Fashion & Beauty
"Gilt-y" as charged!
An interview with Gilt Groupe Founder and CSO Alexis Maybank
By Windsor Hanger
February 2009
All pictures from Gilt.com
This month we sat down with Alexis Maybank - the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Gilt Groupe, www.gilt.com.
Often referred to as "the online Mecca" for deeply discounted luxury and fashion brands, Gilt Groupe offers women and men an exciting new means of buying the brands they love at the most desirable prices.
Gilt Groupe provides fashion enthusiasts online access to designer fashion from top brands at sample sale prices.
Gilt Groupe is invite-only, but lucky for you, we have a special invite for all Freeze readers! Click here to join Gilt Groupe!
Alexis Maybank
Alexis has dedicated her entire career to building and launching innovative and compelling online e-commerce experiences for consumers. She most recently served as General Manager and business Development Director for AOL's e-commerce businesses.
Prior to that Alexis joined eBay in 1998 as an early member of the team, first working for the co-founder in the launch of the company's first strategic planning group. Later, she launched and ran eBay Canada, which at the time grew to become Canada's largest e-commerce business. She later helped found eBay Motors, which grew to over $2.5B in gross sales and continues to be the largest category of goods sold on eBay today.
Earlier in her career, Alexis worked in Deutsche Bank Alex Brown's new media investment banking group. She holds a B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University.
1. What was your concentration at Harvard?
ESPP – Environmental Science and Public Policy with a minor in Lacrosse! I bring a focus on environmentally sound practices to every place that I work, but I ended up not pursuing a career directly in this field.
2. What house did you live in?
Lowell
3. What freshman dorm did you live in?
Grey's Middle (before it was redone and swank.)
4. When you were an undergrad, what were your career plans?
A marine biologist! I somehow took the path of an entrepreneur instead. It's important to keep an open mind.
5. Did you go straight through to HBS?
I worked for 5 years and then went back.
6. Why did you decide to go to Business School?
I had been at eBay for 4 years in Silicon Valley as part of the early team, I was ready to transition back to the East Coast – business school was a great way to do it.
7. What was the number one thing you learned in Business School?
How to manage lots of incoming information and how to juggle many simultaneous tasks. As a business leader, you have to delegate and learn to sift out only the most important details quickly.
8. How did you make the jump from Harvard to fashion? How did you come up with the idea for Gilt Groupe?
While attending Harvard I met my now long-term friend and co-founder of Gilt Groupe, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (FAS '99, MBA '04). From the start we knew that one day we would like to create a business together, we were just unsure what it would be at that time.
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Founder and Chief Merchandising Officer of Gilt Groupe
Alexandra hails from the luxury fashion world with retail experiences from the likes of Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, while I come strictly from the e-commerce world. I was one of the first employees at eBay and during my 4-year run I witnessed its growth from 40 employees to about 5,000. As you can imagine, experiencing such a dramatic rise was more than inspiring and something I hoped to be part of again.
Alexandra and I would frequently meet in NYC and attend the city's famous sample sales. We would receive numerous calls from family and friends instructing us on which designers they would like us to go and see, not to mention the exact items they would love us to bring back. So we started thinking that this would work online nationwide, consumers would love a Gilt Groupe concept, and it also happened to leverage our joint expertise. Gilt Groupe was launched on November 13th 2007.
9. Do you have any advice for Harvard Undergrads interested in going into fashion and/or ecommerce?
Check job boards of businesses you are passionate about and be willing to take internships.
10. You have hit the 1-year mark with Gilt. In your first year, what's the #1 thing you learned?
In a start-up environment, you always have to be willing to be very flexible and highly resilient!
11. What is the most fulfilling part of your job? What is the most challenging?
I love building teams and hiring people. It takes a lot of energy and focus, but building a great team and culture is the most critical thing you can do.
13. Who are your favorite designers?
We've had a lot of them on our site already actually. We launched with Zac Posen and he will always be a personal favorite of mine. He is a pioneer in fashion, I adore his silhouettes and I love his designs as a whole. Dolce & Gabbanna is the perfect go-to for an evening outfit, a little sparkle here and there with defining cuts. Last but not least it would have to be Diane Von Furstenberg for the everyday/office wear. I would have to say that these were my favorite three. (Also, My "DHAs" are the best for weekend hangout apparel, does Harvard still issue those?)
14. What do you consider the biggest trends for this season?
I believe less is more this winter. Our buyers are seeing a minimalistic approach combining feminine with fierce. Skinny jeans, a great pair of motorcycle boots and a floral ruffle blouse topped off with a basic wool gabardine coat should do it. One could also accessorize with a single statement piece, whether it's a gold bracelet or a chain necklace.
15. Do you have a signature perfume or piece of clothing?
I would think that if anyone were to answer this for me they would most probably say my Christian Louboutin heels. No matter what time of day it is or where I am running to I can't seem to keep my feet out of them.
16. How did you get to be so cool? (you don't really need to answer this one :) ).
Funny, People keep asking me that question…only joking! I would say that being able to work in a company with your best friend and with a team of smart, young and driven individuals is pretty cool to me.
