Here is a great interview with Ali Asaria of Well.ca– very honest and inside picture of a high growth e-commerce businesses including…

• How an inexperienced 20-something CEO can get enough funding to build a major brand & platform e-commerce site online
• The track to building a global $5M online e-commerce site
• The power of networking and how a “new” generation of Angel investors is actively taking a role in the businesses they are funding (filling in part of the gap left by traditional venture capitalists) and how connecting with guys like Jordan Banks (new managing Director of Facebook Canada) can open up their network to help – guys like David Ceolin and Andrew Sloss GM of Kijiji Canada – the #1 online classified ad internet platform who have now collectively invested over $1M in Well.ca. 
• How you can take a brick & mortar concept like a drugstore and use the strengths of online marketing and distribution to offer more value to a wider audience
• What it takes to handle rejection from business experts around you – he talks about how many investors told him he didn’t stand a chance
• Fascinating story about how Ali paid $7,000 for the Well.ca domain – even when he had to borrow the money to do it

By the way – I love this quote in the last few minutes “Our goal is to be the Biggest E-Commerce Company in Canada” – now that is thinking BIG (of course he could go even bigger and tackle the substantially larger market of the US as well, but still – at least he is setting his sites high)

Interviews like this are great because you get a true sense for what it takes to build a BIG business on the internet – on the one hand, how simple it is for any individual with an idea, some drive and some basic networking skills to get it rolling and then how much work it takes to see it through…

Enjoy!