| By
Afshin Shaybani
AllDorm
provides everything from bed and bath accessories to high-end electronic
gadgets for college students.
Users of "AllDorm" are greeted by the slogan, "Your
College Everything Superstore!" upon entering the world of
the college and dormitory necessities provider. Kevon Saber is very
fond of and extremely proud to have created the company along with
co-founders Ryan Garman, Chad Arimura, and Ivan Dwyer. AllDorm provides
everything, from bed and bath accessories to high-end electronic
gadgets for college students who prefer to satisfy all their college
needs online. AllDorm truly offers a great one-stop-shopping experience.
Growing up in Fremont, California, Kevon watched his entrepreneur
parents start several companies and believed in himself that he
too would some day develop his own company. His parents, Kamran
and Cynthia, are currently President and Vice President of American
Printing, a full service commercial printing company in Menlo Park.
After graduating from Mission San Jose High (Fremont, CA) with numerous
awards in mathematics for being among the top percentile of students
across the country, Kevon attended Santa Clara University. Initially
planned to double majoring in Finance and Economics, but had to
settle for a Finance degree with a minor in Economics because of
his responsibilities with his startup company, AllDorm. Says Kevon,
"We started the company at the end of our sophomore year and
I wanted to work full time on AllDorm. So I decided to give up the
double major to focus on building the company. During the last two
years of college, I worked full time while going to school full
time." Now Santa Clara University is where Kevon is frequently
invited to lecture in Marketing, Finance, and Technology classes.
 "AllDorm's
leadership operates at a level of excellence far beyond their
years. Never before have I seen a company make so much out of
so little. While their older counterparts were spending voraciously
on marble entry ways for their office space, Ryan and Kevon
were taking advantage of the first Silicon Valley fire sales
to outfit their office. AllDorm is filling a niche in the retail
space that has been void for far too long. The company has has
grown exponentially in the last few years. With their leadership,
team's finger on the pulse of their market, I believe their
success will continue."
Dana Summers
Former Vice President & CIO with experience in IT, Merchandising,
Marketing, Nordstrom Inc. |
Reflecting back on his own dorm and college days Kevon remembers,
"When we decided that we were going to commit ourselves to
creating a company that would free students and parents from the
pain associated with students' transitions to college, we were sitting
in Chad and Ivan's dorm room. I remember looking around the room
and thinking to myself that "If I were to start a company,
it would have to be with Ryan, Chad, and Ivan for they were the
most talented students I knew then." It's been almost three
years since we started the company. We have been through many trials
and tribulations together, and I've never lost faith in our team.
The company now has 25 people, and I'm glad to say that the unity
and mutual commitment among the founding team and the concentration
of talent at AllDorm has only grown over time."
The way in which the co-founders started AllDorm as well as their
level of commitment to their passion is a textbook of entrepreneurship.
They emptied their bank accounts and sold their publicly traded
stocks to start the endeavor and then - having run out of the initial
investments, they borrowed $30,000.00 from their parents and an
office was setup at Ryan’s home. “We converted one of
the family rooms in the Santa Clara duplex into an office and worked
from 9 AM to 1 AM. Six months later, after receiving seed funding,
we set up a formal office space on De la Cruz Blvd. (this was December
of 2000). Our company has been funded mostly by west coast investors.
Our seed money has brought us further than anyone initially expected,
and we will begin raising our first round of funding in February
of 2003. We know that it won't be, ‘a walk in the park,’
but we're confident that we'll be able to do it. Although our market
is gigantic (college students spend nearly $200 billion annually),
we believe that investors will invest in us because of our track
record, execution, and the financial discipline we've exhibited
over the past few years. If we manage to raise this initial funding,
we will become the largest product and service provider to the U.S.
college market," said Kevon Saber.
All employees at AllDorm are treated as new partners.
Now
markets are far less forgiving than a year or two ago and with that
comes tremendous investor scrutiny and attention to the financials
of the companies in which they invest. With this regard Kevon mentions
"spend significantly less to reach new customers than most
companies, and this is one of the major reasons AllDorm is thriving
when most retail companies founded during the Internet boom have
since closed their doors. Where most retail companies have huge
advertising budgets, we apportion most of our marketing budget toward
exceeding the shopping and product expectations of our current customer
base. This is a model that the Nordstrom Corporation has employed
since its humble beginnings as a shoe store in Seattle, Washington.
Dana Summers, former CIO and Vice President of Marketing at Nordstrom
Inc., imparted this marketing and customer service philosophy into
AllDorm the moment she joined our advisory board. It was easy to
accept her advice because AllDorm's foundation was being laid as
the first pieces of rubble were beginning to fall from the dot-com
implosion. We saw what wasn't working, analyzed what was, and planned
accordingly."
Managers at AllDorm run a very relaxed shop. All employees at AllDorm
are treated as new partners. They are provided the resources, autonomy,
and freedom to be able to fulfill their responsibilities and realize
their goals as efficiently as possible. Kevon believes "The
two greatest things we can give people is the freedom and space
to spread their wings at work, and ownership in the company. We
also have "team dinners" every two months, and it's not
uncommon for a few of us to cook for the entire company at one of
our homes. You'll also regularly find us celebrating together at
a club or even at the office. Recently we went Salsa dancing in
San Francisco!"
We, at SiliconIran, wish Kevon and his company all the success and
hope to see AllDorm become one of the best Internet retailers on
the web. Maybe we can persuade him to offer online Salsa lessons
on his website among other things!
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