Hardware Podcasts

The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd

How I Built This · 27 Jul 2020 · 1h 05m

What this episode covers

Lindsey Boyd and Gwen Whiting, co-founders of The Laundress, explain how they pivoted from a failed t-shirt brand to creating eco-friendly detergents for delicate fabrics after years of research with a Cornell professor. They detail their bootstrapping strategy, including using credit cards and an SBA loan, and their decision to reject venture capital to maintain control despite facing skepticism from investors and counterfeiters. The episode covers their slow path to profitability, international expansion, and the eventual sale of the company to Unilever for $100 million.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies, companies scaling up and established companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Unilever, Chanel, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers
Products
The Laundress, Jessica Lindsay
Also
Cornell

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