Third Wave Fashion

Tech Crush Thursday: Garrett Camp

It’s one thing to start a great company that people around the world use on a daily basis, but it is an entirely different thing to start THREE successful internet companies.

This week we are crushing on the man that did just that, Mr. Garrett Camp. Born in Canada, Garrett co-founded StumbleUpon in 2001, later moving the company to San Francisco in 2006. Just a year later, Camp and his co-founder, Geoff Smith, sold the company to eBay for $75 million. He continued to act as the company’s CEO until May 2012 after he stepped down (he remains Stumbleupon’s chairman) to focus on his another one of his ventures, Uber.

Launched in 2010, Uber is a mobile application that connects passengers with drivers of luxury vehicles for hire. The SF based company has raised over $50 million in funding and is solving transportation problems for busy city residents in San Francisco, NYC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., Vancouver, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, Philadelphia, Dallas, London, Melbourne, and many more.

Don’t worry, Garrett didn’t stop there. He also started Blackjet, the company that helps consumers book seats on private jets faster than ever. If you struggle to find a last minute seat on a private jet traveling from New York to LA or South Florida, Blackjet is here to help. In 10 seconds, Blackjet will book your seat and guarantee seat availability. All you need is an invite code and you’re good to go.

This 2007 recipient of MIT Technology Review’s TR35 award, has one of the most impressive track records we’ve ever seen. What will he think of next? Only time will tell. 

Image via WSJ.

Tech Crush Thursday: Kevin Systrom

With over 100 million users (as announced Tuesday), Instagram has grown from two young guys renting desks, to a record breaking acquisition with Facebook. Although Instagram was launched a little over two years ago, we can’t help but be impressed by the company’s growth and success (not to mention we are more than slightly addicted to the app). 

Welcome, Kevin Systrom, CEO and Co-founder of Instagram, to the TWF Tech Crush Thursday hall of fame! After graduating from Stanford University, Kevin got his first taste of the startup tech world as an intern at Odeo, which later became Twitter. He also worked at Google where he worked on a number of product as well as their corporate development.

In 2012, Systrom and his Co-founder, Mike Krieger, sold the company to Facebook for an announced $1Billion. Although the sale went through, Kevin made sure that Instagram would continue to operate outside of Facebook. He also retained quite a bit of control over the photo-sharing company, allowing him to continue to make important decisions. For example, Kevin decided to remove Instagram photos from Twitter’s news feed, not at the request of Facebook, but to bring users to Instagram’s new website.

Yes, there have been some controversies surrounding the app and recent changes, but with 100 million users in just 28 months, it looks like the man behind Instagram knows what he’s doing.

Tech Crush Thursday: Ben Lerer

As women we have our go-to sites for shopping and lifestyle, but for some time, there was no site specifically for men. That is until Thrillist stepped in to build a men’s lifestyle empire. With their 2010 acquisition of the members-only shopping club JackThreads, and the addition of a local experience platform, Thrillist Rewards, Thrillist Media Group is making it’s mark in the digital world. The three brands collectively reach over 4 million subscriptions daily and target a young male demographic both online and offline through content and commerce.

Behind it all, the Co-founder and CEO, Ben Lerer, took his place in the Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30 list in 2009.  Ben has grown his venture into a successful company, with over $13 million in funding. Beyond just the numbers, Ben has created a unique culture in his company that fosters entrepreneurship. His motto? “Don’t hope.” The idea being: don’t wait around for things to happen for you. “You have to make your own luck, you have to work hard and you have to do everything you can to be successful.”

In addition to Thrillist Media Group, Ben is also a Manager at Lerer Ventures, working side by side with his father to help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses. When asked in a recent interview with Forbes what he looks for in a potential investment, Ben explained it’s about the person or team more so than the actual business. “It’s really all about wanting to be someone’s business partner and knowing that they’ll do whatever it takes when going through the struggles of building a business.”

