We’re delighted to announce that last week the Cornerstone Club has grown to over 100,000 members! Our community continues to grow quickly and we’re incredibly grateful for all your support – we wouldn’t be here without you. So to save the date, we are sharing the story of how Cornerstone came to be. We’ll take you behind the scenes on how this British start-up went from being just an idea to an award-winning business.
The eureka moment
Our founder Oliver was experiencing the same issues many men do every day; sensitive skin that easily irritates, an unexciting shaving experience, blades that dull too quickly and products that are way too expensive for what they offer. The idea of a convenient and flexible subscription service hit him when he had to waste his lunch by queuing in Boots to top up his (over-priced) shaving supplies. Surely there had a to be a better way to buy shaving supplies at a fairer price? And that’s how the idea of Cornerstone came about.
From idea to subscription
In July 2014, Cornerstone officially launched to the public with only one employee – Oliver himself. The focus was to make shopping for shaving supplies convenient and hassle-free with fairer pricing whilst not skimping on quality. It really boiled down to turning shaving from a chore into something men looked forward. After launching, the biggest challenge became clear; how could a startup such as Cornerstone overcome a well-established market with powerful leading brands? However, in only six months the community grew to over 5,000 members, so the view was optimistic.
A people’s brand
In July 2015, Cornerstone launched a CrowdCube crowdfunding campaign to support the company’s rapid growth. With a target of raising £500,000 the campaign offered all kinds of investor rewards, including a steak & cocktail dinner and even getting a wet shave whilst on a hot air balloon. The campaign was a huge success and closed at just under £1m. The support received from circa 300 investors has been amazing; and, funnily enough, one of the initial investors is now Head of Operations & Finances. Since then, we’ve welcomed thousands of new members and even grown our Cornerstone HQ team.
We’re incredibly lucky to be a brand supported by our members. We’ve been shown incredible support throughout the last couple of years and this support has led us to win many awards. Our latest wins include AskMen UK Reader’s Choice Best Razor Award and Startup’s People’s Champion Award thanks to their votes.
Future plans
We’ve just passed the 100,000 member mark, so what’s in-store for Cornerstone now? As we’ve done for the last two years, we’ll continue to listen to our members’ feedback and explore new products. We’re also looking at expanding Cornerstone into new countries, so if you’re not UK-based, keep an eye out for us!
That’s a bit of an insight into Cornerstone’s story and how we’ve grown to 100,000 in just over two years. Have any burning questions? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook.