Nicole Shariat Farb is the Co-Founder & CEO of Darby Smart, a marketplace for creativity where you can launch, discover, and buy DIY projects and pre-tested craft supplies. Previously, Farb was a teacher who, after obtaining her MBA from Chicago Booth School of Business, transitioned to Goldman Sachs, where she became Head of Emerging Private Companies in investment banking. In 2013, she took a leap of faith when she quit her job at Goldman Sachs to start Darby Smart, realizing that she could help DIY designers monetize their passions.
I sat down with Farb recently to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey as she transitioned from sector to sector, succeeding beyond expectations in each despite the challenges initially presented.
Tiffany Pham: What inspired your move from teaching to investment banking at Goldman Sachs -- to thereafter co-founding the DIY company Darby Smart?
Nicole Shariat Farb: I'm always searching for impact. Where can I go and make a difference? It’s the reason I became a teacher, the reason I moved to a career on Wall Street, and ultimately the reason I left to start Darby Smart. In my move to start Darby Smart, I thought I could make an impact by building a marketplace where millions of women who are passionate about crafting could turn that passion into a business.
Farb: One of the biggest challenges was finding my co-founder, Karl Mendes. As a non-technical founder, recruiting engineers at all levels was tough. However, finding an engineer who would also be my ideal co-founder was an incredibly intense search. The effort was well worth it. In some weeks, I spend more time with Karl than I do with my husband so finding the right person was extremely important.
Pham: How did you gain initial traction? What were some of the tactics you used to grow the number of designers collaborating with Darby Smart as well as your customer base to over 150,000?
Farb: Darby Smart is a marketplace so we focused on building the supply side of our market first. We wanted to find and attract the most talented
DIYers and give them a place to share their creativity. We had terrific reception from that community and they were the ones that helped drive our initial traction. We see a similar dynamic to what Pinterest saw in its early days - large bloggers began using and promoting Pinterest and that attracted their followers. In the same case, large bloggers and now Pinners, use Darby Smart and that attracts their followers.
Pham: What successes have you achieved so far at Darby Smart? What are some of the milestones you are proudest of?
Farb:
--Attracting enthusiasts in the DIY category who advocate for our brand
--Growing our designers from 10 to more than 2,000 in less than a year
--Growing from shipping 600 craft supplies to shipping 30,000 in July 2014
--Building an incredibly intelligent team that is passionate about the problem we're solving
Pham: What do you see as the future of the DIY industry, and what new opportunities are you working towards?
Farb: DIY is a fast-expanding category because it touches on trends that consumers want - personalization and participation. As we continue to progress, I believe an increasing number of millennials will engage with DIY. I also believe that we'll see DIY span the physical world (using craft supplies to make a physical good), the digital world (interacting with design and creativity online) and the merger between the two (3D printing).
Pham: Do you have any advice for other career switchers aspiring to start their own companies?
Farb: Start somewhere. When beginning a business, everything feels intertwined. "I need a website to share my concept, I need a domain to build a website, I need photos of my product to put on my site, I need a product to take those photos!" You have to pick a place and begin, anyplace, and begin to build from there.
