| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Interior Design |
| Founded | 2014 in Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Number of locations | 1 (2017) |
Key people | |
| Website | www |
Laurel & Wolf is a Los Angeles based interior design firm which offers online access to interior designers for design advice and plans.
History
editFounders
editLeura Fine
editLeura Fine was born in Alabama and lived there until attending school at McGill University where she majored in English literature and political theory.[1] She later returned to school at UCLA where she studied Interior Archetecture.[1] Prior to starting Laurel & Wolf, she worked for nearly 4 years at Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design where she eventually becoming a senior designer.[1] In 2013, she left Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design to open her own interior design firm Leura Fine Interiors.[2]
Leura identified at least three key ideas that gave her the idea for Laurel & Wolf.
- She knew talented designers who didn't have enough work and were struggling to make ends meet.[3]
- Most of her clients were in the top 1% economic class[4]
- Increased popularity of platforms like Pinterest generated a lot of interest in design but people still struggled to turn ideas into workable solutions[5]
Brandon Kleinman
editBrandon Kleinman graduated from Indiana University Bloomington. He later worked for Disney where he helped increase utilization of social media at Disney Resorts.[6] Before working as the CMO at Laurel & Wolf, he founded the companies BrainMuffin Agency and whatsGood.[6]
Early Development
editThe original Laurel & Wolf website was only 8 pages and was primarily informational. Website visitors could take a self-assessment but the information wasn't stored and served little purpose except to help gauge interest. Eventually, the self-assessment was used to help designers understand the style preferences of potential clients, and much of the system became automated; however, in the early stages of development, most of the work of matching clients with designers was done manually.[7]
Growth and Reception
editOperation
editBusiness Model
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c White, Ronald D. (7 February 2016). "She has grand designs on how interiors should be". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Cooney, Samantha. "Don't ask Leura Fine about being a female CEO -- ask about how she's changing interior design". Mashable. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Perez, Sarah. "Backed By $5.5 Million, Laurel & Wolf Brings Interior Design Into The Digital Age". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Entis, Laura. "Startup Lessons From a First-Time Entrepreneur Who Raised $25 Million". Fortune. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Kosoff, Maya. "A startup that's raised $25 million is helping celebrities like Christina Applegate design their homes". Business Insider. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ a b "Brandon Kleinman: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Schioldager, Arianna. "Never Make It Perfect: Laurel & Wolf CEO Breaks Down How to Launch". Create + Cultivate.