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The Money Dump: Why Consumer-Facing Ecommerce is Broken

Posted by Sindhya Valloppillil on April 30, 2013

Join a panel discussion with VCs and brand experts, like Sindhya, at OS Fashion’s next event: The Founders’ & Funders’ Dilemma which will discuss the current state of e-commerce: VCs, start-ups and all.

Original article published by OSF contributor Sindhya on Business Insider.—

I finally found panties on True&Co., an ecommerce lingerie company. It took them nearly one year to start selling panties. They allegedly sold them when I mentioned them in a viral article titled VCs Think My Boobs Need An Algorithm in January, but the panties were impossible to find. Nobody could find them. Now you can find them after about 6 minutes of multiple choice questioning and some scrolling around online. But you still won’t get a “true” fit from their algorithm.

Another startup that I discussed in that article is Dollar Shave Club (DSC) which is now raising yet another round of funding even though they raised a total of $10.8M in venture funding last June. Earlier this month, DSC finally launched their 2nd product – Dr. Carver’s Easy Shave Butter. Who on earth is Dr. Carver and what does he have to with DSC, you ask?? Is Dr. Carver a new brand? Well, I bet your guess is as good as Dollar Shave Club’s. I’m not joking.

Consumer marketing is an art AND a science. It’s something that the founders of many consumer-facing ecommerce companies and their investors don’t understand. The Science Lab in LA, which launched DSC, and the DSC management team and their investors clearly don’t comprehend it. That’s why consumer-facing ecommerce is broken.

To date, all that DSC has done is create one funny video that went viral. DSC’s second video was a complete failure so they pulled it from YouTube. Interestingly, Grumpy Cat is a damn funny video that went even more viral, and it has more brand potential than DSC. Grumpy Cat could be branded similar to Angry Birds with games, lunchboxes, candy, etc. Naming a brand Dollar Shave Club is problematic since DSC’s intent was to build a global lifestyle brand. The name limits them to “dollar” and budget pricing and also to the shave category. Will they call their shower gel “Dollar Shave Club Shower Gel”? That doesn’t exactly make sense. On that note, Dr. Carver’s Easy Shave Butter, its newest product, doesn’t make sense. The management team doesn’t understand branding, positioning and pricing. The cost of the Easy Shave Butter product is $8 while the average shave cream or shave gel from leading brands like Edge or Gillette is $4 or less (even $2) – everywhere, even at the corner CVS or Duane Reade in Manhattan and on Amazon.com. If DSC’s goal is to disrupt the industry by offering cheaper products, they are certainly NOT doing that with Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter.

What I don’t understand is what exactly is DSC doing with $10.8M? What took them so long to launch the shave butter product? It is stock packaging (which means it’s off-the-shelf without distinct custom design). It’s also a stock formula that they sourced from lab in Dallas, Texas. Just like the non-proprietary blades that they source from Dorco, a Korean company, DSC’s Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter is not a proprietary formula. The packaging is a knockoff of Kiehl’s with its apothecary-esque branding which is a very inconsistent departure from DSC’s budget branding. Product lead time for their stock packaging and stock formulas is NOT 1 year. They also don’t need $10.8M in funding to sell non-proprietary products with stock packaging. Here are the facts: For a product with stock formula and packaging, it should cost: less than $25K for a small production run of 7,000 units with a lead time of 2 months. The cost of goods per unit should be no more than $3.57. With a COG of $3.57 and retail price of $8, their markup is 55%. That should yield about $56,000 in sales. Keep in mind that this inventory is seasonless, trendless and sizeless too. It’s a very lucrative business for those who truly understand it.

The fact that DSC waited one year to launch a shave butter/cream demonstrates that they: 1) don’t spend their cash wisely, and 2) they don’t understand consumer psychology. When products are used in tandem, marketers should pair these products together and so that the consumer can buy them together. When most people buy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, they will go somewhere where they can also get milk and sugar. The only exception to this pairing rule is when a product has superior performance and distinction. That’s not the case with DSC’s razors.

The biggest question I have is: why on earth is DSC raising yet another round of funding? Word on the street is that they are now hoping to close a Series B of $45M in June. I’m still unclear on what they did with $10.8M which they raised at a hilariously healthy $30M pre-money valuation – they’re hemorrhaging their investors’ money! In addition to STILL offering free razors for a month to new customers, they are now also doing radio ads and TV commercials during the NBA Playoffs! The going rate for a 30-second spot during the NBA Playoffs is $500,ooo. At this rate, I predict that DSC is going to follow in the footsteps of hyper-inflated, struggling companies like Groupon and BeachMint. It makes no sense to keep pouring money into a brand that isn’t really a brand, doesn’t have special products and doesn’t understand its industry. Without great branding and experience, you’re just another product.

Harry’s, a new grooming brand that launched online last month with upwards of $4M in VC funding, isn’t much better than DSC. Marketing and branding aren’t their forte either. The funniest comment I saw on their Facebook page was: “Is this razor only for white people who all look the same?”

They are definitely too niche if people are saying things like that. Their logo is quite possibly the ugliest logo that I’ve ever seen. You cannot just reapply the same formula that worked at Warby Parker and move it to Harry’s and expect success. You cannot just shift one executive/founder from a successful company to another company and category and expect success. We already learned this lesson with Ron Johnson and J.C. Penney. The minute more compelling grooming brands launch DSC and Harry’s will be in serious trouble.

