

Fab's Second Pivot - taylorbuley
http://betashop.com/post/37855336441/fabs-2nd-pivot

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untog
Presumably their second pivot involved buying an e-mail list from someone, or
reactivating deactivated accounts. I started receiving newsletters from them
(Ashton Kutcher's favourite gifts? Well, if I wasn't already going to
unsubscribe...) on the 11th, and again yesterday- the last e-mail I received
from them before then was in September '11.

Unsubscribed again- hopefully this time it's permanent. It appears I am not
alone, either:

[https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%40fab+spam&src=ty...](https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%40fab+spam&src=typd)

~~~
omfg
They don't seem to honor unsubscribe requests as the mails keep coming.

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ghc
I feel like they don't know what pivoting means. The first pivot doesn't sound
like a pivot; they built a new business with the same venture money. The
second pivot isn't a pivot either. I think reasonable people would call that
"growth and expansion."

Pivoting is supposed to mean that you changed strategic direction based on
validated learning. Twitter and Instagram started as pivots. This sounds
nothing like that.

~~~
mikeryan
I agree the second "pivot" doesn't sound like a pivot,

However w/r/t _The first pivot doesn't sound like a pivot; they built a new
business with the same venture money._

That sounds like a pivot, the way I define it. I agree most pivots do have
some tangential relationship from the previous goal thats because you learn
where the market is from what you've done. Thats not to say its the only way
to find a new market opportunity. I'm not sure why you define Twitter as a
pivot and not Fab. Twitter was Odeo which was a podcasting company which was
sinking. Evan Williams had blogging experience but Jack Dorsey (as I
understand it) was the original idea guy behind Twitter.

A lot of pivots aren't related to the original idea that founded the company.
For the VCs doing something else with that money is almost more important then
just continuing to chase an idea without legs, since once the money is
invested they can't reinvest in new ventures.

~~~
o_sam_o
Moving away from flash sales could be considered a pivot. They may have
discovered others (i.e. Gilt) where buying up all the good seconds, or that
their buyers where buying the wrong thing and their flash sales where not
selling out.

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gilrain
They're going to reveal their pivot in 2013. No need for anyone else to waste
time reading to the bottom to find that out, like I did.

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betashop
Hi. @betashop here, CEO of Fab. Happy to answer any/all questions.

With regards to the "was it a pivot" comments below.

Fab was first fabulis, for 13 months. We built a ton of product and a small
but loyal following. We then shut it down to pursue our passion. That's a
pivot.

Regarding Fab's 2nd pivot in 2012, we pivoted our business from a drop-ship
model to an inventory model. That's quite a pivot.

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jacobian
Can you please respond to the accusations of spam, above? I, too, have
suddenly started receiving email from Fab even though I've opted out
repeatedly.

I really hope this is a mistake and not part of this third "pivot".

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betashop
Email me Jason@fab.com so I can check it out please.

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jacobian
Actually, no, I'd really like for you to address this in public. You offered
to answer any/all questions, right? The highest voted comment in this thread
is <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4918790>, which is the one that is
accusing you of spam. That guy received the Aston Kutcher spam despite having
opted out of everything (as did I); can you respond to him, please?

[BTW, you might want to be careful with the celebrity endorsement. I can't
think of a celebrity I find more noxious than Kutcher, so attaching his name
to Fab makes me much much less likely to buy anything from you again.
Especially when you're forcing that association into my inbox. Blech.]

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proee
Why did Fab succeed? Why would someone shop here instead of say Amazon?

I don't understand the reason for the huge growth and expansion.

What problem are they solving that is creating such huge growth?

Very Impressive, but I don't understand WHY they are successful.

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dusing
I would ay its curation. Sure amazon may have all this stuff (probably not)
but Fab only shows you "cool" stuff. Thats also why I like
<http://thefancy.com>

~~~
hglennrock
Yes, this. I never browse Amazon - I am always searching for a specific item.
Fab is the opposite experience. I could spend hours just browsing. It is
dangerous. I've told my boyfriend that if he is ever at a loss for a gift
idea, just go to fab.com and pick something at random and there is a 99%
chance it would work out.

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parfe
30 comments discussing the nuances of the buzzword "pivot".

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ew
Hey @betashop, would love to know some of the numbers on burn when you
launched. Eg. how much marketing spend occurred to get that $10m in sales your
first year? Also lines like 25% higher gross margins doesn't really indicate
if that means it's making you money or not.

I'd be grateful if you could let us know some more info. Thanks!

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citricsquid
What's the difference between pivoting and evolving? Does it have to do with
the goals of the company changing, or something else?

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dabeeeenster
There isn't, it's just that one is a buzzword and the other is what normal
successful companies do.

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arbuge
I wonder what they're doing about patent trolls and what their
lawsuit/settlement stats are. I'm sure they're getting plenty of them nipping
at their heels. Maybe they agreed to sign non-disclosures or something.

[I have patent trolls on the brain after reading various HN articles on the
topic of late...]

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therandomguy
We just call it introducing new product lines and/or expanding business.

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whalesalad
A ninety day pivot exercise followed by that kind of success and growth is
extremely motivating. Glad to see this on the homepage!

