Abigail Cook Stone (Otherland) - How She Turned Her Love of Scents into a Leading Candle Brand

My guest today is Abigail Cook Stone, the founder of Otherland. Otherland transforms your home into an immersive world that never stands still with their amazing scented candles. We discuss how her attraction to design led her to candles, what was missing from the market in her mind, and how she approached her supply chain getting off the ground and scale.

Here’s some of the questions I ask her:

1. What was your initial attraction to design?
2. When did you start thinking about starting a candle company? Was it something you always thought about or was there a specific aha moment?
3. What was missing from the market?
4. How did you think about the brand?
5. How did you seek validation?Did you run any early tests?
6. What was your manufacturing process?
7. How do you think about product launches?
8. Why did you decide to raise venture capital?What was the biggest reason why a fund passed?
9. How did you experience at Ralph Lauren and at Founder's Collective help shape Otherland?
10. What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
11. What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
12. What's one piece of advice you have for founders?