Creating a Community-Based Marketplace with Co-Founder of D.O.B. Noah Treshnell

Noah Treshnell is a decisive leader with +20 years of industry experience, and proven success in delivering over $3B in revenue growth with top international brands through new strategic revenue streams, product and experience innovation, and expansion of brand/business to new customers, channels and geographies.

Noah is the Co-Founder of Date of Birth Inc. (D.O.B), an innovative purpose-based digital marketplace/community offering apparel and accessories from up-and-coming brands. D.O.B. connects brands, customers, and experts that share common principles; sustainable, inclusive & local. 

At D.O.B they are focused on helping their brand partners grow sustainably by creating new and lasting relationships with their customers, and they help their customers by providing access to brands that offer high-quality fashion & design, informative content that raises awareness, and the convenience to access all of it in one place at DOBdrop.com

In this episode you’ll learn about: 

• Striving to create a win-win company -  why Noah and Wes created DOB to be a cooperative brand
• The struggles of choosing a business name - finding the perfect match between meaning and availability that would still help consumers understand your purpose.
• What it takes to run and grow a business as a brand new, young entrepreneur - where to start when you haven’t got a clue.
• Building a community - why you should focus on people’s lives, not just how to sell your product.
• Creating the perfect company - how Noah and Wes used their past retail experience to build a company that incorporated the best ideas and discarded the bad.
• Telling the story behind the product - how and why DOB and their partners focus on pulling back the curtain to introduce the people that make the brand possible.
• An open kitchen concept - if you’re proud of what you do, and how your product is made, you share every part of the process, it’s not a mystery.
• Starting with a purpose - why companies struggle 30-40 years down the road if they have not established a strong purpose and values.
• Having a truly local brand  - being mindful of how and where your product is made, how it impacts the environment, and how it contributes to your community.
• Sticking to your values - putting a line in the sand and only partnering with brands that support your values, even if that means turning down large partners.
• Sustainability, Inclusion,  and Local  - why these core values are important to DOB and how they are positively impacting the community and the environment.
• Turning your “field of dreams” into a reality - the power of vision and sharing your story.
• Creating a brand vs. Creating a community - how helping other brands scale and amplify their message does more good for the world than focusing on sales.
• A purpose over profit mindset - how the brands of DOB are giving back and changing the world, and how that takes priority over becoming a billion-dollar company.
• Finding the right partners - by focusing on your purpose and only partnering with compatible companies, you are setting yourself and your partners up for sustainable growth.
• From online to brick-and-mortar - how having an in-person store provides more opportunities to get face-to-face with your consumers and meet more people in your tribe.
• The pros of pop-up shops - how pop-up shops can be more cost-effective yet provide the opportunity to connect with more local shops, and create new experiences for your customers to keep them coming back, and sharing with their friends. 

Resources:

• DOB
• Sephora
• Restoration Hardware
• Levi’s
• Dockers
• Walmart.com
• Field of Dreams
• Farfetch
• Fall Line Digital 

Connecting with Guest:

• DOB on LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Email Noah
• Email Wes

Connecting with the host:

• Rebecca Babicz on LinkedIn

Quotables

• 3:07 “Being all about the team-win I wanted to be part of a growing business, and be on that team-win  side.”
• 3:37 “I was drinking through a firehose,  learning a lot, but I was thirsty so I was ready for it.”
• 7:30 “It’s not about the traditional seasons anymore. It’s really about new products and when you have a new, fun, interesting, story to tell.”
• 9:02  “Any really cool brand has people behind it, it’s not really the brand, it’s the people.”
• 10:09 “The days of anybody wearing a single brand head-to-toe, are way gone.”
• 10:33 “Wouldn’t it be cool if when someone looks at  a hoodie, they’re not just thinking about the hoodie, they’re thinking about the story behind the hoodie,  and what it’s about.”
• 12:01 “Sustainability has to be at our core.”
• 12:51 “It’s not just about having New York on a t-shirt. It’s being present and mindful of where you operate and  how you make your product, and where you make your product.”
• 13:11 “Local means contributing more into those communities than taking out.”
• 18:05 “We want to be part of a community and we want to grow together. We don’t want to be competitive internally, we want to be cooperative.”
• 18:42 “When you’re building a brand based on authenticity, you often have to say no to more than you say yes to.”
• 25:39 “If profit comes before purpose, there really is no purpose.”
• 31:35 “For it to take off and be sustainable, it’s got to fit whatever your personal narrative is.”