The Golf Industry Had a Banner Year During the Pandemic. Robin Golf Hopes to Add Diversity to the Sport.

Sarah Favot

Favot is an award-winning journalist and adjunct instructor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She previously was an investigative and data reporter at national education news site The 74 and local news site LA School Report. She's also worked at the Los Angeles Daily News. She was a Livingston Award finalist in 2011 and holds a Master's degree in journalism from Boston University and BA from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.

The Golf Industry Had a Banner Year During the Pandemic. Robin Golf Hopes to Add Diversity to the Sport.

Ali Marler and her brother-in-law Peter Marler found themselves in a pro golf shop, intimidated and out of place as they tested their swings, feeling as though they were being judged by staff and more experienced golfers in the store.

"For a golf novice, it is the scariest place you'll ever step foot into," Ali said.

For Peter, there were hundreds of clubs to choose from, while Ali was directed to a back corner that had only a few options of pink and purple clubs, one named "Azalea."


"I felt so put into this bucket of 'you're a girl, here's what you golf with and this is all you get'," she said.

It was the beginning of a business venture dedicated to creating a direct-to-consumer golf club company with an eye on increasing diversity in the mostly white male sport that drives the $84 billion industry.

Andrew Marler, Ali Marler, Peter MarlerRobin Golf co-founders Andrew Marler, Ali Marler and Peter Marler.Courtesy of Robin Golf

They teamed up with Ali's husband and Peter's brother, Andrew Marler, a more experienced golfer who played in college, and launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 that raised $32,000. Robin Golf went online in March.

Then a global pandemic effectively halted the economy. The Marlers worried about the viability of the company.

"What we didn't realize is come May — once golf courses were deemed socially distanced approved — the golf industry would have its record year in its 1,000 year history," Andrew said.

Golf playing was up almost 100%, golf equipment sales were up 30% and there has been a record number of new golfers entering the sport, even more than when Tiger Woods became a professional, he said.

Those new golfers needed clubs. They sold out their inventory in two months and saw a 900% increase in sales from April to May.

And they've raised $1 million through angel investors, including dot.LA co-founder Spencer Rascoff, recently turning down a term sheet from an institutional venture capitalist. The company said ultimately their "visions were misaligned," and that they're not focused on the hyper growth approach the VC was looking for.

Driven by how Ali and Peter felt at the golf shop that day, the L.A.-based ecommerce startup has marketed its clubs to beginners, women and a diverse and inclusive audience to make it easier to enter the golf world, typically dominated by affluent, white men.

The fastest selling club is the female set. Of Robin's customers, 45% are women or kids. Those groups make up just 5% of sales industrywide.

While the major golf equipment companies, such as Callaway or TaylorMade, are targeting the 7 million avid or skilled golfers in the U.S., Robin Golf is marketing to the 27 million casual or beginner golfers, Andrew said.

Robin Golf

For an example of just how intolerant golf can be, Peter pointed to pro golfer Justin Thomas' recent use of an anti-gay slur under his breath when he missed a putt at a tournament.

"Golf has a long way to go in terms of embracing diversity," Peter said.

He also recalled how he and Andrew were playing with a "major golf influencer," when Peter mentioned his husband in conversation.

The golfer said, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize gay people golfed," Peter said.

"It's very personal to us in terms of creating sort of new communities, new accessibilities for people who previously felt as though golf was not for them," he said.

Lane Demas, a history professor at Central Michigan University and the author of "Game of Privilege: An African American History of Golf," said, there are "many barriers to expanding golf participation."

Among them: Many neighborhoods don't have golf courses nearby, while urban golf courses often charge high green fees and there is a lack of golf programs in K-12 schools that serve predominantly non-white students, Demas said.

Often, the golf tradition is passed down by family members, making it harder for novices to enter the sport, he added.

And while Robin Golf clubs are not as well-known as some of the bigger brands, they are much cheaper. The clubs are sold as a set rather than individually. The men's and women's set cost $699 each. A junior set sells for $259.

Cognizant that people may be hesitant to buy clubs online, Robin has a generous return policy, giving customers 90 days to test out their clubs. They describe the business model as the Warby Parker or Casper mattresses for golf, a direct-to-consumer business with products sold online. They've found that many millennials prefer to buy things online and golf clubs are no different.

This year, Robin Golf wants to expand into selling golf balls and accessories as well as apparel, allowing first-time golfers to purchase everything they need before they step onto the links.

These days on the course, Peter feels less intimidated and Ali now enjoys the game on vacation — with three rules: Always have a drink in hand, it's okay to stop if you're frustrated and remember that no one else is looking at you.

