INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
About 18 months ago, Jenny Gyllander created an Instagram account by the name of @thingtesting.The premise was simple
Gyllander, who was at the center of the London startup ecosystem as an investor with the British seed fund Backed.VC, would upload photos of
interesting direct-to-consumer products with a caption that served as a bite-sized review
The experiment began with Birchbox, a provider of curated boxes of beauty products that rose to prominence amid the subscription box hype of
perhaps more importantly, her brevity, garnered her a small following of venture capitalists, founders and consumer-brand enthusiasts.Since
Gyllander wants to create a full-scale D2C review platform with a team of reviewers and content creators, and a portal for her loyal
followers to write and submit their own reviews
She compares what she envisions for Thingtesting to that of Rotten Tomatoes
Akin to the popular website for movie and television reviews, each product review on her future website will include a Thingtesting score
side project, has plans in store to generate significantly more revenue
Gyllander, like a slew of other Instagram influencers, however, quickly realized an opportunity to monetize content using the feature, a
trend explained in detail in a recent report from The Atlantic.Gyllander charges a lifetime fee of $100 to her followers hoping for a spot
on her Close Friends list
Those followers are then provided exclusive content, including behind-the-scenes looks at her product review journeys
So far, 300 people have been granted access to the exclusive group as others sit on the waitlist
account grows in popularity
Early next year, she hopes, she will have launched a Thingtesting website and a new subscription-based membership tier targeting D2C
connoisseurs, investors and anyone interested in a front-seat view of the booming D2C industry.As Thingtesting morphs into a digital review
new to the market, as well as boast killer branding and packaging
But one should never underestimate the value of an exclusive and hyper-focused network
