Deena Varshavskaya Explained

Deena Varshavskaya
Birth Place:Siberia
Occupation:CEO of Wanelo
Alma Mater:Cornell University (did not graduate)

Deena Varshavskaya is the founder and CEO of Wanelo (“wah-nee-loh,” from Want, Need, Love) a digital mall where users can discover and buy products from anywhere online.[1] She lives in San Francisco, California.[2] [3]

Early life

Varshavskaya was born and raised in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia, by a stay-at-home mother and a political journalist father. Her parents divorced when she was 16; she, along with her father's family, moved to the United States.[4] [5] [6] She studied psychology, computer science and film studies[7] at Cornell University, but dropped out two courses short of graduating.[8] [9]

Career

After dropping out of Cornell, Varshavskaya moved to New York City[10] and launched her first web startup, ReelACT, a talent video directory for actors.[8] [9] She then moved to Los Angeles and worked for a social network doing product management and user experience design for two years.[8] [9]

After this, Varshavskaya was founder and CEO of experience design agency, Dynamik Interactive, where she worked with large-scale consumer web properties designing digital and social experiences.[11] [12] [13]

Varshavskaya came up with the concept for Wanelo in 2006 after realizing the need for a different online shopping environment that empowers the individual.[14] [15] [16] Varshavskaya wanted to know what her friends were shopping for, but there was not yet an existing platform that made online social shopping easy.[17] In April 2011, Varshavskaya moved to San Francisco to raise funding. After 40 investor rejections, she closed her first round of funding and launched the company in 2012.[18] [19] As of August 2013, Wanelo has 11 million registered users.[20] [21] The company has raised $14 million in funding.[22] [23] [24]

In early 2021, Varshavskaya became an early user of the start-up social media app, Clubhouse. She quickly established herself as an influencer and key contributor in the vibrant cryptocurrency community that has formed on the platform. Considered a Bitcoin maximalist, she prescribes to the idea that "the conditions that led to the launch and bootstrapping of the Bitcoin economy can't or won't repeat" and that "while some may tolerate the wider market for cryptocurrencies, this is only so long as it validates Bitcoin's dominance."[25]

