The trends of the future of entrepreneurship point many different ways. Scalable, quick-to-pivot companies with a strong tech and design hook will likely be the front-runners. However, there is one element that will overrule all others: the business’s social aspect. As “liking” becomes more and more common, tomorrow’s top companies will not only need to make room to incorporate social networking but to make it an integral part of their business plans from day one. Polyvore is one such company that has made its social aspect a main component of its business.
A fashion website where users create buyable fashion spreads called sets, comment on and “like” other users’ spreads, and engage with fashion companies, Polyvore boasts more than thirteen million monthly users. The sets are not limited to Polyvore itself; users can share them over a vast network of sites, including Facebook and Google+. They allow their users, rather than the fashion editors, to decide what constitutes good fashion. Due to the sheer size of its user base -- which has doubled twice in the past two years -- Polyvore is beginning to reshape parts of the fashion industry as editors and companies partner with the site for interaction, contests, and other promotional opportunities.
Although Polyvore was launched in 2007, it only recently began to turn a profit. A significant factor in its success is the return-rate of its users -- an eighth of users return to the site more than one hundred times a month -- which keeps people engaged in the site and its content fresh. Overall, Polyvore founder Jess Lee hopes to have an impact not only in how people look at fashion but how they buy it as well; with less than nine percent of fashion shopping done online, there’s plenty of room to grow.
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