Here’s another shocking startup story: A NY-based luxury goods and fashion curation startup which closed $2M in venture funding in October 2012 and was slated to launch in November/December 2012 delayed its launch by one whole year. The only reason for the delay is poor planning. Unlike many other startups, this startup isn’t stuck due to lack of funds. The founder of this startup, who does not have a background or understanding of fashion, luxury goods, buying, or ecommerce, did not understand the buying cycles for purchasing products from third party brands. Her prior work history included being a Co-Founder at a food-focused picture sharing app and doing digital partnerships for a leading media company. In my opinion, this founder should have never gotten funding. There is no excuse for a one-year delay when this startup has cash and resources. More importantly, this founder failed to establish an iota of traction since her company was pre-launch and even pre-business plan and branding. She clearly lacked domain expertise or even a basic understanding of the luxury goods and fashion industry. She should have established all of that before getting funding. Her investors from leading VC firms failed to do proper diligence and gave her $2M in VC funding at a $5M pre-money valuation.

Clearly, many VCs don’t really understand which founders to fund, and they don’t really understand consumer-facing ecommerce. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t look to these VCs for validation especially if these VCs are funding founders without plans. Some common threads with these flawed startups include having founders who do not understand:

1) basic business, understanding of retail, how to scale a company, pair and group products to drive more sales
2) branding and marketing
3) consumer psychology, purchasing habits

It seems that a lot of founders and VCs think that marketing and branding aren’t that important and can be outsourced. That’s clearly apparent in all the aforementioned startups. Without a great brand experience, you’re just another product. Marketing and branding are conceived in the heart and mind first, then applied to product and finally applied online. Marketing is an art, a science and also a spectator sport – online it’s become a shit show that’s providing me a lot of laughs.

Original header mage created by Steve Mueller.

Tags: ecommerce, funding, start-ups, startup, VCs

Posted in: Vision & Opinion

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A Size Zero Isn’t Nothing

Posted by Alex J. Tunney on March 14, 2013

“Hey, can you get me a size four. I thought I was a size two but…”

“Oh don’t worry, it’s not you.” I’ll say sympathetically, “Everyone tends to size up in this store.”

I worked in retail fashion for over three years. It was no career, but I enjoyed the job. I got to talk to people and help them find what they’re looking for. Sometimes they need an addition or two to their wardrobe. Often times they needed something spectacular for a night out or something just right to wear to a wedding. I knew that I did my job well when I found them staring at themselves in one of the mirrors, posing and pleased with themselves, acting like they’ve had this outfit since forever even though they hadn’t even bought it yet. It feels like a triumph for everyone involved. And for women finding an outfit or a dress while shopping is very much a triumph, especially when it comes to dealing with size and fit. Using the US sizing system is like using a cheap cell-phone to navigate in the dark. It makes the above conversation an everyday occurrence. What’s even worse, is that it’s been like this for decades.

As someone who sold men’s clothing and very often wears them, I can tell you that men have it easier when it comes to shopping. Menswear is pretty simple: you pair a top with a bottom and you create an outfit somewhere on the spectrum between formal and casual. (Somehow guys still manage to screw it up, but that’s another topic.) The major thing that makes it easier to shop is that men’s sizing is makes sense. While small, medium, large are somewhat abstract, everything else is based off of measurement: waist sizes, hem length, chest circumference and neck circumference and so on. Occasionally, there is vanity sizing—an S at a European brand like Topman is an XS at an American brand like the Gap— is but it’s not rampant.

Womenswear sizing, however, makes absolutely no sense. What is a Size 0? What is it even measuring? And the 00?! What even is that? UK sizing starts at 4—of something—which is slightly better. Even better is European sizing, which starts in the high 20’s and continues on into the 30’s and 40’s. 32, for example, sounds like a number that a person could be. But, it is only one measurement of some arbitrary thing. Busts, hip size, waist size and height, at the very least, factor in to how clothes fit. Once someone has figured out their size, they’ve only figured out their size in that and similar items and their size in that particular brand alone. Women might as well have to carry a spreadsheet around when they go shopping.

People love to say, Oh, only you know what size the thing you’re wearing is, as if it’s supposed to help. It doesn’t. Yes, it shouldn’t matter what size a person is. Yes, the sizes seem a bit arbitrary. These ideas make sense, but what people know and what people feel about things can be different. When you’re trying to squeeze yourself into a dress or a pair of pants, logic doesn’t always matter. Yes, you are not your dress size, but how many of us— men and women alike— describe ourselves as our sizes? Saying “I am a size X.” instead of saying “I usually wear a size X.”

When you think about how we talk about our bodies and clothes, it is no wonder that women often think that they have to change their bodies to fit the clothes. I’ve heard customers say that they just need to lose a few pounds to fit into a dress or a pair of pants. To some it’s easier to change their bodies than to keep on searching for the perfect fit. This sounded backwards to me at first, but I have come to understand the logic. Yes, the clothes themselves can be changed and can be made to fit. There is a whole culture of bespoke fashion and tailoring—for men. (So much so that bespoke might as well be called bro-spoke.) Women’s clothing is often more complicated compared to men’s clothing, so short of a simple hemming, it’s expensive or near impossible to tailor. So women are beholden to the shapes and six or seven sizes presented to them on the rack.

Hunting for clothes, and it is a hunt, can be demoralizing. It’s time consuming, stress inducing and a physical strain for so little payoff. So when a woman finds the right clothes to for her wear, yes, it is a triumph.

There have been some advancements that have made shopping slightly less crazy. There is Me-ality and their size-matching stations which scan and measure your body and then prints out a shopping guide with your sizes and fits in certain brands. While idea is brilliant and the execution is great, it still puts some unnecessary work in the hands of the customer. There are two things that we as members of the larger fashion community we can do to make shopping slightly easier for women shopping for clothes:

The first is a major push for accurate, transparent and easily accessible measurements. Any brand that doesn’t have a sizing chart on their website or store should not be getting anybody’s business. However, I think collectively we could and should go farther: retailers and designers (that run their own shop) should put measurements on clothing, instead of arbitrary sizes. If they’re able to know all the necessary measurements about their clothes they want to purchase, shopping online and offline would be a lot easier for the customer and retailers wouldn’t have to worry about customers returning something that doesn’t fit.
Or to come to a solution from a different direction: there should be standardization to women’s (and men’s) clothing, like there is in Europe (see: EN 13402). Sizes should be attached to something concrete. The US has attempted to standardize women’s clothing—since the beginning of the 2oth century. We’re in the 21st century now; surely we can come up with something that could work? Sure convincing major retailers would be a Herculean task, but independent designers and retailers might have better luck if band together and start changing things from the bottom up.

