Perspective by the numbers

[Mary Kay]

This is a good thread. It shows how fast V4L is growing and just how hard these guys/gals are working!

Thanks for everything! I don't care if I sound like a fan..I am! I only wish Chicago was a lot further "South" I'd apply for a job tomorrow!

 

[BohNeR]

Hot Damn!!!

With that kind of growth, Steve must be smilin all the way to the bank!!!

Go public Steve!!! I WANT SOME STOCK!!!

 

[JosephDillon]

Hi All,

Just wanted to add to this that I understand how things have been as before reading this thread I did comprehend the magnitude of your growing pains. Its quite the responsibility becos reality is you are supplying a large number of ex cancer subscribers who completely rely on your company for a more safer and by a country mile, a more enjoyable alternative. We do understand the pressure you are all under but also try and bear with our inane questions and desperate queries as we are also invested in you all. Pretty much for me if not for vaping I would return to analogs, simple. I am a noob and misjudged my second order and the last few days awaiting my supplies was very difficult (this will not happen again as my new order will be placed shortly) I'm learning all the time.

Anyways...I have appreciated your patience Mark as your responses given your workload, have been timely and helpful. Right now you have a customer for life (or as long as our governments allow us).

Happy vaping to Steve, Mark and Val.

Kia Kaha (roughly translated means "more power" in Maori language.

D

 

[lonercom]

Hmm,

Maybe I should quit sending friends. Gotta protect my "stash." Just kidding, of course.
Maybe

Bob - W2RJL

 

[Mariano]

I started working with Steve in October, we know each other since years ago when he used to be my client for my real estate appraisal bussines.
I remember that a great day at that time was 50 orders, we used to swed our butts to get them done,thinks have changed, more people joined the crew, but what i love about this company is that we care about our customers the same way we did when we started.
Cheers

 

[JelliBean]

The last two months have been absolutely insane. I remember when I started back with Steve in August and we were having a hard time doing 30 orders a day. It took all day, but it was just Steve and his wife and me. It has definitely been a wild ride

Awesome post, and well said Symmetric. I feel the same way about some of the things I read here. I really don't like to read about order complaints as far as issues with the products...etc. That should be handled through personal e-mails and phone calls, imo. There is the rare occasion that I can understand, and I do feel that some complaints are legitimate as well as venting minor frustrations.
Anyhoo, I felt the crunch when I read a post from Mark stating he is running on fumes. My first thought was we need to give them a V4L holiday... smile.
All and all Steve and the V4L crew are the most amazing people ever (my experience as a customer and forum member only) setting the standard for all other suppliers. And it just keeps getting better and better. Anyhoo, thanks for sharing that additional information Mark, but again you guys always raise above all expectations!!!

 

[Adrenalynn]

Pardon the sloppy rush-work. I'm a bit more visual for number series.

The curve-fit from Oct-1 to Jan-1 is pretty remarkable.

The interesting thing to me: This is the CLASSIC "hockey-stick". The blue-sky everyone claims when presenting to investors, but never manages to deliver. Absolute perfect hockey stick. Wow.

Of course, this is assuming the data presented here is accurate, I have no raw data but multiple sources seem to concur. YMMV.

 

[JelliBean]

Pardon the sloppy rush-work. I'm a bit more visual for number series.

The curve-fit from Oct-1 to Jan-1 is pretty remarkable.

The interesting thing to me: This is the CLASSIC "hockey-stick". The blue-sky everyone claims when presenting to investors, but never manages to deliver. Absolute perfect hockey stick. Wow.

Of course, this is assuming the data presented here is accurate, I have no raw data but multiple sources seem to concur. YMMV.

Hey Lady all things being equal and based on the laws of statistics and capitalism...hehehe. In a few more years this hockey stick line graph will eventually become, that's right a flat line plot a few points and a slope or two and wow, it looks more like a bell curve...smile. Growth is expodential and capitalism (micro-economics) is based on consumer selection and while Microsoft & Walmart were in fact naturally selected monopolies Those are rare, and there are always the knock-offs! Sorry, I'm a bit sleepy so hope you can follow that adrenalynn. Nothing negative intended just jargon for the jargoners...smile!

 

[Adrenalynn]

Sure, near exponential growth can't continue unabated, eventually you run out of resources. You don't really want it at some point - bad for taxes. A continuous long gain is the eventual target of any long-term business (versus a pump-and-dump) Hopefully the bell curve (downward slope equal to the upward slope) is somewhere far off in the future. It generally comes, in business, when the business isn't hungry anymore - stops taking care of customers, and forgets how they got where they are. That generally takes at least a full generation in startups. Walmart hasn't really begun to decline yet, and Sam is long dead now. Microsoft is a victim of their own success, and Gates is several years gone. If you read his biography - he was always terrified that he'd miss the latest-and-greatest move. That's why Microsoft had the shotgun acquisition thang goin' on. It's when the founders AND their trusted lieutenants leave that the company plummets.

