Just Go Grind Podcast: How Michael Barlow's Fernish Aims to Redefine the Furniture Rental Industry

Justin Gordon
Justin Gordon is the founder of "Just Go Grind" and host of the "Just Go Grind Podcast," a daily show with more than 200 episodes featuring interviews with entrepreneurs and investors. He has an MBA from USC, is an aspiring runner with a 1:29 half marathon personal best, and wants to help one billion people in his lifetime.
Just Go Grind Podcast: How Michael Barlow's Fernish Aims to Redefine the Furniture Rental Industry
Fernish

On this week's episode of the Just Go Grind podcast, hear from Michael Barlow, co-founder and CEO of Fernish. Fernish is a premium furniture rental service offering flexibility for those who don't want to be weighed down by owning.

Key takeaways:

  • Founded in 2017, Fernish was inspired by a pain point Barlow experienced: the drag of renting space to store furniture and decor during his multiple and frequent moves.
  • Fernish raised $30 million in a seed round led by Real Estate Technology (RET) Ventures in 2019. (In May, this year, the company raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Khosla Ventures.)
  • A co-founder proved critical for Barlow for many reasons, but especially for emotional support and for raising capital because potential investors see complimentary strengths in the founders.
  • Participating in the program at TechStars proved extremely useful for Fernish founders to learn a lot about how to scale a business and zero in on the company's focus.
  • Barlow prioritizes people operations and the personnel management side to strengthen company culture, so people are inspired to work and stay with the company.
  • Barlow says Fernish is proud to be based in L.A. and hire from the growing pool of Angeleno talent.

Why isn't moving more exciting? Why is there so much stress and hassles associated with such an...important...part of your life?...Why doesn't your home change and evolve to fit your changing needs?

— Michael Barlow, co-founder and CEO of Fernish

Want to hear more episodes of Just Go Grind? Find it on any of your favorite podcast platforms including Apple PodcastsStitcherSpotifyGoogle Podcasts.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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