04: From Goldman Sachs & Bain to Style Theory founders, Raena Lim & Chris Halim
Chris and Raena are the co-founders and married couple behind Style Theory - Southeast Asia’s largest fashion subscription rental platform, where for a monthly fee, you can rent clothes and designer bags and get access to an unlimited closet. Style Theory was founded just 4 years ago in 2016 and has since expanded beyond Singapore into Indonesia and Hong Kong. To support its growth, the company is venture backed and just closed its Series B in 2019.
Before starting Style Theory, Chris started his career as a management consultant at Bain & Co, and Raena worked at Goldman Sachs in the Prime Brokerage division.
In this episode they share -
(i) Why they left their corporate careers to start Style Theory
(ii) How they tested demand for their product at the beginning and what their minimum viable product (MVP) looked like
(iii) How they built a business in fashion with no prior experience or connections to the fashion world
(iv) How the fundraising process works in Southeast Asia
(v) How they went about hiring and in particular what they did when they didn’t have a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at the beginning
(vi) What it’s like working together as a married couple
(vii) And many more…
You can find out more about Style Theory at https://www.styletheory.co/
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If you’re feeling unhappy with your corporate job and looking for some guidance, you can find me on -
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