Something Ventured Part 6: How This Startup Managed A Year Of Rapid Growth

Editor’s note: This profile is part of Something Ventured, a year-long series by Crunchbase News examining diversity and access to capital in the venture-backed startup ecosystem. As part of this project, we followed seven seed-stage entrepreneurs over the course of a year as they built their businesses. Read our previous profiles of Kim Stiefel, Sarah Wissel and Repeat here, here, here, here and here and access the full project here.

The last year proved pivotal for Repeat.

The Los Angeles-based company raised its Series A, hit sales milestones, and grew its team 10x since the beginning of 2021.

Since Crunchbase News started following Repeat’s journey, the biggest change has been the expansion of the company, CEO Kim Stiefel said. Repeat started 2021 with three employees, and now has 30. 

“Scaling is hard and I think the biggest takeaway is really the importance of making sure that you’re continuing to communicate the vision and bring everyone along for the same ride,” Stiefel said. 

If five different employees at Repeat have different ideas of what the company is building and the problem it’s solving, that’s a problem, Stiefel said.

“I try really hard to make sure the vision is communicated and the team is aligned and we’re on the same journey. And I think that’s  been a challenge and something I’m really proud of,” she said.

From building processes to executing a vision

Repeat’s SaaS platform for consumer packaged goods companies helps turn buyers into repeat customers. The company’s technology analyzes a shopper’s behavior, along with household behavior, to figure out when to remind a customer to reorder something–think items like toilet paper, face wash, and other goods that need to be replenished regularly.

The company, founded by Stiefel and her partner Sarah Wissel, attracted investment from venture capitalists including Harlem Capital and Act One Ventures. Most recently, it raised a $6 million Series A led by Battery Ventures.

Repeat’s been in growth mode over the past year–and it’s continuing to hire across the board. Teams at the company now have four, five, six people on them–a big change from a team of a person or two. That means the company needed processes to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“When you’re a small team it’s really easy to guarantee that everyone on the team has context,” Stiefel said. “When you scale, it’s a lot harder, and it’s really important as you scale that everyone continues to have the context they need to do the best job that they can. And that’s where process comes into play.”

While the past year focused on growing the team and putting the right processes into place, now the company’s focused on executing its vision, which Stiefel said has really evolved and crystallized over the past year. Repeat wants to be the default experience for returning customers.

Most direct-to-consumer websites are built for customer acquisition, not reordering, according to Stiefel. DTC companies are often built for trialing or sampling, selling variety packs and bundles to customers. Repeat wants to make it easy to move from variety packs and zero in on the product a consumer wants to reorder, turning them into repeat customers. 

“I think to the extent that we can continue to improve the reordering experience, that’s what we’re really focused on,” Stiefel said. “To offer the best, most delightful experience for a consumer when they’re in ‘buy mode.’”

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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