Despite dropping out of university, having no publishing experience and not even being a book lover, Tony Nash decided he could take a punt on the commercial possibilities he saw in online book-selling, in the internet’s infancy. Shrugging off the risks of going up against the already dominant player in that same market – Amazon – Tony convinced a few family members to support his vision, and started Booktopia, an entirely Aussie home-grown online book seller. What began as a small hustle on the side – Tony’s brother gave him a budget of $10 a day to create Booktopia, & he had to continue doing his day job at the same time – was built over the next 15 years into an e-commerce success story. Booktopia is set to achieve almost $220 million in revenue this financial year, employing 250 people, with a healthy chunk of all online book sales. But along that journey to success for Booktopia, exactly what impact did Jessica Seinfeld’s best-selling memoir have? And was there ever a single lightbulb moment for Tony Nash? Well, listen and you’ll find out. Hope you enjoy Part 1 of Tony Nash’s unorthodox entrepreneurial story

<p>Despite dropping out of university, having no publishing experience and not even being a book lover, Tony Nash decided he could take a punt on the commercial possibilities he saw in online book-selling, in the internet&rsquo;s infancy. Shrugging off the risks of going up against the already dominant player in that same market &ndash; Amazon &ndash; Tony convinced a few family members to support his vision, and started Booktopia, an entirely Aussie home-grown online book seller. What began as a small hustle on the side &ndash; Tony&rsquo;s brother gave him a budget of $10 a day to create Booktopia, &amp; he had to continue doing his day job at the same time &ndash; was built over the next 15 years into an e-commerce success story. Booktopia is set to achieve almost $220 million in revenue this financial year, employing 250 people, with a healthy chunk of all online book sales. But along that journey to success for Booktopia, exactly what impact did Jessica Seinfeld&rsquo;s best-selling memoir have? And was there ever a single lightbulb moment for Tony Nash? Well, listen and you&rsquo;ll find out. Hope you enjoy Part 1 of Tony Nash&rsquo;s unorthodox entrepreneurial story</p>

Candid interviews with successful Self-starters. On Build It. They'll Come, you'll hear from some amazing Australian entrepreneurs who bet big to build great businesses. Journalist Helen Dalley interviews business innovators and visionaries on how they turned their lightbulb idea into a viable, sustainable enterprise. 

This podcast is about the human face behind taking a simple idea and turning it into a business or movement. It's the beating heart behind what it takes to build an empire, from concept to execution, and how they actually achieve it. Fuelled by blind faith and hard slog, how they transform their dream idea into concrete reality.

Journalist Helen Dalley interviews business innovators and visionaries on how they turned their lightbulb idea into a viable, sustainable enterprise.

Build It. They'll Come.

How Booktopia cofounder Tony Nash believed he could compete against massive Amazon in online book-selling, and win, by taking one step at a time; & how stocking a Seinfeld best-seller proved a game-changer

Advertisement