DefySupply

Minneapolis, Mn United States

Retail

Brent Gensler was already familiar with business when he launched DefySupply, a Minneapolis-based home furnishings retailer. At age 19, he travelled to China to find new fabric manufacturers for his family’s upholstery business. The experience proved useful when he began his research for DefySupply’s business model. Gensler’s goal was to ship Chinese-made furniture directly to the West, bypassing traditional networks of suppliers and distributors. Doing so enabled Defy Supply to sell products at greatly reduced prices. The project found immediate success. In its first two years of operation, DefySupply achieved a remarkable 2,890% increase in gross sales.