Founders used an 'oversold' pretext to secure 50% deposits from wholesale buyers
Lily Kanter · Serena & Lily: Serena Dugan and Lily Kanter. They Built a $20M Brand—Then One Investor Almost Destroyed It · Aug 3, 2026 · at 33:25
Lily Kanter, co-founder of Serena & Lily, explains how the company funded its initial inventory run without working capital by requiring advance deposits from retailers.
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“So, we're like, hey, why don't we call all of them? And let them know that we are in an oversold situation with our initial production, and if they would like to guarantee their order, they would have to provide us a 50% deposit on their order. And the oversold situation was that we actually had none. And but they all basically, I don't remember one saying no, and so we raised our working capital, if you will, from our channel.”
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