Interesting point that a post earlier today discussed - timing and first movers http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1127500 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=

Interesting point that a post earlier today discussed - timing and first movers http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1127500 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1127500: The problem: One morning, the site was mentioned briefly on The View, and Gilt was deluged with 60,000 invitation requests. It soon became clear that the company’s greatest challenge was going to be expanding its supply to keep up with demand. How timing is essential: The world economy blew up. With shocking suddenness, $11 trillion of American wealth dematerialized, leaving the country awash in unwanted extravagances. Between the autumns of 2008 and 2009, according to Bain Capital, as little as 25 percent of all luxury goods moved at full price, and nearly half of all items didn’t sell all season. Some department stores canceled orders from designers, or refused to pay for shipped merchandise. Quite a few smaller retailers went out of business entirely. That was when Gilt stepped forward with its checkbook, and said good-bye to its supply problem. The fifth 'page' of the article is where you'll find some interesting answers as to how to sustain this as the economy recovers.