Andy Ruben's first company was called Yerdle for its first few years. It was an online swap meeting. It performed well, although not great. Ruben felt it could be improved, but the rest didn't share his gut feeling. Ruben thought about stepping down as CEO after dozens of employees quit. With a small team, he restructured Trove, a Brisbane, California-based company to allow top brands to resell their products. Revenue soared after the move paid off. Ruben discovered that the real test for a fast-growth entrepreneur is being able to recognize when your company is stuck between success and failure, and then doing something about it. Cameron Albert-Deitch.
No. 268 2021 rank Andy Ruben Trove 1,744% Three-year revenue growth
I remember walking into my office each day during our pivot and being ready to hear someone say, "Andy. I need a few minutes of you time." They were actually saying, "I have found another job." "I'm going."
That conversation was 20 or more times.
Nine years ago, Yerdle was founded. The idea was simple: post something to lend to someone and then look for something to borrow. We had over a million members in iOS, Android, desktop and mobile.
You are so closely connected to your business as a founder. It's not just about the numbers that are good, but when it's actually working. It's also easy to tell when it's not functioning, when it needs to be raised more money and when it's ready to go public. You will have good intuition if you pay attention.
People would love us but they wouldn't use the platform if it wasn't well-curated or personalized. Brands like Patagonia would tell me, "We love Yerdle but really wish our items weren’t next to dishwasher bits."
After four years of running this business, I knew it was not right.
It's difficult to know if something is hard or easy because you don’t have the right model. I began telling the board members that "I am concerned that this won't work." The board was curious: What made you think that? Is it just fatigue? One time, I thought about quitting. We eventually decided to sell the company. We found businesses that were larger and could better address our problems.
The buyer I met was exciting. I met with their executives and we discussed numbers. Things went well, except for one presentation, where I made a terrible mistake. Instead of going into detail about the things that we have built, we talked about what I want to build next.
The acquisition was canceled.
We pursued another buyer. The deal also fell through. Although we did get a third bite, I chose not to travel to see them. After being disappointed twice, I didn't want it to happen again.
I thought everything was going well, but people were noticing the difference. There were many questions. It was one of my darkest moments as a leader.
We were able to go from 60 people to just five.
Two board members and I ate lunch together in San Francisco. Each of us brought a solution to the problem. I suggested working directly with brands to resell their old goods. This is exactly what we do.
Trove was launched from two conference rooms without cash flow or clients. We sublet the majority of our office to another company. Eileen Fisher was not interested in working with us so I sat outside their offices and changed my plane ticket until they let me go. Patagonia informed me that their executive was attending a Utah trade show. I went to the airport to get on a plane. I didn't even pack anything to go home. I convinced the executive by talking my way in to the show.
We began with Eileen Fisher, Patagonia and REI, and spent the next three decades working exclusively with them. This allowed us to build the circular shopping experience from processing returns to revaluing and reselling used items in branded online shops. We now have nine clients, including Levi's and Lululemon.
We continue to have the same core mission as Yerdle: to use technology to make things repurposeable. We now have over 300 employees and are on track for doubling our revenue. It's a positive feeling.
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