From Flowers to Horse Racing: Bill Strauss ’80 Found His Way from the Post Position to the Winner’s Circle

Growing up in New Jersey, Bill Strauss ’80 never imagined his business savvy would lead him to a successful career that would take him to California to work in tech, run one of the country’s top e-commerce companies, partner in a popular San Diego restaurant and make a Run for the Roses at the Kentucky Derby.

But first he went to Syracuse University. His father was an entrepreneur, which spurred Strauss to learn more about business. So he enrolled at Syracuse and studied accounting.

“I was always self-motivated, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do, so being at a big school where you could find just about anything was good for me,” says Strauss, who also met his wife of 40 years, Margie Sperber Strauss ’80 (VPA), there.

The first in his family to graduate from college, Strauss had a successful career in finance in New York City before being lured to the West Coast in 1992 by ChipSoft/ Intuit, the makers of TurboTax.

“They told me this was the perfect job for me, but the smartest thing they did was ask me to bring my wife along,” he says. “She took one look at the ocean views and was sold. So, we packed up our kids and have been happy in California ever since.”

As his career progressed, Strauss got in on the ground floor of ProFlowers, which later became Provide Commerce, one of the nation’s top e-commerce companies, at a time when internet sales were just emerging.

“I knew less about flowers than I knew about almost anything else, but Jared Polis, now the governor of Colorado, came up with the idea to cut out the middleman. It was a startup, and I worked as the president and chief operating officer,” he explains.

The idea was to buy flowers in bulk directly from South American growers and move them to consumers via the internet with a seven day guarantee. And the company developed a tracking system to see what flowers U.S. consumers were buying—primarily roses— which helped growers focus on demand.

Says Strauss, “We were the first ones to gather data on the internet and then ship flowers, which was unheard of at that time.”

The company went public in 2001 and Strauss sold two years later. (In 2014, ProFlowers/Provide Commerce was acquired by FTD for $477 million.)

Along the way, Strauss became a silent partner in a restaurant with his brother, Jeffrey, a renowned executive chef who has cooked for movie stars, presidents and global dignitaries. Over the years, Pamplemousse Grille has become one of San Diego’s premier upscale dining destinations, located across the street from Del Mar Racetrack.

“I’ve always been in love with horse racing,” Strauss says. “I love the action of the sport. A race lasts two minutes, not three hours, and, if you’re lucky, you win some money back.”

One of the restaurant’s frequent visitors was bloodstock agent Alex Solis II, who helped Strauss purchase his first thoroughbred, The Pamplemousse, which became a stakes winner. Since then, Strauss has been part owner of horses like Mizdirection, a Breeders’ Cup winner in 2012 and 2013; and Hot Rod Charlie, which won $5.6 million in his career, coming in second in the 2021 Belmont Stakes and winning the Louisiana Derby, which secured a spot in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

“Having a horse that took me to the Kentucky Derby—well, we got very lucky, and it was a wonderful, crazy time,” he said of Hot Rod Charlie’s third-place finish. “Horse racing is not a job, it’s a hobby. It’s a brutally expensive game. I hate the fact that I love it so much. But even having a cheap horse win is far more exciting than Wall Street. And there’s nothing like the thrill of going down to the winner’s circle after your horse wins a race,” explains Strauss emphatically.

Strauss served on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California from 2013 to 2022, working to carve out a stronger presence for horse racing in the state. He continues to be active on the thoroughbred racing circuit and was asked to join the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club board in 2023.

“Now I see things from the perspective of the owners, and I see the challenges of the track, which I hope helps me bring valuable insight to the board,” he says.

Strauss credits a lot of his overall success to the foundations of business he learned at Syracuse and over the years has been a generous supporter of the University, particularly its athletics department.

“I didn’t have any idea where I would end up when I went to Syracuse. I just wanted to get a business education and make a good living,” says Strauss. “But it’s been quite a ride."