The Lynchpin

Yes. Innovative pantyhose can make you a billionaire

She failed her law exams twice, sold photocopiers and fax machines, and then one day sank $5000 of her savings to go and solve a simple problem. What was the problem? Create women’s underwear which wouldn’t show through cream trousers. Go figure. If that was the brief given to you as a product manager of a lingerie chain, what would you have done? 

Blakely did a lot. She researched the entire undergarments industry and created a product which solved the exact problem. And today she is the billionaire owner of Spanx.  No venture capital. No bank loans. No debt.

The fact of the matter is, you don’t really have to create a revolutionary nobel prize winning  product. The world has many problems. As an entrepreneur how well can you solve just one of them? You don’t always need a grand plan or a grander exit strategy if your product is good.

As Blakely says when asked about her exit strategy - “To exit a room looking good in cream pants.”