Jeremy Parker: The Shades of Entrepreneurship

Jeremy Parker's entrepreneurial journey @ 0:00

Jeremy Parker shares his background, starting as a documentary filmmaker in college, then launching his first entrepreneurial venture - a t-shirt company called Teas Antats. He discusses the challenges of that business and how it led him to discover the promotional products industry, which he fell in love with.

The importance of networking and learning from failures @ 5:01

Jeremy emphasizes the value of networking and learning from both successes and failures. He shares examples of how reaching out to influential people like Mark Cuban, as well as experiencing the failure of his social networking app startup, provided important lessons that shaped his approach to entrepreneurship.

Launching swag.com and finding the right customer @ 9:19

Jeremy discusses the founding of swag.com, initially targeting marketing teams as customers. However, he realized the office managers were a better fit, as they could act as a "Trojan horse" to get swag.com's products in front of the marketing and sales teams. This insight helped swag.com grow rapidly over the years.

The creation and vision for Swag Space @ 28:26

Jeremy introduces Swag Space, a new venture that aims to provide promotional product distributors with a turnkey e-commerce platform and back-end operations. The goal is to empower these smaller businesses to compete more effectively in the evolving industry.

Advice for entrepreneurs and future plans @ 38:11

Jeremy shares his perspective on entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of being open-minded, removing ego, and focusing on providing value to customers rather than chasing the "grand slam." He discusses his plans to continue growing Swag Space and potentially launching another independent venture in the future.

Trends in the promotional products industry @ 43:52

Jeremy discusses how the promotional products industry has evolved, with a shift away from just selling t-shirts towards offering more personalized and useful items. He highlights the importance of providing value to customers rather than just pushing branded merchandise.