Interview with Fabrice Grinda of OLX

Earlier today I got a chance to interview Fabrice Grinda, the co-founder and co-CEO of OLX. For those who are unfamiliar with OLX, it’s a free classifieds website that has an online presence in more than 80 countries and in more than 30 languages. Each month, OLX generates over 400 million page views and is hugely popular in countries such as Spain, Portugal, India, China and many countries in South America.

Founded in early 2006, OLX has received nearly $30 million in funding and now boasts 125 employees. It’s estimated that more than 1.5 million new classified postings are added on a monthly basis.

Fabrice Grinda is a name that all online entrepreneurs should know. Prior to OLX, he co-founded Aucland S.A. (a popular auction website in Europe) in 1998. Later, Fabrice Grinda founded Zingy Inc., a company that deals in wireless media. In 2004, he sold Zingy Inc. for a reported $80 million. His blog, Musings of an Entrepreneur, is required reading for anyone in the startup business world.

Without further ado, here is the interview with OLX’s Fabrice Grinda.

Stephen Kersey: During the startup phase of OLX, what were the biggest challenges you faced?

Fabrice Grinda: The biggest difficulty we faced – and still face when we launch new countries – is to attract enough people who post listings and who reply to listings.

Given the benefits if transactions happen we can usually convince car dealers, real estate brokers and head hunters to post on the site, but it takes a lot of effort to reach out to them and make them aware we exist. Fortunately, once the virtuous cycle gets started ever more posts attract ever more replies and the site takes off organically.

SK: Many people have compared OLX to Craigslist on steroids. What do see as the most important advantages of OLX?

FG: Craigslist works fundamentally well and there is no one big feature missing. It’s more the sum total of small improvements that make a step change in the user experience. Those include:

• Having a fantastic mobile site where users can do everything they can do on the web (http://m.olx.com)
• WYSIWYG Ajax editor for users to generate colorful rich listings without knowing HTML
• Direct support for pictures and videos
• Improved search in key categories – especially real estate, cars and personals with nice Ajax sliders
• The ability to search within a certain distance from your zip code, including in all categories on a national level
• Pictures on the listing and search results pages

The list is endless :)

SK: OLX is popular in many countries around the world. Going forward, what additional countries do you hope for OLX to tackle?

FG: We are already present in 87 countries so we are not missing many countries. We are currently working on launching Bangladesh, El Salvador, Iceland, Sri Lanka, Malta and Egypt.

We are considering launching in Africa and the rest of the Middle East but not taken a final decision yet.

SK: For the long-term success of OLX, do you believe that you need to make a significant dent in the American market?

FG: Our success does not depend on succeeding in the US market – there are many large markets which can sustain us. However, we believe we can become a relevant player in the US market.

SK: OLX has an amazing amount of Web 2.0, social media and mobile functionality. How much of your company’s quick growth do you attribute to those three aspects?

FG: It’s hard to make a direct attribution, but my instinct is that the improved functionality is the only reason people are willing to give us a chance at the beginning so it’s very significant.

SK: On a personal level, you’re already a very successful entrepreneur. Have you always been drawn to entrepreneurship or is it something you have learned to love?

FG: I was definitely drawn to entrepreneurship from a very young age. As a kid, I grew up playing with computers and saw Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as role models. I was lucky to see that my youthful passion could actually be turned into a job I love!

SK: What is one piece of advice you’d give to others who are considering creating an online startup company?

FG: Just do it!

Many people will tell you your idea will never work. You may fear that competitors will steal your idea. The reality is that no one really knows what will work or won’t work. As for competitive threats, they pale in comparison to the difficulties of executing on an idea.

These days, the costs of launching a startup have never been lower. If you want to try something, just launch it and see what happens. You will learn a lot and adjust accordingly. You can never launch early enough! Worse comes to worse you will have had a fun learning experience.

Check out the free classifieds OLX website and leave a comment to tell us what you think!

Free Classifieds at OLX