James Lamdin: Vintage Watches, Tangible Collectibles, Pain in Entrepreneurship
New episode every Wednesday
Welcome to Episode 26 of the Ben & Tony Podcast, where the world’s most interesting people tell their stories!
James Lamdin is the Founder of Analog/Shift and Director of Vintage & Pre-Owned for the Watches Of Switzerland Group USA. He is also a Founding Partner of the Red Bar Group LLC, the world’s largest vintage watch collector community.
Anthony’s Take:
Our guest James Lamdin has a tenacious flame that kept him going as an entrepreneur, through the good times and the bad. His story is passionate, vibrant, and authentic, powered by his own unique brand of charm shaped by a career gauntlet of sales roles. By the end of the episode, I had developed a newfound appreciation for the watch industry and James is the perfect ambassador for that community. He helped me understand the idea that watches represent something bigger and this is a great interview for people looking to learn about collectibles.
Ben’s Take:
James Lamdin brings collectibles to life, particularly through his spoken passion for vintage watches. Collectibles are more than objects of scarcity promising an alternative medium for investor returns: they’re human stories and history; they’re the chance for community connection. We spoke to James’s experience as a salesman in the car industry, his visiting Egypt in the middle of civic uprising, but this conversation really got started for me personally when we delved into the vintage watch industry at around ~38 minutes in.
What did we talk about?
Being loud and being yourself
Falling in love with your product
Sales psychology
The three C’s of sales
Moving to NYC from the country
Negotiation lessons from selling cars
Stigmas around car sales and fixed pricing models
Going to Egypt in the middle of a civil uprising
Getting perspective on what matters in life
Collectibles and their connection to human stories
Starting a vintage watch company online
The insulated nature of the watch industry
What to consider when buying a vintage watch
The undiscussed dark side of entrepreneurship
How to survive business tempests
Getting acquired
Founding the largest watch collectibles community in the world
Find James Here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-lamdin-13388919/
Find Ben Here: https://twitter.com/mrhartben
Find Anthony Here: https://twitter.com/AnthonyMcG2
We’re learning podcasting with you, so do get in touch & let us know if you have any ideas on how we can improve, or guests you’d like to see.
We hope you enjoyed this one & look forward to seeing you next time!
Your friends,
Ben & Tony