Elevator Pitch: Dress Code

15 Jun 2021

Elevator Pitch: Dress Code

Re: Julie Bornstein (MBA 1997); Jenny Koen (MBA 1997); Jill J. Avery (Senior Lecturer of Business Administration C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator); Ayelet Israeli (Marvin Bower Associate Professor)

Topics: Entrepreneurship-General Lifestyle-Fashion and Beauty Technology-Mobile Technology Business Ventures-Business Startups

Animation by Drue Wagner and Troubadour Image + Sound

The Yes

Julie Bornstein (MBA 1997), cofounder and CEO; former COO, Stitch Fix

Jennifer Koen-Horowitz (MBA 1997), head of brand marketing and PR

Vision: The Spotify of fashion

Concept: The Yes builds a personalized, multi-brand store around each user. Leveraging AI and machine learning, the app uses a sophisticated algorithm to streamline and personalize a dynamically adaptive online feed of potential purchases based on yes or no responses to simple questions, getting smarter with every answer. “This has been done in media and music, but not fashion, which is an extremely nuanced category requiring constant training and retraining of the model,” says Koen.

Stats: Founded in 2018 and launched in May 2020, The Yes currently employs 40 and is the subject of a recent HBS case by senior lecturer Jill Avery and associate professor Ayelet Israeli. The company has received $30 million in venture capital funding.

Heard: “The ‘overwhelm’ of shopping online is very big,” says Koen. “We’ve built an experience that lets women enjoy the process and get to the items they love faster.”