Rotation Week 1: Quick Website, First Feedback

I’ve worn button-down dress shirts to work for the last decade. It’s a pain: the shirts I like are usually dirty, so I wear ones I don’t like anymore, or wear the dirty ones anyway. Usually I don’t buy new shirts because I’ve already wasted enough money on old ones. The buttons fall off, the elbows blow out, they’re too long, they’re too short, too tight, or too big. Even with custom shirts, my tastes and my body fluctuate. And I don’t want to experiment with new brands or styles because I don’t want my closet to get even more dysfunctional than it is.

After a decade, I should have ten clean and crisp shirts that I love wearing (and the odd-lot, lackluster ones donated to Goodwill), but that state of optimal efficiency remains elusive. A lot of my friends share this frustration, and that’s why I want to start Rotation.

Rotation will offer members full access to its wardrobe of fresh and simple dress shirts from top modern brands. Our wardrobe becomes yours. You can keep the shirts however long you want, and rotate them anytime. If you find a shirt you love, try others from the same brand. If you get one that doesn’t fit, switch it out immediately. Shirts will usually be pre-worn, but we’ll make sure they always look like new.

I’m writing about Rotation from the beginning to help record all of the decisions and trials we go through. Last week, I set up a super simple website (rotation.me) using Strikingly and started getting feedback from friends. I’ve already decided to ditch a proposal to let members always get the same exact shirts back because it was too similar to owning your own shirts (and added complexity too early).

For Rotation to come to life, I’m going to make sure it’s not just for me and a few friends. I’ve started a waiting list on the website. Once we have 2,000 potential members on the website, I’ll go ahead and assume that on average they’ll sign up for the 5-shirt plan at $42/month, and that’s a $1 million annualized run rate. I figure $1 million would make Rotation the real deal.

Every week, I’ll post an update along with how many people are on the waiting list until I get to 2,000.

Wish me luck,

Sid

Waiting list count: 1 (me)