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Archiv der Kategorie JAY`S FAVOURITE BLOGS

Technology suits Jana Eggers to a T (shirt)

2008.9.4. von Jay.

Technology suits Jana Eggers to a T (shirt)

By Helen Graves / Feature
Monday, September 1, 2008

Jana Eggers, global CEO of online T-shirt company Spreadshirt, loves nothing more than getting people excited about technology.

A real-time exchange illustrates her ease at drawing people in. A hotel bellman compliments Eggers on her T-shirt, which says, “Laughter, the shortest distance between two people.” It’s fitted, organic cotton – nothing cheap or cheesy.

Eggers says, “Thanks, I made it myself.” The bellman says, “That’s too bad,” and she says, “No, no, you can make one yourself.”
Eggers describes how he can just go to spreadshirt.com. He asks, “How many do I have to order?” She says, “One.” “Well,” he says, skeptical, “how expensive is that?” She tells him her shirt was $20.

“People don’t expect that,” Eggers says. “They don’t think they can go in, type in something that means something to them, get the shirt and, here’s the bonus – get it within 48 hours.”

Eggers has been with Germany-headquartered Spreadshirt since November 2006, when it seriously began operations in this country. Beginning as U.S. CEO in the Boston headquarters, she also served on the German version of the executive committee, participating as “mom,” she says, to help structure the company.

Once the company founder realized what leading Spreadshirt to the next level would entail, he asked Eggers to take the global CEO role. That was in February 2007. After a six-month transition, Eggers took over the reins a year ago August.

What attracted her to Spreadshirt were the core values the founder intended for the company, things like cultural onboarding – “here’s how we want you to feel and if you don’t feel this way, tell us,” Eggers describes. The problem was, she says, instilling the values went as far as the poster on the wall vs. visibly living the values.

“What excited me was that I wasn’t going to have to bring in this idea of core values in the first place,” she says.

What also appealed to Eggers was the fact that she would be working with a tangible product. Until then, her career was focused on software or content.

In 1990, Eggers began her career in research at national laboratory Los Alamos as a computational chemistry specialist, working on super computers. “I went the real geek route,” she says. Two years later, she went to grad school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but, no longer interested in research, left after a year.

Moving to Boston, Eggers worked at Princeton Transportation Consulting Group, a software company for major trucking companies that used the same algorithms for determining freight flow as she used to determine how electrons transferred in polymers.

Here, Eggers got her first taste of sales, and it is here, too, that she learned about her love of talking technology, especially when explaining the routing benefits to managers who had never touched a computer mouse.

And here Eggers dated and then married one of the founders. Finding the company too small, even at 70 people, for this new development, she joined another small company, Lycos, when, in 1996, it employed 40 people.

In charge of business development first and then appointed director of engineering, Eggers was with Lycos as it grew from 40 to 800. “It was the high time of the Internet. It was a total blast,” she says.

Eggers left Lycos when her husband’s company was bought by Sabre and the couple was asked to move to Germany to be onsite for the Volkswagen account. After a few years, the company was spun out and the couple came home.

Joining another start-up that was soon sold to Intuit, Eggers opted to work at another small start-up until Intuit asked her to start and lead its corporate innovation lab. Next, Spreadshirt called.

Although she was happy at Intuit, Eggers had mused to her husband that in her next role, she’d like a physical product. Her grandfather was in groceries and her mother was a department store manager. She was thinking of opening a restaurant.

“I never really thought about something that combined technology in this way and had a physical component,” Eggers says of the Spreadshirt opportunity. “It’s not e-commerce but something much more personal. It’s using technology to enable people to do something that they didn’t think they could do before and they didn’t know how to do it.”

Even though Eggers was enamored with Spreadshirt, she initially wasn’t sure she wanted the global CEO responsibility of leading a 300-plus person company operating in four countries – the huge commitment and all the travel that has her calling her return home a game of tag.

“There was a part of me looking forward to this management consultant role,” she says, laughing. “But I love the company and the people. I’m a total sucker.”

Eggers has brought about change at the company by bringing up ideas with the executive committee and letting them work through them. She also coaches staff to empower them vs. tells them what to do. As a result, revenue growth is back to meeting Egger’s high expectations and is continuing on its upwards trajectory.

