How Zola's Shan-Lyn Ma transformed frustration into a multimillion-dollar solution

What do you do when, as a customer, you encounter a frustrating experience? If you're Shan-Lyn Ma , you transform that frustration into a multimillion-dollar company. As the co-founder and co-CEO of online wedding planner Zola , Shan built a business designed to solve the exact pain points she faced with wedding registries. In the latest Masters of Scale episode, she reveals her decision-making strategies that have kept Zola leading the wedding industry, and are driven by personal insights, customer needs, and bold problem-solving approaches. Here's how she did it:

Begin with what's relevant to you. Shan landed her job at Gilt in part because of how much she loved it as a customer. A few years later, the idea for Zola came to her and her co-founder as a result of Shan's own frustration with her friends' wedding registries. Rooting product ideas or enhancements in your own experiences, likes, dislikes, wants, and/or needs is often the best place to start.

Let customers drive your development. Whether it led to a much needed pivot to help customers with wedding delays and cancellations during the pandemic, or expanding with Zola Home and Zola Baby, Shan has consistently listened to and responded to her customers, enabling her to make critical product decisions based on their input.

Ask "What if?" to help solve problems. When the wedding industry was upended by the pandemic, Shan and her team employed this powerful tactic to avoid what she calls "doom-spiraling" and stagnation. They asked tough, scary questions like, "What happens if the pandemic lasts three months? What if it lasts six months?" They used the answers to these questions to determine which strategies to pursue. Concretely answering "what if" questions like these can guide the critical next decisions you make and actions you take.

For more insights from Shan, check out her Masters of Scale episode here:

Or, listen on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or your favorite podcast app.

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