Welcome back to Fashion and Founders the Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith and this week I am joined by Claire Stepanek, the founder and CEO of Ergo.

Have you ever wondered how brands decide on the price of an item. Or why it seems like brands always have a 10% off sale? Maybe you would buy something if it was $25 instead of $28?

Claire is building Ergo, a shopify tool that allows potential customers to make an offer of their best price when shopping. Providing brands with real time pricing analytics and empowering customers to have a voice in the shopping transaction.

If youre used to sending an offer on second hand platforms like ebay or depop Ergo is bringing a version of this to everyday online shopping by allowing customers to tell brands their desired price.

Claire went to MIT and worked at Goldman Sachs, Apple, and Doordash before starting Ergo in 2023. She has so much knowledge to share on fashion tech, fundraising, and more.

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Follow Ergo:
IG: @ergo.offers
LinkedIn: Ergo
Website
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Follow Larson:
IG: @larsonthebrand
IG: @camrynlarsonn
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Thank you for listening!

Welcome back to Fashion and Founders The Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I’m joined with Jade Beguelin the co-founder of 4AM SKIN. You may have seen Jade from one of her TikToks about what hot girls in New York City are gatekeeping or wearing her viral under eye masks for her brand 4AM SKIN. She is how I found out about Pickle and the big silly trivia game, and she shares her best tips for growing on TikTok and some rumblings of what the hot girls are currently doing.

4am is not your regular skincare brand. Their launch party was at a club, they’ve partnered with 818, and their inspiration comes from the downtown girls that are up all night but still look great in the morning. Focusing on minimalism, they’ve created skincare that’s easy enough to do at 4AM and actually works. You can find them on REVOLVE and urban outfitters and they just became part of Sephora’s 2025 accelerate class. Jade and her cofounder Sabrina were also named Forbes 30 under 30 class of 2025.

Jade and her co-founder met at Georgetown and as a fellow alum it was very fun to connect with someone else in the beauty fashion space. She shares some really great knowledge on starting a business in your 20s and more so let’s get into it.

Follow Fashion & Founders:
Podcast IG: @fashionandfounders
Podcast Website: fashionandfounders.com
Victoria TikTok: @vfsmith11
Podcast LinkedIn: Fashion and Founders
Victoria Pickle Closet: @victorias
Podcast Substack: Fashion and Founders

Follow Jade:
IG: @jadebeguelin
TikTok: @jadebeguelin
LinkedIn: Jade Beguelin

Follow 4AM:
IG: @4amskin
Website: https://4amskin.com/
LinkedIn: 4AM SKIN

Follow Philippa Made:
IG: philippa__made
Website

Thank you for listening!

Fashion Tech Talk: short, bite-sized information answering your most asked questions about fashion tech! This series is with Naama and Manya the founders of Threads of Tech a community for fashion creatives and technologists.

Topics this week

• How to pitch your skill set to fashion companies or fashion tech startups?
• What can current students do to get involved in fashion-tech?
• Current job openings and summer internships for students?

They also share they have an upcoming Fashion Tech event for NYFW in February so follow them to stay updated!

Follow Fashion & Founders:
Podcast IG: @fashionandfounders
Podcast Website: fashionandfounders.com
Victoria TikTok: @vfsmith11
Podcast LinkedIn: Fashion and Founders
Victoria Pickle Closet: @victorias
Podcast Substack: Fashion and Founders

Follow Threads of Tech:
Instagram: @threadsoftech
Job Board
LinkedIn: Threads of Tech
Substack: Threads of Tech

Follow Naama:
Instagram: @mieuxnaama
LinkedIn: Naama Paulemont

Follow Manya:
Instagram: @manyaownbusiness
LinkedIn: Manya Jain

Thanks for listening!