Laura Behrens Wu nominated by Parker Thompson
Parker Thompson is Venture Partner at 500 Startups in San Francisco, California.
Entrepreneur: Laura Behrens Wu
Age: 24
Title: CEO
Company: Shippo
Founded: 2013
Industry: Logistics
Number of employees: 8
What they do: Shippo has created a simple API that helps e-commerce companies significantly lower their shipping costs while simplifying their logistics operations.
What makes her company unique? The company aggregates demand across businesses and has global relationships with carriers. They are bringing sophistication that was once only available to companies like Amazon to small businesses everywhere.
What are some of her awesome achievements? The company is growing rapidly and has over a $1M run rate. They are working with some of the best startups in the Bay Area already, and have a phenomenal team.
Tell us why this entrepreneur should be a 2014 She’s Got Next winner: Laura is an amazing leader and founder. She understands her customers and has the leadership qualities and maturity to build an amazing company. This is reflected in the quality of the team she has assembled, as well as their impressive accomplishments as a business.
Let’s talk to Laura
Lioness: Where are you located?
Laura: Our startup is based in San Francisco. I’m originally from Germany – ctually half German, half Taiwanese.
Lioness: Why did you decide to launch your startup?
Laura: I decided to launch Shippo because I saw a real problem in e-commerce that merchants were facing every day: Shipping is essential in e-commerce and it’s eating margins and causing hassle for merchants. There was no straightforward solution to simplify the shipping experience and to lower shipping costs so I decided to build it. I got extremely lucky that found a real problem that needed solving.
Lioness: How do you feel about being a Who’s Got Next winner?
Laura: I’m extremely happy and grateful that I’m where I am now. A year ago I was still an intern. Everything happened really fast, also because of the help of 500 Startups. I’m still stunned that I was even considered for the award.
Lioness: What does being a female entrepreneur mean to you?
Laura: Being a female entrepreneur in tech means a lot for me because we are unfortunately still underrepresented. I’m glad to be able to contribute to more diversity in the Silicon Valley tech landscape and to raise awareness.
However, it shouldn’t be only about gender. Being an entrepreneur in general is one of the best decisions that I ever made, though I probably won’t call it a conscious decision. It simply feels incredible to see something that I have built myself grow.
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