How I Grew My AI Styling App To $3M/Year
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
I’m Elena Volkova, CEO and co-founder of Style DNA. We launched our AI Stylist Assistant with a big mission in mind: to help people unlock their personal style, organize their wardrobes into ready-to-wear outfits, and recommend clothing that suits both their appearance and wardrobe, contributing to a sustainable future.
Style DNA offers personalized styling services, including appearance analysis, wardrobe management and curated shopping guidance. As well as styling recommendations, the assistant has an integrated retail platform that allows users to purchase suggested items with just a few clicks.
The assistant is designed to help people find their unique personal style and make the most of what’s in their wardrobe. By helping users understand how to style the clothes and accessories they already own, Style DNA also encourages responsible consumption habits.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
While working in leadership roles within the strategy and finance departments for various major e-commerce companies, I realized how much of an impact my outfit choices had on my confidence and subsequent success during negotiations. However, I struggled to identify my personal style and create well-put-together outfits.
In the hopes of addressing the issue, I booked a consultation with a professional image consultant. Following a lengthy three-week waiting list, I left their office with a color palette but still no idea what to wear, so it was time to take matters into my own hands.
I signed up for a course at the Association of Image Consultants International, where I learnt how to carry out style consultations. After doing some research, it became clear that there was no standardization within image consultancy, meaning that image consultants were often influenced more by personal opinion than scientific evidence.
This made me realize the need for a widely available online solution that would make accurate style consultations accessible to everyone. Further research revealed that 50% of people have bought clothes online that didn’t suit them and 60% of people wanted to improve how they style the clothes they already have.
Believing that it shouldn’t be so hard for people to find outfits that make them feel good, I ventured towards a scalable solution to address this problem that millions of people face daily.
No matter how genius and in-demand the idea feels, continue to iterate, experiment, and analyze different scenarios, audiences, and approaches until you reach your ideal business model.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
In preparation for the market launch, we’ve conducted hundreds of hours of in-depth research, including detailed customer development interviews with our target audience. We’ve also tested many different messages to redefine the customer acquisition process in marketing communication and within the app.
For our MVP, we focused on unique features rarely found in styling apps: color analysis based on the user’s selfie and shopping assistance through an internal marketplace to help users choose outfits that suit them.
Together with an image consultant, we labeled several million datasets and launched the AI Styling Assistant, a proprietary development of Style DNA. Building upon what had already worked well, we then gradually introduced new features, including wardrobe analysis. This allows users to upload photos of their wardrobe items to the app and receive bespoke outfits ideas for different occasions.
We then started growing our marketplace partnership, with our database now featuring over 150 retailers as of May 2024. Coupled with the new offline shopping assistance feature, we believe the app now solves the most common issues faced by shoppers.
We are proud of the network of partner retailers we’ve managed to build; it was not an overnight feat. It required personal engagement with representatives of each prospective retailer, and the negotiation process never stopped.
We also applied for a patent this year and are currently awaiting its approval.
Today, Style DNA has a huge 300K active users, with 70K being paying subscribers, which is a little overwhelming to think about.
Describe the process of launching the business.
I funded the initial MVP version with my personal savings and then attracted angel investors and partnered with a fund.
This process taught me the importance of connecting with your audience from the very early stages of a start-up. I conducted in-person interviews to get a deeper understanding of issues faced by shoppers and crafted different messaging to find out what worked best. After that, we onboarded the first users, tested price variations and measured conversion from our marketing efforts.
Every start-up is eventually about doing business and making money, and the journey there isn’t always straightforward. I’m confident now that no single solution works flawlessly for every audience or product, so it’s good to stay open minded and experiment.
No matter how genius and in-demand the idea feels, continue to iterate, experiment, and analyze different scenarios, audiences, and approaches until you reach your ideal business model.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Every channel has its audience, and we found that it’s crucial to continuously test many different channels and to optimize, research, and tailor your approach to each of them because every marketing channel requires its own specific approach. Paid social media has worked best so far, but we’re currently working on further developing our organic marketing strategies to reach wider audiences.
