After the Gloss: What’s Next for Emily Weiss

She was very fond of saying, “People ask, is Glossier a tech company? Is it a beauty company? And I say, yes.” It was a little bit trendy, a little bit sexy to be a tech company in that age. And if you are a tech company, that justifies the amount of funding you're getting and can potentially raise your valuation.

Beyond simply copying her outfit, which isn’t the point, it speaks to a broader shift in consumer behavior: We want to hear from people, not corporations.

In short, with democratized access, the web became more saturated than ever before, and as consumers, we began to spend more and more time trying to sort through it all. In a state of analysis paralysis, how do we disaggregate signal from noise?

This problem of overabundance is why I wrote my piece last year. As consumption of digital media increas... See more

Even category-defining influencers face these hurdles. Many lack access to credit, loans, and a business bank account. Some float five-figure sums for production costs on PayPal. Others are unable to prove income requirements to secure a lease. What’s more, the metrics that define a sustainable digital business – subscription growth, audience engag... See more

It’s easy to think that the Internet Age is well-established, but the truth is we’re only getting started. Remember, it took nearly two decades for the Model T to develop the car ecosystem to the point where new opportunities emerged to offer differentiated vehicles at much higher prices and much greater per-unit profit (Mercedes-Benz, for example,... See more

Companies like Glossier and FabFitFun have built huge businesses by leveraging microinfluencers and user-generated content. In an interview with Kara Swisher, Glossier’s Emily Weiss said, “Every single person is an influencer.”