The Golf Industry Had a Banner Year During the Pandemic. Robin Golf Hopes to Add Diversity to the Sport.
Feb 19 2021
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."
<p>"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. </p><p>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.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MzI1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzcyOTc3MX0.nScFMEni3YEbnBhF6Qp-eLMYZgLQR5UA8lA7K_XSkLE/image.jpg?width=980" id="29dd0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0ab0e3abb69f0b5b7df131459a46ab2d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Andrew Marler, Ali Marler, Peter Marler" data-width="1280" data-height="960" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Robin Golf co-founders Andrew Marler, Ali Marler and Peter Marler.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Robin Golf</small></p><p>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. <a href="https://robingolf.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robin Golf </a>went online in March.</p><p>Then a global pandemic effectively halted the economy. The Marlers worried about the viability of the company.</p><p>"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.</p><p><span></span>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.<br/></p><p>Those new golfers needed clubs. They sold out their inventory in two months and saw a 900% increase in sales from April to May.</p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MzI1My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTk5Mzg4M30.z50T_r3q23ogWM-h35xwkAqxc-ahuOmGkNYDwkylwO8/image.jpg?width=980" id="8c1f7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c59de9a625e120dc77070187d0fcf91" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Robin Golf" data-width="1500" data-height="844" />
</p><p>For an example of just how intolerant golf can be, Peter pointed to pro golfer<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-golf-hawaii-justin-thomas-1c8a5669c2acb9d0cc6bf7d84bffed5b" target="_blank"> Justin Thomas' recent use of an anti-gay slur</a> under his breath when he missed a putt at a tournament.<br/></p><p>"Golf has a long way to go in terms of embracing diversity," Peter said. </p><p>He also recalled how he and Andrew were playing with a "major golf influencer," when Peter mentioned his husband in conversation. </p><p>The golfer said, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize gay people golfed," Peter said. </p><p>"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. </p><p>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."</p><p>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. </p><p>Often, the golf tradition is passed down by family members, making it harder for novices to enter the sport, he added.</p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p>
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Jessica Alba's The Honest Company is quietly preparing to file an initial public offering, Bloomberg reported. The personal and baby care products brand could seek a valuation of $2 billion, anonymous sources shared with Bloomberg.
The company could reportedly go public as soon as Friday. The Honest Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
<p>Alba, known for her roles in "Fantastic Four" and "Dark Angel," co-founded Honest in 2012 with former chief executive Brian Lee, chief operating officer Sean Kane and former chief product officer Christopher Gavigan. In its first year, the company reached $12 million in revenue.</p><p>The Los Angeles-based company <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-05/alba-startup-said-to-work-with-goldman-morgan-stanley-on-ipo" target="_blank">was rumored to be preparing an IPO in 2016</a>, and <a href="https://dot.la/brian-lee-los-angeles-venture-capital-2645125301.html" target="_self">Lee</a>, co-founder of the company, reportedly has been thinking about it since 2014. However, Honest hit some speed bumps that year when <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/laundry-detergent-from-jessica-albas-honest-co-contains-ingredient-it-pledged-to-avoid-1457647350" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal reported</a> the company was using an ingredient in their detergent they had "pledged to avoid." The following year, the company recalled its baby wipes and faced a class action lawsuit about its products' chemical makeup.<br/></p><p>The Honest Co. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/05/honest-company-may-be-raising-a-down-round/" target="_blank">was reportedly raising a down round in 2017</a>, at a valuation much lower than $1 billion. Lee also stepped down as CEO, and former Clorox chief operating officer Nick Vlahos took his place as Honest turned to focus on the core products that brought their early success. </p><p>"As we continue pursuing our mission to inspire everyone to love living consciously, we regularly explore all various financial strategies and options," a representative for Honest <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/alba-s-honest-co-said-to-file-confidentially-for-ipo-friday?srnd=deals" target="_blank">said in a statement to Bloomberg</a>. Bloomberg also reported that L Catterton, an investor in Honest, declined to comment.</p><p>According to PitchBook, the company has raised over $500 million in funding. Its investors also include IVP, Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst.</p>
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It turned out 2020 was the perfect breakout year for Outer, the Santa Monica-based direct-to-consumer outdoor furniture brand that first came to prominence after impressing Shark Tank judges in late 2019.
Consumers – forced to spend practically all their time at home last year – were eager to upgrade their patios, backyards and decks. And they did not want to venture into stores and talk to pushy salespeople when they could just as easily order online.
