Remember when Fab.com was Fabulis, a struggling gay social networking site that gave out t-shirts at Pride Parades and events for gay-rights orgs? And then when it tried the Daily Deal fad on for size? Well, third time’s a charm, because their latest pivot to a cutesy, quirky online design retailer, totally worked! A recent Forbes profile focuses in on how amazingly quick Fab got fabulously rich, and the numbers are absolutely stunning (if they’re indeed accurate—startups have a penchant for inflation when they’re shopping out their business to venture capitalists):
Launched last June, Fab expects to do $100 million in sales this year but has already passed $300,000 per day. Fab has been called the fastest e-commerce company to reach 1 million users, which it did in five months. It now has 3.5 million registered customers. The company was cofounded by chief creative officer [Bradford] Shellhammer and CEO Jason Goldberg, who previously founded and sold two other startups, Jobster and Socialmedian. Fab has 155 employees in the U.S. and 250 worldwide, with plans for global expansion with the $40 million it raised in December from a group led by Andreessen Horowitz at about a $200 million valuation.
Now that Fab’s so successful, copycats have sprung up it has to take on still competition, like longtime etailer Gilt Groupe’s new home interiors division and similar startup One Kings Lane. But they’re confident they can overcome the competitors, including big-boxers like Crate & Barrel and Pier 1, and are staffing up to make sure they’re ready. It’s good to see a gay-run business succeed, ain’t it?
w.e.
Seems like I vaguely remember a similar boatload of crap emenating from that site before. Something about the most fabulous person in the world, or some such nonsense.
GingerBrandon
I absolutely love this site and I think that the founder Bradford has excellent taste. While some things remain out of my price range or taste, it’s still a great website. The usability and the design of it are impeccable. They always have easy to understand pictures and descriptions and even the opening experience is great. It definitely beats out the GILTs and OKLs of the world through sheer talent. Don’t get me wrong though, I still love my GILT.