Tech Crush Thursday: MJ Eng

What started as a conversation between co-founder Brian Lee and his wife about buying shoes and the idea that “When women shop, they want to feel beautiful and pampered,” has grown into a multimillion dollar company. Lee, co-founder of LegalZoom.com, brought on UCLA graduate and LegalZoom.com Director of Application Development, MJ Eng, to build the successful online shoe, apparel & accessories site that is now ShoeDazzle. Also part of the package, attorney Robert Shapiro, and Kim Kardashian, as Chief Fashion Stylist. In under three years, the ShoeDazzle team designed and built the site, then scaled the company to over $80M in annual revenue.

After a series of business model changes following the hiring of Bill Strauss in 2011 as CEO of ShoeDazzle, both Lee and Eng returned to the company this year to resume their original leadership positions. During that year away from ShoeDazzle, Eng built Teeology, an e-commerce luxury tee shirt line, also co-founded with Lee as well as fashion executives Jeff Marine and Erica Zohar in partnership with Jennifer Lopez (Yes-JLO).

With Teeology officially launched in July and ShoeDazzle signing up a record one million new members in that same month, as well as growing the company from 3 million to 13 million members over the past year, it seems Eng knows what he’s doing! Third Wave Fashion was even lucky enough to have MJ as a panelist at our Los Angeles Meetup a few weeks ago. We definitely take his advice to heart and cannot wait to see what he does next!

(Source: crosscutventures.com)

Watch-Out Wednesday: Wantworthy

Do you spend hours browsing the internet, looking at different products—some of them perhaps you actually need while others you’re just lusting after…for later?

Check out Wantworthy, a bookmarking site to save, organize, and share the products you find. With Wantworthy, users can create lists, such as “Obsessed With It,” “Birthday Gift Ideas,” or “Buy It Later.”

Once the +WANT button is added to your browser, all you have to do is click the widget and the product you’re viewing can be added to the list of your choosing. You can keep your list to yourself or you can share it with your friends to get their opinions—are those shoes really as cute as you think they are? Now you can easily find out.

The layout is clean, crisp, and easy to navigate. When you save an item to your list, Wantworthy keeps track of the website where it was found, the price, and the brand. When you decide you absolutely do need something, simply click the “Buy” button. All of your purchases are tracked as well.

Even Style.com said, “The best ideas on the web seem to be the simplest ones… one you may have wished for is Wantworthy.”

You can find Wantworthy on Twitter and Tumblr, too!

Tired of buying clothes that just don’t fit right?

Clothes Horse aims to fix that problem by recommending sizes and clothes to apparel shoppers based on their style and body type. They have a patent-pending data-driven way to help shoppers make decisions that are individualized for them.

Clothes Horse doesn’t just help out shoppers, but also brands. By using Clothes Horse technology, brands can see an increase in sales and a decrease returns—resulting in more customer loyalty.

To start, users input their information about size, height, weight (don’t worry, it’s kept a secret!) and upload images of their favorite items of clothing. Then when someone is shopping online, she/he can use the profile suggestions to be able to make more accurate decisions about what to purchase—leaving both the shoppers and brands happy!

So, what exactly is a Clothes Horse? 

Watch Out Wednesday: Wiseling 

We are huge lovers of the “recommerce” business model, and this startup will take it to another level. Meet Wiseling, this week’s Watch Out Wednesday. Wiseling is an online marketplace to buy and sell previously loved fashion. 

“So, what sets them apart?” you may ask. Think consignment shopping, not eBay—and they won’t take all your hard-earned money. We think this is a fantastic way to get a better value for luxury used or vintage goods, and can’t wait until their beta launch later on this month. 

Be inspired and read more on the Wiseling Blog. Also, check them out on Twitter and Facebook.  

Watch Out Wednesday: Trendabl 

Are you one of the 50 million people who are obsessed with Instragram? Then you should check out Trendabl, a fashion-focused photo sharing app that just launched in March.

With Trendabl, users can take a photo, add a fun filter, and post information such as designer, store, price, or color. To discover fashion, users can follow designers, celebrities, stylists, bloggers, and magazines. Some big-name users already include Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, DVF, and Brad Goreski. You can also search items based on color or product type. Founder and CEO Jon Alagem told Style.com, “We wanted to create a visually beautiful social media platform that allows users to share and discover the latest trends in fashion.”

We even included Trendabl in our list of 5 Must-Have Fashion Mobile Apps.

Download Trendabl and check them out on Twitter!