drag2share: The Founder Of Zappos Is Back With A New Startup

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/rnkd-2011-11

Zappos founder Nick Swinmurn is back with a new startup, RNKD (pronounced "ranked").

With RNKD, users are supposed to upload the clothes in their closet. As they upload different clothing and brands, they get points and badges, similar to Foursquare's badges and leaderboard. As users get more points and more badges, they will get deals and discounts.

For now, Swinmurn is just starting out with Zappos gift cards to users. Down the road he hopes to get brands on board and have them offer deals to consumers.

The idea for RNKD started when Swinmurn tried to do his own small clothing label. He realized he was having trouble connecting his brand with consumers. The idea behind RNKD is to connect brands directly with their customers.

Swinmurn is paying for the whole operation out of his own pocket. It's just a three man operation. He'd rather grow RNKD into something viable, then approach VCs.

We're not sure people really want to hand over personal data to a site that's designed with brands in mind, but Swinmurn, disagrees. He thinks it will work because this isn't terribly personal information, and it's good for the consumer. They will get discounts from their favorite clothing companies.

The site is launching in beta today.

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