In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen Zalando Co-CEO: Building Europe's Fashion Giant, AI in Retail and the European Dream
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Mar 4, 2026 
Robert Gentz, co-founder and co-CEO of Zalando, built the company from flip-flop seller to Europe’s leading online fashion platform. He talks rapid scaling, the selection flywheel that drove expansion, using data and AI for sizing, discovery and logistics, and why a strong European single market matters for founders and tech champions.
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Founding Story Packing Flip-Flops By Hand
- Robert Gentz started by selling flip-flops on FlipTops.de and personally packed about 20 orders a day during launch.
- That hands-on early customer contact taught them why people bought online and fueled their initial investor pitch.
Flywheel Built From Specific Shoe Searches
- Zalando's growth came from a flywheel: scale inventory around specific searches, convert more traffic, expand brands, categories, then geographies.
- Starting with niche shoe searches (model + size) let them build selection that later converted broader brand and country demand.
Zalando's B2B Fulfillment For Brands Like Next
- Zalando launched a B2B vector that sells its logistics and software to brands, letting them run e-commerce from Zalando's infrastructure.
- Example: Next uses Zalando's European fulfillment footprint to service its continent-wide orders.