Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/30115-executive-interview-rf-superstore-ceo-and-co-founder-jason-wright-and-cto-and-co-founder-murray-pasternack
Jason Wright and Murray Pasternack

Executive Interview: RF Superstore CEO and Co-Founder Jason Wright and CTO and Co-Founder Murray Pasternack

Their long-term vision: to create the leading provider of RF products and components worldwide

April 13, 2018

What drove you to launch another RF distribution company?

Murray Pasternack (MP): Boredom. I recently retired from being a director of a publicly-traded bank and found myself with a lot of spare time. I have been involved in the sale of RF components since my teenage years, when I bought and sold WWII surplus RF components, including vacuum tubes and crystals. I have always enjoyed the industry and it was more like fun than work!

Jason Wright (JW): For me, the decision whether to launch RF Superstore was an easy one. While the industry is competitive, and start-ups consume a significant amount of time, the opportunity to work with Murray, one of the most respected names in the industry, was one that I simply could not pass up.

How has the RF market changed over the last decade?

MP: The RF market has been continually evolving and, during the last decade, the rate of change has accelerated. Today, anyone can go to Google or any other search engine, browse for “RF components” and the word “price” and, instantly, see nearly a million results. A moment ago, I typed in “BNC connector, price” and in 0.44 seconds, Google gave me 956,000 results. The days of browsing catalogs or going to a local radio store have been replaced with a worldwide search in under a second — amazing.

What is the concept behind RF Superstore? What is your value proposition, and how will RF Superstore differentiate itself in the market?

MP: Our concept is simple: high quality components, immediately available to ship, at below current market prices, with exceptional follow-up customer service. We want customers to contact us if they don’t see the products they need. Our goal is to build our company and website around the needs of the customer.

RF Superstore is offering a few products lines at launch. What is the approximate timeline to add other products, and what types of products are planned?

MP: New products have already been added, and our product roadmap is in motion with more products planned each month. RF customers should check back frequently to see what is new or sign up for our newsletters. We know customers are busy, and the last thing people want is another email in their inboxes. Our goal is to be measured in our contact. We’re not going to blast emails like some companies do. We want our emails to be informative and valuable — new products and monthly specials.

JW: As Murray mentioned, we’re executing on our product roadmap as we speak, with the immediate goal of adding products that will fill the need for every user of RF components. Whether the customer is a beginning ham radio operator, communications and broadcast industry professional, university faculty member, research facility specialist or defense industry expert, we want to build a complete product offering for everyone. With products on order and partnerships planned, customers will see us launch several new component lines over the next few months, including more adapter and connector series, bulk cable, cable assemblies, attenuators and more.

What kind of service and support will RF Superstore provide?

MP: We’re here to help in any way that we can. Our team spent a significant amount of time planning the launch of RF Superstore, but we know you can’t plan for everything. As with many businesses, the needs of our customers will help drive growth, and our team has the experience to be able to adapt quickly.

With other companies offering same day shipping on parts in stock, what will be your goal for quick delivery?

JW: While we performed a soft launch of RFSuperstore.com, our team is already hard at work on the next iteration. Our goal is to make the user experience simple and easy — powerful global search, streamlined filtering, detailed product images, quick reorder capabilities and more. We think these features will help users order the right parts the first time and, on the back end, our fulfillment team is armed with the same detailed information to pick, pack and ship orders with accuracy. And, given our west coast locations, it’s much easier to ship orders the same day or rush last minute orders when needed.

What are the primary applications and markets you expect will enable fast growth of the company?

MP: We’re not focusing on any specific application or market. We named the business RF Superstore because we want to be the first site every user thinks to search. Whether you’re a ham radio operator, university research specialist or other industry professional, we want to address all applications and markets.

What geographic areas offer the best growth opportunities for RF Superstore and why?

JW: Our immediate focus will be on North America. It’s where we’re physically located, and we believe that we can offer high quality products at low prices, faster shipping and excellent customer service. But, having worked in several different countries, I know that we can’t afford to focus on a single geographic region. We’re excited about finding select opportunities for RF Superstore to expanding globally.

What are your major long-term goals and how do you envision the company in a few years?

MP: Our long-term vision for RF Superstore is to create the leading provider of RF products and components worldwide. We know the road will be challenging, but we’ve hit the ground running in the U.S., and we’re working very hard to help meet our customers’ and partners’ needs. I’m excited to be back in this industry and hope we can make a lasting and positive impact on our customers.


Visit the RF Superstore website.