We’re a long way from cheap personalized clothing, but both ideas are something in the right direction.

Shopping for clothes shouldn’t be about customers feeling self-conscious and frustrated but about them both looking and feeling good. Whatever steps retailers and designers can take toward alleviating their customers’ stress should be taken.

Original image created by bradhoc.

Tags: customers, design, designers, retail, shopping, sizing

Posted in: Vision & Opinion

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The Naked Truth About Subscription Start-Ups: The Good, The Bad & The Scams

Posted by Sindhya Valloppillil on February 12, 2013

[Opinions held by the contributor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OS Fashion and its members.]

Is there a fundamental flaw in the application of the subscription model to consumer commerce start-ups with physical goods like fashion and CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies? There are some terrific consumer companies like Netflix and Spotify that have proved the viability of subscription models. They have innovative ideas. They create something that people want like streaming movies and music. They disrupt old-fashioned ways of doing things like having to physically go into Blockbuster to rent movies. They created markets and trends, instead of chasing the trend. But when start-ups apply this model without innovative products and branding, they sometimes rely on scams to lure customers and smoke and mirrors style PR to lead people to believe that their company is successful. In fact, you can even argue that most (with a few exceptions) consumer subscription models with physical products are flawed and unnecessary.

Initially subscriptions became popular among VCs because a subscription implied predictable, recurring revenue. Recurring revenue software businesses tend to have better valuation multiples. However, consumer commerce subscriptions with physical products generally should not. The problem is that many of these well funded subscription start-ups engage in deceptive customer acquisition, lack focus on retention and branding, and partake in poor business practices.

Just last week, the Science incubator in Los Angeles launched yet another subscription start-up, a company called ELLIE. It offers workout clothes for women with a monthly subscription service. Seriously, who buys workout clothes every month? I wonder what the people at Science do with their clothes every month. Throw them away? Don’t they do laundry like the rest of us?

Science start-ups have one thing in common: an aggressive emphasis on paid and socially-driven customer acquisition. To build a customer base quickly, ELLIE reportedly engaged in deceptive bait and switch tactics that are downright shocking and unprofessional. Prior to launching ELLIE, the founders launched a company called PvBody which offered customers two pieces of designer fitness apparel from brands like Lululemon, Nike and Under Armour for $39.99 a month. PvBody even offered a 40% promotion via popular fitness blogs like SarahFit.com to lure customers. Over 70 of Sarah Fit’s readers who signed up for the promotion complained about their less than stellar experience: everyone got a notification that PvBody was not going to be sending out the designer brands they promised , but their own brand named ELLIE.

Now, PvBody has been rebranded as ELLIE. ELLIE used the clout of leading brands like Lululemon and Nike to deceptively acquire subscribers while promising those brands instead of its own. These alleged bait and switch tactics – sometimes known as fraudulent conveyance — were used to create “traction” for ELLIE prior to the brand’s launch. Ironically, ELLIE’s scam was rewarded with $2M from three venture capital funds. (For more information about ELLIE’s bait and switch scam, read posts at: Complaint List, The Purple Giraffe and Marathon Lar.)

According to a recent Venture Beat article, “the lack of highly sophisticated tech is becoming part of the Science blueprint.” Well, Science start-ups don’t have sophisticated branding or product either. Their strategy has been to focus on unnecessary subscription start-ups with vanity customer acquisition proof points. This does not work since a subscription model isn’t a guarantee for long-term recurring revenue or customer retention. In the case of the Science portfolio company Dollar Shave Club, which raised $9.8M on an exceptionally healthy $30M pre-money valuation in their most recent round, it experienced impressive but very fleeting traction after their extensive paid customer acquisition efforts. Paid customer acquisition is useless if your brand and products cannot retain the customer. Customers will not engage or purchase after being acquired. Good brands and products are capable of organic growth with monthly churn under 4%. Good content and branding make a brand sticky. Retargeting makes a brand stickier. When you have exceptional branding, product and content, customers will discover you. Then the focus shifts to customer retention.

Just as Science’s Dollar Shave Club and Wittlebee don’t solve any problems or offer anything new, Ellie does not either. If someone is merely looking for Lululemon- style activewear at a lower price point, there are plenty of online retailers that offer lower priced workout-wear such as H&M, Gap, Athleta, even Target. Unless new start-ups are offering great products, prices and experiences, they shouldn’t even bother to try to compete with established big brands or e-tailers. What problem are they solving? What is their point of difference? Are they making the process easier? Plenty of online retailers are offering lower prices.

Subscriptions only work when the price, product, quality and user experience are great. If there is a product mix, it must be personalized or expertly curated, not random. Beauty subscription companies have a hard time satisfying customers with their one-size-fits all (non-personalized) boxes of sample products due to different skin types, customer preferences in color cosmetics and fragrance. Following the success of New Beauty & Beautylish, companies like Birchbox are now focused on content and eCommerce. New Beauty’s Test Tube, the original beauty sample subscription company which launched in 2005 (well before Birchbox’s launch in 2010), works because of its targeted focus on high performance and efficacious luxury skincare and haircare products; every month you get some of the hottest new products coupled with the latest issue of New Beauty magazine, an industry authority. Since they aren’t offering random color cosmetics or fragrances, color and scent preferences aren’t an issue and there’s a higher probability of satisfying the customer.

