In a confidential email sent in October to his management team revealed yesterday by TechCrunch, Oliver Samwer, the co-founder of German incubator Rocket Internet, had crude words for the management of Lamoda.ru, the online shoe retailer he launched in Russia earlier this year.
“Our team fucked up in Russia,” wrote Samwer, complaining that Lamoda.ru failed to become number one in the country – a reference to Lamoda’s competition with Sapato.ru, launched in 2010, which remains the most recognized brand in this market segment in spite of Lamoda’s repeated marketing assaults.
Among the causes for the failure is that “Russia did not do reports like Germany and so they screwed up,” Samwer asserted.
“The key is in measurement. There is tons of lessons in Russia mistakes and Brazil there,” he continued in his halting English.
Blitzkrieg e-commerce
“If I see that you are wasting my money, that you are not German detail-oriented, that you are not fast, that you are not aggressive, that you are not data driven, that you are not doing logistics well, upload inventory fast, buying wrong inventory, then I get angry and do like in Russia, where no people leading the company now and I lost a ton of money and the founders lost 50% of their equity and no salary for 6 months.”
Samwer praised, by contrast, “the German and Brazilian successes.”
In an inspired style, he boasted to be “the most aggressive guy on Internet on the planet.”
“I will die to win and I expect the same from you!,” Samwer concluded, calling upon his team for a “blitzkrieg.”
In an answer to TechCrunch, Samwer apologized for using the term “blitzkrieg” as well as for “the general tone of the email,” which he said he wrote “in the midst of his enthusiasm.”
Update Jan. 25, 2012
Samwer’s angry comments have generated quite a bit of interest, including in his native Germany. A Berlin-based band named ‘Terrible Inc’ has even dedicated a popular song to the incident. Its new single, titled ‘Blitzkrieg,’ quotes parts of his comments in the lyrics and features a humorous refrain of “Oh, Oli, Oh Oli, do like in Russia!”
