Friday Fun: MBAs Take Sample Sales Online
We like to take the occasional Friday here at the MGMAT blog to spotlight interesting paths taken by MBAs. Today: Gilt Groupe, which is bringing sample sales—long an urban fashion institution—to online shoppers.
The Wall Street Journal recently profiled the up-and-coming online retailer. Here’s how Gilt Groupe works: Upon registration, members receive a daily email announcing the afternoon’s deals on luxury brands. Labels like Christian Louboutin and Marc Jacobs are regularly discounted up to 70 percent. Last year this clever scheme brought in $170 million in revenue, and the company is currently valued at $400 million. And Gilt Groupe might not exist if founders Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson hadn’t chosen to get MBAs. The two met as classmates at Harvard Business School, where they laid the foundations for Gilt. They launched the company with merchandise from designer Zac Posen—whom they had advised while still in business school. “Back then, he was an emerging brand that was starting to gain a lot of visibility, but didn’t have a business plan in place or a way to finance the brand’s growth; we helped him take a look at that,” says Maybank.
It’s a great example of how the networks you build as an MBA candidate can really make a concrete difference to your career.