One of the first changes was to drop all of the products Spreadshirt offered to customize, the mugs, lanyards and such, and simply focus on high quality T-shirts that can range from a $10 lightweight T-shirt to a $60 bamboo hoodie with a silk feel.

The company also focused on personalization vs. customization, helping people faced with a “blank sheet” to envision their product. “It’s all about how we approach the problem. Our technology didn’t change. It’s how we set expectations and how we start to get people into the product that changed,” Eggers says.

The overall business model spins on the concept of ordering one T-shirt at a minimum, whether buying directly from Spreadshirt or opening up a shop. It’s a thought adjustment to switch out of the bulk buy (Spreadshirt will do that, too) to the individual purchase.

For the direct buy, customers can order a personalized shirt, such as “I (heart) Nana” or one of their own design or choose from offered designs.

The shop concept can apply to the individual organizing T-shirts for a 50th birthday, when partygoers can order their shirts on their own with their own sayings through the shop.

Corporations like CNN, Coca-Cola – even chucknorrisfacts.com – go the shop route. CNN.com offers T-shirts of headlines, powered by Spreadshirt. Bands can offer 200 designs instead of the usual one or two for a concert tour. Eggers has two Chuck Norris T-shirts, in geek of course: “Chuck Norris knows the last digit of pi” and “Chuck Norris counted to infinity – twice.”

What excites Eggers most, besides her T-shirts, are recent survey results that show 36 percent of people wear their Spreadshirt every time it’s clean – “my goal is 75 percent” – and 68 percent of online shoppers in the U.S. alone do not know about Spreadshirt.

“We have so much opportunity,” Eggers says. “We changed our tagline from ‘You think it, we print it’ to ‘Your own label.’ It’s promoting the idea that you can express yourself. I’ve been with people who have created their shirt and they’re so much more proud of that shirt when people comment on it. That’s the vision we have. It’s fashion and people expressing something about themselves, and that makes them feel great.”

Geschrieben in SPREADSHIRT BLOGS, JAY`S FAVOURITE BLOGS, NEWS | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

DEVILISH - awesome new shirts !

2008.8.20. von Jay.

DEVILISH 3 COLORS by VAN TRIBE

Men’s Heavyweight Cotton T-Shirt

Men’s Fully Stitched Basic Cotton T-Shirt by Fruit of the Loom

DEVILISH 3 COLORS by VAN TRIBE @www.vantribe.com, TRIBAL SHIRTS, BIKER SHIRTS, METAL SHIRTS, TATTOO SHIRTS, ZODIAC SHIRTS, DRAGON SHIRTS, FLAME SHIRTS, PINSTRIPING SHIRTS, SEXY SHIRTS, AMERICAN SHIRTS

And many more on VAN TRIBE CUSTOM SHIRTS.

Geschrieben in VanTribeCity, GERMAN DESIGNERS, VAN TRIBE, SPREADSHIRT BLOGS, NEWS | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ART on VAN TRIBE

2008.8.20. von Jay.

Hi, just did some new pictures of COOL CUSTOMS`n RODS.

Here`s my favorite:

Just check it out on VAN TRIBE CUSTOM SHIRTS and VAN TRIBE CITY.

Jay

Geschrieben in VanTribeCity, GERMAN DESIGNERS, VAN TRIBE, SPREADSHIRT BLOGS, NEWS | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

YES, WE`RE IN ! THE NEW ZEIXS-BOOK OF T-SHIRT-DESIGNS

2008.8.10. von Jay.

Sorry that it took sooo long.

Now we`re back with some great news:

We`re in the new book “T-Shirt-Design” by Z EIXS.com, powered by Spreadshirt.

These two made it:

Heavyweight Cotton Shirt, RIGHT SHIRT @www.vantribe.com, TRIBAL SHIRTS, FLAME SHIRTS, BIKER SHIRTS, CUSTOM SHIRTS, AMERICAN SHIRTS,Men’s Heavyweight Cotton T-Shirt,Men’s Fully Stitched Basic Cotton T-Shirt by Fruit of the Loom

LOVE HURTS by VAN TRIBE,Men’s Lightweight T-Shirt by Fruit of the Loom ,LOVE HURTS by VAN TRIBE @www.vantribe.com, TRIBAL SHIRTS, BIKER SHIRTS, METAL SHIRTS, TATTOO SHIRTS, ZODIAC SHIRTS, DRAGON SHIRTS, FLAME SHIRTS, PINSTRIPING SHIRTS, SEXY SHIRTS, AMERICAN SHIRTS

Just check out this awesome book of designers from all around the world.

