Page 27 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

MOST DARING
ENTREPRENEURS

Delane Parnell
Founder and CEO/ PlayVS
Bold move/ Bringing video
games to school
n October, a new activity rolled out
I to high schools across five states:
It’s e-sports, organized into competi-
tions the same way that, say, basketball
or football is. And it’s all operated by
one company: PlayVS, which makes
software and infrastructure for e-sports
leagues to compete against each other.
“This is the first time in a hundred years
of history and tradition where one group
exclusively operates a sport for them,”
says Delane Parnell, the man making
student gamers’ dreams come true.
“We get to decide the rules in which
these competitions are played.” It’s all
possible because PlayVS scored a deal
with the National Federation of State
High School Associations. Now it even
gets to pick the games students will
play. First up: League of Legends.

Jen Rubio and Steph Korey
Cofounders / Away
Bold move/ Expanding their business from product to platform
hen U.S. airlines began cracking down on smart suitcases in December 2017, banning bags with Tom Lewand
built-in batteries from planes, some luggage brands went out of business. (RIP, Bluesmart and CEO/ Shinola P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F AWAY ( R U B I O & K O R E Y ) ; P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F S H I N O L A ( L E WA N D ) ; P H O T O G R A P H B Y P L AY V S ( PA R N E L L)
Raden.) But Away didn’t go away. Within weeks, it announced a program to swap customers’ original Bold move/ Making a very
battery modules (which had to be removed with a screwdriver) with easily removable ones for free, symbolic statement
allowing travelers to continue using their bags without hassle.
How were founders Jen Rubio and Steph Korey able to adjust so quickly? Perhaps because it he Detroit-based lifestyle brand
wasn’t the first setback they’d navigated. Back in 2016, when they learned that their first produc- T Shinola has been releasing a
tion run wouldn’t be ready for the holiday season, they created a high-end travel book and sold it series of America-themed watches
with a gift card for a free suitcase, to be redeemed in February. The move worked, and it inspired for years—but this past June, it
W a shift in how the founders think about their company. defined “American” in a way aimed
“We knew the perfect suitcase would solve a personal pain point for a lot of people,” says CEO Korey. at our political moment. The brand
“But it’s always been about more than just luggage.” In 2017, the company launched its first podcast set up cameras at a naturaliza-
(Airplane Mode) and a quarterly magazine (Here), and opened a buzzed-about pop-up hotel experience in tion service for 100 immigrants in
Paris, timed to fashion week. By creating online and off-line experiences, Away is becoming more than a Manhattan, presenting them with
suitcase company. It’s becoming a travel company. Statue of Liberty–themed time-
Part of what’s helped the startup succeed is a willingness to try things fast, then adjust. When custom- pieces. The resulting marketing
ers asked for a backpack, the team didn’t hole up in a studio until the design was perfect; they launched a wouldn’t align with some definitions
limited-time collaboration with Karlie Kloss. “We used learnings from that collection to iterate on the design of America, but CEO Tom Lewand
and functionality of the product before debuting it to our core collection,” says chief brand officer Rubio. felt the message’s power out-
And prior to launching permanent stores, Away tested a string of pop-up concepts, constantly tweaking weighed any risk: “So much crafts-
the format and collecting every bit of feedback possible. When the doors to each permanent space opened, manship, design, and innovation
the team knew they would work. (And they have: Each store is profitable and has lifted regional web sales, have come from people who started
too.) As for what’s next, the cofounders don’t know for sure. “The kind of brand we’re creating at Away their lives in other countries and
hasn’t existed before, so we’ve embraced the inevitable ambiguity that comes with that,” says Korey. then became Americans.”

44 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / November 2018