Posts Tagged ‘entrepeneurs’

Monsters of Entrepreneurship: Peter Thomas Talks About Giving Back at the Student Entrepreneur Awards

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

We found Peter Thomas hanging around at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards while we were at the New York Stock Exchange this October. He’s been supporting young people with big ideas for almost a quarter century, and he was happy to take a minute to tell us about the hows and whys of giving back.

Watch the oh-ficial GSEA 2010 recap video here. To see all our GSEA interviews, click here.

How Do You Get a $2,000 Dress for $100? Rent it!

Friday, November 13th, 2009
Will rental haute couture be all the rage?
  • Rent the Runway is a new website that lets women rent dresses from high-end designers for about a tenth of their retail asking price.
  • Although the launch has been met with enthusiasm, the business model does face a few risks. Fashion tends to have a short shelf-life compared to rental DVDs. The site is also invitation-only, which limits its customer base. There’s also the enormous customer service risk. If your Netflix movie arrives a day late, that’s one thing, but if the dress for your Saturday wedding comes the following Monday, Rent the Runway has a big problem.
  • Retail stores in big cities have rented dresses for years, but the company believes its online convenience will create a surge in the market even though women won’t be able to try dresses on beforehand.

Facts & Figures

  • The rentals run $50 to $200 for a four-night loan and are shipped directly to the customer.
  • Each dress order includes a duplicate dress in a back-up size for no additional charge.
  • More than 20,000 women signed up for the service for its first week.

Best Quote

“Here was this young girl who loves fashion and was willing to spend a good portion of her salary on a dress that she’s only going to wear once or twice, and I thought, there has to be a solution for this.” – Jennifer Human, Co-Founder of Rent the Runway

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Pet Airways services a niche carved out by the recent social phenomenon of large expenditures for our furry friends.

  • Pet Airways was launched after an increase in the number of deaths of pets flying in the cargo hold of commercial airliners.
  • Pet Airways believes pets are not simply passengers but “pawsengers” and even allows you to track your pet along his or her flight with a feature on their website called the “Pet Tracker.”
  • The process is simple: you drop your pet off at the “Pet Lounge” and an attendant tends to your pet throughout the flight. After landing, your pet is shuttled to another Pet Lounge where you can pick it up.

Facts & Figures

  • Flights will be pet-only; no owners are allowed on board.
  • Pets can fly to and from New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and Washington DC.
  • Airfare starts at $149 each way.

Best Quote

“Currently, most pets traveling by air are transported in the cargo hold and are handled as baggage. The experience is frightening to the pets, and can cause severe emotional and physical harm, even death. This is not what most pet owners want to subject their pets to, but they had no choice, until now.” – Dan Wiesel, President and CEO of Pet Airways

Taking Netiquette To A New Level

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
This is just a quick, fun piece about an interesting new business. See if you want to give it a try!
  • Alexa and James Hirshfeld, two siblings living in New York City, have started Paperless Post, a Web-based business that allows users to design and send invitations through e-mail.
  • The business was created to cater to the needs of people who want something more upscale than Facebook invites but don’t want to go through the time and expense necessary for printed invitations.
  • Paperless Post seems to be growing in popularity, boasting such clients as Zac Posen and Diane Von Furstenberg.

Facts & Figures

  • The Hirshfelds have sent out 60,000 invitations since January 2009, and 150,000 since the previous fall.
  • Paperless Post boasts a variety of letterhead templates, fonts, motifs, border patterns, paper colors, sizes, stock, and textures, as well as an RSVP tracking system.
  • The carbon footprint of Paperless Post is virtually zero.

Best Quote

“The Internet has been a kind of vacuum in terms of aesthetics. We wanted to leverage functionality with design.” — Alexa Hirshfeld, Co-Founder of Paperless Post