14 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / March 2020
S
titch Fix has changed the way consumers shop.
The online styling brand launched in 2011,
winning over female customers with personalized
selections of clothing sent directly to their door.
(No more mall visits!) The brand then expanded
to men’s and kids’ clothing and, since going
public in 2017, has seen annual revenue approach
$2 billion. Meanwhile, founder and CEO Katrina Lake
has gone through her own evolution. She’s thinking about
growth differently—less about speed, more about long-
term sustainability—and has learned the importance of
keeping her staff updated on all news, even the bad kind.
She’s aware that as a young female CEO, all eyes are on
her, but she’s learned to pay it forward to other young
founders and embrace her role in the shifting landscape of
startup culture. Because with every Stitch Fix win,
she knows she’s helping create change.Q&A
Stitch Fix had a great 2019,
increasing revenue 29 percent
to $1.6 billion. Since going
public in 2017, have you
changed the way you approach
your goals and efforts to
continue improving?
Operating at this scale and
being public—and feeling like
we’re competing for dollars
and shareholders with all these
incredible companies, some
of which have been around
for decades and decades—has
given us a longer-term view
of the company. Where do
we want to be not just next
year, but in 10 years? I see the
business now more through the
lens that a public market inves-
tor looks through. And that’s adifferent mindset—to go from
an entrepreneur who’ll build
and grow something really fast
to somebody who’s running a
company that intends to create
value year after year for a long
period of time.Was it difficult to flex that
muscle as a founder?
I wouldn’t say it was a muscle
I even had. I spend a lot of
time now reading books that
public market investor friends
of mine recommended, and
really trying to understand
how they think.How much has your network of
friends and peers helped guide
you through this change?→ MULTITASKING
Lake in 2017—with her
son in hand—as she
takes Stitch Fix public
on the Nasdaq.