Startup Salon: Weardrobe
April 13th, 2009
While in San Francisco for the recently concluded Web 2.0 Expo I had a moment to catch up with Suzane Xie (@suzannez) CEO and co-Founder at Weardrobe. The seedlings of our friendship began in the summer of 2008 in New York City. Connected by Women 2.0, our pursuit and passion for community building and our startups. It was truly extraordinary to see her and listen to the evolution of Weardrobe and its continued success. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation. I hope it will inspire you as it has moved me.
@mavindigital: Girlfriend am so proud of you! Tell me about your experience in the accelerator program at SXSW. How did you get in?
@suzannez: Truly an unplanned moment. I was not planning on being at SXSW until I saw an email message from @tikkers asking for startups to submit to the SXSW program. The short of it, we submitted Weardrobe for the social networking catetory and was selected as one of the 25 finalists to present. Then everything evolved from that moment. @guykawasaki is now one of our fans, and has been helpful in making introductions. Listen in on what people think about Weardrobe on Twitter.
@mavindigital: LOLZ the word on the street is that you are the next Oprah.
@suzannez: Haha, hardly the case. I’d like to be the next @garyvee first before I ever get to be the next Oprah.
Note: Suzanne and I were laughing hysterically at that moment over something really geeky.
@mavindigital: So tell us more about Weardrobe. What has changed since you relocated from New York to California. Share your reasons for relocating and was the move the right thing for the company?
@suzannez: We (@richtong, my co-Founder of Weardrobe) made the decision to relocate to Palo Alto for many reasons. One being closer to Stanford University opened doors to a pool of really great intern talent. Second, I wanted to establish Weardrobe as an integral part of the Valley startup and investor community for future growth. The Valley investor community sees more dealflows and are open to new ideas versus microscoping the bottomline, hence by the time we are ready for sizeable funding, the hope is to tap into those relationships. Today, we have a converted home office in Palo Alto which is extremely accessible for our interns at Stanford. In the last six months, we re-launched Weardrobe with new site design and a clearer vision for our business model.
@mavindigital: All excellent news! Very smart move on the intern management side. What is the new model of Weardrobe and how has that improved the experience with your audience?
@suzannez: Our focus for the past six months is to improve the quality of our content. The hard-work and focus has paid off as we’ve seen traffic growth from 35K to 125K with over half a million page views and it increases daily. Weardrobe has made clothing more discoverable and searcheable for the average fashion fiend or wanna be fashion fiend. Any woman with a closet has a story to share about their personal style. What best place to start sharing that story is from your own closet. Fashion retailers like American Apparel and other fashion retailers of which I am unable to share at the moment since we are in the dealmaking process are beginning to see the value we add in the fashion ecosystem. Google as a search engine is a gateway to the entire internet, but they can’t cover every niche vertical. Weardrobe is your gateway to discovering wearable fashion.
@mavindigital: Brilliant! I can’t wait to hear more…so who is your audience and how do you keep them engaged?
@suzannez: Weardrobe’s audience has an age median of female and 19 years old. College to late twenties, who we refer to as the fashion influencers. 95% of our users are female, who also holds the majority of the purchasing power. We have over 5,000 registered users and very close relationships with our top users who we are in contact with on a weekly basis. We are also launching “The Weardrobe Closet” - where our most trusted members get to borrow and style items from our retail partners so they can share their personal style and inspire other girls on Weardrobe. I’m very excited about this!
@mavindigital: I love it! Finally a community that is DOMINATED by women, but I’m too old for Weardrobe!
@suzannez: No! Of course you’re not too old for Weardrobe! The idea is that hopefully our early adopters will convert the main stream in using Weardrobe as a style discovery tool versus depending on runway fashion for inspiration. Plus, who doesn’t like the idea of borrowing clothing from an endless closet?
@mavindigital: AHA! Just like how Facebook was for the teen market when Mark Zuckerberg hatched the idea. Today their audience has simply gone mainstream.
@suzannez: Exactly! We want to change how people interact with clothing and help them change buying decisions simply by seeing how the fashion influencers are wearing a scarf, shoes, jeans, etc.
@mavindigital: I better start using my account now and be one of the early adopters! With all your early success in business can you share any words of advice for future entrepreneurs?
@suzannez: I believe the current economic climate is the best time for entrepreneurs to start their business. When the market improves your business will grow with the market. The plus side of a slow economy is that startups like ours have access to a wealth of brilliant talent who can help make the difference in the growth of your business.
@mavindigital: How about funding your idea? How did you start Weardrobe?
@suzannez: @richtong and I started with our own savings at first. Then when we saw that this novel idea started to truly blossom and evolve we sought for convertible notes in order to relocate to Palo Alto. Convertible notes allows a lender to loan money without your company being valued too early on. We are just starting to talk to Angel investors and VCs now for a valued round.
@mavindigital: I’ve heard stories about Venture Capital firms and how they sometimes take over a company you’ve founded. Any thoughts on that?
@suzannez: Personally, I wouldn’t include a VC firm in my funding equation until I am ready for that kind of expansion and scale. We have tried to grow Weardrobe for as long as possible before seeking a valued round of funding. Before institutional funding, you have more freedom to experiment and make mistakes. Regarding what happens to the founders post-funding, it would be ideal to stay on and help the company scale. However, that’s not always the best option for the business – my thinking would be “if someone is better positioned to oversee the growth of my baby” then it would be wise for me to give up the CEO post provided that my shares as Founder are in place.
@mavindigital: Very wise. How about business partners? I’ve heard about Rich Tong mentioned many times over, but have not really met this guy. Who is Mr. Tong?
@suzannez: Ha! Rich and I go way back. We met during summercamp at Cornell during high school and have been friends ever since. When I was studying at the University of Chicago and he at Cornell Architecture, we started a high-end stationary business coast to coast. Our clients included the Palms Hotel and we even made a stationary for one of Donald Trump’s events. Rich and I have always worked well together – though we have had our fair share of arguments. All of our countless fights have proven that our partnership and friendship will endure any challenge. At the end of the day, his talent and skills are complementary to mine. Finding the right partner in your business is very key to your success.
Note: At this point, Suzanne and I were once again laughing hysterically upon this discovery for I started a print production company too at some point in my entrepreneurial career.
@mavindigital: So much more to ask, but since we’re down to hour last few minutes of the two hours we’ve spent catching up would you share the idea and inspiration behind Weardrobe?
@suzannez: (She has this big smile and her eyes just lights as shares this vignette) Well, I have this really geeky and superbly organized side of me. I like spreadsheets, which is probably why I decided to study econ and do investment banking before Weardrobe. I used to organize my closet by entering all the pieces of clothing I own into an excel spreadsheet. After completing this task and realizing how lame I was — I figured I better make someting cool out of it. And we did, Weardrobe!
I had such a fun time in San Francisco! Catching up with Suzanne has definitely convinced me that starting a startup was the best decisions I’ve made in my life. She’s pursuing her dreams and doing it well. I hope her story will inspire you to do the same.
About Weardrobe
Weardrobe is a fashion community focused not just on what you wear, but how you wear it. It was inspired by the unique and inspirational styles of “What I Wore” fashion bloggers and groups like wardrobe remix. You can start by searching for inspiration or by posting your own photo.
Meet the Founders:
Suzanne Xie (@suzannez) Rich Tong (@richtong)
Tags: Community, fashion, Google, search, startup salon, startups, suzanne xie, sxsw, weardrobe
