mindy grossman
HSN
The movie Eat, Pray, Love
lasted 133 minutes. Mindy
Grossman turned it into a
72-hour shopathon on
HSN featuring custom
bangles, bedding, tunics,
and tea sets. “This was the
most amazing storytelling
vehicle,” she says. Partner-
ing with Hollywood is at the
heart of Grossman’s cam-
paign to broaden the net-
work’s audience, 4. 6 million
of whom are customers. “I
never want anything to be
too predictable.”
nicole vanderbilt
mydeco.com
What CEO Nicole Vanderbilt
calls the crown jewel of
interior-design site mydeco
.com isn’t a cool armchair or
an exclusive rug collection.
It’s a “fundamentally new
technology,” she says. The
3-D Room Planner is a tool
that lets professionals and
novices alike design virtual
rooms, fill them with items
from some 800 retailers,
and get feedback from the
site’s 100,000 members—all
before buying a single thing.
A former VP at Bebo Inter-
national and marketing exec
at Google, Vanderbilt is
winning stateside attention
for the U.K.–born business
through a partnership with
Design Within Reach.
colin archipley
Veterans Sustainable
Agriculture Training
Colin Archipley wakes up at
5 a.m. to write lesson plans
for the agriculture training
program for vets that he
and his wife set up in 2007.
At his small organic farm
near San Diego, the vets
study irrigation and hydro-
ponics, work in the green-
house, and get tips from
entrepreneurs and inves-
tors for the business plans
due at the end of the
course. “They were trained
to use rifles and coordinate
air strikes, not operate
businesses,” Archipley
says, “but we tap into the
leadership skills they’ve
obtained in the military.”
Buhai’s fall line was o inspired by the 1990s, she created a zine for it. sophie buhai Vena Cava
With classic silhouettes and quiet
details, Vena Cava has granted every
girl the much-coveted ability to look
effortlessly hip. “We’re not interested
in loud clothing,” says cofounder
Sophie Buhai. Though Buhai and
partner Lisa Mayock have been smart
about building the niche brand
through profile-raising collaborations
with Gap, Converse, and Uniqlo, their
witty personal touch with fans has
also spurred Vena Cava’s growth.
Last summer, Buhai hosted an online
garage sale of personal items. (In jest,
Mayock’s birth certificate, Social-
Security card, and self-esteem were
also for sale.) At the debut of fall’s ’90s-
inspired collection, Vena Cava distrib-
uted a zine—dubbed ’Zina Cava—
boasting ephemera from Buhai’s and
Mayock’s high-school days. “Our cus-
tomers are our peers,” Buhai says.
“You must articulate your culture.”
Her antHem:
“ ‘IgnItIon
(remIX),’
by r. Kelly.
WHat can I say?
It’s a great
tgIF song.”
