About Bill

Bill Wollrab is the founder of All People, a community-owned sustainable marketplace in Illinois. His background spans investment banking and real estate, and he was one of four co-founders of Yard House, which sold to Darden for $585 million in 2012. After incorporating All People in 2013, he developed the model through the Cal Poly Business Accelerator, applying lessons from Yard House's many-small-investor approach.

What we talked about

Yard House investor lessons — Bill explained how raising from many small investors cut marketing costs in half and turned customers into ambassadors who visited five or six times a week.

All People's three pillars — The marketplace combines equity crowdfunding, nonprofit partnerships donating 5% per purchase, and sustainably vetted organic products.

Community ownership model — Customers can invest as little as $100 under the JOBS Act, creating sticky loyalty through both financial and philosophical vested interest.

Launch timeline — All People is preparing to soft launch with nonprofits in March and hard launch via WeFunder equity crowdfunding in April.

Phase two expansion — Plans include growing the catalog to millions of products, private label goods, local B Corp shopping, and partnering with the American Sustainable Business Network.

Sharpest moments

On what he learned building Yard House with crowd investors:

I experienced the power of word of mouth marketing, which costs nothing and is actually five times as effective as traditional paid marketing and advertising.

On the core mechanism behind All People's stickiness:

our secret sauce, the key to our model is equity crowdfunding, allowing consumers to own a large portion of the company.

On how All People positions itself against big-box competitors:

who are basically transactional. Instead, we are transformative.

On why he built All People after decades in traditional business:

this was kind of my calling. It's part of my DNA.

Key takeaways

• Yard House proved that many small investors become loyal customers and cut marketing costs dramatically through word of mouth.
• All People's model rests on three pillars: customer equity ownership, 5% nonprofit donations per purchase, and independently vetted sustainable products.
• The marketplace targets both altruistic buyers supporting schools and nonprofits and financially minded investors seeking early-stage returns.
• Customer acquisition relies on organic grassroots marketing through nonprofits and investor evangelism rather than traditional paid advertising.
• Phase one launches with 4,000 products via a distributor; phase two adds private label, logistics, and local sustainable business shopping.
• Bill plans to prove the U.S. model first, then replicate it internationally, starting with Europe.