How to Get Over Your Fear of Starting with Natalie Gordon, Founder of Babylist

Natalie Gordon is the CEO and Founder of Babylist, the fastest-growing universal baby registry in the U.S.

In 2011, after she closed down her first business and did some consulting projects to make ends meet, Natalie came up with the idea for Babylist after becoming frustrated with the options available for baby registries at the time. What started as a side-project that launched two weeks before her first son was born, has become a multimillion-dollar empire that just keeps growing. 

Over the past 10 years with relatively little VC funding, Natalie has grown Babylist into the third largest baby registry service online. More than half of US parents registered with Babylist in 2020, creating 1.2 million registries last year alone. The company has doubled its revenue each year for the past three years and is on track to make $250 million in revenue this year.

We’ll talk to Natalie about how her “failure” with her first business set her up for success with Babylist, how she balanced new motherhood with growing a new company, why you shouldn’t compare yourself to others, steps she took to scale her company without significant VC funding, and so much more.

In this episode, we talk to Natalie about:

* Why being scared is no reason to wait: the tips and tools Natalie uses to overcome her fear. [2:55]

* What it was like growing up in Canada as a math geek and how Natalie moved into the world of computer science. [6:17]

* How Natalie made the leap from a secure job to chasing her dreams. [7:55]

* Why Natalie’s first startup failed and the lessons learned. [10:01]

* The product-market fit and why this is crucial to every business. [14:02]

* Why Natalie chose to found Babylist: filling a niche she identified. [15:51]

* The yardsticks Natalie selected to define whether or not she continued to grow Babylist, or move on. [26:06]

* Creating brand awareness: the different phases Babylist went through. [27:09]

* What drove Natalie to join the accelerator program, 500 startups. [29:35]

* How to tell when it’s time to hire a team. [31:29]

* The lesson Natalie has had to learn over and over throughout her career. [34:04]

* Why raising money is less important than an investor who aligns with the company values. [35:28]

* Facing the COVID-19 pandemic: how Babylist thrived rather than just survived. [38:38]

* Handling external stressors and how Natalie guided her company through the pandemic with transparency. [43:19]

* Why an uncomfortable level of focus helped Natalie steer Babylist in the right direction. [44:59]

* Saying “not yet” to every great idea: the importance of focus and good company culture in attracting the right kind of employee. [46:09]

* Advice from Natalie to her audience: don’t compare yourself to others. [50:15]

* How Natalie handles rejection. [52:12]

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Follow Natalie:

* Babylist Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babylist/ 

* Babylist Website: https://www.babylist.com/

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* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/

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