Overstock.com owner speaks of business, life

Business students got to hear the life lessons of a true pioneer, one that’s a homegrown Loganite, Wednesday afternoon.

Jason Lindsey, creator and owner of Overstock.com and an innovator in the world of e-business, who graduated from USU in 1996 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business and accounting, revisited his alma mater to speak to a group of around 150 people about his business and the things he’s learned from it.

Overstock.com is an online business based in Salt Lake City that buys surplus products from other companies and sells them online. The idea of Lindsey’s business, he said, is finding a fragmented supply of small lots and highly variable products, and getting it to an equally fragmented demand from people who want small volume transactions that have a seasonal variety. That means getting unique, even odd, products to the people who can use them, such as Mickey Mouse waffle makers or handmade jewelry.

Lindsey’s business has grown to be worth $800 million and has 780 employees as well as hundreds of suppliers and partners, he said.

“When the first order came through, we all stood up and looked over the cubicle at the computer screen,” Lindsey said. “We were like, ‘Did you see that? We actually sold something.’ Now you can’t snap your fingers as fast as boxes are coming off the line in the warehouse.”

Lindsey shared what he said are some of the most important lessons of business.

“Choose integrity,” Lindsey said of his first lesson. “It’s what makes societies and relationships work.

“The reason people aren’t rushing to the Middle East and investing in the infrastructure of these countries we’re in is because there’s no rule of law. There’s no way to know someone with a machine gun will come and take away what you build there. Or the government, for that matter.”

Lindsey’s second lesson was to find a place where a business fits and can be noticed. Being one of the few successful dot-com businesses, Lindsey said the important thing is to have a solid business model that can survive ups and downs.

“Fads wear out,” he said, “but if you have an underlying business model that will differentiate it from everything else, that will be the key to success.”

Lindsey said this also meant it’s important not to be afraid to give up on an unsuccessful venture or to fire people.

“I’ve had to fire rooms full of people bigger than this and all at once,” he said. “It’s terrible, but it’s business.”

Being conscientious is important when communicating with others, he said. Miscommunication could cost a lot more than people realize.

“Don’t let ambiguity exist when your career is at stake,” he said.

Lindsey’s fourth point was wealth is something owners achieve, not employees.

“There is an arbitrage between employees and employers,” Lindsey said. “Everybody who works for you you need to make money off them. But there’s a lot of security in being an employee, and I suggest doing that for a long time and learning a lot.”

The last thing Lindsey said was important to remember was that balance doesn’t exist in the short term, so students and people in business shouldn’t annoy themselves trying to find it.

“Sometimes you have to just work really hard,” he said. “It’s like spinning plates. You can’t keep all of them spinning at once. You have to see the one that’s wobbling and pay attention to just that one for a while.”

Lindsey also said his background in accounting was useful to him. Accounting is the language of business, he said. Once someone learns accounting, he said they can do anything in business.

“I can talk to anyone in the company and feel as knowledgeable as I need to be,” he said. “I can talk to people in finance, marketing, anyone. It’s a very good background to have.”

-elizabeth.lawyer@aggiemail.usu.edu