100. Revving Up Ecommerce: The CarParts.com Story, with David Meniane

The Dirt

Today’s guest has a few things going for him that sets him apart from the typical CEO:

✅ CEO of a publicly traded company

✅ Has a streak of 7 years without a day off [Jim note: not sure I’d recommend this for most!]

✅ Runs a website with 100+ million visitors

Join Jim and David Meniane, CEO of Carparts.com as they hit on a variety of topics from strategic consolidation to free cashflow.

3 Key Takeaways

• Define Yourself: On the surface Carparts.com looks like an ecommerce company. But when you peel back a few layers, there is an advanced analytics engine and logistics infrastructure that has been purpose-built over the years to give consumers high-end car parts at a fraction of the cost due to their underlying inventory infrastructure.

• Less is More: Carparts.com used to be one of 17 different digital storefronts owned by the same company. It wasn’t until a strategic decision was made to ‘abandon’ the other stores (that had built up value in their brand following, URL traffic, etc.) and focus on their most valuable asset (Carparts.com). Since turning full attention to Carparts.com, the company has achieved significant growth in revenue and profitability.
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• Speak Last: As CEO, it’s your responsibility to listen. If you’ve done your job right, you’re surrounded by people smarter than yourself in specific areas and are closer to the problems in their areas of the business. So when you’re in a meeting, shutup and listen (respectfully!).

Resources

• CarParts.com
• David’s LinkedIn

About Our Guest

Named CEO of CarParts.com in April 2022, David Meniane is responsible for providing sound strategic, financial, and operational leadership for the organization. Prior to this, David served as CarParts.com’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer since 2019.

Under his leadership at CarParts.com, the company has undergone a comprehensive operational turnaround with record financial growth. The company has achieved eight consecutive quarters of year over year growth, doubling the size of the business in just three years. David hired more than 800 people in 2020 and 2021, and the firm now has over 2,000 employees globally.

About The Dirt Podcast

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