Swedish melancholy at its driest

Stutterheim Raincoats tagline

People who follow my work know I am a big believer in storytelling, whether that involves writing a novel, selling real estate or building a new enterprise. Selling is telling. And stories are what differentiate you from your competition.

I have to say that Swede Alexander Stutterheim proved the point by taking his startup, Stutterheim Raincoats, from sales (in his Stockholm apartment) of 1.5 million kronor in 2011 to 40 million today (source: Bloomberg Businessweek, March 15, 2015)*. Mr Stutterheim played up the fact that Stockholm weather (they are just shy of the 60th parallel) is miserable, and Swedish artists like filmmaker Ingmar Bergman are not exactly noted for Pollyanna’ish creations.

I liked his tagline so much, I added it to my list of best of breed https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/103861541279/best-casual-dating-site-tinder-com-tagline-ever.

How did Alexander come to this? He stumbled over a used fisherman’s raincoat in his grandfather’s old barn, and decided to update its look. Many terrific businesses are being created today by bringing back authentic products and services from the past, wrapped up in modern age business models. DODOCase comes to mind.

What else did Alex do to differentiate himself? He partnered with Jay Z and Barney’s New York (on a special order raincoat with sales benefiting a charity that helps poor kids attend college); he created an annual Most Melancholic Person of the Year award, and opened a store in his hometown.

Be authentic. Be different. Be successful.

@ profbruce @ quantum_entity

* 1 Swedish Krona equals 0.12 US Dollar (March 17, 2015)