Robbed for a Diamond Ring: Inside the Wild World of Selling Jewelry Online | Josh Burwick, CaratX

Josh Burwick is the Founder of CaratX, the go-to-market platform for diamonds, gems, and jewelry (think Shopify, but built specifically for the jewelry world). Josh started his career in automotive, then stumbled into the diamond business almost by accident after finding a seller on eBay in India in 2007. What started as a hobby turned into a full-scale operating system for jewelry brands, helping them digitize inventory, operations, storefronts, and marketing. In this episode, Josh shares two unbelievable stories from the early days (one involving an armored car showing up at a WeWork with a gun and a duffel bag, and another where he got literally robbed and thrown from a moving car for a diamond ring), plus how he navigates one of the most "old money" industries on earth. He also opens up about founder mental health, the dangers of numbing pain with substances, and why "just get out there" is the single best advice for first-time founders. Here's what you'll learn: [00:00] - Meet Josh: from automotive to founding CaratX, the GTM platform for jewelry [01:15] - Josh's accidental origin story: buying gems from an eBay seller in India [02:30] - Wild story #1: shipping a diamond to a WeWork with armored guards and a duffel bag [05:25] - Wild story #2: getting robbed and thrown off a moving car for a diamond ring [09:10] - How to spot trouble coming from a mile away in a high-risk industry [10:30] - The "old money" jewelry world: paper receipts, 30-year handshakes, and trust [13:07] - Founder tip #1: find great people first (and how to know when it's a fit) [14:40] - Founder tip #2: get out there and take the "rejection challenge" [16:30] - Founder tip #3: sleep, take breaks, and do things that make you happy [20:00] - Founder tip #4: the honest talk about substances and numbing the pain [23:40] - Final advice: keep going, and the key is always people Links: Linkedin:   / matt-laker   - connect with me! Need more help? https://acemakers.io/acemakers-it-con... - We make it easy and fun to grow your IT consulting company, instead of complex and boring!