Friday, February 18, 2011

Alexa Is Paperless (1)

I managed to show up on time. I simply ran after I got out of the train. I was on time. I showed up at 2 PM. At first I went into the wrong building. I was supposed to show up at 151, but I walked into 115. The place did not have an elevator, and I am having thoughts of walking up nine flights of stairs. I will definitely be late, I thought. Then I realized I got the house number wrong. I got out quick. And I ran. I showed up. On time.



I took an immediate liking to Alexa's new office. This would be my idea of a great office space. There was this big, open space in the middle. There were work tables. People ended up facing each other, although at some distance. There were unused work spaces. Obviously Alexa had expansion plans.

So there was this open space. And there were adjacent dugouts on the periphery. Alexa gave me a quick tour. The place smelled like new. Here's a meeting room. This is the kitchen. Here's another meeting room.

The kitchen was great. I took an immediate liking to it. I don't know if she sensed that, but that is where we sat for an hour over water.

It was an amazing conversation. The best part for me was when Alexa announced she was already profitable. I might have eeked out something or the other in excitement.

"Really? When did that happen? When did you hit that mark?"

"December. December 2010."

Alexa launched PaperlessPost right when the Great Recession hit. She put a basic product out. All her investors have been people who first used the product because someone sent them a card or an event invite using PaperlessPost.

To have a 27 strong team, and to have achieved profitability in two years, that's amazing. This dog is going to hunt.

City Bakery After PaperlessPost
Dumbo And Union Square
Friday 2 PM On: PaperlessPost.com
Alexa's PaperlessPost
Alexa Hirschfeld: CNN 2010 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs
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