20X200
I met Jen Bekman four years ago when I was getting ready to put on the first Womens Entrepreneur Festival. I wanted to meet Jen before putting her on a panel. We hit it off. I was sorry that I wasn't one of the first investors in 20X200. I was a big fan of what Jen had built.
I loved 20X200 for a variety of reasons. The ability to buy editions from artists in a variety of sizes made sense. Being able to buy them already framed makes life so easy. The artists benefit by being able to supplement their own income from selling editions on the site. The price points also give everyone the ability to collect art. We own a bunch of pieces from 20X200 that hang with the pieces that are individual pieces of art. I believe that 20X200 has changed the way that people shop for art online.
Fast forward the site has been down for almost six months. I have been privy to the back end story but it is not mine to share. There are several sides to the story, as always, but what is most impressive is that Jen got the site, her gallery and her name back. She was not going to let something she built and believed in just fall into the abyss of where Internet companies go to die.
Today I am thrilled to announce the relaunching of 20X200. I am so excited for Jen. This time around, I got to invest!
Comments (Archived):
Nice to see this back. 🙂
beyond nice
It’s nice to be back!
I’m a big fan of this project as a small art collector although I’ve never met Jen.Wrote this post on the day they got their first funding. You’re post motivated me to revisit ( http://awe.sm/jHpoD ).
great post
I remember that post well… it was one of my favorites, in fact. We really need to fix that mtg-in-person thing sometime soon, huh? I’d love to.
Thanks.i wish you the best of luck.If you decide to do any offline events to kickstart things (which I bet you will), do send me an invite.
I just bought the print that you have in kitchen in Amagansett. I am so excited!
That’s a good one, Sarah! Enjoy.
yay!
Yay!!
As any reader of this blog knows, Joanne is a force. She’s been an incredibly generous, supportive friend and advisor from the moment we met. Having her in my corner has been invaluable to me both personally and professionally during what’s been an extremely tough couple of years. In fact, she’s been *so* vocal in her support of 20×200 and me that people have long assumed that she was one of our investors. I’ve always felt incredibly lucky to have her as part of my support system; she’s such a busy person who a lot of people would love to get even five minutes with, and she always found time for me even though she had nothing to gain personally from my company’s success. There is no shortage of silver linings to be found as these storm clouds dissipate, but finally having Joanne on board as an investor is one of them that shines the brightest.
OK, there are a LOT of superlatives in there, but it’s all true! Joanne’s one in a million, the best really. I am so, so happy that she’s officially part of the 20×200 family.
Hooray, hooray. Very happy to hear!