Birchbox’s beauty and greatest vice is that they don’t pay for products from brands. Although Birchbox, which received $11.9M in venture funding, clearly has the cash to pay for the products, it engages in dangerous business practices which jeopardize the long-term viability of their core business model. I recently interviewed Suk Chan the founder and CEO of Soukenberi, an eco-friendly home fragrance and bodycare brand. Ms. Chan said, “Birchbox requested 300,000 units of a product for free; in return, they said that could offer a conservative purchase order of 400 units for that product if it was received well by their sampling audience.” Birchbox also requested a special sample size, which Ms. Chan would need to create, that would yield at least 3 uses of the product. After Ms. Chan negotiated with them, they lowered the amount of requested free product to 75,000 and then to 50,000 units (for a more targeted customer base). Birchbox only wanted to pay for a purchase order of 400 units after receiving 50,000 units for free. Ms. Chan decided not to do business with them since it was clear she wouldn’t get even a 1% return. Beyond a very conservative purchase order, Birchbox cannot quantify a significant return to brands despite their huge subscriber base. This is a flawed, inequitable method of doing business with brands since it puts many brands in financial jeopardy. Having a large subscriber base doesn’t necessarily yield a successful business. A successful business invests in its supplier ecosystem, it doesn’t destroy it.

The sad truth is most subscription companies are NOT doing anything special and are just adding unnecessary clutter to the ecosystem and our mailboxes. That’s not to say that I don’t like any subscription models. Three fabulous consumer commerce companies with subscriptions that make sense are Barkbox, NatureBox and Lacquerous whose visions go far beyond their initial consumer-facing product.

Lacquerous is the Netflix for luxury nail polish. It offers a 3 nail luxury polishes that are on trend for $18/month which is less than the cost of 1 bottle of luxury nail polish. It’s an affordable option for women who want to experience trendy new colors from luxury brands while spending a fraction of the cost. There is no other way to do this; Lacquerous is definitely innovative and disruptive. Although they just launched a month and a half ago, they are overwhelmed with customers; at the moment, there are 5,000 people on their waiting list to become new Lacquerous members. Why does it work? Nail polish is one of the hottest consumer commerce categories right now. Customers want to discover the trendiest luxury nail polishes at a discount. Lacquerous offers nail polishes from the most premium brands like Tom Ford, Chanel and NARS. The products are on trend (focused curation), and, more importantly, its customers can choose the colors they want (personalization). It’s a business model that is a WIN for the Lacquerous team, the brands that they work with and its customers.

It’s trickier to apply the subscription model to fashion and consumer packaged goods start-ups. While many tech start-ups end up sacrificing their EBITDA to pursue future growth, future growth is often less obvious with some consumer commerce start-ups. Where can you go next if you’re Dollar Shave? For a consumer commerce subscription to work: 1) the business model must be viable, and 2) the brand, product and price must be really compelling and perhaps even addictive. It should make life easier, solve a problem or create a new market. In the case of superstar subscription companies like Spotify, they initially earned their subscribers via freemium offerings and then turned many of them into paid subscribers. They succeed because they keep evolving and creating new markets and trends. That should be the goal of every start-up!

NOTE: All l the information in this article was compiled from public information and articles online which are hyperlinked except for one interview I had with Suk Chan, Founder of Soukenberi.

Previously by Sindhya:
My Break Up Letter to (Some) VCs
VCs Think My Boobs Need An Algorithm

Original header image provided by Lacquerous.

Tags: blogs, Fashion, marketing, media, social media, start-ups, subscriptions, VC, viral

Posted in: Vision & Opinion

My Breakup Letter To (Some) VCs

Posted by Sindhya Valloppillil on January 21, 2013

[Opinions held by the contributor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OS Fashion and its members.]

“The game taught me the game. And it didn’t spare the rod while teaching.” - Jesse Livermore

There’s a new bully in town. And I guess that’s me at least according to a VC who emailed me last week to complain about my blog post. He wrote that it was unfair of me to write such an article. He even told me that I should delete it and all the tweets related to it. I can’t do that. There are just way too many tweets about it that aren’t even mine. The post trended on Hacker News, got over 50,000 uniques and blew away the peak of the domain. A few publications even asked if they could republish it or do a story on me. When I wrote it, I wasn’t worried about it creating polarity because the article wasn’t about VCs in an absolute context. Not all VCs engage in cronyism, invest in stupid startups or perform shallow assessments of start-ups. Moreover, I doubt that smart VCs with balls – the ones I want to partner with – would be even mildly bothered by my last blog post; they are smart enough to use this as an opportunity to really stand out during this Series A Crunch while most other VCs are running away from consumer investments.

At the risk of sounding like a bitchy girlfriend during a breakup, I’d like to tell you that the problem is you, not me. It really is you. In fact, I’d like to propose my issues and solutions for you VCs who are screwing up the start-up ecosystem. There are five primary issues:

Your treatment of non-crony founders
Your obvious lack of guidance
Your herd mentality
Your lack of domain expertise (and)
Your flawed method of assessing consumer start-ups.

VCs who rely on old school-hustle and instinct cannot deliver sufficient returns anymore. Today’s VCs need to grow a pair, gain vision, get domain expertise and adapt their methodologies.

Treatment of Non-Crony Founders
Often non-crony founders are treated like desperate street beggars. Not all non-crony founders are crazy for seeking a Seed or Series A investment from VCs. Founders with compelling business models and domain expertise should be treated with respect and viewed as potential partnership opportunities to build a business and make money. Often VCs pass on these founders without even seeing or hearing a pitch. Check to see if there is a link between the founder’s start-up and his or her background and education. Is the founder an industry superstar? Does the founder have domain expertise relevant to her start-up? If so, it is probably worthwhile to explore the opportunity. Even if you don’t end up investing in his or her start-up, you can connect with an industry superstar or someone with a lot of domain expertise.

