INTHECASE
Cru World Wine Trading and Investment Platform: Bringing Digital to Fine Wine

When Jeremy Howard took over a small retail wine business in 2008, he thought he could do a better job of running it than the original owners. Five years later, he had helped transform it into an online wine retailer – Cru World Wine. From there, it went on to become a highly successful online platform for managing fine wines and spirits, achieving revenues of US$60 million in 2021, a five-fold increase over its first full year of operations in 2014. Learn with Jeremy when and how to pivot and scale a traditional business into a highly successful platform. The discussion is hosted by Henrich Greve, INSEAD Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise.

Why attend?

• Understand the underlying principles of online (web-based) platforms that connect two sides of a market – in this case winemakers with traders, investors, wine collectors and drinkers.
• Hear first-hand advice from an entrepreneur when and how to pivot business models.
• Learn about different forms of expansion – here diversification vs. market expansion – and how platform businesses may have different considerations from manufacturing, brick-and-mortar retail, and even web-based businesses that do not serve two-sided markets.