e-Business Association
The Future of Business at Towson University
EVENTS
Do You Have What It Takes To Run A Successful Business? by Vince Talbert
(Bill Me Later - recently acquired by eBay)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:00 PM in Stephens Hall 216
To run a successful business you dont need to have some incredible or fantastic idea. I mean, you can, but it is not necessary. Vince Talbert (Towson '89), VP of Marketing at Bill Me Later spoke to the e-BA this past Tuesday. His company was sold to eBay this past October for 1 billion dollars! The way that Bill Me Later runs is within three easy steps for the consumer. Fill up your cart online, checkout using Bill Me Later, and as the name explains itself, you will be billed at a later time. Vince stressed that the students should try and experience as much as they can within their college years and lifetime. Talbert experienced 18 different jobs from the time he started college until he graduated. Vince stated that the magic of e-Business is That it is measurable and easy to track and monitor the ROI and anyone is capable of doing so. Vince worked for the Post Office on campus as well as Citibank when he was in an undergrad at Towson. A couple of years later he combined the acquired skills and knowledge of direct mailing and finance to launch the first internet real-time instant approval when he and others who worked at Citibank moved over to start the AOL Visa Card program. The idea for Bill Me Later sparked from a discussion with a Vice Chair at AOL while they spoke about the Bill Me Later option for payment of magazine subscriptions. Now, it was time to prove and validate the Bill Me Later option for online purchasing. Vince went to three different online merchants and tested out this payment option and the results were astonishing. Twenty-eight percent of consumers paid via the Bill Me Later option, only second to Visa. This was the start of the sixth-fastest growing company which was later nominated by Inc. Magazine. Vince stressed to try out any idea, and think about the key question that needs to be answered. So go ahead, take his advice. Come up with great ideas, answer the necessary question, test out and validate the idea. Who knows what success you may have?
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