With this ring I thee wed
Jack Gulas’ latest venture sparkles with big promise,
If diamonds are truly a girl’s best friend then Jack Gulas is betting his latest venture will shine brightly on the web. The 35-year-old mover and shaker in Ottawa high-tech circles has recently launched an online engagement ring business for men who are about to pop the question.
Gulas got the idea after helping a few hockey buddies search for the perfect ring online. Even though he was able to track down the jewelry, he was surprised at how complicated and cumbersome the websites were. When he started getting approached by other friends to help them purchase rings, he saw the business potential.
Gulas already has several IT businesses under his belt. He recently started up Eclipsys Solutions, a systems integration firm, and was the founder of Maplesoft Technology. But his new project called BigRocxs is generating a lot of buzz for its straightforward, three-step process that guides men to purchasing the ring of their dreams for their fiancée.
The website targets a fairly affluent clientele aged 25 to 34 and features snappy slogans such as “we like them big and hassle free,” “size matters and so does quality” and “get the biggest Rock for the best possible price.” In a savvy marketing move, the website features the ruggedly handsome former UFC fighter Nick Denis as a pitch man on its home page. There are plans to use other athletes and celebrities to promote the company. Gulas is currently running a contest on Facebook and Twitter to pick the company’s “angel” or female spokeswoman who will answer questions, help men come up with proposal ideas and even attend BigRocxs nightclub events at various cities throughout North America. The search has been narrowed to three stunning, and, well, buxom women from Toronto with the winner being announced July 31.
The website boasts seven ring styles in either white gold and platinum with diamonds ranging in size from one to two carats. Diamonds are often graded on the basis of the four Cs — carat, cut, colour and clarity. Gulas has created an eyeclean standard and has eliminated two of the Cs — colour and clarity. The rings, which start at $5,500, are being designed in collaboration with a Vancouver jewelry artist and take about two weeks to be made.
“There is a huge mark up in retail stores. We’re eliminating the overhead and are concentrating on the cut and size of the diamond. We’ve created a standard on our website. We guarantee that your diamond will be large, beautiful and will have no visible flaws seen with the naked eye.”
Gulas, who grew up in Old Hunt Club and attended Hillcrest High School and Immaculata, worked for Calian Technologies and Sun Microsystems Canada. He built Maplesoft Technology from scratch in 2009 to $40 million in annual sales of Oracle technology and related services.
He and his wife, whom he met while studying in Ohio, have four children under the age of seven.
“My wife is my sounding board. We’re catering and appealing to guys and creating a brand. Even the ‘x’ in BigRocxs is associated with branding as it’s popular in search engines. We’re tracking everything and are getting about 49,000 hits a week on our Facebook page.”