Profile: Donny Ouyang and Blackcart

What is Blackcart?

Blackcart is a Series A tech startup based in Toronto. At Blackcart, we build a try before you buy software for eCommerce brands.

We partner with these brands to let their customers add items to their shopping carts, get them shipped to try at home for free, and only pay for what they decide to keep.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

I’ve always disliked the online shopping experience in general - I find it mind-numbing and the opposite of therapeutic. It feels like a chore, and I wanted to make it easier for myself.

In-store shopping has one clear advantage over eCommerce - letting people try stuff before they buy it. For example, if you walk into a SportChek and you want to buy a golf club, you'll want to pick it up, feel the weight of it in your hands, and maybe take a couple of practice swings before you're like "OK, this one's for me".

Same thing for makeup, clothing, Macbooks, couches, guitars, anything. You obviously can't do that online - even though it's always been part of the fundamental success formula of retail.

I think that this is why in-store shopping still reigns supreme after 2 decades and a pandemic, even though online is more convenient, has more selection, and is often times cheaper. We built Blackcart to let any eCommerce store launch and run a Try Before You Buy program.

How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?

It took a while to get off the ground, but we’ve since built an incredible team of extremely talented and driven folks, working with merchants around the world, facilitating millions of dollars of TBYB experiences, enabling TBYB for apparel, bedding, electronics, makeup, footwear.

Shoppers find the program attractive because of their ability to try new products without needing to be 100% certain that it’d be a fit for them and their lifestyle. Merchants find the program attractive because it makes a material impact on conversions, average order values, and bottom-line sales each month.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

Blackcart started out as a side project that Maraz (my co-founder at the time) and I would work on outside of our actual jobs. Starting and building during the early days was purely for fun. It stayed as a side project until there were some early indicators of product-market fit. At that point, Blackcart had already become so much of my personal identity, and knowing how hard it was to get Blackcart to where it was, there really wasn’t much of a choice but to go all in.

What has been the most pleasant surprise?

Seeing ‘try before you buy’ work well outside of apparel. When Blackcart first started, the thinking was that it’d be an online equivalent of a physical fitting room. Then we saw merchant success with categories outside of apparel (electronics, makeup, bedding, etc).

While apparel continues to be our largest category by volume, our largest and fastest-growing merchant partner is now non-apparel.

What is your super strength?

I’m pretty good at discernment → quickly finding creative ways to solve challenging problems by weighing a whole bunch of random contexts. I get excited when there’s an impossible-seeming problem, where the payoff for success is big.

Who is the unsung hero on the team? Why?

John Li - Head of Operations at Blackcart and my first hire - is an unsung hero.

I was at 500 Startup’s accelerator program in San Francisco at the time when I called John to ask for help. 24 hours later, he was on a flight to SF, going from a 6-figure job to joining a tiny unproven startup with no money, doing everything from making merchant calls in coffee shops to manually processing orders.

Even today at 15x the team size, John keeps the same hustle and jumps into every hard problem no matter the function.

What are you trying to achieve over the next 12 months?

Canada represents only 5% of our business today. We’d like to continue to grow our merchant footprint while expanding our reach in Canada substantially.

What advice do you wish you had been given prior to launching?

Who are the 5 Canadian startups you like in your market?

• ReturnBear - make your inventory more profitable

• Casca Shoes - the daily pursuit of wellness

• Silk & Snow - curated sleep and lifestyle products

• Mejuri - create unique and one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces

• Sampler - the ultimate product experience platform

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Forum is always funding and ready to build with you through our Studio, Accelerator, and Seed funds. We are writing 8 checks a month this year to B2B SaaS founders.

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TechTO Talent

Customer Data Analyst, TealBook (Canada, Remote)

Why is this cool? TealBook is a data company built with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, committed to making a product that uses cutting-edge technology to unleash new possibilities within the procurement space. Your role is to be the point of contact to research, define requirements, and report on Supplier Data within our product. >> APPLY HERE

Customer Success Coordinator, Thriver (Toronto, ON)

Why is this cool? Thriver is a platform for discovering, booking, and managing services from highly rated service providers. They help take the risk and guesswork out of the booking process for employees and foster employee engagement. You will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations for Thriver’s customers (Adidas, NFL, Indeed, Twitter, McKinsey & Co, Snap Inc, etc.), ensuring an exceptional user experience with a focus on retention and expansion. >> APPLY HERE

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