Lack of Guidance
Start-up funding shouldn’t be a charitable donation for cronies. It should be about making an investment with returns. When I asked some of the VCs who invested in the start-ups mentioned in my last post, they immediately mentioned that the founders were friends of theirs – no other reason. When a business model isn’t compelling, should friendship be a safety net? Being a crony and having a compelling business model are not mutually exclusive. Can’t VCs find real charities to donate to? How can you let start-ups with flawed business models launch? It’s like letting a friend drive drunk. At least sober him up. At least VCs could help these crony founders come up with a proper business model or help them create a better team. If they are real friends with the founder, they should properly guide him or her and give honest, constructive feedback. At least that way they wouldn’t be wasting their LP’s money.

Isn’t the professional relationship between two co-founders important too? In my last post, one of the start-ups that I mentioned is suffering because the founders broke up after working together less than 6 months. I’m not surprised since they barely knew each other when their company launched.

Herd Mentality
The start-up ecosystem is like junior high. There are a few cool cliques that everyone wants to follow, trends are created by them, and the net effect is a herd mentality. A few VC funds are deemed cool and when they lead a first round of funding, they attract a herd of others. Meanwhile, some VCs will follow and fund any start-up that already that has a committed VC. Often it’s a case of the blind leading the blind, particularly when the leading VC doesn’t go over the business model. Regardless, other VCs follow like flies buzzing around curdled milk in a bowl of Series A Crunch Cereal. Except they are VCs, and there’s no upside to investing in a crappy start-up. If they want to give to a charity, try Charity Water.

A lot of VCs don’t have balls. Just as big balls are an absolute must for a successful entrepreneur, they are absolutely necessary for VCs. Having balls is more than aggression and risk taking, it is the ability to dare to “THINK DIFFERENT,” the desire to build something from scratch, not listen to the peanut gallery and develop independent thoughts. It takes effort and vision, let’s face it-– it’s hard. Maybe the reason why many VCs don’t bother is because they are lazy and blind.

Lack of Domain Expertise
VCs often act like bouncers. Their assessment time of whom to allow “in” is about the same (and as shallow) and lacks domain expertise. Domain expertise can take the form of some or all of the following: deep understanding of the industry, a track record of success in that industry, a history of building superstar products and creating innovations within the sector, and constant self-education. The acquisition of domain expertise is important for (business) survival and definitely for domination. It involves constant evolution and adaptation. Our greatest tool for survival is our ability to think, learn, connect dots and evolve – whether you’re a founder or VC, you have a responsibility to continue to do so. Domain expertise is what separates weak start-ups like Dollar Shave Club and True & Co. from great companies like Nasty Gal, Spanx, and Zappos.

Flawed Method of Assessment
I’ve noticed during my fundraising journey that I prefer VCs who were former bankers or former entrepreneurs. These VCs tend to have vision, balls and domain expertise. The VCs who were former entrepreneurs tend to be more sincere. What I like about bankers is that before making a move, they do research and perform comprehensive competitive analysis in addition to studying industry trends. If they are not experts in the industry, they source the most up-to-date data and research from analysts, pundits and expert networks. VC firms should take a cue from bankers. By contrast, VCs often barely skim a 15-page deck with the least amount of text and most pictures as possible. Heck, Cliff Notes summaries have more meat than the decks VCs like to look at. As a founder of a consumer start-up, I have 2 decks: one for people who understand my industry and one for the VCs who do not.

A new trend in the VC world is that firms are hiring PR firms. Instead of focusing on closing the best deals and making the most money, these VC funds are more preoccupied with their own image while most barely understand “brand” in the consumer world — even though some market themselves as VCs who invest in consumer. Ironic. Instead of worrying about creating their own brand, they should focus on what they are supposed to excel at. Or at least do both, and learn consumer better.

I don’t understand why many VCs hate bankers. Unlike bankers, too many VCs run around town with arrogance and attitude disproportionate to their success. Moreover, VCs often take credit for deals at their firm that they have nothing to do with. Many VCs are clowns, ahem… characters, in the Series A Crunch Clown Show that’s currently playing in Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley. Usually when bankers act arrogant, it’s backed up by a successful record since they are results driven. On the other hand, as Matt Oguz, a venture capitalist and Founding Partner of Palo Alto Venture Science, said, “Traditional VC takes way too much credit for successes, and doesn’t accept its failures.” It’s time for VCs to grow some balls and take a cue from bankers (several of whom are now launching their own VC funds). If VCs don’t evolve on their own, the game will teach them without sparing the rod. Life is about kicking ass, not kissing ass.

xoxo

Previously by Sindhya:
VCs Think My Boobs Need An Algorithm
Next:
The Naked Truth about Subscription Startups

Original image created by fractured-fairytales.

Tags: funding, pr, public relations, Series A, Series A Crunch, start-ups, VC

Posted in: Vision & Opinion

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VCs Think My Boobs Need An Algorithm

Posted by Sindhya Valloppillil on January 9, 2013

[Opinions held by the contributor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OS Fashion and its members.]