Visually captivating messages go a long way for the topic of style, which is why they’ve become a focus of our marketing efforts. While opinions on color type theory may vary, it’s hard to deny its power when you see it in action. Want an example?
Take this Instagram reel we posted on Zendaya’s outfit choices that gained 3.5 m views and 166k likes – people saw how color type theory worked on Zendaya and joined the app to try it for themselves.
We’re also quick to react to viral media sensations, like the recent Met Gala, by posting engaging content. Shortly after the event, we posted a reel analyzing some of the most controversial celebrity outfits, which reached a large audience and sparked more interest in the app.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Today, Style DNA has a huge 300K active users, with 70K being paying subscribers, which is a little overwhelming to think about. This year, the company has not only become revenue-generating but actually profitable and we’re working hard to grow this number. By the end of 2023 Style DNA achieved 3 million in annual revenue and we have even more far-reaching plans.
Right now, social media is the major promotion channel for us, but we’re always trying new formats.
We have a hybrid business model that combines a freemium subscription for AI-Stylist services with marketplace commission. We’re currently partnered with over 150 retailers and aim to introduce many more diverse brands to increase the range of options for our customers.
We’re actively working on decreasing customer acquisition costs by optimizing marketing expenses. Our strategy includes focusing more on free traffic-generating methods, such as SEO and ASO, and growing organic traffic through engaging and viral social media content. In the near future, we’ll also be testing repost mechanics such as “style a friend” content to reach wider audiences.
Our main goals are to enhance the app, introduce a men’s app version, add weather-appropriate outfit recommendations, onboard new retailers for the e-commerce platform, and expand Style DNA’s geographic reach.
Don’t be scared. Don’t worry if your friends are confused by your idea. Don’t let anyone who says, “someone’s tried that before and failed,” stop you from pursuing your dream.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
One of my biggest misconceptions was that once our costly, sleek and functional design was complete, it would only require minimal improvements as time went on. I’ve never worked on a mobile app before and underestimated how much testing and revisions would be required. From how the placement of tabs impacts user retention to the importance of stellar UX and in-app communication, we tirelessly tested everything on large data pools to achieve what we have now.
With time, I’ve also come to understand that it’s a good call to do everything in-house. This way, the team grows competent, experienced, and skilled within the company, and everyone is genuinely passionate about the product’s success. I believe it’s key to accumulate knowledge within the team through experimentation and excel together – this also inspires higher levels of motivation.
I was also extremely lucky to meet many people who supported the idea from the early stages, from friends to advisors in marketing, strategy, and ML. The novelty of ML and AI five years ago definitely helped, as did having an ambitious goal that I truly believed in.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We use many apps for our processes. For example, for traffic attribution, we use AppsFlyer, for analytics, Amplitude, and for A/B testing, we’re big fans of Firebase. When it comes to communication, we send in-app push notifications to our users through OneSignal and stay up to date on everything internally via Slack.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
The Power of the Seven Universal Styles for Women and Men by Alyce Parsons helped me expand my understanding of image consulting as an industry, as well as its goals and processes. “We act the way we dress, and we dress the way we act” resonates strongly with my vision.
I also learned a lot from Blue Ocean Strategy by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim. The idea of creating a unique way to address a problem that hasn’t been solved yet rather than competing with existing products has been my driving force with Style DNA.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Don’t be scared. Don’t worry if your friends are confused by your idea. Don’t let anyone who says, “someone’s tried that before and failed,” stop you from pursuing your dream.
In today’s world, with overwhelming production rates and abundant information, creating something that doesn’t exist yet is more valued than ever.
Your idea or approach might not be immediately understood or supported, but remember when Elon Musk first pitched electric cars at Ford, and it seemed like a utopian dream? With rapid tech progress and changing habits, innovation addressing widespread problems is now more well-received than ever.
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest there’s a demand for non-standard approaches for a very specific narrow niche. Once you find your niche, your audience will follow and take you far.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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