John McPheters

McPheters was born and raised in New York City [1] and started his professional career with a degree in advertising from Boston University followed by an MBA from Fordham University.[2]

McPheters began his career in sneaker retail when, in 2005, he joined sneaker store Flight Club where he worked in marketing and business development. He introduced a consignment model he had previously encountered in Japan.[3] [4] In 2009, he moved into online marketing and became digital director at creative agency Team Epiphany where he was in charge of Nike’s social media operation.[5] In 2012, he partnered with Jed Stiller to found SM Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on e-commerce and technology investments. [6] Among others, they invested in Swarm Mobile, a technology company that was acquired by Groupon in 2014. The two of them also co-own Blades, a skateboard and lifestyle apparel retailer based in New York.[7] In 2015, McPheters and Stiller co-founded Stadium Goods, a consignment store selling unworn collectible sneakers and streetwear in Manhattan’s SoHo, and launched its namesake website shortly after.[8] After receiving venture capital funding in 2017[9] and backing from LVMH Luxury Ventures in 2018,[10] Stadium Goods was sold to online designer fashion marketplace Farfetch in January 2019 for $250m.[11] McPheters and Stiller continue to share the role of Stadium Goods CEO.[12]