User:VoodooEconomics/Laurel & Wolf
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Interior Design |
| Founded | 2014 in Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Number of locations | 1 (2017) |
Key people | |
| Website | www |
Laurel & Wolf is a Los Angeles based interior design firm which offers online access to interior designers for design advice and plans.
History[edit]
Founders[edit]
Leura Fine[edit]
Leura Fine was born in Alabama and lived there until attending school at McGill University where she majored in English literature and political theory.[1] She later returned to school at UCLA where she studied Interior Archetecture.[1] Prior to starting Laurel & Wolf, she worked for nearly 4 years at Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design where she eventually becoming a senior designer.[1] In 2013, she left Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design to open her own interior design firm Leura Fine Interiors.[2]
Leura identified at least three key ideas that gave her the idea for Laurel & Wolf.
- She knew talented designers who didn't have enough work and were struggling to make ends meet.[3]
- Most of her clients were in the top 1% economic class[4]
- Increased popularity of platforms like Pinterest generated a lot of interest in design but people still struggled to turn ideas into workable solutions[5]
Brandon Kleinman[edit]
Brandon Kleinman graduated from Indiana University Bloomington. He later worked for Disney where he helped increase utilization of social media at Disney Resorts.[6] Before working as the CMO at Laurel & Wolf, he founded the companies BrainMuffin Agency and whatsGood.[6]
Early Development[edit]
The original Laurel & Wolf website was only 8 pages and was primarily informational. Website visitors could take a self-assessment but the information wasn't stored and served little purpose except to help gauge interest. Eventually, the self-assessment was used to help designers understand the style preferences of potential clients, and much of the system became automated; however, in the early stages of development, most of the work of matching clients with designers was done manually.[7]
Growth and Reception[edit]
Operation[edit]
Business Model[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c White, Ronald D. (7 February 2016). "She has grand designs on how interiors should be". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Cooney, Samantha. "Don't ask Leura Fine about being a female CEO -- ask about how she's changing interior design". Mashable. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Perez, Sarah. "Backed By $5.5 Million, Laurel & Wolf Brings Interior Design Into The Digital Age". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Entis, Laura. "Startup Lessons From a First-Time Entrepreneur Who Raised $25 Million". Fortune. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Kosoff, Maya. "A startup that's raised $25 million is helping celebrities like Christina Applegate design their homes". Business Insider. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ a b "Brandon Kleinman: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Schioldager, Arianna. "Never Make It Perfect: Laurel & Wolf CEO Breaks Down How to Launch". Create + Cultivate.