Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Homeroots CEO Gil Bar-Lev (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: You took a handful of manufacturers who were willing to give you the data and were willing to drop ship on your behalf and you started off with them. Gil Bar-Lev: Yes, we created a new portal where we listed those products. We provided our manufacturers a backend login for them to manage

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Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Homeroots CEO Gil Bar-Lev (Part 1)

Gil discusses wholesale e-commerce and its complexities. This is an important interview to read for e-commerce retailers who’re looking to buy efficiently, as well as run their businesses in a zero-logistics mode. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as Homeroots.

From Student Entrepreneur to a $15 Million Revenue Ultralight Business: Stephanie Madesh, CEO of Kalon Clothing (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: You were finding all these levers at the right moment. Timing is really hard to get, but when you get it right, it works really well. What kind of revenue level were you at in 2015? Stephanie Madesh: We would have been at $3.5 million. Sramana Mitra: How many people now? Stephanie Madesh:

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From Student Entrepreneur to a $15 Million Revenue Ultralight Business: Stephanie Madesh, CEO of Kalon Clothing (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Were you selling this under private label, or was it still retail? Stephanie Madesh: We were selling it as the Kalon brand. It was our own design. We were still a boutique. But if you can imagine Forever21 when they started, they had their own label and all the labels that they carried.

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From Student Entrepreneur to a $15 Million Revenue Ultralight Business: Stephanie Madesh, CEO of Kalon Clothing (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What happened in 2010? Stephanie Madesh: We doubled that year. We were at the $300,000 level. That was two-fold. We had started a print-on-demand. That had its own website. That drove the other $150,000 in sales. Sramana Mitra: What were you printing on demand? T-shirts?

From Student Entrepreneur to a $15 Million Revenue Ultralight Business: Stephanie Madesh, CEO of Kalon Clothing (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Was the age group you were trying to go after your own age group? Stephanie Madesh: Yes. I was going after the 20- to 30-year-old market back then. As it evolved, my customers base were more in the 20- to 60-year old category. Sramana Mitra: How did you acquire the customers?

From Student Entrepreneur to a $15 Million Revenue Ultralight Business: Stephanie Madesh, CEO of Kalon Clothing (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Stephanie was a Sophomore in college when she started her venture. Wonderful story of a student entrepreneur growing into a multi-million dollar ultra-light e-commerce business. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and

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From Student Entrepreneur to a $15 Million Revenue Ultralight Business: Stephanie Madesh, CEO of Kalon Clothing (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: What percentage of your business is the plus size? Stephanie Madesh: From 2x up, we run about 30%. Men’s is higher – about 35%. We go up to 4x for men’s. For women’s, we go up to 2x on a knitted item and 4x for the rest. Sramana Mitra: What other categories are

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