Zulily co-founder Darrell Cavens kicked off the TechStars Demo Day event in Seattle today, telling the entrepreneurs that he was one of them just four-and-a-half years ago.
At the time, his company didn’t have a name, didn’t have a business plan and didn’t have any funding.
“I just felt like taking that risk,” said Cavens, who convinced his co-founder Mark Vadon that it was a good idea to make the leap.
A good thing he did.
Zulily now employs more than 4,000 people, with 12-month trailing revenues of $1 billion at the publicly-traded online retailer.
What has made Zulily such a whopping success in such a short period of time?
Cavens — who started Zulily in 2009 with a 2-year-old and 3-year-old at home — noted that Seattle itself has played a critical role.
“People buy into the company stories, and they stick around,” said Cavens. “It is pretty unique and it is one of the great things that we have in Seattle.”
That’s a common comment from tech companies in Seattle. You just don’t see the job hopping here like you do in the San Francisco Bay Area, with employees in the Northwest providing loyalty to their companies. (Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why so many Silicon Valley tech juggernauts are setting up shop in Seattle).
The company loyalty has allowed very large and powerful brands to emerge. Pointing to Nordstrom, Costco and Amazon, Cavens said that Seattle has “a strong culture of building a great businesses.”
We’ll have more updates from TechStars Demo Day later on GeekWire, so check back soon.
