3 ms·

She invested $80,000 to start the enterprise. Wow. That's quite the upfront cost.

• wmil 11y ago
  She went to school for fine arts and traveled the world afterwards. It's reasonable to assume that her family has a lot of money and this started as a vanity business.
  • nness 11y ago
    At 25, its certainly hard to imagine how those funds were raised any other way.
  • MyHypatia 11y ago
    Why do you describe it as a vanity business? She collected pencils and then decided to create a business selling them. How is this any different than someone deciding to open a shop that sells Teddy bears? Or someone who decides to make an app that does some niche thing? Isn't the entire point of the HN community to take your passion or interest and turn it into a business? Describing her business, where she has 3 employees and is making a profit, as a vanity business is awfully dismissive.
    • wmil 11y ago
      It was a harsh way to put it. I just think it's dangerous to talk about businesses like this without mentioning that it's likely she's never planning to recoup her investment. I don't want to disparage her shop but people read these articles and think they can move to NYC and make artisan hot sauce. People doing that aren't making enough to pay for their rent or lifestyle. They just have money from another source.