Listen to this articleFitbay is an online community that helps you discover clothes that fit and in your size. Fitbay connects you with people who have a body like yours and creates a community of fashion inspiration with your body doubles. Interview below is with Christian Wylonis, Founder and CEO of Denmark based startup Fitbay.
Q: Could you tell us something more about your background?
A: I started out as an engineer where I studied at Dartmouth College from 2002 to 2006. I founded my first start-up in 2006 which didn’t have much success. I then went to Harvard to complete my Engineering masters degree. After Harvard, I decided to go to McKinsey & Company where I consulted large companies on their eCommerce strategies. I then joined Creandum (best known for their early investment in Spotify) in Stockholm where I invested in promising tech start-ups in the Nordics. I lef Creandum in the summer of 2013 to pursue the idea I had for Fitbay – but continued as “Entrepreneur in Residence” for Creandum.
Q: What was your inspiration for Fitbay?
The initial idea behind Fitbay grew out of a problem that i was having myself. I’m 188 cm tall which isn’t particularly tall for Scandinavia but I have a long back which means that it’s always been hard for me to find t-shirt, sweaters and dress shirts that are long enough. There wasn’t anything out there that helped me discover clothes that was made for someone like me. I quickly realized that a lot of people had trouble finding new clothes online primarily because it’s impossible to know what size you are in different brands. Our mission is to help everyone, regardless of body shape, to find clothes in the right size and fit.
Q: How long did it take to put together Fitbay and what was the most challenging part?
The idea behind Fitbay came in the summer of 2012. After about a year of concept development and putting together a rockstar team we all went full time in the summer of 2013. We have been developing the Fitbay platform since then – so for about 9 months now. The biggest challenge was getting critical mass on data to provide accurate recommendations. We achieved this critical mass a few months ago primarily driven by our 85% month-on-month user growth.
Q: What can Fitbay members expect in next six months?
Our members can expect a lot of cool stuff over the next 6 months. We plan on using most of our effort developing the platform even further to make the social shopping experience even better.
