At the age of 16, Reham Fagiri came from Sudan to Maryland and entered the University of Maryland, to study engineering.  That's right, 16 years old.  Reham worked at Goldman Sachs for 5 years, and attended the Wharton School of Business for her MBA. But she gave up the corporate life and high income, in order to follow the footsteps of her family, going back generations, by starting her own company.  Her start-up, AptDeco.com, is today a very successful peer-to-peer online marketplace for buying and selling used furniture.  It focuses on the New York and Washington DC markets. Reham talks about being accepted by the incubator, Y Combinator and what she learned from YC's founder, Paul Graham.  She must have learned a lot, because Paul Graham became an investor. She shares about building her product and how to talk to customers.  And why her favorite resources are the lack of resources.   TRANSCRIPT   Kent:  Thank you Reham for coming on TIE!  Reham:  Thank you for having me!   Kent: I’m interviewing Reham in her cool loft-style fashion-district offices. They are very busy. She’s taking a few minutes to talk to us after a long day.  So, can you give us an overview of AptDeco, what you offer, who are your customers, and where you operate?  Reham Fagiri: Apt Deco is an online marketplace for buying and selling used furniture. We handle all the logistics on behalf of all of our customers. That includes, pickup and delivery, payments, even customer service – it’s modeled similar to an ecommerce site. You are buying from another person. We operate, currently, only in the New York City area and I guess the Tri-State area, so New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York City. Our customer is anyone who has a piece of furniture to sell or looking to buy furniture.   Kent Trabing (2:04): Is this mostly prompted by people moving? Reham Fagiri: A big percentage. 60-70 percent of people usually sell when they move.   Kent Trabing: When did you start? Reham Fagiri: We launched our beta in September 2013 – a little over a year ago.   Kent Trabing (2:24): How have you been marketing? R: A variety of ways. Traditional marketing methods. Digital advertising, a lot of guerilla type marketing. We are also advertising in the subways so if you ride the New York subway you will see our bright orange ads. Word of mouth is a big driver.   Kent Trabing (2:55): Tell us about you? Who you are where you are from? R: I am originally from Sudan. I was born and raised there. Finished my high school in Sudan and came to the US for college. I went to the University of Maryland for my engineering degree and after I graduated from Maryland I landed a job in New York and stayed in the US instead of going back home.   Kent Trabing (3:32): What was an early memory when you arrived at the US? R: I was very young. I started college when I was 16. It was actually my first time in the US. I traveled a lot in Europe but never been to the US before. I guess just very wide streets.   Kent Trabing (4:01): What surprised you about the US or Maryland? R: To be honest I have never even heard about Maryland, until I was applied there to college and my brother was living there. What surprised me, was that people were just super friendly compared to other places. I don’t know if I would call it surprised. I was actually well traveled before. I was used to western culture.   Kent Trabing (4:33): What was the first job you had here? R: After college I worked at Goldman Sachs. I was in their tech division as an engineer first then product management and managed a team before I left Goldman.   Kent Trabing (4:51): After Goldman what happened?  R: I left Goldman to get my masters. I went to the Wharton Business School and got my MBA there – I guess that is how we are connected! After Wharton I was selling my furniture to move back to New York. Through the process I came up with this idea.