A Sneakerhead’s Paradise: Why Do You Collect?
Whether to resell or to wear, we all share a common love for sneakers.
Around five years ago, when I was only 17 years old, I got my first major job at a startup.
They payed really well, so as a teen who had a lot of extra money, I decided to start up my sneaker collection.
As someone who has always played basketball, I always loved sneakers. Though we couldn’t always afford them, my mom made sure I got new sneakers just in time for the basketball season.
However, I was also fortunate to have an older brother who loved both sneakers and basketball just as much as I did. He’s what really inspired me to collect after growing up trying to wear his shoes.
So, in less than two months, I grew my modest selection of sneakers from five pairs to a collection of over 50 pairs.
I had all kinds of brands from Nike to Adidas to Jordan and even New Balance.
Yet, the biggest thing I learned during this time was that many of the new sneakers I had — and even some that I had worn — I could get more money for them than I actually paid.
This was my introduction to the sneaker resale market.
However, the more that I got into sneaker reselling, the more I realized how risky it was for both buyers and sellers. This is when I got the idea for the first version of A Sneakerhead’s Paradise (ASP).
The first version of A Sneakerhead’s Paradise was actually a mobile app that aimed to protect both buyers and sellers by offering authentication services with each transaction. Further, this was one of only two online platforms dedicated specifically to sneaker reselling.
We knew we were in the right space and had the right ideas. However, our competition would gain major investment, and with very little traction, we decided to shut down this first version, but it would not be our last.
After a huge disappointment with the first version of ASP, I took some time off to focus on my transition to college at Lehigh University. During the second semester of my freshman year, I took an Entrepreneurship 101 class that had me fall back in love with the idea I had abandoned.
As a result, following the semester, I participated in a summer-long student-idea accelerator in which I not only revived my original idea but completely rebranded and restructured the business model.
Throughout the remainder of my three years at Lehigh, I would continue to build my team, improve the website and talk to customers with the hope of being able to grow this business and run it full time after graduating.
I took advantage of numerous opportunities provided by the Baker Institute at Lehigh, which allowed me funding and mentorship that would eventually lead to our first investor. With his help, we would finally perfect our product offering, nail down our marketing mix and start to really get the business moving and operating.
Today, A Sneakerhead’s Paradise is far from being the success we envision it being. Currently, we are in the process of searching for more investment to spur more growth.
In addition, over the last month, we have landed a number of key partnerships that will help us provide the very best service for our customers.
With our dedicated team and new customers coming on the website every day, we know there's only a matter of time before this platform takes off.
For now, we remain patient and hungry for our next major opportunity. We have a lot in store, and we cannot wait to share more!
