I had the pleasure to chat with the former CEO of Naked Wines, Rowan Gormley. We have discussed the following (Important. Rowan has retired from Naked Wines and his only relationship with the company is as a shareholder. When he refers to Naked as “we” that is just an old habit!):
03:01 – His reason to retire
04:11 – How retireement changed his life
05:38 – His Naked Wines stocks
06:26 – Business people he admires
09:18 – How long people work at Naked Wines
09:42 – Digital business leaders he admires
11:40 – Authenticity
13:34 – The flaws of the wine market
17:44 – “Your margin is my opportunity” in the wine market
20:15 – Getting A-List wine makers
22:38 – The time horizon of getting A-list wine makers
23:24 – The US wine market
26:38 – Blockages in some states
27:17 – Problems with changes in the US wine market
29:00 – The sale of the retail business
31:07 – Data driven approach vs gut feeling
32:43 – The customer and the producer at Naked Wines
34:33 – Naked Wines – a wine bank? A community? A social network?
36:45 – Engagment of customers
37:55 – Making producer and customer happy
41:15 – Education/enligthenment of the customer
43:24 – The similarity of Naked’s concept and the concept of Value Investing
44:49 – The bad customer reviews
47:16 – The reaction on customer reviews
48:15 – Not selling is the best strategy
51:55 – The employees
54:34 – The mission of doing good
55:54 – The churn rates
Here you can find the customer reviews:
- https://www.trustpilot.com/review/us.nakedwines.com
- https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/nakedwines.com
