Former Walmart eCommerce boss Marc Lore said he could make big money in digital retail if he and baseball star Alex Rodriguez started a new venture capital company.
In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Field, the serial entrepreneur stated that they will write bigger checks and place bigger bets on early-stage companies.
As an example, he claimed, they invested $10 million in a 40 percent stake in NOW // with, a startup that connects Instagram followers with manufacturers.
The new company, known as Imaginative and Prophetic Capital Folks or VCP, will start with $50 million in personal money from Lore and Rodriguez. The couple is also in talks to purchase a skilled basketball workforce, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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He said that sooner promising startups give more money to hire experts and invest money in the company, “give the company a significantly higher chance of success and make it a form of self-expression“.
“When you own 40-80% of an organization, you really don’t need that many visits,” he said. “A great success with a 40% share pays off for everything else. And that’s why I like the idea that these bets don’t just focus on the {dollar} scattering. We have the power to really influence and pioneer within the house the company is in, given the capital and the types of people we can bring in.”
He said that when choosing companies, they will consider “retail mega-traits,” which are similar to social commerce and conversational commerce.
Lore is a serial entrepreneur. He joined Walmart when the major retailer acquired its online delivery business, Jet.com, for $3.3 billion in 2016.
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The acquisition was largely viewed as a technique to steal the digitally savvy entrepreneur and his workforce when Walmart tried to advance its business online to conquer as much as rival Amazon. He had previously offered Amazon another startup he founded, Quidsi, the mother or father of Diapers.com, for around $550 million.
Walmart officially closed Jet.com 12 months ago. Lore left his position at Walmart in January and will serve as a strategic advisor starting September.
At the time, he directed CNBC in an interview that he intended to go back to his original roots, invest in startups and create new ones.
CNBC recently reported on one type of company: funding in Surprise, a company that’s a half food truck and half-ghost kitchen.
The company is in stealth mode in an affluent suburb of New Jersey. A fleet of purple vehicles prepares expert lunches in front of buyers’ homes and serves them at a reception desk.
He and Rodriguez agreed to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves in April for $ 1.5 billion, but the deal won’t close.
