Startup of the Month: YUME_HUB

It’s Friday night, you’ve tried on half your wardrobe and you’re still not sure what to wear. With the fashion app YUME_HUB, you can quickly upload a photo of yourself in each outfit and receive real-time feedback from our community. Anyone on the app can indicate "yes" or "no" on your outfit, and because it’s all anonymous, you’re more likely to get honest answers. This approach also works when you’re shopping alone. If you aren’t convinced that an item of clothing looks good on you and don’t know if you should buy it, upload a picture from the dressing room and before you get to the cash register, you’ll have your answer. 

This is not a social networking platform. YUME_HUB isn’t a place where you’ll get followers and follow other people. There’s no chatting on the app either, so there’s no risk of anyone saying hurtful things about people’s photos, nor of cyber-bullying. We’re just helping users look their best.

I don’t have kids, but I feel like this app is my baby. I came up with the concept when I was living in New York. My mom, who was here in Barcelona, is the only person in my life who will tell me honestly if I look bad in an outfit. So all the way from the US, I was still sending her WhatsApp messages asking "Hey, should I buy this?" or "Do you think this skirt is appropriate for dinner with clients?", etc. However, the six-hour time difference meant she wasn’t always able to give me feedback when I needed it. I thought it would be cool to have an app that could help me with any fashion dilemmas in real-time. 

I have experience in fashion and e-commerce, and I was pretty sure I wanted to start my own company at some point—the way I see it, my reality guided me to YUME_HUB. Once I had solidified my vision—after about a year of analyzing different business models—I reached out to my co-founder, Patricia Jordà Morillas, and moved back to Barcelona to be near her. Part of our strategy moving forward involved me spending three months looking for the right development team. They are now in charge of developing the app for both Android and iOS, as well as developing algorithms and capturing and analyzing big data. 

By the end of 2017, our users will be able to get feedback from professional stylists. There are other directions in which we can take the app, but we want to make sure any features we add are useful for our audience. In June 2016, when we first launched, we immediately saw that a few aspects of the app were far too complex. People weren’t using all the features, so we decided to remove them. 

My advice to other entrepreneurs is to keep an open mind. Observe the world around you to understand the needs of your potential customers and have a plan in place to measure your results. Also, brace yourself for criticism because you need to know the truth, and it’s not always pretty. Everyone has something to tell you about your product or e-commerce and it’s important to listen to them. This business is not about having an idea and making it a reality based on your needs, wants and opinions. In order to successfully solve a consumer problem, there has to be a conversation between you and them.

Learn more about YUME_HUB at yumehub.com.