{"product_id":"9781101571910","title":"By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop","description":"On a warm September night in 2002,  former  acquaintances Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis reconnected at a mixer   for new students at Harvard Business School. Alexis had just ended a  four-year  run at eBay during the dotcom boom and bust. Alexandra had  just spent three  years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Now  they were entering the  country’s top training ground for future titans  of Wall Street and the Fortune  500. \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLittle did either suspect that five  years later,  they’d become famous not in finance or consulting or corporate   management, but at the bleeding-edge intersection of fashion and   technology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGilt  Groupe – launched by Alexis,  Alexandra, and three colleagues in 2007 –  is one of the most fascinating  startups of recent years, with a  valuation of more than $1 billion. And it all  began with one bold idea:  to bring sample sales online and change the way  millions shop.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Alexis and Alexandra  write about  the day Gilt.com went live: “We had created a website that  could potentially  change the rules of retail, for both shoppers and  brands. If shopping was  traditionally a slow, leisurely activity that  might consume an entire day, it  would now be competitive, addictive,  urgent, thrilling—a rush delivered at the  same time each day. Shopping  would become not just easier, but so much  fun.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut turning that vision into reality  wasn’t easy.  Designers had long controlled their own sample sales by staging  them in  anonymous, makeshift locations and strictly limiting invitations. Those   lucky enough to hear about a Marc Jacobs or Hermès sample sale would  drop  everything and run for dramatic, fleeting bargains. Why should  elite brands  support a new startup trying to replicate the experience   online?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd even if  brands like Valentino,  Christian Louboutin, and Zac Posen got on board,  would shoppers embrace such a  website? Would the kind of people who  love high-end fashion really visit a new  online sale each day? Was  “accessible luxury” a breakthrough idea or an absurd  oxymoron?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlexis and Alexandra share  their  perspective in this dramatic story of Gilt’s birth, rise, and  evolution. They  show how they juggled the conflicting needs of their  suppliers, engineers,  marketers, and potential investors. They explain  how they blended their  individual strengths and weaknesses and managed  their rapidly growing team. They  cover the growing pains of expanding  into new categories like housewares,  travel, and menswear. And they  take us through the darkest moments of the  recession when Gilt might  easily have died.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs  you’ll learn from the true story  of Gilt, anything is possible for  those with the creativity to recognize a new  opportunity and the  perseverance to make it real.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47133281616112,"sku":"9781101571910","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781101571910_p0.jpg?v=1763688150","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781101571910","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}