Recognition

Vanity Fair’s November 2013 issue named Varshavskaya one of their fifteen "up-and-comers to keep an eye on".[26] [27] She was featured as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2013 and 2014 by Goldman Sachs.[28] TechCrunch gave Varshavskaya the Best Ecommerce Application award for the Wanelo Shopping app at the Crunchies Awards 2013.[29] In 2014 she was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business,[30] included in Details Magazine’s list of Digital Mavericks,[31] named an “Influencer” on the National Retail Federation's “List of People Shaping Retail’s Future,"[32] and recognized by Glamour Magazine as one of "35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry".[33] In 2015, she was named to AskMen's list of the “Top 99 Most Outstanding Women”[34] and included on the San Francisco Business Journal's “40 under 40” list.[35]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 3 brands that are driving the future of social-mobile shopping. 24 May 2014. The Next Web. August 2, 2014.
  2. Web site: Wanelo: The Online Shopping Site Built by a Woman for Women. Julie Ma. New York Magazine The Cut. June 25, 2013. October 26, 2013.
  3. Web site: Wanelo, Social Commerce Site, Picks Up Speed. Jenna Wortham. New York Times Bits. March 27, 2013. October 26, 2013.
  4. Web site: Meet Deena Varshavskaya, CEO of Social Shopping Sensation Wanelo. All Things D. Liz Gannes. April 30, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  5. Web site: Inside Wanelo, The Hot Social Shopping Service. Forbes. Tomio Geron. March 27, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  6. Web site: Deena Varshavskaya - Founder & CEO . Venture Fizz . October 28, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131021192752/http://venturefizz.com/deena-varshavskaya-founder-ceo . October 21, 2013 .
  7. Web site: From Siberia to Silicon Valley. 18 July 2011 . Women 2.0. October 28, 2013.
  8. Web site: Deena Varshavskaya . Shop.org Annual Summit 2013 . October 28, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131021190848/http://summit13.shop.org/speaker/deena-varshavskaya . October 21, 2013 .
  9. Web site: Software Is Eating The Mall. Tech Crunch. Tsotsis. Alexia. Alexia Tsotsis. April 16, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  10. News: Like Mall Browsing, With a Click. The New York Times. 7 May 2014 . August 2, 2014. Marikar . Sheila .
  11. Web site: How Deena Varshavskaya Rocks The Tech World. Girls in Tech Los Angeles. October 28, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131104200902/http://www.girlsintechla.org/v1/how-deena-varshavskaya-rocks-the-tech-world/. November 4, 2013. dead.
  12. Web site: Interview with Deena Varshavskaya, Wanelo. Socaltech. October 28, 2013.
  13. Web site: Deena Varshavskaya . First Round . October 28, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131104175712/http://firstround.com/team/Deena_Varshavskaya . November 4, 2013 .
  14. Web site: Which Start-Up Could Be the Next Big Thing?. The New York Times. Jenna Wortham. August 30, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  15. Web site: Giving Ecommerce a Social Twist. Entrepreneur. John Patrick Pullen. August 11, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  16. Web site: How Polyvore Became a Trend-Setter in Social Shopping. Entrepreneur. Jennifer Wang. May 23, 2011. October 28, 2013.
  17. Web site: Wanelo: Social Commerce Site Is Big With Young Shoppers. The New York Times Bits. Jenna Wortham. January 24, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  18. Web site: With Enough Customers, You Don't Need a Product. https://web.archive.org/web/20140425110119/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-24/wanelo-deena-varshavskayas-site-takes-over-social-shopping. dead. April 25, 2014. Bloomberg Businessweek. August 2, 2014.
  19. Web site: The Power Women Who Are Reinventing The Way You Shop Fashion Online. Forbes. August 2, 2014.
  20. Web site: Hanging Out at the E-Mall. The New York Times. Jenna Wortham. August 17, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  21. Web site: Wanelo: Pinterest's Younger, More Attractive Sister. Social Media Today. Janessa Mangone. September 18, 2013. October 28, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131021191316/http://socialmediatoday.com/janessa-mangone/1721841/wanelo-pinterest-s-younger-more-attractive-sister. October 21, 2013. dead.
  22. Web site: Wanelo 3.0 makes e-commerce less 'primitive' by organizing products around people. Venture Beat. Rebecca Grant. May 7, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  23. Web site: Wanelo, Next Verb in Digital Dictionary?. Fox Business. Natalia Angulo. July 26, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  24. Web site: Internet Mall Wanelo Gets Personal With Wanelo 3.0. Tech Crunch. Alexia Tsotsis. May 7, 2013. October 28, 2013.
  25. Web site: Rizzo. Pete. Against Cryptocurrency: The Ethical Argument for Bitcoin Maximalism. 2021-11-20. Forbes. en.
  26. Web site: Deena Varshavskaya talks retail, mobile, and empowerment. Forbes. August 2, 2014.
  27. Web site: The Next Establishment . Vanity Fair . Max Chafkin . November 2013 . October 26, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131026144658/http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2013/11/next-establishment-fifteen-up-and-comers_slideshow_deena-varshavskaya-_14 . October 26, 2013 .
  28. Web site: Wanelo's Deena Varshavskaya talks retail, mobile, and empowerment - Fortune Tech . 2013-12-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131124104253/http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/11/13/deena-varshavskaya-wanelo/ . 2013-11-24 . dead .
  29. Web site: Wanelo Voted Best E-Commerce App, Crunchies Awards 2013. TechCrunch. August 2, 2014.
  30. Web site: Most Creative People 2014 49: Deena Varshavskaya. Fast Company. August 2, 2014.
  31. Web site: Digital Mavericks 2014: Meet the tech innovators revolutionizing our cultures—and our lives. Details Magazine. August 2, 2014.
  32. Web site: The List 2015: The Influencers. National Retail Federation. April 21, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150427131929/https://nrf.com/news/the-list-2015-the-influencers. April 27, 2015. dead.
  33. Web site: 35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry. October 2014 . Glamour Magazine. April 21, 2015.
  34. Web site: Top 99 Most Outstanding Women 2015. AskMen. April 21, 2015.
  35. Web site: 40 Under 40 Class of 2015: Retail honorees. San Francisco Business Journal. April 21, 2015.

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