Ep. 23 - Jan Bednar - Shipmonk

From humble beginnings growing up in the Czech Republic to inclusion in Forbes' vaunted 30 Under 30 list, Jan Bednar's entrepreneurial journey has been a dynamic one.

The journey began when, at the tender age of thirteen, Jan began working as a DJ. By the age of seventeen, he moved to the United States to learn English and go to school in pursuit of the American dream. Shortly after moving to the States, Jan became everybody's new best friend back home because he had access to American brands and products that didn't ship internationally.

The demand for American brands was so high that Jan turned these favors into a profitable business, ultimately winning a pair of business plan awards while attending Florida Atlantic University. Following his graduation in 2014, Jan propelled his package forwarding business even further by going through Tech Runway's accelerator program.

While attending Tech Runway and learning more about the antiquated shipping industry, Jan identified an opportunity to work directly with eCommerce companies and launched ShipMonk to focus on revolutionizing the order fulfillment industry.

Jan's multichannel approach has taken hold well: ShipMonk has hit major revenue milestones, growing over 8,000% in the past three years, from $130,000 in 2014 to $10,900,000 in sales in 2017. This trajectory was achieved despite being entirely bootstrapped.

ShipMonk operates with one clear principle: leveraging technology to provide a one-stop-shop service for eCommerce companies. From inventory management to supply chain optimization, the end result of this tech revolution in order fulfillment is a cloud-controlled global supply chain for eCommerce businesses of all sizes.

ShipMonk currently employs over 90 people between its Prague development office, Florida and California warehouses. Jan continues to work relentlessly on further enhancing its technology platform, integrating automation, and releasing ShipMonk's first SaaS product for eCommerce businesses who want to handle their fulfillment in-house.