We’ve had the opportunity to learn a little about Google several times in class. This pioneering and world-changing company has a knack for curating an army of visionaries, creators, innovators, and encouraging their employees in risk and creativity. Jess Lee, a millennial entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of P O L Y V O R E, recalls that the greatest advice she was ever received came from her mentors at Google while working there as a product manager out of college.
Lee studied engineering at Stanford. She laughs about coming from an oriental family, where she was only ever encouraged to become a doctor, engineer, or something else of high esteem and considerable salary. But she went out on a limb and accepted a position with Google, determined to challenge herself.
While working at Google, Lee fell in love with Polyvore. And as an innovator, when she fell in love, that meant she incessantly shot emails to the then CEO, Pasha Sadri, with suggestions for improvements. Sadri replied offered a challenge: “Why don’t you come here and fix this stuff yourself? We should talk.”
Lee accepted.
Ever since childhood, Lee remembers wanting to do something creative, like writing. Polyvore was enchanting to Lee for the same reason it is to thousands of other people: it’s a creative platform and community of shared fashion ideas that enables fashion visionaries of all ages to graphically assemble outfits online by digitally collecting snaps of clothing items from their favorite sites. Whether you come from a small town, or work as the editor of VOGUE, Polyvore gives you the opportunity to create, combine, influence fashion in the minds of people all over the world, and gain a following.
In true entrepreneurial spirit, and with no business school history, Lee took on a company she didn’t even think would be profitable at first. She held tightly to a lesson she’d learned at Google and has served her well: “Build something users will love and money will come later.”
I love Polyvore! I completely forgot about this clothing company, but I see ads for it all the time, especially on Facebook. I never knew the story behind the company and the people involved with it. I think it is pretty cool that Lee accepted and began a position that was typically against her culture. This story also shows how much google plays into entrepreneurship, and how that company has formed a lot of connections for many people.
This is a cool story! It is neat to see how that by challenging herself, she found such an amazing opportunity. If she would confined herself to what her family wanted her to pursue, she never would have gotten such an amazing opportunity. It’s also cool to see the way that Google empowers their employees to innovate and be creative.
This is a very cool idea, I am not very good at fashion or design but I do love a this bridge that is created for people to talk about their ideas. It is always important to get different perspectives and opinions on your ideas. She had a passion for her idea and she wasn’t going to let her cultural or family norms hold her back, Love it!!