Evite: Selina Tobaccowala

How I Built This · 11 Nov 2019 · 1h 03m

What this episode covers

Selina Tobaccowala, co-founder of Evite, explains how she and Al Lieb pivoted from failed B2B prototypes like Collage to building a viral online invitation platform that attracted $37 million in funding during the dot-com boom. She details the painful decision to lay off 45 employees after the bubble burst, the strategic sale to Ticketmaster City Search, and her subsequent leadership roles at Ticketmaster and SurveyMonkey. Tobaccowala also discusses her return to entrepreneurship with Gixo, a live group fitness app, emphasizing the importance of privilege and validating product-market fit before raising capital.

Mentioned

Companies
Excite, Ticketmaster, SurveyMonkey, Open Fit, Yahoo, Pets.com, Stamps.com
Products
Evite, Gixo, Netscape, Blendz

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