You can also buy it at AMAZON.

We`re working on some awesome new designs for our new brand THEBADASSTEE, that will be online in some weeks. So watch out !!!But, today, it`s the day of FUN.

Geschrieben in VanTribeCity, PRESS RELEASES, GERMAN DESIGNERS, VAN TRIBE, JAY`S FAVOURITE BLOGS, NEWS | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

STARTING NEW WEBSITE DESIGN

2008.5.31. von Jay.

Hi, although our website is pretty successful and somehow stylish, we added a new START-Page, to ease your comfort. You now can chose to enter the website, enter VAN TRIBE AMERICA`S SHOP or VAN TRIBE EUROPE`S SHOP.

So just check it out and have fun with our new stuff.

Jay

Geschrieben in GERMAN DESIGNERS, VAN TRIBE, JAY`S FAVOURITE BLOGS, NEWS | Drucken | 1 Kommentar »

Vantribe: “Haben uns langsam rangetastet”

2008.5.25. von Jay.

MAY 25, 2008

PRESS RELEASE: INTERVIEW WITH VAN TRIBE`S DESIGNERS “be-him” AND JayOne ON GERMAN SPREADSHIRT BLOG:

INTERVIEW by: AMI

Jürgen alias Jay1 und Bettina tätowieren gewissermaßen T-Shirts. Ihre Motive bei Vantribe basieren auf “Tribals und Tattoos” - und erfreuen sich wachsender Beliebtheit. Interessant, weil es mir schon mehrere Male passiert ist, dass ich ins Rudern kam bei der Frage warum mein werter Arbeitgeber eben nicht nur T-Shirts macht - und jemand mit einem Tätowierervergleich kam (fragt nicht auf was für Parties ich gehe). Okay, natürlich tackern wir (noch) keine Motive direkt auf die Haut - und man kann sein Shirt zurückgeben, wenn es einem nicht gefällt. Aber Tribals gehen ja auch ganz gut auf individuellen T-Shirts, oder? Wir fragen nach: Jay1 und Bettina im Interview.

Wer seid ihr, was macht ihr?
Ich bin der Jürgen, kümmere mich um die Shirt-Kollektion, das Webdesign und die Kontakte. Bettina macht die Designs. Wir haben bei Spreadshirt einen Premium-Shop. Vor allem Tribals und Tattoo-Motive, also mehr so die rustikalere Ecke.

Wieso “rustikaler”?
Eben nicht zu nett, keine süßen Sachen, - eher “heavier”, so wie das hier (zeigt auf sein Shirt mit der amerikanischen Nationalflagge).

Wie seid ihr auf die Idee gekommen?
Bettina: Eigentlich haben wir schon immer Sachen zusammen gemacht - zum Beispiel Musik. Und ich bin Künstlerin, ich male. Da habe ich schon länger nach Möglichkeiten gesucht, Marketing zu machen oder “Merchandising”, wie es so schön heißt. Bisher war das Problem, dass man gleich eine Mindestauflage von 1.000 in Auftrag geben muss. Und das konnten wir uns nicht leisten, muss man ganz klar sagen.
Jürgen: Oder eben auf den Copyshop zurückgreifen, aber da ist die Qualität natürlich nicht so gut. Und dann haben wir bei Spiegel Online von Spreadshirt gelesen und gedacht: das ist ja super. Da können wir unsere Motive auf T-Shirts ziehen und was wir haben wollen, bestellen wir dann – oder lassen unsere Käufer bestellen.
Bettina: Man kann ohne Risiko rumprobieren, man kann seine Motive in den Shop stellen und entweder sie laufen oder laufen eben nicht - aber man hat dann nicht haufenweise Shirts in der Kiste in der Ecke stehen und wird sie nicht wieder los.
Jürgen: Dann muss man die richtige Größe haben, es muss genau das T-Shirt sein, das die Leute haben wollen und und und .. das gibt es online natürlich nicht - die Leute können sich ganz einfach selbst zusammenstellen, was sie haben wollen. Ja, das war eigentlich das Hauptmotiv.

