Unit III

Case Study Jillian Lakritz, founder, Yoee Baby

Jillian Lakritz’s first job, after earning her MBA in 1997 from the University of Colorado–Boulder, was working on the national expansion of a chain of early childhood development centers called Crème de la Crème. These centers provide early education and childcare services for children up to 6 years old and after-school services for students between 5 and 12 years old. From her work at Crème de la Crème, Jillian learned that the most important window for cognitive development in children is the first 3 years of life, as a great deal of brain architecture is shaped during this period. This contributes directly to cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and motor development. Additionally, the earliest months of a baby’s life also lay the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health. Furthermore, Jillian said, “I also learned that playtime contributes significantly to this development and that it is important to make every moment count. These early play moments help build healthy brain architecture in babies, setting them up for a healthy future.”

In 2009, Jillian gave birth to her daughter, Yoe. Of course, Jillian recalled her learnings during her time at Crème de la Crème and she knew that Yoe’s early development needed help! “Yoe had lots of toys, but none that were really age appropriate,” Jillian recalled. “Most toys are not meant for newborns. They are for children who can sit up and grab things.” Jillian found herself looking for new ideas so she and Yoe could play, bond, and develop together.

Jillian started searching for play activities on popular websites and portals like babycenter.com. As she searched, she learned body awareness and sensory development are important in the first 6 months of life. One post on babycenter.com suggested that she take a feather or a piece of silk or velvet and gently caress her baby’s body with it. When Jillian tried it for the first time, Yoe started laughing and smiling in a way Jillian had not seen before. “It was a really transformative moment for me because it was so joyful to see my new little baby smile. As new parents, we live for that smile—it makes your heart melt. Not only that, it was something we could do together,” recalled Jillian. She also knew that while Yoe enjoyed the activity, it was also contributing to her body awareness and sensory development. Vision and hearing are the first sensory pathways that develop in a child. These are followed by early language skills and cognitive development. Sensory development is an important foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and health. Feather playing became Jillian and Yoe’s favorite pastime, but when Yoe turned 6 months old and started putting the feather in her mouth, Jillian said, “I was afraid that she would choke and this amazing activity that we did together could kill her!”

Jillian didn’t want to put Yoe in danger, but she also didn’t want to stop playing! That’s when the “Aha!” moment occurred. She knew that if she could create a soft, irresistibly touchable baby-safe feather out of fabric, she could keep playing with her child and also share the same joy with as many new parents as possible around her. This is what inspired her to invent the product now called Yoee Baby.

After leaving Crème de la Crème in the early 2000s, Jillian worked as a product innovation, consumer insight, and brand strategy consultant for a consumer packaged goods company. Although she did not have any experience in designing and making toys, her experience in concept development enabled her to flesh out the idea. She first sketched the idea on paper, noting all the value she hoped the toy would capture. She then developed prototypes of the toy and looked long and hard for a toy designer. The initial idea was to create a character—a plush animal that had a feather-like tail. However, based on ongoing customer feedback, she made more than 15 prototypes that each tested different additions, like a handle or a teething ring. But, as Jillian says, “The feather had always been our ‘holy grail.’ How do you replicate nature’s perfection and the gentle caress of the feather on your skin through manmade materials?”

After multiple brainstorming sessions, trying 50 types of fabrics and iterations, and early consumer testing, Jillian finally had a prototype ready to test with her consumers. Jillian also reached out to many other stakeholders to incorporate their feedback. She spoke to other manufacturers and distributors at trade shows, pediatricians, occupational therapists, neuroscientists, preschool teachers, and every other early childhood development expert she could find to help her get to a market-ready product (see image below).

Description

The Yoee Baby toy

Photo courtesy of Yoeebaby.com

Around the fall of 2016, Jillian finally had a working prototype that she felt good about. She had invested close to $100,000 of her own money in product development. She raised a total of $535,000 from friends and family through convertible debt. An accelerator program in Colorado also invested $30,000. Also around this time, Jillian brought her Yoee Baby product to a trade show by the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association in Denver. The trade show further validated her idea. The show had many small, independent stores, and they all loved the product. She left the trade show with 40 orders for Yoee Baby.

With greater confidence in the product, she visited a factory in China that could produce the product while also launching a $25,000 Kickstarter campaign to raise additional funds. It became one of the highest funded baby toys in Kickstarter history as of 2016, surpassing her goal and raising almost $36,000. But Kickstarter was both a blessing and a curse. She was working to fulfill her Kickstarter promises during December 2016 when there was a major fabric failure: Big plugs of fabric were pulling out of the tail of the toy. She immediately started getting emails from Kickstarter backers complaining that Yoee Baby was a safety hazard. Jillian quickly recalled all products, hired a safety consultant to figure out what the issue was, and switched factories in China—twice—all in the first year of operations. Jillian said, “It was a huge challenge that took almost a year to work through. It was one of the most difficult times at Yoee Baby.”

Jillian attributes her success, in general and on Kickstarter, to her network. She reached out to people for introductions and support. Jillian passionately believes that “People are everything!” She reached out to everyone she knew to help back her project. She has assembled a very impressive board of directors, including people from Mattel, Fisher Price, and Sesame Street. Jillian hopes to raise additional capital very soon, and she is quite hopeful about the future success of Yoee Baby. “The feedback we get from new parents is off the charts! Parents love the product and are writing to us every day, sending pictures and videos of how their babies are reacting to the product. It’s amazing! I love it!” Jillian exclaims.

The journey continues for Jillian and Yoee Baby. “If you really want to do this,” notes Jillian, “the P-words are the most important: persistence, passion, perseverance, patience.” Today, Yoee Baby has a 4.5 average rating on Amazon. Jillian has positioned Yoee Baby as a product that enables bonding through play because she feels that bonding is one of the most important parts of a parent and child relationship. New products are on the horizon!

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What strategy or strategies did Jillian employ to identify the Yoee Baby opportunity?

2. What headache problem is Jillian solving with the Yoee Baby toy?

3. What’s more important, the idea or the network, to help you act on the idea?

Sources:

Jillian Lakritz (interview with Babson MBA graduate assistant Gaurav Khemka, September 28, 2018).

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2007). The science of early childhood development. Retrieved from  http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2013). Early childhood mental health. Retrieved from  http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2016). 8 things to remember about child development.Retrieved from  http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu