How Everlane is Changing Fashion

Posted on May 5, 2012 by admin

Michael Preysman is the co-founder of Everlane, a fashion company creating fanatic customers by creating clothes and accessories with designer quality while being transparent about costs. Here are some highlights from the interview (starts at 6 minutes in):

  • Everlane used the following info graphic to educate customers on how much a designer t-shirt costs to make
  • They launched in November 2011 starting with t-shirts and have expanded into belts, bags and bow ties
  • Everlane’s focus is on providing the highest quality product at a very reasonable price
  • The first t-shirt run was for 1,500 units
  • All of their products are made in the USA
  • They have not spent any money on advertising, instead focusing on creating info graphics to educate customers
  • “Stores of the future are galleries”

There was also the mention of the concept of “net promoter score,” essentially how likely are you to recommend a product/service to a friend without being promted. On a scale of 1-10 how would your business rate?

The video is a bit long at an hour, but it’s inspiring.

If the video does not open in the window above, please follow this link.

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    “Having a Good Idea is Not Enough” – Co-Founder of HomeAway

    Posted on March 16, 2012 by admin

    Brian Sharples is the co-founder of HomeAway, a site that allows you to rent vacation properties from around the world. Here are some highlights from the interview:

      • The idea from HomeAway came to Brian when he was travelling Europe and he had to keep going to different websites for each country to find houses they could rent, he thought there must be an easier way
      • He was consciously looking for a business idea when he came up with HomeAway
      • Business is about the quality of your product and the value you deliver
      • Don’t get angry when a door shuts in your face, find out why, be curious and adapt
      • “Having a good idea is not enough” there were plenty of facebooks before facebook, the key is to build a better team that can execute your idea

    If the video does not open in the window above, please follow this link.

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      Starting a Bakery in the Recession

      Posted on March 13, 2012 by admin

      Jessie Isaacs had investors and a plan to start Cocoa Bakery and then the recession hit. Most of the investors couldn’t invest the full amount they had agreed to and some had to pull out altogether. The following video details the innovative crowdfunding steps Jessie took to  make her dream a reality. Some highlights:

      • She continued baking in a temporary kitchen with no storefront to generate revenue
      • Jessie started the Cocoa Club where customers could buy gift cards for when her store would open, the funds would sit in escrow until that time
      • They raised $5,000 in six months

      Jessie’s tips for crowdfunding

      1. Keep the deadline short (much less than the six months they used)
      2. Constantly be marketing the offer through friends, social media, etc.

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        Looptworks Upcycled Clothing Business

        Posted on March 10, 2012 by admin

        This is an interesting video with Scott Hamlin, the founder of Looptworks. They specialize in using excess materials from clothing manufacturers and turning them into their own products, including t-shirts, jackets and skirts. Some highlights:

          • Their mantra is to only use what already exists
          • Scott believes the next frontier of innovation is not in performance, but in consuming less resources
          • Looptworks pays higher prices for the excess materials to show the manufacturers that there is value in it

        If the video does not open in the window above, follow this link.

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          Building an Audience Online with Ben Huh

          Posted on March 8, 2012 by admin

          Ben Huh is the founder of Cheezburger Network, a growing media empire built on humor websites (Fail blog, I Can Has Cheezburger, etc). Here are his tips to building an online audience:

          • Focus on consistency, they still have the same product as 4-5 years ago, it’s just been refined
          • Don’t worry about virality, after the spike in web traffic people typically do not return
          • Get into the data and talk to your customers, find out what they’re enjoying and build more of it

          Click here if the video does not open above.

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