Launchpad to Success: Tradesy’s Startup Story

Turning women’s closets into “cash cows,” was DiNunzio’s goal for Tradesy from the start, but launching the site and managing it post-launch hasn’t been all unicorns and photo shoots.

DiNunzio applied to Launchpad LA as a successful entrepreneur: actively running the profitable wedding resale site Recycled Bride. But running a successful company, even in the same market, didn’t make her a shoo-in. She wanted the $50K Launchpad would invest in if she got into the startup program. “I thought I needed exactly $50k to build Tradesy,” says DiNuzio.

She pitched Sam Teller, one of Launchpad’s managing directors “I told him all about how I had grown Recycled Bride to profitability with no funding, all via organic and viral acquisition,” recalls DiNunzio. “After the meeting,” DiNunzio says, “I felt pretty sure that I wouldn’t get in because I was a team of one, and Launchpad generally requires that you have a technical co-founder.”

“I had a strong feeling that I just had to get in,” says DiNunzio: she couldn’t face another “no.”