopped working hard.”
Challenges on top of Brexit and Covid, he added, have included: Scaling up too fast; Recruitment market has been really tricky; Lack of product team and process for larger teams; Huge development BAU needs and no resource for improvement; Compliance and regulatory changes; and tax and internationalisation tax changes.
Paton commented: “It's hardly been rosy - there's been so much going on and so many sleepless nights, stresses, strains and absolute frustration like never before.”
On the plus side, “this business is well worth the pain. We're doing a great thing - and we do it for the right reasons. To be a great shopping channel for customers and a great partner for retailers.”
“There's an enormous team here that believe, and strive for OnBuy to be the best marketplace. My team give me energy every day. We have amazing people who work to deliver brilliance to the business. We're dedicated and committed to delivering a great shopping site this year.”
Paton signed off by promising some “major things coming that are going to raise the bar, and set OnBuy up as a fantastic place for customers to shop.”
This includes new features, new checkout, and a new experience.
He also said that his LinkedIn post was for “all of those doing it. It does not get easier, it absolutely gets harder. But when you start to see the light, it's starts to get really exciting - and we're seeing lots of light now!”
