Threadless
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
3 likes•1,700 views
Case study of innovation at Threadless. Combined with giveaways to the audience of popular Threadless designs throughout the presentation, and ended with an activity where everyone wrote down ways they could "be awesome" in their work.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (16)
Similar to Threadless
Similar to Threadless (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Threadless
- 2. Who is Jake Nickell? 2 25 year old zany punk brat College dropout Nouveau riche
- 3. “coolest dude on earth” 3 Google it. Jake comes up 1st …and second …and third. Why? What did he do?
- 4. Just ask Eric von Hippel, MIT 4 “…a perfect example of a new way of thinking and innovation.” “Most product innovations do not come from corporate R & D labs, but from the users themselves.”
- 5. 5 Or ask…
- 6. A small first step, a revolutionary idea. 6 Jake, 20 yrs old, day job at CompUSA Design was his hobby, dreamless.org his community Enters a shirt design contest, and wins! He wins no $, no shirt, just satisfaction An hour later, Threadless was born. The Gaming Revolution Sean Mort
- 7. The concept. 7 Designers submit their original work. Designs are rated for 7 days by members. Threadless prints the most popular designs. Users buy the designs. The winning designer gets some $. U.S.S. Awesome - Joshua Kemble
- 8. 8 The pitch:
- 9. By the Numbers 9 2002 10K members $100K revenue 2006 700K members $18MM revenue 2009 1 million members $30MM revenue 1.5M Twitter followers 100K Facebook Fans 50 employeesThe Gaming Revolution Sean Mort I got $5 on it Tim Shumate
- 10. Rock and Roll 10 Funkalicious Christopher Golebiowski No advertisements No sales force No design staff No modeling agency or fashion photographers. 30% profit margin 1000 new designs per week 42,000 citizen designers Every product sells out. Never a flop.
- 12. 12 More Product Expansion… w/ Blik w/ DELL
- 13. Brick & Mortar 13 Only 20 Designs Sold No shirt sells more than 2 weeks 2nd floor is exclusively art, not product An event venue, community hangout Art exhibits, Photoshop workshops Physical manifestation of culture Turned down Urban Outfitters & Target
- 14. Community Interaction 14 “Almost no one was simply consuming. They were all (95%) participating.” – MIT study 370 Threadless Meetup groups worldwide Street Team tools and perks system Flip cameras to top designers A blog for every member Threadspotting – movies, tv, music videos, etc Employees as models “Awesome Time” for employees U.S.S. Awesome - Joshua Kemble Birds Of A Feather Ross Zietz
- 15. Concepts at Work 15 Crowdsourcing User-driven innovation Rapid prototyping (i.e. Airbike) e-Tribalized Marketing The Customer as… Designer Quality Control Tester Recruiter Sales force Brand Ambassador Marketing staff Childhood Garden Rachel Caldwell
- 17. In the Founder’s Words 17 Why wouldn’t you want to make the products that people want you to make? Our skill is to never stop thinking like users No marketing efforts have been as effective as a really engaged community We constantly ask, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if ___________?” U.S.S. Awesome - Joshua Kemble Cookie Loves Milk Jess Fink
- 18. 18 @donrua Linkedin.com/in/donrua +DonRua1 Don Rua Digital Strategist
Editor's Notes
- A big deal. 30 years studying innovation. He had Jake come in and talk to executives from some of the biggest brands, across industries.
- Interesting note – Jake turned down swanky dinner with titans of industry, to get to a threadless customer meetup.
- Note – the development of the threadless website was an attempt to show they could build an ecommerce website, so they could get more web design work. They didn’t realize the power of their model.
- The ‘fame, friends’ is as important, if not more so. It’s like an ‘American Idol’ for designers. Each year, the weekly winners compete for the best design of the year, and $20,000. The critique corner is for designers to get feedback and suggestions to improve their design before submitting to be voted on. Winning designers are also part of an exclusive alumni club.
- Birds of a Feature design captures the essence of the designer community
- The ‘fame, friends’ is as important, if not more so. It’s like an ‘American Idol’ for designers. Each year, the weekly winners compete for the best design of the year, and $20,000. The critique corner is for designers to get feedback and suggestions to improve their design before submitting to be voted on. Winning designers are also part of an exclusive alumni club.