Deena Varshavskaya

Deena Varshavskaya
Born Siberia
Alma mater Cornell University (did not graduate)
Occupation CEO of Wanelo

Deena Varshavskaya is the founder and CEO of Wanelo (“wah-nee-loh,” from Want, Need, Love) a digital mall where users can discover and buy products from anywhere online.[1] She lives in San Francisco, California.[2][3]

Early life

Varshavskaya was born and raised in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia, by a stay-at-home mother and a political journalist father.[4][5] Her parents divorced when she was 16; she, along with her father's family, moved to the United States.[5][6][7][8] She studied psychology, computer science and film studies[9] at Cornell University, but dropped out two courses short of graduating.[10][11]

Career

After dropping out of Cornell, Varshavskaya moved to New York City[4] and launched her first web startup, ReelACT, a talent video directory for actors.[10][11] She then moved to Los Angeles[4] and worked for a social network doing product management and user experience design for two years.[10][11]

After this, Varshavskaya was founder and CEO of experience design agency, Dynamik Interactive, where she worked with large-scale consumer web properties designing digital and social experiences.[12][13][14]

Varshavskaya came up with the concept for Wanelo in 2006 after realizing the need for a different online shopping environment that empowers the individual.[15][16][17] Varshavskaya wanted to know what her friends were shopping for, but there was not yet an existing platform that made online social shopping easy.[18] In April 2011, Varshavskaya moved to San Francisco to raise funding. After 40 investor rejections, she closed her first round of funding and launched the company in 2012.[4][5][19] As of August 2013, Wanelo has 11 million registered users.[5][20][21] The company has raised $14 million in funding.[22][23][24]

Recognition

Vanity Fair’s November 2013 issue named Varshavskaya one of their fifteen "up-and-comers to keep an eye on".[25][26] She was featured as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2013 and 2014 by Goldman Sachs.[27][2] TechCrunch gave Varshavskaya the Best Ecommerce Application award for the Wanelo Shopping app at the Crunchies Awards 2013.[28] In 2014 she was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business,[29] included in Details Magazine’s list of Digital Mavericks,[30] named an “Influencer” on the National Retail Federation’s “List of People Shaping Retail’s Future,"[31]and recognized by Glamour Magazine as one of "35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry".[32]In 2015, she was named to AskMen’s list of the “Top 99 Most Outstanding Women”[33]and included on the San Francisco Business Journal’s “40 under 40” list.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "3 brands that are driving the future of social-mobile shopping". The Next Web. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Julie Ma (June 25, 2013). "Wanelo: The Online Shopping Site Built by a Woman for Women". New York Magazine The Cut. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ Jenna Wortham (March 27, 2013). "Wanelo, Social Commerce Site, Picks Up Speed". New York Times Bits. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Like Mall Browsing, With a Click". The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "With Enough Customers, You Don't Need a Product". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ Liz Gannes (April 30, 2013). "Meet Deena Varshavskaya, CEO of Social Shopping Sensation Wanelo". All Things D. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ Tomio Geron (March 27, 2013). "Inside Wanelo, The Hot Social Shopping Service". Forbes. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Deena Varshavskaya - Founder & CEO". Venture Fizz. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  9. ↑ "From Siberia to Silicon Valley". Women 2.0. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 "Deena Varshavskaya". Shop.org Annual Summit 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Tsotsis, Alexia (April 16, 2013). "Software Is Eating The Mall". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  12. ↑ "How Deena Varshavskaya Rocks The Tech World". Girls in Tech Los Angeles. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Interview with Deena Varshavskaya, Wanelo". So Cal Tech. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Deena Varshavskaya". First Round. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  15. ↑ Jenna Wortham (August 30, 2013). "Which Start-Up Could Be the Next Big Thing?". The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  16. ↑ John Patrick Pullen (August 11, 2013). "Giving Ecommerce a Social Twist". Entrepreneur. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  17. ↑ Jennifer Wang (May 23, 2011). "How Polyvore Became a Trend-Setter in Social Shopping". Entrepreneur. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  18. ↑ Jenna Wortham (January 24, 2013). "Wanelo: Social Commerce Site Is Big With Young Shoppers". The New York Times Bits. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  19. ↑ "The Power Women Who Are Reinventing The Way You Shop Fashion Online". Forbes. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  20. ↑ Jenna Wortham (August 17, 2013). "Hanging Out at the E-Mall". The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  21. ↑ Janessa Mangone (September 18, 2013). "Wanelo: Pinterest's Younger, More Attractive Sister". Social Media Today. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  22. ↑ Rebecca Grant (May 7, 2013). "Wanelo 3.0 makes e-commerce less ‘primitive’ by organizing products around people". Venture Beat. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  23. ↑ Natalia Angulo (July 26, 2013). "Wanelo, Next Verb in Digital Dictionary?". Fox Business. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  24. ↑ Alexia Tsotsis (May 7, 2013). "Internet Mall Wanelo Gets Personal With Wanelo 3.0". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Deena Varshavskaya talks retail, mobile, and empowerment". Forbes. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  26. ↑ Max Chafkin (November 2013). "The Next Establishment". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  27. ↑ http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/11/13/deena-varshavskaya-wanelo/
  28. ↑ "Wanelo Voted Best E-Commerce App, Crunchies Awards 2013". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Most Creative People 2014 49: Deena Varshavskaya". Fast Company. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  30. ↑ "Digital Mavericks 2014: Meet the tech innovators revolutionizing our cultures—and our lives". Details Magazine. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  31. ↑ "The List 2015: The Influencers". National Retail Federation. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  32. ↑ "35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry". Glamour Magazine. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Top 99 Most Outstanding Women 2015". AskMen. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  34. ↑ "40 Under 40 Class of 2015: Retail honorees". San Francisco Business Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
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