Katrina Lake – The Next Wave of E-Commerce - [Invest Like the Best, EP.187]

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Colossus

Investing, Business, Technology

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2020

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

My guest today is Katrina Lake, the co-founder and CEO of Stitch Fix. Stitch Fix is a multi-billion-dollar public company which has brought an entirely new model to retail apparel by combining data science, technology, and personal stylists to create a unique shopping experience tailored to the individual consumer. I first met Katrina through past guest Bill Gurley and have been excited to host her since that first meeting. In our conversation, Katrina and I discuss all aspects of Stich Fix—its history, business model, innovations, and its future. Please enjoy this great and thought-provoking conversation with Katrina Lake.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Bottomless. Bottomless is a smart coffee subscription which automatically re-orders coffee for you based on your consumption habits.

Bottomless is offering one month and your second bag of coffee for free at bottomless.com/patrick.

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Show Notes

(2:19) – (First question) – Where E-Commerce stands and what the future might hold

(4:37) – Why personalization makes Stitch Fix stand out from the others

(9:34) – Why data science is foundational to their business

(12:15) – What makes for a good augmented human and hiring stylists

(14:34) – Stakeholder value and creating a great partnership with suppliers

(18:10) – Their emphasis on stakeholder focus and social justice

(19:28) – The capital efficiency of their business in the early days

(24:46) – Her superpower of recruiting

(29:46) – Her strengths in building Stitch Fix

(31:56) – Transparency vs authenticity

(32:59) – Big break for the business

(37:15) – Exclusive brands to Stitch Fix

(39:01) – The next act for Stitch Fix

(41:43) – Lessons learned in pricing services

(44:24) – Future trends in retail apparel

(48:02) – Hardest thing to copy about Stitch Fix

(49:59) – Lessons for putting data science at the center of your business

(53:37) – Moments during her journey she’s felt most alive

(55:23) – Kindest thing anyone has done for her

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This week's episode is brought to you by Bottomless.
0:02.2	Bottomless is a smart coffee subscription
0:04.1	which automatically reorders coffee
0:05.9	for you based on your consumption habits.
0:08.1	You may remember Bottomless from episode 124
0:10.6	when we had co-founder and CEO, Michael Mayer, on the show.
0:13.9	I'm also a bottomless customer
0:15.3	and like the service and ideas so much,
0:16.9	I became an investor.
0:18.3	Here's how Bottomless works.
0:19.7	They send you a complimentary Wi-Fi scale
0:21.6	with your first coffee order.
0:23.0	Just set up the scale with your Wi-Fi,
0:24.6	store your coffee on top,
0:26.1	and then from that point forward,
0:27.6	Bottomless sends you coffee at the perfect time
0:29.9	with no additional effort.
0:31.2	The coffee itself is always roasted to order
0:33.3	and shipped straight to you
0:34.4	from a network of roasters across the country.
0:36.6	My favorite part about Bottomless
0:37.9	is how the technology could be used
	...

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