VCs think my boobs need an algorithm. My boobs don’t need an algorithm. If that’s not enough, VCs also think that women need a bra subscription. They gave $2M in seed funding to True & Co., an e-commerce bra company with an algorithm and subscription model. Never mind that the clear majority of women don’t buy bras every month. This start-up’s algorithm involves answering questions online for about 3 minutes that’s not only boring and painful but also futile. The algorithm, like the brand’s name, is ridiculous. An algorithm cannot provide you with a better fit just as answering questions online cannot help you find the best pillow for your preferences. Some products need to be touched and tried on. An algorithm cannot account for technological advancements like soft stretch in bra straps, seamless fits, softer lace with stretch, and good quality padding that isn’t cheap and itchy. Finally, as a lingerie brand, this start-up lacks fun and sexy branding. There’s a place for an algorithm–it isn’t my bra. VCs simply don’t understand consumer psychology, consumer purchasing patterns and what it takes to build a great brand or product. It seems as if they think consumer tech is easy and that anyone can do it. This misunderstanding is a big problem, and VCs are screwing up the ecosystem.

Charlie O’Donnell (@ceonyc), a VC at Brooklyn Ventures, recently tweeted in reply to Sanjay Raman (@sanjayraman), a VC at Greylock Ventures:

“@sanjayraman: Always fascinated by eBay dichotomy: terrible product, yet remarkable liquidity.” << Like a bar full of drunk singles at 3am.

— Charlie O’Donnell (@ceonyc) December 25, 2012

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Tags: bras, Fashion, lingerie, marketing, media, opinion, shaving, social media, subscriptions, VCs, venture capitalists, viral, Youtube

Posted in: Vision & Opinion

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The Disciplined Road (or Runway) to Success

Posted by Melissa Gonzalez on January 7, 2013

It’s time to start fresh again. Hopefully, you have fully regrouped from the holiday selling season, found days of rest and are ready to tackle re-order shipments for spring deliveries.

If you are a small business, such as a design team of just 1-6 total employees, taking the time to assess may still feel overwhelming when juggling this alongside racing against the clock to be ready for 2013. You may still be walking the fine line of where to allocate monetary and time resources for the year ahead. It’s the easiest cycle to start the engines again, gearing full throttle to be everywhere and saying yes to as much as possible, but maybe it’s time to adjust that approach.

Step One: Looking Back
What were your goals for 2012? Were your goals for the year sales oriented? Were they customer traction oriented? Or were they traffic oriented? And most of all, how did your business perform verse your benchmarks?

Note, the above truly has to be a discipline approach and you must prepare yourself to accept the good, the bad and the ugly. And luckily, when you are small, learning is your biggest asset and you are still nimble enough to adjust rapidly and efficiently. Map out your study- month over month. Does your business have cyclicality? Did selling in certain venues extremely outperform others? Did you learn more about your key customers? What two or three things happened during the year that really turned you on? Have you built the right team that is going to support you so you can shine as the creative mind of your vision?

Step Two: Connect & Analyze the Dots
What do these answers mean for 2013?

Ideally this assessment happens in 2012, but as a small business in early years we are usually working long days against the clock and playing catch up on a daily basis. In order to best tackle step two, you must start approaching step one with the mindset “I will not fulfill my days with busy work, but rather position myself to be a strategic executor with the right team.” Feeling busy can feel like success until you number crunch at the end of the year, so let the data analysis speak to you.

Step Three: Make Your Mark
The essentials to getting to the next level in 2013.

Regardless of what you learned, the key elements will hold true: working hard means working smart. Don’t try to produce everything, but rather make a solid mark with styles that sell the strongest and create a sophomore run with new colors updates, new straps, a new twist on what’s working and if it makes sense drizzle in one or two new experiments. Target venues where your customer shops, online and offline. Invest time in press that influences your customer, being everywhere is just superficial buzz that will leave you frustrated.

As curators and merchandisers at LionesqueStyle.com, we consistently find that brands that outperform on our platform are those with niche focus and disciplined business practices. They hone in on something unique and specialize in one or two key areas. They create an understanding for their brand, they work on scaling with price points that work within their market and for their customer, they have a handle on their production schedules and they can deliver to retailers and customers promptly.

In 2012, we were especially proud of the success of our designers like Heather Belle, featured in InStyle Magazine, and GIR Spatulas, that was featured on the Today Show. Now we are looking for more aspiring talent to join our coveted marketplace. If you feel that you are a brand we need to know, please do let us know! We are hosting a 2 day open call for emerging brands at the Lion’esque Style Experience Store. You can see more details on our criteria here.

We look forward to hearing from you! Helping you grown and connecting you to our community turns us on.

Original header image created by Marn Albano.

Tags: assessment, business, design, designers, focus, open call

Posted in: Retail Education, Vision & Opinion

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You Are What You Read: 3 Books for Fashion + Focus

Posted by Angela Gilltrap on November 27, 2012

Knowledge is power and in the highly competitive world of fashion, it can mean the difference between sink or swim. Apart from your favorite blogs, how much do you actually read? And no, multiple September Issues do not count. If you wish to make fashion your business, then reading can be the cheapest way to hone your skills and build your empire; learn from other’s mistakes, visit places you’ve only dreamt of and be inspired. Here are a few that are definitely worth your time.

The Perfect Scent

by Chandler Burr

Written by New York Times perfume critic Chandler Burr, The Perfect Scent is the ultimate backstage pass to the mysterious (and highly lucrative world) of perfume. Closed to outsiders, the fragrance industry crosses multiple boundaries from couture to trashy, celebrity to celebrated. In this, his second book, Burr follows the journey of two well-known fragrances from concept to creation: Jean-Claude Ellena, Hermés’ in-house perfumer and Sarah Jessica Parker and her team of scent creators at Coty. Extremely well written and informative, it will make you think twice next time you spritz yourself.

Fashion Brands: Branding Style From Armani to Zara

by Mark Tungate

The democratization of fashion has meant that luxury is harder than ever to define, enter Branding Style. This international best seller is a great place to start whether you are a well versed fashionista or starting out in the wonderful world of apparel. Full of informative interviews from key industry figures, it analyzes everything from store design and marketing to advertising and the impact of bloggers on brands. Using real life examples of labels we know and love (and some we’ve come to despise) it’s a fascinating look at how an inanimate object can become a worldwide phenomena.

