Jeremy Cai’s interest in manufacturing was inspired by his parents, Chinese immigrants who do auto part manufacturing in Chicago. As a young adult, he observed the old model used for manufacturing, one that had seen little change in decades, and thought about how it might be improved.

His idea was simple: create a platform to allow manufacturers to sell directly to their customers. This would allow the manufacturers to double or triple their profits while customers save money as well. At age 23, he put his dreams into action. He met with 400 manufacturers in one year to attempt to convince them to invest with his platform. Out of the 400 meetings, he got 3 yeses. Though it was much harder than he expected, he didn’t abandon his idea. His resilient, hopeful spirit is truly indicative of a great entrepreneur. 

With those 3 manufacturers, Cai launched his company, called Italic, starting with handbags, scarfs and eyewear. At first didn’t want to take a cut from any of the sales, but rather charge a membership fee to use the site, a totally new approach to the process of buying manufacturers. However, customers weren’t willing to pay the $100 fee at first. Like a good entrepreneur, he pivoted, charging instead a small markup on items while he built brand awareness.

A little over a year later, after gaining a strong, positive reputation as a company, Cai was able to bring back the membership idea, now with eager customers get put on a waitlist to join. Not only that, but Cai has made thirteen million dollars in venture capital to scale the business.

I am particularly inspired by how Cai was able to act so boldly, talking to so many manufacturers, based on an observation of a broken system that others around him didn’t see, and how he faced so much resistance, and yet pushed for the change that he knew would bring improvement. All of our young, entrepreneurial minds have a lot to learn from Jeremy Cai.