October 24, 2024 • 30min
Disrupting the wedding industry, with Zola’s Shan-Lyn Ma
Masters of Scale
Key Takeaways
- Entrepreneurial inspiration can come from unexpected places - For Shan-Lyn Ma, it was a poster of Yahoo founder Jerry Yang on her wall as a teenager in Australia
- Prior work experience can be invaluable preparation for entrepreneurship - Ma's time at Yahoo and Gilt gave her crucial skills and connections
- Focus on nailing one core product before expanding - Zola spent 4 years perfecting their wedding registry before adding other features
- Inclusivity can be a key differentiator - Zola stood out by catering to all types of couples from the start
- Personal crises can bring clarity to business vision - A serious accident reinforced Ma's commitment to growing Zola
- Adaptability is crucial during major disruptions - Zola pivoted quickly to support couples during pandemic wedding cancellations
- Expanding into adjacent markets can fuel growth - Zola has expanded from weddings into home goods and baby registries
- AI tools can enhance the customer experience - Zola is using AI for features like thank you note generation
- Passion from customers is the ultimate validation - Ma says hearing customers express love for Zola is what she lives for
Introduction
Shan-Lyn Ma is the co-founder and co-CEO of Zola, an online wedding planning and registry platform. In this episode, Ma shares her entrepreneurial journey from aspiring tech founder in Australia to leading a company that has transformed the wedding industry. She discusses how her experiences at Yahoo and Gilt prepared her to start Zola, the challenges of scaling a startup, and navigating major disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics Discussed
Early Entrepreneurial Inspiration (3:55)
Ma traces her entrepreneurial ambitions back to her childhood in Australia, where she had posters of both pop star Kylie Minogue and Yahoo founder Jerry Yang on her wall. Reading about Yang in business magazines sparked her interest in tech entrepreneurship:
"Here was this young person right out of school who was finding a way to democratize information and make it accessible to everyone. And by the way, he did in a very fun, down to earth way. And he also looks like me. It made me feel like that was something that I would like to do one day."
- Ma was laser-focused on getting to Silicon Valley
- She enrolled in Stanford's MBA program and landed an internship at Yahoo
- Meeting Jerry Yang in person at Yahoo was a starstruck moment for Ma
Learning the Ropes at Gilt (7:20)
Ma's role at e-commerce company Gilt was transformational for her career:
- Gilt was at the forefront of Web 2.0 e-commerce and mobile shopping experiences
- Ma joined as the first product manager when Gilt had about 30 employees
- Over 4 years, she helped grow Gilt to over 1000 employees and $600 million in revenue
- The fast growth provided opportunities to develop new products and skills
"When you're in such a fast growing company, there's a lot of opportunities to do things you would never be able to do otherwise, including coming up with ideas and having the chance to do them if they're good ideas."
The Genesis of Zola (8:42)
The idea for Zola came from Ma's personal experience as a wedding guest in 2013:
- She found existing wedding registries frustrating to use as a gift buyer
- Talking to engaged friends revealed pain points for couples creating registries
- Ma and co-founder Nobu Nakaguchi saw an opportunity to apply their e-commerce expertise
"We heard again and again, was that people wanted fundamentally different things than what they were getting from department store registries, which dominated the market at the time. They wanted to fully personalize their registry and their entire wedding, and they just wanted the convenience of managing things where and when they wanted them."
Early Successes and Challenges (10:44)
Ma reflects on what Zola got right and wrong in the early days:
- Right: Laser focus on building the best possible wedding registry product
- Wrong: Waiting too long to expand beyond registry into other wedding planning tools
On balancing focus vs. expansion:
"When you can start to see both in your product feedback and in your P&L, that you have that word of mouth going, that you have that viral network effect which is inherent in weddings. But once you see that, that is the time where you can continue to invest in that core product, but also consider, oh, and there are other things that we can then add on that are accelerated by that word of mouth."
Fundraising Journey (12:36)
Ma describes Zola's atypical fundraising experience:
- Their seed round came easily from Gilt founder Kevin Ryan based on prior working relationship
- Subsequent rounds got more challenging as investors focused on metrics and financials
- Ma's advice: "You just keep going until you can't anymore."
Commitment to Inclusivity (16:11)
Zola made inclusivity for all types of couples a priority from day one:
- It was "offensive" to Ma that other wedding companies defaulted to bride/groom language
- Zola asks "Who is getting married?" and customizes the experience accordingly
- This approach generated significant positive feedback from LGBTQ+ couples
- In 2019, Hallmark Channel refused to run Zola ads featuring same-s*x couples
- Zola's public stance against this discrimination reinforced their values internally and externally
Personal Crisis Brings Clarity (22:11)
Ma describes how a serious car accident reinforced her commitment to Zola:
- In the moment of impact, she had two key thoughts: wanting to have a child and needing to fulfill Zola's potential
- The experience provided clarity on her personal mission and drive to grow Zola
"Ever since then, I feel like my personal mission is very clear. And every day, I need to continue to push Zola to where I know it can get."
Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic (24:24)
The pandemic posed an existential threat to the wedding industry. Zola's response focused on three key areas:
- Supporting couples: Building new features to help manage postponements and changes
- Pivoting the business: Quickly launching Zola Home to capitalize on home goods demand
- Planning for uncertainty: Creating multiple scenarios based on pandemic duration
Ma notes that the following two years saw record wedding numbers as postponed events were rescheduled.
Future Growth Plans (28:29)
Zola is expanding beyond weddings to become a "life stage company" for couples:
- Continuing to grow and improve their core wedding products
- Recently launched Zola Baby for baby registries
- Exploring other ways to support couples throughout their relationship
Leveraging AI (30:33)
Zola is incorporating AI tools to enhance the user experience:
- Split the Decisions: An AI tool to help couples divide wedding planning responsibilities
- Thank You Note Generator: Automates the process of writing post-wedding thank you notes
Ma's Favorite Aspect of Entrepreneurship (31:53)
Ma says her favorite part of the job remains the same as when she started:
"Working with a group of smart, fun people to think about new ideas that will make other people happy, working on getting that idea out into the world and then seeing if people actually want to use it and love it."
She finds particular satisfaction in hearing passionate feedback from Zola users:
"There is nothing as satisfying as when someone who used Zola comes up to me and shakes me by the shoulders and says, 'You don't understand how much I love Zola. I love Zola.'... That passion is what I'm always looking for, for anything that we do, because it means that we have done something truly different."
Conclusion
Shan-Lyn Ma's journey with Zola demonstrates how a focused vision, adaptability, and commitment to user experience can disrupt an established industry. From its origins as a wedding registry platform to its expansion into a comprehensive life stage company for couples, Zola has navigated challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic by staying true to its mission of supporting couples. Ma's passion for entrepreneurship and product development continues to drive Zola's growth and innovation in the wedding and lifestyle space.
