Learning not to take things personally
- Name: Robert Rebholz, 30
- Business: KinderStuff, Los Angeles
KinderStuff is a Web-only baby fashion label that exchanges outgrown clothes for discounts on future purchases. I launched it with Alexander Reichhuber and Sebastian Schmoeger in 2011. We previously had worked together as management consultants, and in the two years after we left our jobs to do this startup, we became really close friends.
At first, we had intense discussions about our products. Our goal was to create affordable, premium baby clothing, but we argued about our product range. We lacked good customer feedback and market research. After many long nights of discussion, we created a focus group, and agreed our clothing should be organic and socially responsible, yet hip and colorful.
It's crucial to define decision-making processes. We each have separate responsibilities, but we make major decisions, such as large investments or major marketing initiatives together, democratically. When one person is overruled, he doesn't take it personally. It took us a while to understand that we can't always find consensus.
Our friendship, trust, complementary skills and experience working together make us a good team. We're working well beyond 70 hours a week, and being friends makes it fun. It has helped us cope with some extremely tough times, motivate each other and stay positive.
