MVF recently kicked off its MVF Events series following a brief Summer hiatus with entrepreneur Oliver Bridge.
Founder of razorblade subscription startup Cornerstone, Oliver took us behind the success of his brand’s vision for its customers “never to go to Boots again”.
A serial entrepreneur, Oliver started his first business when he was just 15 years old; a website selling shoes for people with big feet like him. From there, he put himself through school then worked as a consultant for some of the world’s leading FMCG and retail brands, and in roles at a venture capital fund.
One cold rainy day while Oliver was stood in Boots on his lunch break, queuing up to buy some razors, he said a thought occurred to him – there must be a better way to do this.
From late night drives to Frankfurt factories to door-knocking to find his first customers, it was incredible to hear the story of a successful startup firsthand. Looking at Cornerstone’s growth curve is like viewing a fairytale business story, but as in all fables there were certainly challenges, obstacles and lessons to be learned along the way.
And while it’s not quite happily ever after just yet, Oliver recently secured funding for the expansion of his razorblade subscription service into other men toiletry products – soon to save many guys from the dreary line at Boots once and for all.
Jess Castillan commented: “Hearing Oliver’s journey about how he managed to take Cornerstone a business run from his sofa to a leading subscription shaving business was very inspiring. It’s not every day that you get a detailed insight into the steps you have to take to build a successful business from the ground up straight from the company’s founder, so being able to ask him questions directly was really valuable.”
