Marc Lore | Mercenary to Missionary: The Man Behind Jet.com, Diapers.com, and Wonder

The Founder Hour

May 14 2024 • 54 mins

Marc Lore is a serial entrepreneur and self-made billionaire renowned for his innovative ventures in e-commerce. From an early age, he harbored a passion for growth and risk-taking, wanting to be a farmer when he was 4 years old. While not a farmer in the traditional sense, Marc's entrepreneurial journey mirrors the same principles of cultivating and nurturing ideas into successful enterprises.

Marc has founded and sold several companies, notably Jet.com, which was acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion in 2016, and Diapers.com/Quidsi, acquired by Amazon in 2011 for $550 million. In 2021, he founded Telosa, a proposed $400 billion futuristic city he envisions to be a model for urban living with a focus on innovation, sustainability, and quality of life. In the same year, he also launched Wonder, recently raising $700 million to build curated food halls offering a diverse selection of top chefs and restaurants nationwide.

Marc's approach to entrepreneurship emphasizes building mission-driven cultures, prioritizing customer value, assembling exceptional teams, and empowering them to achieve ambitious goals swiftly. His evolution from "mercenary" to "missionary" reflects his transition from pure profit-driven ventures to a deeper commitment to fostering startup ecosystems and guiding fellow founders through the challenging startup landscape.

Marc is also the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx basketball franchises, along with partner Alex Rodriguez. Driven by a desire to push boundaries and support the next generation of entrepreneurs, he continues to inspire and empower others with his wealth of experience and strategic insights into building successful businesses.

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