How Small Can Survive the Age of Amazon

When Randy Komisar walks around his house, he sees the future of retail quite clearly. Komisar, a partner at venture capital giant Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, says about two-thirds of the objects in his house are commodity products: paper towels, socks, toothpaste, and a whole pile of other things that can be bought at Wal-Mart Stores or on Amazon.com. The remaining third of his stuff is more distinctive and harder to procure: high-end cowboy boots, custom-made bicycles, New Belgium beer. That slim, specialized slice of commerce is arguably the best place to cultivate a retail company these days.