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Niraj Shah and Steve Conine in Wayfair's Huntington Avenue offices. Superlatives PEOPLE, CULTURE, STYLE under their umbrella A VIEW FROM THE TOP E-COMMERCE EMPIRE AND MAKING IT EASY TO SHOP THE BEST TRENDS IN DÉCOR. BY REBECCA M. KNIGHT t first glance Steve Conine and Niraj Shah, cofounders of Wayfair, the online home furnishings company, may seem unlikely part- ners. Shah's the smooth talker; Conine is far more reserved. Shah, who grew up in Pittsfield and is the oldest son of Indian immigrants, is a fastidious dresser. Conine, who is from suburban New Jersey, has a bit of a mad scientist look about him in workaday settings, with mussy hair and a rumpled button-down shirt. Yet the pair, who have been business partners since 1995, are extraordinarily like-minded when it comes to their business. They make every big decision together, and there is rarely dissension. "The joke is that Steve is my other wife," says Shah. "When you think about it, a successful business partnership has a lot of the same hallmarks as a successful marriage." And what a marriage it has been. Wayfair, a home furnishings e-commerce site based in Boston's Back Bay, has more than SOUTH END ENTREPRENEURS NIRAJ SHAH AND STEVE CONINE ARE CONSOLIDATING THEIR to $9,000 leather 1,000 employees, gets 2.5 million visitors each week, and last year had reve- nue of $500 million. For a major rebranding effort company raised close to $200 million in venture capital. "Home is very emotive," says Shah, 38. "Historically, shelter magazines were about concepts and ideas, and retailers put together product catego- ries. But on the Internet, content has [virtually] no cost. E-commerce 2.0 is about content, and it's about inspiration." Whatever your interior design inclinations, Wayfair seems to have something for every style and price point. The main brand offers more than 5 million products—from $6 bud vases sectionals. Its contemporary design brand, AllModern, specializes in high-end items, such as Herman Miller chairs and Missoni bedding, while Joss & Main does flash sales of trendy designer pieces, such as modish poufs and patterned accent pillows. continued on page 52 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 51 last year, the PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN RICHARDSON