10 Questions with Shan-Lyn Ma, Founder & CEO at Zola

In our new blog series, FirstMark gets personal with outstanding entrepreneurs and CEOs, with quick interviews on their stories, likes, dislikes and ambitions.

Since creating Zola in her Brooklyn living room in 2013, Shan-Lyn Ma’s built her startup into the fastest growing wedding registry in the U.S. With a valuation of more than $220 million and over 500,000 users, Zola’s on track to become a New York unicorn. Shan’s proven to be a natural founder, adept at both selling big ideas to investors and shrewdly managing low operating costs during rapid growth.

Tell us the origin story of you becoming a founder.

Like most successful startups, Zola was born out of personal need. In 2013 I was working at a great company with a great job, but all I could really think about was starting something of my own. It also happened to be the year when all of my friends were getting married at the same time, and I had to buy them all wedding gifts. I’m sure many folks can relate to that year in their lives when it feels like nearly every weekend is spent going to a wedding. I was appalled at how tedious and impersonal the wedding gift shopping experience was. I mentioned this to my friend and former colleague Nobu Nakaguchi, who I had worked alongside for years at Gilt Groupe. We realized that wedding registry was not only a big problem, but also a big business opportunity. Given our combined backgrounds leading product and design for Gilt Groupe, we knew we were the right people to create the best solution. We both left our jobs and that same year we launched Zola.

What was your lowest/hardest time as a founder and how did you get through it?

It’s really easy to get swept up in the work it takes to found your own company, but about two years ago I realized that managing every department was not sustainable forever. I made one of the best decisions I’ve ever made to hire Zola’s President, Rachel Jarrett. Rachel has an incredible e-commerce background, so now, we split responsibilities. I’m now a better teammate and leader because I get to focus more on the areas of expertise that I really love, like marketing and product development, and have more time to focus on overall vision for the company.

What advice would you give your younger self, the self who first started the business?

I would remind myself that it’s completely normal to feel like an imposter CEO, but also that I am the right person for the job. Self-doubt is going to creep in occasionally. Most founders are new to the game they’ve signed up for, and we’re all figuring it out as we go. Be confident in yourself.

What is one quality you look for in team members?

I always look for a growth mindset from any team member at Zola. Any time that we hire someone, we of course look for top talent, but we also value kind people who are humble and realize that they and others can always grow to be stronger. To encourage and support a growth mindset we try to practice real time feedback and look both internally and externally for ways we can be always improving.

What’s the most important part of your daily routine?

Nobu and I take a 10 minute coffee break together every day. It’s important to step away from the screen, take a deep breath of fresh air, and have time to chat about things we need to chat about.

What are your pet peeves?

I’m sure every person on my team will tell you that the most common phrase that comes out of my mouth is, “How can we make this bigger?” If someone tells me something can’t be done — I remind them that there’s always a solution. There’s always a way. Ideas can always be more impactful than your initial thought.

Favorite work tool.

Nothing will replace a pen and notebook. I take them with me to every meeting and am always jotting notes, reminders, and ideas down that I can tackle later.

Favorite personal tool.

I recently started using this tool called Noken to help plan an upcoming trip to Iceland. The app makes it really easy to plan an entirely personalized travel itinerary, all in the one place, without the headaches normally associated with extensive travel research, booking across multiple sites, etc.

Where do you find inspiration?

When I was a growing up in Australia, I was in awe of everything happening with the internet in America. I dreamt of going to Silicon Valley and working alongside the likes of Jerry Yang, whose story struck a chord with me because he was an immigrant who worked incredibly hard for his own success. I still really look up to him and hope to one day have as big an impact as he has had.

What do you hope to do in 2018 that you have never done before?

On a personal level, in 2018 my younger brother is going to get married! I am so excited to help him and his fiancé navigate through this special time…it’s my job, after all.

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