 

[JelliBean]

Sure, near exponential growth can't continue unabated, eventually you run out of resources. You don't really want it at some point - bad for taxes. A continuous long gain is the eventual target of any long-term business (versus a pump-and-dump) Hopefully the bell curve (downward slope equal to the upward slope) is somewhere far off in the future. It generally comes, in business, when the business isn't hungry anymore - stops taking care of customers, and forgets how they got where they are. That generally takes at least a full generation in startups. Walmart hasn't really begun to decline yet, and Sam is long dead now. Microsoft is a victim of their own success, and Gates is several years gone. If you read his biography - he was always terrified that he'd miss the latest-and-greatest move. That's why Microsoft had the shotgun acquisition thang goin' on. It's when the founders AND their trusted lieutenants leave that the company plummets.

I totally agree, time is the key factor in determing overall success. However, taxes ie "government" plays a big factor. If you become successful they are always looking for a way to get more than a reasonable cut...smile. Inverse bell curve would be the ultimate goal, but it's like you said keeping customer satisfaction, and reasonable prices consistent is not an easy task. Infact it can be a draining, pride swallowing siege. But seriously, again time is the greatest factor...oh and did I mention government... regulation, luxury taxes, and or penalty taxes for being a monopoly hehehe. Bill Gates' biography isn't something I have read, but I have read the Audacity of Hope, and I hope our Government doesn't regulate it for monetary benefit... Yep that rant is a hint to the author of that biography as he is a struggling analoger trying to beat that nicotine habit like most of us here. Although that fact could be beneficial, or a bite in the ahh!! Only time will tell, but I'm hopeful that we have a few officials that are thinkers...Enough said.

 

[VapingRulz]

That's really impressive and it gives us a pretty good idea of what's happening in the e-cig industry as a whole. Growth seems to be explosive, which is great news.

I never let my personal stash get low enough that I can't wait at least a couple of weeks to get an order, just in case of backorders and delays. I've never had to wait overly long for any of my V4L orders. They must be going a bit nuts over there at V4L corporate with all of the new orders and customers, but that's a good thing.

 

[leeshor]

The explosive growth is still exploding. I can ID at least 2 dozen new E-Cig related vendors in the last 45 days or so. I'm sure there are many more still not on the radar.

But I also see several vendors who have been around since October and still only indicate somewhere well South of 1,000 total orders too date. Some are still hovering around 10 orders a day after months of working at it.

This is the best testament to the mission Steve has to get people to stop smoking and the level of customer service V4L provides.

 

[ThePuck]

Out of all of the vendors I have ordered from, Vapor4life still is my favorite and is the only one I order from now for my past 3 orders and will continue to be my source for juice. In my opinion, none comes even close.

 

[Desertfremen]

Wow! I know I've been impressed with the spread of numbers just from when I've started ordering but to see numbers from earlier even more reinstates the point. TY for the info.

I realise that V4L is going to have growing pains and I am more than willing to wade through them. (I understand them as well as we are going through this right now with a computer recycling business.) Their dedication to this business is outstanding and to me this is everything.

I have never ordered any e-cig supplies from anyone else and have no plans currently of doing so. When I find a business that cares I care to give them my money; they deserve it.

You wanna call me a fan girl? Go ahead! It's rare to find things that move me so these days and V4L has done it.

 

[JelliBean]

Wow! I know I've been impressed with the spread of numbers just from when I've started ordering but to see numbers from earlier even more reinstates the point. TY for the info.

I realise that V4L is going to have growing pains and I am more than willing to wade through them. (I understand them as well as we are going through this right now with a computer recycling business.) Their dedication to this business is outstanding and to me this is everything.

I have never ordered any e-cig supplies from anyone else and have no plans currently of doing so. When I find a business that cares I care to give them my money; they deserve it.

You wanna call me a fan girl? Go ahead! It's rare to find things that move me so these days and V4L has done it.

I completely agree, I think that the V4L crew is amazing. I really like the new Valarie csr. She is so dead on awesome, and pleasant to ask questions to. Good decision on that choice, she Rocks!!! Oh sorry, I too am a fan!!!

 

[Symmetric]

Adrenalynn, I like the idea of plotting it, I'll input ALL of my 7 months of data and plot that, and we can see the trends (if any) contained within that hockey stick. I may even be able to find and overlay contests/promos with it to see the impact...

 

[Adrenalynn]

An "inverse bell curve" - the company goes bankrupt in the middle? Are you confusing Power Curve for Bell Curve?

Symmetric - that should be fun. Maybe enough datapoints to get a more realistic curve-fit, which would allow for some predictive modeling.

 

[Symmetric]

The more "my account" data I can get, the more robust the trend... I have 20-30 orders myself, the more, the better... if anyone has any orders older than Jul 16, I'd LOVE to get my hands on those... maybe see if October was the first sharp turn or not...

 

[Adrenalynn]

The oldest data I have, thanks to Leeshor, is 8/17
I chose to remove the raw Y-axis numbers here - V4L's competitors should have to work for that data.

This is unsmoothed.

 

[Kimmy]

Steve, Mark, Leaford, Mariano, Valerie......




Can I have your autograph? Please?