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Masters of ScaleEmma Grede: Lessons from building billion-dollar brands (with Angela Ahrendts) | Summit 2024
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Chapter summaries
From Talent Agency to Good American
Angela Ahrendts asks whether Emma Grede foresaw the shift Good American set off. Grede says no, describing her agency background in talent and brand partnerships and her belief that creator and talent billionaires are coming.
- •Grede ran an agency at the intersection of entertainment and brand
- •She became known as the go-to person for startups seeking talent to take equity
- •She predicts hundreds of talent, influencer or creator billionaires in the next five years
- •She calls the talent-brand model imperfect, since followers don't follow The Rock to see him advertise tequila
- •She is interested in talent owning their data and becoming the network
Pitching Investors and the Drink Test
Asked for advice on pitching a new concept, Grede says to not necessarily listen to what investors say, and relies on instinct rooted in personal need. She shares her rule of only taking investors she would want to have a drink with.
- •She came from outside apparel, so she wasn't an obvious candidate for millions in funding
- •Her conviction came from a strong instinct and a personal need
- •She only takes investors she would want to have a drink with
- •She got it wrong the first and second time
- •Success lets you be choosier
Choosing Partners and Building Teams
Grede explains how she picks partners based on her own weaknesses and their willingness to go on a long journey. She treats investors, partners and hires the same way and rejects the label "self-made."
- •Nothing she's done has had a quick result
- •She chooses partners based on her own weaknesses
- •She spends an enormous amount of time hiring
- •She says she is not self-made given the hundreds of people around her
- •Choosing the right people is the most important part of her role
Investing with Instinct and Responsibility
Ahrendts asks how Grede's approach to investing has evolved. Grede describes a sense of responsibility to leave the door open for people who might not otherwise get opportunity, and traces her instinct to growing up in East London.
- •Early on, deal flow was bad and she followed gut instinct
- •As a Black woman who left school at 15, she feels responsible for backing overlooked people
- •Her guiding principle is "if not me, then who?"
- •Her instinct comes from growing up in East London
- •She now aims it at solving problems, especially women's issues
The 15 Percent Pledge
Grede explains the 15 Percent Pledge, started by Aurora James after the murder of George Floyd. It asks retailers to dedicate 15% of spend to Black-owned brands, and she describes its results and the business case behind it.
- •Black people make up about 15% of the population, so brands are asked to devote 15% of annual spend to Black-owned brands
- •Grede says institutions are not racist but buyers buy from who they know
- •The pledge has created a $14 billion pipeline of opportunity
- •750 brands are on shelves at retailers like Sephora and Nordstrom
- •She frames it as a win-win business proposition
Company Responsibility: From P&L to P&I
Ahrendts argues companies should focus on people and impact, not only the P&L, and Grede agrees. They discuss the larger responsibility of larger companies.
- •Ahrendts proposes a P&I alongside the P&L
- •She says people and impact drive the P&L
- •Larger companies carry larger responsibility
- •Grede agrees and compares it to individuals' responsibility
Women's Sports and Sticking to What You Know
Asked about sectors that excite her, Grede says she is obsessed with women's sports, citing an inflection point in culture. She says she avoids areas outside her expertise, such as AI.
- •Women's sports are the area she can't stop thinking about
- •She sees timing and culture aligning with what she's good at
- •She watches women's basketball with her kids near UCLA
- •She isn't pursuing AI because it's not her space
- •Her advice is to do what you know
Marketing Today and the B Corp Turning Point
Grede calls herself a marketeer first and says whatever worked last year isn't working now, with no arbitrage left in social media. She describes how B Corp certification, which she first saw as a distraction, built team loyalty and a distinct customer cohort.
- •There is no arbitrage in social media anymore
- •Meeting customers where they are and solving a real problem is the lasting way to connect
- •B Corp certification seemed like a cost nightmare and time suck for a two-year-old business
- •The team behind it became very loyal and drove the company forward
- •Customers who valued it became a data segment called the B Corp Bs
Physical Retail and Going Where Customers Are
Asked about physical retail, Grede says she has always been for it and is opening about a store a month. She describes a hybrid approach shaped by her old-guard and new-guard board members and urges being in every channel customers use.
- •She sits between an old guard and new guard on her boards
- •She never went digital-only or purely traditional
- •She is opening about a store a month as people crave in-person experience and community
- •She says to go into the channels that make sense for customers rather than stay in one lane
- •Not being a snob about wholesale partners like Nordstrom helped valuations
Leadership Advice: Just Tell the Truth
Asked for final advice, Grede jokes about being a school leaver giving advice, then says honesty is what has served her. She is open with her teams about expectations and direction, and says it helps her hire best-in-class people.
- •It's hard to tell the truth right now, and she questions whether authenticity is where the world is
- •She is honest about expectations, what she needs and where the company is going
- •For example, she tells people who want three days a week in the office that it's not the business she runs
- •Her honesty isn't what HR likes most about her
- •Her advice: just tell the truth and you'll never get in trouble