18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done

by Peter Bergman

For those of us who can never seem to find that extra 3 (or maybe 10) hours in the day we need, this book is great at honing your time management skills. Written by Peter Bergman, it’s based on his weekly column Harvard Business Review and shows you that if you can clearly define your goals you can get everything you need done. Easy to read and even easier to put into action, this book is a must for those finding life a little too hectic.

The original header image was created by Sebastien Wiertz.

Tags: books, branding, brands, focus, inspiration, perfume, vision

Posted in: Vision & Opinion

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Designing Your Career and Your Business

Posted by Diane Pascual on October 31, 2012

I attended a workshop at the Brooklyn Public Library called “Getting Started in the Fashion Business.” Our Meetup group Fashion Drawing Session, hosted by WYRT (Would You Rock This?), had the opportunity of being able to attend this workshop with some pretty amazing speakers. Nellie Partow, a fashion designer, and Christine Helm, FIT’s Enterprise Center Coordinator, both gave very informative insight into the fashion business. There was also Sujatha Sebastian, the director of the Women’s Business Center who talked about their services and upcoming workshops on anything from writing a business plan to learning the difference between an LLC and incorporating your business.

Most of the workshop was from Nellie’s perspective and how she got started into the business. It’s really interesting to note that she started out as a business major and then moved on to pursue fashion design at Parsons. She’s a really inspiring individual and I liked that she talked out some very important things. Here are some of them:

Relationships and business networks are extremely important and fundamental to any kind of business. Meet as many people as you can, ask a lot of questions to those who always know more than you do. Build a network, it is sometimes about luck and who you know.
Know what you want to do first before you start a business and be focused. Figure out what you’re good at and what your strongest asset is.
It is important to intern and work for other people to gain experience into the business you want to go into. She talked about interning for a smaller company and that it could benefit you in the long run because you learn a wider range of experiences and perspectives. Work in the industry you want to be in.
Know your brand, figure out what your target market is, do the research and see what people are looking for, and also doing research on your competitors.
Know that as a creative, you are ideally getting into a business and that’s the reality of it. There are so many aspects that go into starting your own business. It’s hard work and preparing ahead of time for the season collections and production takes time to prepare as well. Throughout the year, she is focused solely on the business side and only two weeks out of the year does she ever get to do any real design work.
Bring a look book and set price points before you meet with a buyer. You have to know how much the manufacturers are costing you and minimums as far getting your products made. It’s all trial and error, testing it and seeing if works. The buyers will want to know if you can make them money.
You’ll grow through out the process and will find people that want to help and support you. There are good people out there who genuinely want to help you.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or fail the first time.
As far as products and where to get started, find something you like the quality of and base it on that and use as an example to bring to manufacturers so that they get a better of what you are looking for. Always use visuals and pictures!
Always, trust your gut and don’t waiver from it. You make the choice whether a piece is good or not, and allowing yourself to go through a process of development.

Christine had a few importnat things to say as well:

Take classes and workshops related to the type of business you want to get into, skills you want to brush up on, and study.
You have to really get out of your comfort zone and talk to people. If you really want to take career in fashion design seriously, you have to do the work and just put yourself out there.
Research and read up on how other brands got started, but remember that everyone has a different experience and how it unfolds to you is unique to you.

Christine teaches a workshop series at FIT called Design Entrepreneurs NYC. It’s free and covers everything to running your own label as well as many other aspects such as marketing, operations, and financial management.

I seem like a very unlikely person to have attended this workshop since I am an illustrator and story artist for animation. Nonetheless, this workshop was useful in that it provided a first hand experience and account from a designer and business owner. Anybody looking to start their own business would have found it very invaluable.

The originial image was created by memyni.

Tags: brands, business, buyers, design, entrepreneurs, event, inspiration, manufacturers, networking, tips

Posted in: Style, Design & Beauty, Upcoming & Past Events, Vision & Opinion

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5 Things To Do To Create Killer Content

Posted by Angela Gilltrap on October 5, 2012

Twitter. Facebook. Pinterest. Tumblr. The Fancy. Blogs. Websites. Print. e-Books. i-Books. Real books. Welcome to information overload. The amount of information we have access to has grown exponentially, the number of hours in the day, have stayed the same. Never before has it been so easy to create a mini-empire, never before has there been so much competition to do so.

As a Global Content Director at Lot 17 Media, my job is to source, create and market content. From luxury brands to niche publications. The content I create is not limited to a particular field— although fashion is my specialty— it’s based upon strategic content that adheres to specific digital, financial and brand goals and the one phrase that I truly believe in, “Always give back to the world more than you take.”

Here are 5 things to keep in mind:

Be Nice (Nice Guys Always Win)
This may not be the case in dating but it certainly is when it comes to creating content. Highlighting other people’s expertise, accomplishments or simply their style is a great way to create a vested interest in your content. Start with the people you know who inspire you and then reach out to other people you’d like to know. Shining a spotlight on others does not diminish your own, it helps create a community of work peeps you actually enjoy hearing from. And let’s face it, when it comes to the digital world, there is not a lot of down time so building a community of people you love and respect is the nicest way to live your working life.

Be Passionately Curious
Have you ever had an intern, friend, acquaintance who asked questions and actually listened to the answer? Not to steal your genius ideas but simply because they had a hunger for information? Hire them. On the spot. People who are passionately curious listen, read, and devour information finding fresh angles on tired subjects. They are the ones that come to you with information—a statistic they read in the elevator, a piece of news they found while reading AM on their way to work—and they are worth their weight in gold. You can’t order someone to be interested. Work with people who love what they do and are passionate about the quality of work they produce. The ones who get upset because there is a wayward comma, are the ones you want.