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How the 'Thrift Haul' Trend Boosted Secondhand Ecommerce Platforms

Lon Harris
Lon Harris is a contributor to dot.LA. His work has also appeared on ScreenJunkies, RottenTomatoes and Inside Streaming.
How the 'Thrift Haul' Trend Boosted Secondhand Ecommerce Platforms
Evan Xie

If you can believe it, it’s been more than a decade since rapper Macklemore extolled the virtues of thrift shopping in a viral music video. But while scouring the ranks of vintage clothing stores looking for the ultimate come-up may have waned in popularity since 2012, the online version of this activity is apparently thriving.

According to a new trend story from CNBC, interest in “reselling” platforms like Etsy-owned Depop and Poshmark has exploded in the years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. In an article that spends a frankly surprising amount of time focused on sellers receiving death threats before concluding that they’re “not the norm,” the network cites the usual belt-tightening ecommerce suspects – housebound individuals doing more of their shopping online coupled with inflation woes and recession fears – as the causes behind the uptick.

As for data, there’s a survey from Depop themselves, finding that 53% of respondents in the UK are more inclined to shop secondhand as living costs continue to rise. Additional research from Advance Market Analytics confirms the trend, citing not just increased demand for cheap clothes but the pressing need for a sustainable alternative to recycling clothing materials at its core.

The major popularity of “thrift haul” videos across social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok has also boosted the visibility of vintage clothes shopping and hunting for buried treasures. Teenage TikToker Jacklyn Wells scores millions of views on her thrift haul videos, only to get routinely mass-accused of greed for ratching up the Depop resell prices for her coolest finds and discoveries. Nonetheless, viral clips like Wells’ have helped to embed secondhand shopping apps more generally within online fashion culture. Fashion and beauty magazine Hunger now features a regular list of the hottest items on the re-sale market, with a focus on how to use them to recreate hot runway looks.

As with a lot of consumer and technology trends, the sudden surge of interest in second-hand clothing retailers was only partly organic. According to The Drum, ecommerce apps Vinted, eBay, and Depop have collectively spent around $120 million on advertising throughout the last few years, promoting the recent vintage shopping boom and helping to normalize second-hand shopping. This includes conventional advertising, of course, but also deals with online influencers to post content like “thrift haul” videos, along with shoutouts for where to track down the best finds.

Reselling platforms have naturally responded to the increase in visibility with new features (as well as a predictable hike in transaction fees). Poshmark recently introduced livestreamed “Posh Shows” during which sellers can host auctions or provide deeper insight into their inventory. Depop, meanwhile, has introduced a “Make Offer” option to fully integrate the bartering and negotiation process into the app, rather than forcing buyers and sellers to text or Direct Message one another elsewhere. (The platform formerly had a comments section on product pages, but shut this option down after finding that it led to arguments, and wasn’t particularly helpful in making purchase decisions.)

Now that it’s clear there’s money to be made in online thrift stores, larger and more established brands and retailers are also pushing their way into the space. H&M and Target have both partnered with online thrift store ThredUp on featured collections of previously-worn clothing. A new “curated” resale collection from Tommy Hilfiger – featuring minorly damaged items that were returned to its retail stores – was developed and promoted through a partnership with Depop, which has also teamed with Kellogg’s on a line of Pop-Tarts-inspired wear. J.Crew is even bringing back its classic ‘80s Rollneck Sweater in a nod to the renewed interest in all things vintage.

Still, with any surge of popularity and visibility, there must also come an accompanying backlash. In a sharp editorial this week for Arizona University’s Daily Wildcat, thrift shopping enthusiast Luke Lawson makes the case that sites like Depop are “gentrifying fashion,” stripping communities of local thrift stores that provide a valuable public service, particularly for members of low-income communities. As well, UK tabloids are routinely filled with secondhand shopping horror stories these days, another evidence point as to their increased visibility among British consumers specifically, not to mention the general dangers of buying personal items from strangers you met over the internet.

How to Startup: Mission Acquisition

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

How to Startup: Mission Acquisition

Numbers don’t lie, but often they don’t tell the whole story. If you look at the facts and figures alone, launching a startup seems like a daunting enterprise. It seems like a miracle anyone makes it out the other side.

  • 90% of startups around the world fail.
  • On average, it takes startups 2-3 years to turn a profit. (Venture funded startups take far longer.)
  • Post-seed round, fewer than 10% of startups go on to successfully raise a Series A investment.
  • Less than 1% of startups go public.
  • A startup only has a .00006% chance of becoming a unicorn.

Ouch.

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From The Vault: VC Legend Bill Gurley On Startups, Venture Capital and Scaling

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

Bill Gurley in a blue suit
Bill Gurley

This interview was originally published on December of 2020, and was recorded at the inaugural dot.LA Summit held October 27th & 28th.

One of my longtime favorite episodes of Office Hours was a few years ago when famed venture capitalist Bill Gurley and I talked about marketplace-based companies, how work-from-home will continue to accelerate business opportunities and his thoughts on big tech and antitrust.

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