Fit for Everybody

MIT, Sloan School of Management

Industry: Fashion Tech

Founding Student Name(s): Laura Zwanziger

Brief Description of Solution: Fit for Everybody helps womenswear designers improve apparel fit and sizing by crowdsourcing women’s body measurements and providing sizing analysis back to designers through our design platform. Simultaneously, we provide shoppers with tools to take their measurements and learn to shop better from current offerings.

What led you to launch this venture? During the first semester of my MBA, I began having conversations with my network and then contacts of contacts. We not only discussed the issues facing the apparel industry and the future of fashion at a high level, but also on the day-to-day challenges faced by designers and factories that impact the bigger picture. Our solution grew out of needs surfaced through these conversations.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far with venture? We have acquired 3 customers, including a pilot with a major NYC brand.

How has your MBA program helped you further this startup venture? MIT Sloan’s MBA program is largely team project based for most classes. I worked on Fit for Everybody in almost every class for the past year, which meant I had a wide network of very smart people working on various parts of the business while we were still in the ideation phase. This progress helped get our team to a place where we were accepted into MIT’s delta v accelerator. Delta v furthered our progress to a point where we are now fundraising and building our flagship product.

What founder or entrepreneur inspired you to start your own entrepreneurial journey? How did he or she prove motivational to you? Carly Bigi at Laws of Motion is someone I am very inspired by. Seeing her successes as she grows Laws has been so exciting, and has motivated me to start working on my startup.

Which MBA class has been most valuable in building your startup and what was the biggest lesson you gained from it? Founding Teams was the most valuable startup class for me. In developing an early team, the lessons on how to speak about challenging topics has been so valuable in maintaining positive working relationships with current and past team members.

What professor made a significant contribution to your plans and why? Carly Chase has been such an incredible advocate for me starting Fit for Everybody. She has made connections and recommendations, and has been a wonderful sounding board for the challenges of starting a business.

What is your long-term goal with your startup? Long-term, Fit for Everybody’s mission is to improve efficiency in the apparel supply chain from design concept to the shopper for a more sustainable fashion future.