Choose Timely or Choose Timeless
If you don’t have the time or staff to break news, don’t. The online world moves at lightning speed and there is nothing that can kill your credibility more than breaking a news story five hours after your competitors. People are loyal to a particular point of view. Give your slant on a news item or better yet, create original content that brands your company as an expert in your field.

Consistency is Key
Nothing will loose you followers faster than sporadic content. It doesn’t matter if you create 10 post per day or 10 post per year, be consistent. Know your market. When are your target market online? When are your competitors? When do your readers check their emails? When are they most likely to click on a link and read a story? There is a wealth of tracking data available for every online platform, checking online statistics is like balancing your cheque book. Do it regularly and you will succeed. And when it comes to content don’t be afraid to experiment with new sections. just make sure it goes up at the same time each week so that your readers can look forward to reading it.

Always Have Integrity
I’ve lived my life in what most would deem “fickle” industries—entertainment and fashion. I graduated high school at 16 and never went to college. I come from the school of hard knocks where reading personalities is the key to survival. Are there vindictive, self-absorbed people in the world of fashion? Of course, there is in any industry. But remember jealousy must be earned. How others behave is out of your control, how you do, is. I have always believed in working and promoting people/brands that I believe in. That inspire me. That give me a reason to create. Those who are simply there to use and abuse don’t last very long in any walk of life. It’s a small world and what goes around comes around. So take the time to spell check, never publish a photo of someone that you wouldn’t want published of yourself, show others in their best light, remember it takes a team to create anything in this world and don’t always go for the obvious—big people were little people once too.

Creating killer content comes from a genuine desire to want to communicate with people. I admire people from all walks of life. And I’ve always been fascinated by other people’s stories. So doing this, watching traffic grow and seeing a start up take off is something I really enjoy.

If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, stop doing it. If you have lost your passion for what you’re creating, find it. If the people around you don’t inspire you, search for others who do. Be responsible for what you create and give back to this world, in my opinion, life is too short to live any other way.

Tags: content, news, writing

Posted in: Content Creation, Vision & Opinion

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Hustle, hustle hard, and hustle every day.

Posted by Daniel Haim on September 12, 2012

I’ve been going back and forth on what topic I should “attack” when writing my first article for OS Fashion and suddenly I realized that the readers here would either be the young & hungry fashion-industry individuals who have the passion and the ideas, or the hungry that is working on a start-up while not sure why it’s not really working out, or maybe it is working out – but not working good enough.

The first thing you need to focus on is patience. A lot of people fail to understand that we are building businesses, and it’s not an easy task – you will need to work hard, and you will waste a lot of your money and it will take years to accomplish. My good friend Henric Jogin from IDG had explained it best, “It might take us 1 year to reach 95%, but the other 5% will take another 3 years to complete.”

“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?” – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Most fashionistas that I met over the years had the passion to make things happen, not knowing really how the industry worked, just simply being passionate – being passionate is just one dot off the triangle that needs to happen before it gets merged. What most of you don’t understand is that this entire industry (The Fashion Industry) is built on Smoke and Mirrors. You’ll see popular editors dressed in Givenchy or Balmain and you’d think to yourself if I continue to work hard one day I’ll be able to afford that – well, that’s not how it works. Perhaps, one day you will – but perhaps one day you’ll just realize that these clothes are not ours and that we have the connections to pull. Either we get these stuff for free or to rock them during shows. And while I’m at it – you don’t buy a nice car and get rich, you get rich and buy a nice car. Save your money.

Most businesses fail because too many people give up. You give up because you have no direction. You must have a direction, you must have a proper business plan – you must network, and network a lot. Set business goals and remember that a goal is not always meant to be reached – it can serve simply as something you can aim for.

Define roles and stick to them. Don’t get mixed with other people’s jobs – especially if you are working with the team. Let them do their job, you do yours and you have to trust them fully. My entire team at Bloginity is built on respect and trust – I hire people because of their visions, although I am the Editor in Chief & the CEO, and most of the business decisions come from my voice – I still tell each one of them – trust your gut, do what you’re about – I hired you because I like what you see and I want you to bring that vision to our magazine.

Utilize the people you’re working with, utilize friends, family members, work hard and be nice to the people you work with. Don’t burn any bridges – but if you do, let the bridges you burn light your way.

September 15th marks the 6-year anniversary of me being in the states. 6 years ago I was making sandwiches at a local deli in New York City. Four years ago I was doing import/export. And almost 3 years ago I decided to learn code, and I realized that my passion was not invested where it should have been – so I began designing and working with people that inspired me. It took me 3 whole years to come to the point that only now I think that yes, we really do have a shot, we really are making it and I pride myself for never giving up.

Throughout the years Bloginity had evolved but we always had a missing piece. At certain times we were bringing over 5M unique users to the site alone, and then it dropped to 800,000 users, and suddenly the average time peaked from 2:00 minute on the site to 8:00 minute. Nowadays, we’re pulling an average of 20:00 minutes for a new user and 1 hour 30 minutes for returning users. At times we had the traffic – but no advertisers, at times we had advertisers but no traffic. Other times we had the “branding” but no advertisers and no traffic and that just goes on.

I learned my lessons, by making mistakes. You should make mistakes too – because only when you make mistakes you’d know where you should turn and where you shouldn’t. Prove it, don’t just say to yourself “it’s not going to work.” Trust your gut, and make things happen. Hustle, hustle hard, and hustle every day.

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln.

- Daniel Haim

Photo Credit: Ashton Pal

Tags: blog, case study, inspiration, marketing

Posted in: Vision & Opinion