Alexandra Wilkis Wilson
American entrepreneur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (born in New York City) is an American entrepreneur and investor who co-founded the companies the Gilt Groupe, GlamSquad, and Fitz.[1] She is currently co-founder and Managing Partner at Clerisy, a consumer-focused growth equity fund.[2]
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexandra Wilkis New York City |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB, MBA) |
| Occupations | Entrepreneur and Investor |
| Relatives | Alan Wilkis, Brother |
Early life and education
Wilkis Wilson was born and raised in New York City.[3] She attended The Brearley School, Phillips Exeter Academy,[3] Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude,[4] and Harvard Business School.[5]
Wilkis Wilson grew up in a bilingual home (Spanish/English) and later learned French, Portuguese and Italian. She studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music and played competitively until about the 10th grade. She credits music as being a strong early influence in her life and in her dedication to entrepreneurial ventures.[6] Her brother Alan Wilkis is the founder of the American Music Project, Big Data.[7]
Career
Wilkis Wilson began her career working in investment banking at Merrill Lynch for three years,[3] before returning to Harvard to earn an MBA.[8] She then entered the Louis Vuitton management training program,[8] which included working the sales floor.[9] Subsequently, she worked for two years managing retail operations for Bulgari.[10]
Wilkis Wilson co-founded the Gilt Groupe in 2007,[11] a flashsale company that offers luxury goods for sale at significant discounts, but only for brief windows of time. In 2012, Wilkis Wilson and cofounder Alexis Maybank, a classmate from Harvard Business School, published a book on Gilt's founding, By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop.[12] At one point the company was valued at a billion dollars, making it a "unicorn" (a venture capital slang term for a startup valued at a billion dollars), but sold to Saks Fifth Avenue parent company Hudson's Bay Company for $250 million in 2016.[13] Wilkis Wilson left the company in 2014.
In September 2014, she became co-founder and CEO of GlamSquad, a mobile styling company[14] "which offers on-demand beauty services through an integrated app."[15] Clients can use an app to book hair and makeup artists for house calls--"the Uber of beauty services."[16] The company had $8 million in sales in the first year, and raised $24 million in funding, as of February 2017.[17] It operates in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, DC.[18]
In March 2017, Wilkis Wilson launched a startup called Fitz, a service that offers an in-person wardrobe consultation and then follow-up advice on shopping.[19] Fitz was sold to Tradesy, the online peer-to-peer resale marketplace for women's luxury and designer contemporary fashion, in February 2018.[20] In February 2018, Wilkis Wilson was recruited by Boston Consulting Group to join Allergan as the SVP, Consumer Strategy & Innovation. She led new efforts in revolutionizing digital marketing and DTC initiatives for Allergan's leading aesthetics portfolio including Botox, Juvederm and Coolsculpting.[21] She left Allergan in July 2020 after the company was acquired by AbbVie Inc. for $63B.[22]
Today Wilkis Wilson is co-founder and Managing Partner at Clerisy, the growth equity fund which she co-founded with Lisa Myers, formerly a partner at L. Catterton and a 20-year veteran of Templeton.[2] Clerisy's growing portfolio includes investments in Dormify, UNION and CleanCo.[23]
Wilkis Wilson has been a prolific advisor and investor to over 80 tech startups including but not limited to Birchbox,[24] Carbon38,[25] Flow Commerce,[26] Rent the Runway,[24] and Tula.[27] She has been an advisor to consumer tech Venture Capital funds including Forerunner Ventures and Montage Ventures.[28]