Hardware Podcasts

diapers.com: Marc Lore. The ecommerce visionary who lost to Amazon but still made billions (2021)

How I Built This · 30 Mar 2026 · 1h 13m

What this episode covers

Marc Lore, founder of diapers.com and jet.com, explains how he built an e-commerce empire by using diapers as a loss leader to drive traffic to higher-margin baby products. He details the 'scorched earth' strategy Amazon used to force his sale, including slashing prices and threatening to destroy the business, which led to a $550 million acquisition. Lore then launched jet.com with a $750 million raise to compete directly with Amazon, leveraging a smart pricing engine and efficient supply chain before being acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Amazon, Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Quidsy, Tops, WizKids, BJ's, Sam's Club, Costco
Products
diapers.com, jet.com, Pampers, Huggies, Wag.com, Soap.com, Beautybar.com, Yo-yo.com, Casa.com

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