Selina Tobaccowala co-founded Evite during the dot-com boom and faced the tech bubble burst, navigating layoffs and challenges while keeping the company alive. She reflects on moving from a failed app to a million users and massive funding. Selina shares leadership lessons from her journey, including the balance of work and family. Plus, Jamia Ramsey discusses her experience with dance apparel, highlighting the need for inclusivity in fashion for dancers of all skin tones.
E-Vite experienced rapid organic growth and virality through its online invitation platform, leveraging the concept of viral marketing to transition users from paper to electronic invitations.
The dot-com bubble burst in 2000 caused major challenges for E-Vite, shifting investor focus from growth to profitability and leading to layoffs and a reassessment of the company's strategy.
Selena Tabakawala's entrepreneurial journey included founding E-Vite, joining SurveyMonkey, and eventually leaving to start a new venture focused on health and wellness.
Deep dives
Building E-Vite: from Online Invitations to Dot Com Bubble
Selena Tabakawala and her friend Al Leib developed E-Vite in the late 1990s, pioneering the concept of online invitations. Initially, their company, called Oodle Works, aimed to help people code using graphics, but they eventually shifted to the idea of creating personalized web-based invitations. E-Vite quickly grew to become one of the biggest players in online invitations, despite facing competition from several other companies. However, when the dot com bubble burst in 2000, E-Vite's valuation plummeted. The company had to lay off more than half of its staff, going from 73 employees to 28. They managed to survive by signing a licensing deal with Excite, but it later fell through. Eventually, E-Vite was sold to Ticketmaster's Citysearch. Despite leaving the company, Selena Tabakawala remained connected to E-Vite, occasionally catching up with the teams and even participating in events like International Women's Day.
Joining Ticketmaster and Becoming a Mother
After the sale of E-Vite, Selena Tabakawala joined Ticketmaster. She stayed with the company for six years, eventually becoming pregnant and facing the dilemma of whether she should disclose her pregnancy during a job interview with SurveyMonkey. Ultimately, she decided to be open about her pregnancy and negotiate the terms of her offer. Joining SurveyMonkey turned out to be a positive experience, with CEO Dave Goldberg being a supportive and inspiring mentor. Selena felt that she was going to spend a long time at SurveyMonkey and was content being Dave's number two in the company. However, after Dave Goldberg's sudden passing, Selena started to reconsider her future at the company.
Moving on from SurveyMonkey to a Health and Wellness Startup
Following the passing of Dave Goldberg and changes in the executive leadership at SurveyMonkey, Selena Tabakawala felt it was time to move on. Inspired by Dave's sudden health-related tragedy, she wanted to do something in the health and wellness industry. Around the same time, Selena reconnected with Al Leib, her former co-founder at E-Vite, and they discussed the possibility of working together again. The timing was perfect, and Selena decided to leave SurveyMonkey and embark on a new entrepreneurial journey with Al. Their goal was to launch a startup focusing on health and wellness, taking advantage of their past experiences and expertise.
The Growth and Virality of E-Vite
E-Vite, an online invitation site, experienced organic growth and virality when people started using the platform to invite friends to events. The concept of viral marketing was built into the product, leading to exponential growth as each user's invitation reached an average of 18 other people. The goal was to get people to transition from paper invitations to electronic ones, as the future was believed to be digital. The company gained popularity during the dot-com boom, raising funding based on metrics like website traffic rather than immediate revenue.
Challenges and Changes during the Dot-com Bubble
E-Vite faced challenges as the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. Venture capitalists who previously focused on growth and traffic now shifted their attention to profitability. This sudden change in the investment landscape impacted startups' ability to secure funding. E-Vite, with venture capital support, had a sizable workforce and expenses. However, the sudden pressure to hit profitability became overwhelming. The company had to make difficult decisions, including laying off employees and reassessing their strategy. The experience taught the founders important lessons about leadership and priorities.
At the height of the first dot-com boom, Selina Tobaccowala and college friend Al Lieb were determined to start a tech company. After a few false starts, they landed on the idea for Evite—an on-line invitation business that within its first year, attracted a million followers and $37 million in investment. When the tech bubble burst, Selina and Al were forced to lay off dozens of employees before selling Evite in 2001. But the company has survived to this day, and Selina remains a role model for women in tech. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," Jamia Ramsey describes how her frustration with pink ballerina tights led her to create Blendz, apparel for dancers that matches darker skin tones.
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