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Masters of Scale

Disrupting the wedding industry, with Zola’s Shan-Lyn Ma | Masters of Scale

Shan-Lyn Ma, co-founder and co-CEO of Zola, joins host Jeff Berman to share how intrapreneurship prepared her to build a business that’s transformed the wedding industry with online tools.

Shan-Lyn MaguestJeff Bermanhost

Oct 24, 202434mWatch on YouTube

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Chapter summaries

A French Laundry Wedding That Inspired Zola
Shan-Lyn Ma recounts a memorable wedding of two friends who met at the French Laundry, including a dive-bar after party. Host Jeff Berman then introduces her background and the episode's themes.
- •Two friends met at the French Laundry and married there
- •The after party at a dive bar made the wedding memorable
- •The wedding registry from it sparked the idea for Zola
- •Ma has helped over two million couples through Zola
- •Episode themes: intrapreneurship, clarity in crisis, pandemic disruption
Growing Up Entrepreneurial: Selling Anything That Moved
Ma explains how growing up in Australia with little spare money taught her to earn her own way. She recalls selling Girl Scout cookies and leading sales of stress balls in a business competition at age 11.
- •Born in Singapore, raised in Australia from age four
- •Early drive to create something out of nothing and sell it
- •Sold Girl Scout cookies and other items
- •Her team's stress balls had the highest sales in a national competition at 11
Jerry Yang on the Wall and the Road to Yahoo
Ma describes the posters on her wall, Kylie Minogue and Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, and how business magazines gave her a window on Silicon Valley. She went on to Stanford's MBA program and then Yahoo, where she was starstruck passing Yang in a hallway.
- •Kylie Minogue and Jerry Yang were her heroes
- •Business magazines from the library inspired her
- •Yahoo's story of democratizing information caught her imagination
- •She got into Stanford's MBA and then worked at Yahoo
- •She later met Yang and hopes to show him what she has built
Lessons from Gilt: A Seat on the Rocket Ship
About a decade into her career, Ma joined Gilt as its first product manager after being an early customer. She saw it grow from about 30 people to over 1,000 and gained the chance to build new products.
- •Gilt was an early New York web startup at the forefront of e-commerce
- •She found it as a customer and loved the team
- •As first product manager she had a seat on the rocket ship
- •Revenue grew from near zero to over 600 million in four years
- •Fast growth offers chances to try ideas you otherwise couldn't
The Silver Spoon Registry and the Birth of Zola
In 2013, with friends marrying constantly, Ma found a registry where she could afford only a silver spoon. A friend called the process painful, and Ma and co-founder Nobu saw an opportunity to bring modern e-commerce to registries.
- •2013 was the year all her friends were getting married
- •A friend let her mother handle a painful registry
- •Ma and Nobu saw registries as stuck in the 1900s
- •Couples wanted products, experiences, cash and personalization
- •Department store registries dominated the market then
What Zola Got Right and Wrong, and When to Expand
Ma says Zola focused on building the best registry product but waited too long to respond to requests for more. She and Berman discuss the tension between nailing one thing and serving broader needs, and she advises branching out once word-of-mouth shows in feedback and the P&L.
- •Right: laser focus on the best product for couples
- •Wrong: waiting four years to expand beyond registry
- •Couples asked early for a wedding website and more
- •Expand once word-of-mouth and viral network effects appear in feedback and P&L
Zola's Fundraising Journey
Ma describes a seed round that came easily from Kevin Ryan thanks to four years of working together at Gilt, with a term sheet arriving just before launch. Later rounds got harder as investors shifted from vision to metrics, and Berman notes the goalposts keep moving.
- •Every fundraising journey is different
- •Kevin Ryan offered funding based on a long track record
- •Investors sent a term sheet the same day before launch
- •Pitches shift from dream to revenue and returns
- •Tougher rounds mean you keep going until you can't anymore
Inclusivity for Same-Sex Couples and the Hallmark Rejection
Ma says including same-sex couples was an obvious choice, not a debate, and the response from couples was immediate. She recounts Hallmark Channel refusing to run Zola's ads featuring same-sex couples around 2019, and the marketing team going public.
- •Asking who is getting married rather than assuming bride and groom
- •Couples were moved to see a groom and groom pictured
- •Inclusivity extended to marketing and customer support
- •Hallmark rejected ads featuring same-sex couples
- •Standing up for it earned love from couples and the team
A Near-Death Accident Brings Clarity
Ma describes a ride-share accident when a car ran a red light and hit her. In that moment she thought of wanting a child and getting Zola to its potential, and the recovery clarified her mission.
- •The accident happened on the way home from a California conference
- •Two thoughts: wanting to have a child and fulfilling Zola's potential
- •Recovery involved many broken bones, pain and trauma
- •It settled her doubts about doing something else
- •Her personal mission became very clear
Surviving the Pandemic: Supporting Couples and Planning Scenarios
Ma explains that weddings are normally steady year to year, but the pandemic made 2020 the darkest year for the industry. Zola built tools like date changes and virtual weddings, and used scenario planning to avoid doom spiraling.
- •Number of weddings per year is normally remarkably consistent
- •Tools to change dates, message guests and send free change-the-date cards
- •Virtual weddings feature and vendor recommendations
- •Scenario planning for three, six or nine months of pandemic
- •Zola Home launched quickly, and the following two years were the biggest ever for weddings
What's Next: Becoming a Life Stage Company
Ma says Zola will keep building its wedding portfolio while becoming a life stage company. Zola Baby, requested since the first day and launched after ten years, is an example of serving couples beyond the wedding.
- •Still a lot to do in weddings
- •Couples return after marrying asking for more help
- •Zola Baby launched after about 10 years of requests
- •Goal is to serve couples through the life stage of creating a family
The Wedding Gift Every Couple Wants
Asked for an unusual wedding gift, Ma names the Dyson vacuum cleaner, which guests skip but couples secretly hope for. Berman jokes about James Dyson being a recent guest.
- •Dyson vacuums are left over late in registries
- •Guests don't find a vacuum exciting to give
- •Couples always hope someone buys it for them
- •Couples want it but wouldn't spend that on themselves
AI Tools: Split the Decisions and Thank You Notes
Berman asks about Zola's AI launches. Ma describes a tool that divides wedding planning tasks between partners, and a thank you note generator that could eventually send notes with a click.
- •Split the Decisions tool addresses one person doing all the work
- •It asks about strengths and interests to divide responsibilities
- •It started as a fun idea and drew positive feedback
- •Thank you note generator uses gift, contact and tone information
Ma's Favorite Part of the Job and Closing
Ma says her favorite part is the same thing she loved as a child: working with smart, fun people on ideas that make others happy. Berman closes by praising the clarity that fuels Zola's growth.
- •Creating ideas with a smart, fun team
- •Seeing whether people want and love the product
- •Users telling her how much they love Zola are the moments she lives for
- •Passion signals the company has done something truly different

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