StartUs Presents: Dress and Friends

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Read our interview with Daniel Kloß of Dress and Friends to find out how they can help you get style advice, create your virtual closet & connect with other fashionistas!

Describe Dress and Friends in 50 or less words.

Dress and Friends is a great source of inspiration for fashion and style – a virtual closet, a social fashion network, personal style advice and a marketplace for both new and used clothing.

Why did you decide to pursue your own dreams rather than someone else’s?

When I was an employee I worked as an area sales manager and head of sales team. I had to report, organize and structure the workflow for the team, therefore it always felt like I was kind of self-employed. I loved the thought of being self-employed until the day I met my co-founders and they ask me to join the team.

In 7 years from now: How did your startup change the world?

Dress and Friends has the potential to become the leading exchange platform for fashion. We can help people to get better organized and we deliver a disruptive inspiration-shopping tool that guides you through a shopping process fast. The process relies on one’s personal or individual needs and interests.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

We measure our success on user stories. A lot of people on our platform are organizing their wardrobes and they exchange and share clothes, resell and buy from each others. We have a good and strong community, we are actively listening to our users which is very important to stay on track and stay focused on the important topics.

Describe your typical working day from coming to the office to leaving it.

A regular day at the office begins with a coffee or little breakfast with the team and the reports of past days followed by individual meetings. After that I’m answering my emails and take care of the regular workload. Each day I play one game of chess against a team member through the day, sometimes one game lasts more then a day when we are very busy.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

We bootstrapped in the beginning, so for one and a half year, and from then on we financed our startup through shareholders. The first revenue not only validated our business model, it also helped us to establish an infrastructure and we were able to work with employees in a co-working space. We are looking forward to finalize our first investment round to strengthen our infrastructure and to fulfill our needs.

With ferocious competition and a booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

It depends on the product and the gap you’re trying to fill. The market should be big enough and at the same time the product should be able to capture enough market share so that the company is able to generate enough revenue. Another very important factor is a qualified and motivated team that can build and implement the product in the market.

What do you look for in team members?

Our founding member board is an intercultural mixture which makes it a dynamic team with certain different points of view. We benefit from the creativity and the passion the team puts in every day. We look for an entrepreneural mindset and creative creators with a will of self-fulfilment.

Why would a talent join your team?

We are not only listening to users and customers, we also listen closely to the ideas and thoughts of our team members. They participate actively in the company to build proper strategies. A very active and close communication is one of the most important things within and outside the company and the team lives the vision of the company.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

When you have the pleasure to work for your own company then every day is a gift. But a highlight was a business trip with the team. We joined the web summit “collision” in Las Vegas this year and we had a few exciting weeks in the U.S. with many meetings at conventions and visits of fashion-tech accelerators in Silicon Valley. This business trip brought the team closer together and after the trip the scope of our startup was enormous and unexpected.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

A good structured process to set up a rough plan is very important to stay focused and to be agile at the same time. After a positive – and even more with a negative – product validation a structured process helps to guide you in the building process of the product. The founders themselves are reasponsible for their success and therefore to build a good team is a key factor in that process.

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