Alli Webb
Founder & Co-CEO, Messy. On 1 show, 3 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
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Alli Webb is best known for co-founding Drybar in 2010, scaling the blowout salon chain to over 150 locations before selling its product division to Helen of Troy. She also co-founded massage concept Squeeze and authored the books The Drybar Guide to Good Hair for All and The Messy Truth.
1shows
3appearances
23statements
4resolved
2supported
1contradicted
50%fully supported
2said about them ↓ Everything Alli Webb said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Webb: Scaling large businesses requires specialist operators, not early founders
“To grow and scale to the size that we have, that takes people who understand that world and that, and how to do that. And that wasn't like my strongest suit.”
Webb: Drybar Succeeded by Focusing on Emotional Impact Over Just Hair
“Frankly, that's why Drybar has been so successful. I mean, yes, we're doing great blowouts, and your hair looks amazing, but it's about the way you feel when you have great hair, or the way you feel when you put on an outfit that makes you feel good, or if you…”
Webb: Founders can win by fixing poorly executed existing service categories
“There may be something that you love that is just not executed well, or branded well, or run well, that you could probably take that same idea and make it your own.”
Drybar expanded to 67 locations organically without a formal business plan
“It wasn't a premeditated, like, we didn't have a business plan, it wasn't like, this is our goal, and this is our trajectory, like, there was none of that. It was all this very organic, and we're on to something, so we're going to figure it out and keep growin…”
Webb says Drybar faced zero direct competition when it launched
“No, there was no competition. There were hair salons.”
Drybar scaled to over 60 locations without a formal business plan
“It wasn't a premeditated, like, we didn't have a business plan. It wasn't like, this is our goal, and this is our trajectory. Like, there was none of that. It was all this very organic, and we're on to something, so we're going to figure it out and keep growin…”
Drybar capitalized on the missing middle between luxury and discount salons
“God, there really is two bad choices out there, and that's it. And so that's when I think the idea started percolating for me, and I was like, huh, you know, there's no place, like, in the middle”
Webb tested her mobile blow-dry concept on an LA moms Yahoo group
“So I posted on this mommy group called Peach Head, where it was like a Yahoo group, and it was this resource for moms. It was like 5000 moms in LA, and they all went to this site. So I posted on there one day, when I had this idea popped in my head, I said, I'…”
Drybar capitalized on a gap between luxury salons and discount chains
“There really is two bad choices out there, and that's it. And so that's when I think the idea started percolating for me, and I was like, huh, you know, there's no place, like, in the middle”
Drybar gave its original architect equity instead of cash for design work
“And Josh was like, sure, and we offered him some equity to get involved, and that was, again, I don't even know if I would have thought of an architect.”
Drybar intentionally hides mirrors to create a dramatic post-blowout reveal
“So we the mirrors are behind the stations, and that's very intentional, that when the client is done, the stylist spins her around for the big reveal, and that totally came from my blowout business.”
Drybar scaled to employ approximately 3,000 stylists and 80 corporate staff
“Well, there's about 3000 stylists, and about, I don't know, maybe 70, 80 people in our support center, so it's pretty massive now”
Drybar traded equity to architect Josh Heitler to design first salon
“When I had this idea to have a salon, he went to Josh and said, do you want to build a hair salon for my sister? And Josh was like, sure, and we offered him some equity to get involved”
A Daily Candy feature fully booked Drybar before opening day
“And so everybody started booking appointments before we even open. And so that very first day we opened to a very, very full shop.”
Drybar reinvested first-year revenue to open second salon within six months
“Well, even within that first year, we turned everything back into the business, so not really, you know, I mean, we were barely taking any money for ourselves, and within six months, we opened our second store, and it just kept going and going.”
Drybar grew to employ 3,000 stylists and 80 corporate support staff
“Well, there's about 3000 stylists, and about, I don't know, maybe 70, 80 people in our support center, so it's pretty massive now”
Webb's mobile blow-dry precursor yielded zero profit after gas and travel
“Yes, I was in traffic, and between gas and whatever, I don't think I actually made any money. But it really wasn't about the money.”
Webb's brother held the largest financial stake in Drybar's launch
“My brother was probably the most nervous because he had the biggest stake in it financially.”
Drybar modeled its first salon's viability at 30 to 40 daily blowouts
“And at that point, we had figured out if we can do, like, 30 blowouts a day, 30, 40 blowouts, like, that'd be a great business”
A Daily Candy feature fueled Drybar's launch days before its opening
“We got Daily Candy to write a story about Drybar coming. That must have ran, like, three or four days before we opened.”
Drybar reinvested early revenue to open a second store within six months
“Well, even within that first year, we turned everything back into the business, so not really, you know, I mean, we were barely taking any money for ourselves, and within six months, we opened our second store, and it just kept going and going.”
The other half of the tape: Alli Webb's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 2 times in 2 episodes across the shows. every mention, with the transcript →
Who brings them up most Guy Raz 2
Every mention by year
tap a year for its mentions
How I Built This 2
2020 2 mentions in 2 episodes 1 per episode
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Alli's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOW I BUILT THISLEDGER | Founder & Co-CEO, Messy | 3 | 23 | 50% 2/4 | full record on How I Built This → |