Navigating the Sale and Post-Acquisition Challenges

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This chapter delves into the co-founder's internal struggles and external pressures leading to the decision to sell their company to Hearst for $30 million. It explores the monetization strategy post-acquisition, the founder's transition to being an employee, and the pivot towards entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. The inception of Poshmark, from the idea of mobile clothing sales to overcoming skepticism about mobile shopping, investor pitches, and the early challenges of gaining traction, are discussed in detail.

When the iPhone 4 was released in 2010, Manish Chandra was dazzled by its picture quality, and saw an opportunity for a new type of mobile marketplace. A year later, he and three co-founders launched Poshmark, a shopping app for second-hand clothes and accessories, meant to capture the feel of going thrifting with your friends. The online community grew quickly and vocally—when Poshmark raised shipping fees, users lobbied furiously to lower them, and won. The company faced many more growing pains before being acquired by the Naver Corporation for $1.2 billion in 2023. It now has over 100 million registered users around the world.

This episode was produced by Sam Paulson with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei.

It was edited by Neva Grant with research help from Katherine Sypher.

Our engineers were Robert Rodriguez and Josh Newell.

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