<p>The company saw a 1000% increase in sales last year from 2019, when it was founded by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/terryklin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Terry Lin</a>, a product designer who made his name at Casper, IDEO and Pottery Barn, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiakeliu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jiake Liu</a>, an angel investor who was born and raised in China. </p><p>Outer announced Tuesday it has raised $10.5 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital China that will be used to further expand its product line and open a thousand of what it calls "neighborhood showrooms" by the end of the year. Those are where satisfied customers open up their backyards to evangelize Outer furniture – putting a modern sharing economy twist on the multilevel marketing companies like Mary Kay that have been around since the 1960s. But there's a key difference: To avoid high pressure sales tactics, hosts are only compensated for their time, $50 a visit.</p><p>The Series A comes <a data-linked-post="2646187491" href="https://dot.la/outer-furniture-raise-2646187491.html" target="_blank">after a $4.3 million seed funding round</a> in September led by Mucker Capital, which also participated in a 2018 $1.5 million seed round.</p><p>Lin and Liu responded to dot.LA's questions via email about why they think the brand has caught on, and how they plan to use the new capital to jumpstart growth even as stay-at-home orders lift. </p><p><strong>What do you attribute the 1000% increase in sales to?</strong></p><p>Since launching our inaugural product, the Outer Sofa, in May of 2019, we have been consistently getting raving reviews from our early customers. We were featured on Shark Tank at the end of 2019, which drummed up even more interest for our brand for 2020. </p><p>Our Neighborhood Showroom program has been integral to our growth. Hosts have been incredible brand partners and refer new customers to us every day. Knowing that we hit product-market fit and having found a few sustainable customer acquisition channels, we doubled down on growth in January 2020. Our growth curve became even more steep come April, when people started sheltering in place and finding sanctuary in their own outdoor spaces.</p><p><strong>What has been the most popular product?</strong></p><p>Our Pacific Gray five-Piece Outdoor Sofa has been hands down the most popular product due to its modularity, mattress-level comfort, camping-gear level ruggedness and our patented OuterShell integrated cushion cover. </p><p><strong>How has the pandemic changed what people buy from you? </strong></p><p>Our modular outdoor sofa collection has been the only product we offered until we released our 1188 eco outdoor rugs (1188 recycled plastic bottles went into each rug), which sold out in record time. As weather cooled in the last few months, we released our tailor-designed, all-weather cover collection that also sold out in less than two weeks.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQzNTY5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTI2MDg0MH0.WhXIgjUuY0byqRhJKJEhszqh2MvZkk8pRgCAAL-cGo4/image.jpg?width=980" id="e8b2c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="415cab7206fd6fb385c975168a299c6c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="800" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Outer's popular five-piece outdoor sofa set retails for $5,850</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Outer</small></p><p><strong>Do you worry that you won't be able to sustain this level of growth once the virus subsides and people are not spending as much time at home?</strong><br/></p><p>We actually foresee an even stronger year in 2021 for outdoor living. There has been a historic number of homes bought and sold in 2020 in the "Great Reshuffling." According to recent real estate market research, sales of million-dollar homes doubled, and all of those homes are waiting to be furnished with beautiful and functional outdoor furniture. Businesses, offices, and homes will continue to value open/outdoor spaces as people ease back into socializing safely. We are also exploring B2B opportunities as the travel industry bounces back, and hotels, restaurants, and other travel destinations are seeking durable outdoor furniture in droves. </p><p>This past year has been like nothing we've seen before and will shape our generation and future generations to come. While we don't have a crystal ball to tell us how we are going to maintain our growth, we believe that the world will not go back to the way it was.</p><p>For example, retail continues to transform to meet the needs of expectations of today's consumer. Companies are rethinking what the future of the workplace will be. Employees may never go back to the typical five 5 days in the office every week. The uncertainty has shown us how important it is to create a sanctuary at home - the one place that gives your family a sense of security.</p><p><strong>Can you provide more context for what you plan to use the new capital for? What new products can we expect?</strong><br/></p><p>The new capital will be used for product development, team expansion and community building. What made us successful in the first place was the fact that our team spent well over a year designing and developing the first product down to the nuts, bolts and yarns of the fabrics. As we evolve from a single-product company to an outdoor lifestyle company with many more highly sought-out products like tables, loungers and chairs, we will continue to invest heavily into material research and product development in order to differentiate our offerings even more from everything else in the market. We will also tackle tangential products beyond furniture in order to make outdoor living even more comfortable, hassle-free and sustainable for all. We grew our team from ten in the beginning of 2020 to 30 by the end of the year, and the new funding will allow us to double or even triple our team again this year. We are hiring across the board. </p><p><strong>How did Sequoia Capital China come to be the lead funder? (As opposed to a domestic firm?)</strong></p><p>We were fortunate that we had an oversubscribed round with multiple competing term sheets. There are many reasons why we went with SCC, who has been behind the fastest growing consumer startups in the world. One specific reason is because our partner at SCC has deep domain expertise in furniture, global supply chain and international consumer markets. They are uniquely qualified to help us in product R&D and supply chain in the immediate term, paving the way for us to build a global outdoor living brand.</p><p><em>The Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.</em></p>
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