Vom Aha-Erlebnis zum laufenden Shop - wie lange habt Ihr da gebraucht?
Jürgen: Das hat schon seine Zeit Tage gedauert. Erstmal haben wir mit den 20-30 Digitalmotiven angefangen, die wir schon vor Spreadshirt-Zeiten mal entworfen hatten. Die liefen gar nicht. Dann haben wir es mit Vektor-Motiven probiert. Hat schon ein bisschen Zeit gekostet, sich da reinzufuchsen, Illustrator kaufen und anwenden lernen und so..
Bettina: Da wir von Haus aus nicht aus der Computerecke kommen, haben wir erstmal einige Schwierigkeiten gehabt, uns da einzuarbeiten, den Shop zum Laufen zu kriegen. Das Forum hat uns zu dieser Zeit immer wieder aus der Patsche geholfen. Wenn man mal irgendwo in einer Sackgasse steckte, nicht weiterkam, gab es relativ schnell Feedback. Manchmal gab es auch voll eine vor den Latz, frei nach dem Motto: „vollkommen bescheuert, was ihr da macht“ . Wenn man da sensibel gewesen wäre, hätte man den Laden gleich wieder schliessen müssen. Unsere Website hieß gelegentlich auch mal “die Webseite der 80er”.
Jürgen: Da darf man sich eben nicht beeindrucken lassen und nimmt die vielen guten Ratschläge. Die Leute im Forum waren jedenfalls sehr hilfreich, und so haben wir uns langsam an die Materie herangetastet. Aber ein Jahr hat es wohl schon gedauert.

Was gefällt Euch, was könnte besser laufen?
Jürgen: Die Qualität der T-Shirts ist super - besser als bei allen anderen. Beim Umgang mit Innovationen wünsche ich mir manchmal Verbesserungen, dass Dinge länger getestet werden, bevor sie zum Einsatz kommen. Der Rest ist große Klasse.

Was war Euer größtes Erfolgserlebnis?
Jürgen: Dass eines unserer Motive, unsere Hand, auf Euren beiden Startseiten zu sehen war - und sich dadurch auch nett verkauft Und dann zu sehen, wie viele Shops die sich vom Marktplatz eingebunden haben. Zurzeit 642 ..
Bettina: da haben wir schon mitgefiebert - kriegen wir die 100, kriegen wir die 100 .. und dann waren es mehr als hundert, und jetzt fiebern wir natürlich: kriegen wir die 700? Doch, ja, ich würde sagen - die Hand.

Wie vermarktet ihr euch und eure Shops?
Jürgen: In Foren, in Blogs. Google Adwords wäre jetzt der nächste Schritt. Dafür würde ich persönlich gerne die Webseite noch etwas professioneller gestalten, die habe ich bisher komplett selbst gemacht und ich denke ich stoße da so langsam an meine Grenzen. Das muss alles einheitlicher aussehen. Wenn das steht, mache ich auch mal ein bisschen Werbung.
Bettina: Genau, ich plane jetzt schon, mehr mit Fotos und mit Modellen zu arbeiten. Da sieht man die Shirts etwas besser und gleich in Lebensgröße. Die erste Fotostrecke haben wir gerade fertig. Vielleicht könnte man unseren Käufern einen Bonus anbieten, wenn sie ein Foto von sich im Shirt einschicken. Das wäre ja die beste Werbung und beide hätten was davon …

Wir danken Euch für dieses Gespräch!

There will be another english interview soon, so check it out.

Jay

Geschrieben in VanTribeCity, PRESS RELEASES, GERMAN DESIGNERS, VAN TRIBE, JAY`S FAVOURITE BLOGS, SPREADSHIRT BLOGS, NEWS | Drucken | 1 Kommentar »

Elias aka “THE PROPHET”

2008.5.2. von Jay.

And again, some new VAN TRIBE designs, made by “be-him”.

Here`s the history behind the designs:

“Elias”

The t-shirt design “The prophet” shows the head of the prophet Elias, a detail from the linocut “Elias mit dem Raben ( Elias with the raven )”.
It´s the first picture in a row of four. They were first shown in Düsseldorf in november 2007, made for a very special concert, the oratorio “Elias” written by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, shown also at an exhibition about Elias.

Here`s the original: