Luxlock: Casey Golden

Casey offers valuable insights into the challenges and rewards of being a founder and provides tips for aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Casey is the founder and CEO of Luxlock, a company shaking up the luxury fashion industry with its innovative technology. She has over a decade of experience in the fashion industry and enterprise supply chain technology. Casey is passionate about digital enablement in the luxury sector and always looks for new ways to improve the customer experience.

How does Luxlock bridge the gap between physical and digital shopping experiences, and what benefits does this bring retailers and consumers?

Luxlock instantly recognizes shopper preferences so brands can create, manage, and plan individualized shopping and brand experiences on demand. Whether you're buying a blazer online, visiting a store in Milan, or simply grabbing a cup of coffee at Ralph's. Luxury brands own more than fashion brands, and if they knew you were sitting at dinner in their "restaurant," they'd happily send a bottle of bubbles to your table.

Luxury brands struggle to personalize a seamless shopper journey across thousands of locations, keeping them from shifting 60% of their wholesale business to direct sales. Last year, it cost them $115 billion in lost margins and millions of consumer data points. Luxlock accelerates this shift in the industry by unifying the shopper journey and improving overall profitability by creating a connective brand experience.

Unlike traditional B2B software, our Unified System leverages aggregated layers of consumer data so shoppers can unlock their data on demand to receive personalized shopping services and perks. In return, brands can plan, assort, and grow their direct-to-consumer business. They don't need your email address as much as they need to know what and how much of something to make next season.

Are you a morning person or a night person? Why?  

I am a night person. That's when the deep work gets done, or relationships are developed over dinner.

What was your inspiration for starting Luxlock?

(1 minute) In 2007, I had a 32% sales increase while my colleagues lost their homes. Amazon was shutting Borders down, and I saw the writing on the wall for luxury retail. I've been too early three times and side-hacking in e-com for 15 years.

My ah-ha moment was when I was working at Ralph, implementing one of the first virtual showrooms for wholesale. When it instantly matched 2500 images to the corresponding SKUs, I could move the images around to merchandise an assortment, and the data stayed connected in the backend. As a result, everyone can shop live with a stylist, and I can track commission. I AM TAKING THIS TO CONSUMERS!

I tried a DTC model, but we gave Facebook all our money (that was part of the overall problem for everyone). So I moved to enterprise supply chain technology to learn the systems and selling cycle and mapped data on my living room floor to find the intersection to build Luxlock. So when everyone says they want to be the Uber for X, I want to be the Cucinelli for Technology.

Who are some of your biggest influences?

(15 sec) Brunello Cucinelli for his humanistic approach to business and life in general. Joe Pine, the man behind the Experience Economy, a shared theory behind much of Luxlock, Gary V for keeping it real, and Alice Cooper, the constant collaborator and his rollercoaster resilience. Legends aren't always the biggest success story, but their journey is part of every great success in your field.

How does Luxlock balance the need for personalized customer experiences with data privacy and security concerns?

(2 minutes) Luxury brands require an obscene amount of personal information to provide the shopping experiences they're known for. Still, they must also be GDPR compliant because they are predominantly based in Europe.

However, 13 countries outside of Europe that haven't adopted all of GDPR have implemented Article: 20 of GDPR, which is "Consumer Portability Rights." So, excluding the USA, you already have a legal right to your transactional and behavioral data. So, store it where you choose and share it as you wish.

Luxlock is the first mechanism for you to extract tangible value from your data. We aggregate and layer consumer data so consumers can unlock their data on-demand so brands can meet your expectations and make better business decisions, products, and experiences.

No ads, just beautiful service, and thoughtful perks. It's not an all-or-nothing play, but we believe the future of commerce will be more about data permissions to unlock value across an ecosystem of companies that share you as the customer. Interoperable data in web2, web3, and whatever's next.

Nobody is getting rich by owning their data, but we believe it could be used to enrich our lives by having the brands pick up the bill for the things that bring us joy rather than spending it on ads. Do you want Yankees Tickets or a 10% off coupon? But I need to know if you're a Mets fan!

I am building your trust and believing that I want you to live your best life, know that you're beautiful just the way you are, and will continue my commitment to keep the talented people crafting beautiful products and services REMAIN employed.

Share three things you recommend every female founder do during a company's first year.

1. Blow out your financial model until you find a viable recipe, then find another one-- revenue is king.
   
2. I recommend participating in Venture Deals and reading "An Entrepreneur's Guide to Venture Capital" to understand how cap tables work.
   
3. Talk to potential, active, and past customers often. You'll need them to build, grow, and learn from. Don't build for yourself.

How many sick days have you taken in the past year?

I don't think I've ever taken a sick day in my career until the Covid vaccines. So, two!

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