Zulily CEO Darrell Cavens

Zulily CEO Darrell Cavens likes to move fast, tackling opportunities before the moment passes. And no one, and I mean no one, moved as quickly in Seattle tech as Cavens in the past year.

In just 25 months, the operator of daily deals for baby apparel, toys, maternity clothes and other goods has grown from a nugget of an idea — conceived by Cavens and co-founder Mark Vadon — to more than 240 employees.

Zulily has so much momentum right now that it has already outgrown three office buildings in its short history, settling into its fourth, an 80,000 square-foot building in Seattle’s Sodo neighborhood, earlier this year. It’s been renamed the “Zulily Building.”

“The team internally talks a lot about ‘Zulily Time,’ where it moves twice as fast as anybody thinks it can. And that has been in the DNA since the beginning,” Cavens told GeekWire earlier this year.

The growth has been astounding, with estimates that Zulily will easily top $150 million in revenue this year. That sort of success has attracted top talent — former Big Fish and aQuantive exec Michael Vernon joined as CFO earlier this year — and big dollars.

In August, Zulily scored a massive $43 million venture capital round from Meritech Capital and others that valued the company at about $750 million. (That’s far bigger than Seattle tech mainstays RealNetworks and Cavens’ former employer, Blue Nile).

What’s amazing about Zulily is that the daily deal site is building a new consumer Internet brand in the shadows of Groupon and Living Social without seeking much attention. Only on occasion does Cavens surface for press interviews.

“We are not out looking to see our names in print necessarily, as much as we are trying to build a great business,” says Cavens.

In 2011, Zulily certainly achieved that goal.

Newsmakers at the GeekWire Gala

We’ll be recognizing more than 20 Newsmakers of 2011 during the GeekWire Gala, Dec. 8 at the Great Hall at Seattle’s Union Station. We’ll introduce a new Newsmaker every weekday leading up to the big event.

The night is also a celebration of “Geeks who Give Back,” recognized in a special GeekWire 2012 Calendar that will be given to attendees, with a share of sponsorship proceeds going to the Child’s Play charity.

Tickets are available here for the event.

Thanks to our sponsors Zillow, Bing, Filter, Facebook and Barokas PR for helping to make this special evening possible.

Contact Rebecca Lovell, rebecca@geekwire.com, for sponsorship opportunities.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.