7 Things I Learned at Zulily

Inspired by Justin Hayashi ’s fantastic post, as well as others, I became sentimental about the recent zulily news. I owe much of my career to zulily and the people I met there. Like Justin, I got lucky. I was hired with no e-commerce or marketing background. I had the added challenge of trying to fill the very big shoes he had left behind as David Atchison 's business manager.

I drank from the fire hose and learned much in my time there. I also drank from the marketing keg that Nathan Jelovich kept stocked, and made a lot of friends along the way. What follows are 7 learnings and takeaways from my time there.

1. Ask forgiveness, not permission.

One day, Chris Grinolds and I were working on ways to improve product quality. “What if we sent an email to every single merchant that has all of the product reviews we’ve ever collected, so that they can see what customers are saying about the products they’re sourcing,” he said. “You can do that?” I asked. He could. So we did. And the next morning, several hundred merchants got the email blast. Many did not like getting a bunch of negative reviews about questionable vendors they had worked so hard to source. Two minutes after it was sent, I had an email from Lori Twomey asking for her own version and suggesting a few edits. I spent over a year championing better product quality while at zulily, but no single action brought more attention to the issue than that email blast, driven by 2 guys in marketing one afternoon and a few lines of python script. It was the catalyst for a number of future quality initiatives. At many other companies, something like that would have required multiple senior leader approvals, tech-pri meetings, and red tape.?At zulily, we just did it.

2. The energy that emanates from a group of smart, hungry, ambitious people is infectious.

It can be exhausting, but it gives you a high you’ll be chasing the rest of your career. Being surrounded by smart, hungry, ambitious people makes you want to rise to their level, prove you belong, and accomplish big things. Whenever something seemed too hard, I remembered Meghan R. Packard 's sign on her desk: “We can do hard things.”

3. Incentives matter.

At its biggest, zulily’s various teams and functions were sometimes pulled in different directions. More brands, more customers, better deals, better quality. It’s natural to want all-the-things, but how do you prioritize them? Show me how a leader rewards, promotes, and compensates their team, and I will tell you exactly which things their team will prioritize.?

4. If it’s not somebody’s job, make it your job.

If you see something that needs doing, do it. Simple as that. Don’t wait for someone else. It builds your personal brand and shows people you get sh*t done. This should not, however, be confused with the idea that everything that can be done should be done.?That's a post for another time.

5. It’s never too late to learn new skills.

When I joined zulily, I was about to turn 30 and I felt OLD. The marketing team was full of young 20-somethings fresh out of school. I also felt technologically illiterate because I didn’t know SQL. But I bought Nicholas Henry a six pack of beer one afternoon and asked him to teach me SQL basics. Now I’m the one tutoring on SQL. I'd still prefer to do it over a beer too, given the choice.?

6. How to use data to tell a story.

Net Promoter Score is a number, but tie it to customer lifetime value, and it tells a story. Want to make the case for improving product quality? Show how it impacts repeat purchase rates. When it comes to slides, less is more. Children like pictures, and so do adults. Graphs are better than data tables. If everything is black and white, use a splash of color to draw the eye. Your takeaway should be no more than two lines of text and should be used to incept the reader and tell them exactly what you want them to think.

7. The power of a network.

The zulily mafia is real, and it will live on. Words can’t express how appreciative I am of the people I met at zulily, especially those who I then ended up working with in one way or another in the years since. The references and the network are still active, and will far outlive the brand that brought us all together.

Gratitude

Ryan Biancofiori may not remember me, but he was a recruiter who took a chance on a finance guy from a chemicals company and got me an interview with David Atchison . While at zulily, I was also blessed to work for and learn from Eric King and Sunil Kaki. Zulily also made it possible for future opportunities to work with the likes of Elizabeth Liu , the many zulilians at New Engen , and Jason LeeKeenan , Kevin Saliba and the many other zulilians Cap Hill Brands .

The list goes on and on, and the names are too many to list, so let me conclude by thanking Darrell Cavens and Mark Vadon for what they built, and for giving people like me a chance to make an impact and contribute.

Zulily wasn't the perfect company. It had its ups and downs. But most people have no idea how hard it is to actually build something. Zulily showed me and many others how rewarding that could be, and it inspired many of us to be better, even if was as a result of learning from mistakes.

I will always be thankful for my time there.