Leaning in…on sports

 After our Super Bowl guide came out, Skimm HQ felt particularly proud that it received so many compliments. Like finance, politics, international affairs, and the Kardashian/Humphries trial, covering sports takes time.

After said guide came out, we got lots of questions from some friends and acquaintances asking ‘great job, who wrote it?’ We let those slide but we really mastered the smile/glare look.

 But then March Madness happened. We’re not going to lie— explaining S-curves and brackets wasn’t easy and we never knew office gambling could be so complicated. But like with all of our writing, we ask for help when we need to and research what needs to be researched, so that we can Skimm for you.  We are proud to say we got many compliments on this  guide, as well. But as  Madness has continued, we have repeatedly gotten questions like ‘so which of  your boyfriends wrote this?’ or ‘who did you hire to do your sports  coverage?’

 Answer: Sheryl Sandberg would be so mad at you right now. We hired no one.  We write it. And full disclosure, we have lots of close friends at the major sports networks who are happy to answer our questions. And no, they don’t write for us, either.

Free, you say?

At a start-up, every dollar is important. No, really EVERY dollar. Want those fancy pens? Then find a cheaper printer. Want better office snacks? Go to Costco.  Banking fees? HA, we’ll be switching to another bank.

This line of thinking obviously applies to the bigger decisions—working with consultants, accountants, developers, designers etc

Over the last few months we have often times tried to go with the cheaper options because that’s what we could afford but turns out there’s a reason certain services charge a lot of money. They’re better at what they do. We’ve found that trying to cut corners has led in some circumstances to dealing with missed deadlines, lack of expertise, and other times being charged for the smallest of things. Those small things add up and sometimes you end up paying more than you would have at the more expensive option.

New Entrepreneur Lesson of the Day: You get what you pay for. Stop complaining. 

It’s a small world after all

Remember when your mom told you to be nice to everyone? She was right. The world is very very small. The startup world? Even smaller.

Example 1: Skimm A and Skimm B met while studying abroad in college. They said goodbye assuming they’d never see each other again. Thank goodness they were nice to one another or else sharing an apartment and a Skimm couch would be awkward.

Example 2: Skimm A once worked for someone  (no, not at NBC) that wasn’t always so nice. Skimm A may have cried about this a lot. Flash forward a few years and a Skimm launch later and theSkimms received an email from said company asking to work together. Skimm A’s answer? NO (and a little HAHA)

Example 3: Skimm B once had a close friend. Then they stopped being such close friends. The former friend’s boss asked to write a lovely story about theSkimm.  Awkward for former friend. Not awkward for Skimm B.

New Entrepreneur Lesson of the Day: BE NICE.

Fashion Week Skimm’d by Stacey Bendet

GUEST SKIMM: It’s Fashion Week time.

Skimm’d by Stacey Bendet, CEO + Creative Director, alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet

What is Fashion Week? It’s [over] 168 hours of continuous parties filled with people in really fancy shoes, really, really fancy clothes, and fun colored hair. As a designer, it’s when you show a selection of your collection for the next season via a runway show or presentation.

How much work goes into it? More than a few sleepless nights.

Why is Fashion Week important? It helps creates trends for the next season. You know, like Davos does for [business].

How long do you take to prepare? We pretty much start on the next collection the day after the show! I actually leave for Paris the day after our presentation to buy fabric for the next season.

What do you hope to gain? I just try to make beautiful clothes. (And shoes. And bags. And occasionally tutus for champagne bottles).

Get your Daily Skimm by signing up at theSkimm.com. Do it. Now. 

Reality Checks

theSkimms had a very exciting day (more on that later). After our activity wrapped up, we treated ourselves to a fancy lunch and split a glass of champagne. We then ran into one of our fav celebrities (more on that later) who had heard of theSkimm. Swoon. Rejoice. High. 

And then we paid the bill and our credit card was rejected. Low. 

NEW ENTREPRENEUR LESSON OF THE DAY: Celebrate milestones. Remember you’re still proving yourself. And you have no money — yet.

SKIMM RESOLUTIONS

 There are two things to know about theSkimms.

1.     We are very superstitious

2.     We find New Year’s very stressful.

Let’s start with #2 first (irony). New Year’s is stressful because for two superstitious people, what do you say first? “Happy New Year!” “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!” “Good luck Good luck Good luck” “Kiss me!” Skimm B has to text her family first in the interest of trying to ensure good health, happiness, etc. There’s a lot of pressure for the first word on the first day of a new month, let alone a new year. (Skimm A still hasn’t recovered from the turn of the millennium). 

Anyway, along the lines of superstitions, theSkimms take resolutions very seriously. We recently shared with one another our 2012 resolutions pre-Skimm days. Skimm A’s was to find the courage to be a risk taker and take her career to the next level. And to stop biting her nails.  Skimm B’s was to keep moving forward, be positive, and not to settle for anything second best. And to go to yoga more. 

2012 has been a crazy year for us. We became roommates. We quit our jobs. We turned a passion into something you all read every morning. We learned about servers and something called PHP. We learned how to make a business plan. We went on the Today Show. We surprised ourselves. What’s been most rewarding though is to look back, and for the first time, see most of our resolutions come true.

Here’s to 2013 and for all of our resolutions to come true (we’d tell you what our new ones were…but that would be bad luck)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

You know you’re a real company when…

You get corporate Christmas gifts! Look ma we made it!

Christmas time has made Skimm HQ reflect on the amazing year that’s been and how we got through it. Sure there was faith, hope, risks and all that fun stuff, but there was also food. We would like to thank the following local places surrounding Skimm HQ for keeping us going.

Cafe Minerva...for knowing our orders, reminding us when the kitchen closes, and having Wi-Fi.

Tremont…for making us want to work harder so we can afford their prix-fixe. And giving us your Wi-Fi password.

Baracca...for understanding sometimes we need sangria. And giving us your Wi-Fi password.

Hollywood Diner...for delivering us cinnamon sugar toast and a chocolate egg cream at 3am.

La Bonbonniere…for the chocolate chip pancakes. Serious stuff.

*Special shout out to Spring Sun Nail   for understanding that we bite our nails

New Entrepreneur Lesson of the day: Get familiar with your local spots. Make friends. Find Wi-Fi. Be thankful.

One of those days…

Every day is a busy day at Skimm HQ. In theory, we wake up on the right side of the bed, roaring to go. Today, was not one of those days.

One Skimm woke up and had to go to the doctor ASAP, where she then argued on the phone with the insurance company for 45 minutes before being seen. The other Skimm, after spending hours in front of the computer, went to take her back medicine before bed and was so tired, she took it twice.

The day did not get better. The following went on in a one hour period: Skimm A thought she was paralyzed after following doctor’s orders and googled possible illnesses, then had to lie down to block them out. Skimm B was so stressed she ate an apple pie and six cookies, then freaked out because she thought she had given herself diabetes. 

The highlight of the day was when both Skimms were on a conference call, didn’t realize the call had dropped out, and stared at each other for a solid 30 seconds before moving to fix this problem. 

These events did not leave us bright eyed and bushy tailed, or in a highly functioning state. On top of all that, real things happened to friends of Skimms throughout the day that required our attention, as well. 

We work round the clock and schedule ourselves much too thin. We don’t have time for things to suddenly happen to us and try to pivot in order to be there when things happen for others. Alas, you can’t plan for sickness, you can’t plan for other people’s lives, and you can’t plan a perfect work day - although we try to over and over again. 

You’ve got to roll with the punches, accept the late start, pop some vitamins, and keep on chugging.