Trunk Club competitor enters Wisconsin’s gener8tor accelerator

On Dec. 26, Men’s Style Lab founder Derian Baugh got what he calls a “belated Christmas miracle.” He found out that his fledgling e-commerce startup had been accepted to gener8tor, a Madison, Wisc.-based accelerator he describes as extremely competitive. Of 385 applicants, Men’s Style Lab was chosen as one of five startups from across the…

On Dec. 26, Men’s Style Lab founder Derian Baugh got what he calls a “belated Christmas miracle.” He found out that his fledgling e-commerce startup had been accepted to gener8tor, a Madison, Wisc.-based accelerator he describes as extremely competitive. 

Of 385 applicants, Men’s Style Lab was chosen as one of five startups from across the country accepted this winter. But Baugh won’t be heading to Wisconsin alone—earlier this year he hired Aaron Hoffman as the startup’s CTO. 

“When I started thinking about bringing on a CTO I knew immediately that Aaron was my guy,” Baugh told Silicon Prairie News. 

Baugh says the pair met after he presented at 1 Million Cups–Des Moines earlier this year and, not long after, Hoffman signed up as one of Men’s Style Lab’s first customers.

The company ships clothing all across the country to men in need of a style upgrade. While the startup offers a similar service as the Chicago-based Trunk Club, Baugh says Men’s Style Lab offers its customers double the merchandise at the same price point, calling the startup “Trunk Club for everybody else.” 

After the initial excitement, Baugh and Hoffman didn’t have much time to process the startup’s good news—gener8tor’s program began Jan. 3 with both members of the team heading north by Monday. Despite the short timeline, Baugh says the experience and ability to work on Men’s Style Lab full-time is one he’s always hoped for.

“My goal has always been this route in one fashion or another, whether it was through gener8tor or not,” Baugh (right) said. “Everything I was doing until this point wasn’t to make money, it was to prove the model. I knew that even if I didn’t make any money but I could show that I had customers and reviews, I believed that the support and funding would come and fortunately it played out that way.” 

In October, the startup won a Technology Association of Iowa Pitch & Grow competition during the Creative Corridor’s annual Innovation Expo. Baugh says the experience proved to be good practice when it came time to pitch Men’s Style Lab at gener8tor.

The 90-day program is split into three phases, Baugh said. The five startups will spend the first month consulting with mentors and learning from industry professionals to improve their business and create plans to scale. The next 30 days will be spent implementing those plans, with the last month of the accelerator focused on raising a round of seeding funding. 

Each startup receives a $20,000 cash investment—in exchange for 6 to 9 percent common equity stock in the company—upon entering the accelerator and an additional $50,000 guaranteed toward its seed round upon completing the program. 

Since September the startup has continued to grow its customer base and expand its presence on social media.

“It’s just fun to be in the whirlwind of it all,” Baugh said. “There’s so much energy and excitement, especially now that our customers are aware we’re a new startup. They just want to feed into it that much more. They want to help you be successful.” 

Since Men’s Style Lab launched it has slightly revised its process when it comes to filling orders and shipping boxes to customers. Instead of charging only a $49 deposit, Baugh says the startup now charges customers for their items upfront through a pre-order system but refunds the cost if the customer keeps less product than they’ve paid for. 

The startup also recently found warehouse space that can house enough inventory for Men’s Style Lab to ship up to 1,000 boxes a month. Currently Baugh says the company currently ships about 100 boxes each month, but he hopes to outgrow the warehouse space by this time next year. 

Following gener8tor’s demo day on April 3, Men’s Style Lab will continue to raise a seed round of funding. According to gener8tor, since June 2012, the program’s 18 graduates have raised more than $10 million in funding and created nearly 100 jobs.

Baugh says he feels confident that with the guidance of the gener8tor team and the company’s supportive network in Iowa, the startup will not only be able to raise money but also serve as an ambassador for its home state. 

“I want to come back and help represent Iowa and the Des Moines startup community well,” he said. “I feel really good about us moving in that direction.”

For more on Men’s Style Lab, read our previous coverage: “Iowa startup helps men ‘hit the reset button’ on their wardrobe.”


Credits: Derian Baugh photo courtesy of Men’s Style Lab. 

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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One response to “Trunk Club competitor enters Wisconsin’s gener8tor accelerator”

  1. […] wardrobe through outfits delivered right to their door. In early 2014, Men’s Style Lab was accepted into gener8tor, a 90-day Milwaukee-based accelerator […]