621: We Bet $200K on Bras Before Making a Single Sale — Sold 400,000 in 2 Years | Nala
The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan
Finding Design Partners and Fit Testing
Phillip explains leveraging rag-trade connections, test-wearer sessions, and hundreds of fit trials for new styles like sports bras.
Nala was built by two founders with no fashion background who invested $200,000 before making a single sale and went on to sell over 400,000 pieces in just two years.
In this interview, Chloe and Phil de Winter break down how they identified a gap in the intimates market, validated demand with fewer than 300 survey responses, and scaled an Australian lingerie brand into a cult favourite with a 70% repeat purchase rate and a national retail partnership with David Jones. What you’ll learn in this interview: • How Nala validated product-market fit with just 250 survey responses • Why they invested $200K upfront before making their first sale • The guerrilla marketing stunt that went viral across Australia • How spending 30% of revenue on marketing drove hypergrowth • Why a 70% repeat purchase rate changed their ad strategy • How to manage extreme SKU complexity in apparel ecommerce • The real challenges of selling bras online at scale • How Nala overturned TikTok bans and platform restrictions • What founders get wrong about inclusivity and product design • How Nala secured a national retail partnership with David Jones By the end of this episode, you’ll understand what it actually takes to launch, fund, and scale a product-based ecommerce business in a competitive category, and how to make bold decisions without losing control of cash, culture, or customers.
SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to https://your.omnisend.com/foundr to get started. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application → Already have a store? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/ CONNECT WITH NALA Website → https://wearnala.com/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/wear_nala/ Chloe's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/gochlo_pilates/ Phillip's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-de-winter-9b480631/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt Website → https://www.foundr.com Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/foundr/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/foundr Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/foundr LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/ Podcast → https://www.foundr.com/podcast
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