Darrell Cavens, President and CEO of zulily, inc., Named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 National Emerging Award Winner

Cavens was honored for distinct vision and unflinching desire to revamp the e-commerce shopping experience.

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Nov 17, 2014, 08:00 ET

SEATTLE, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Darrell Cavens, President and CEO of zulily, inc., has been named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 National Emerging Award winner.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, a leading business award for entrepreneurs, encourages entrepreneurial activity and recognizes leaders and visionaries who demonstrate innovation, financial success and personal commitment as they create and build world-class businesses.

Cavens was recognized for his vision to create ground-breaking solutions for long-standing e-commerce barriers by establishing longer shipping times, a limited return policy and holding virtually no inventory. He was honored at the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards gala, the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth Forum® in Palm Springs, Calif. The Forum is the nation's premier gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. Awards were given in 10 additional categories.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges and from more than 250 regional award recipients.

"We're excited to honor Darrell Cavens with this award and recognize his focus, foresight and knack for growing a successful and globally recognized company," said Mike Kacsmar, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Americas Program Director. "What his company offers as solutions to the many challenges facing the e-commerce business is significant for transforming the way consumers shop online."

The path less traveled

Throughout his career, Cavens has had the foresight to take risks in the face of uncertainty. He dropped out of school to become a self-taught coder and took a chance with start-up company Blue Nile, an Internet diamond retailer, as a software engineer. Cavens eventually served as the Chief Technology Officer and took the company through an IPO. He later transitioned to Microsoft, where the idea for zulily was born.

Cavens noticed that e-commerce businesses were focused solely on intent-based shopping, as many online retailers catered only to people who knew specifically what they wanted. Cavens saw this as an opportunity to build an e-commerce model based on a browse-and-buy experience for those customers who lacked a specific purchase intent but enjoyed browsing, similar to the traditional shopping experience at a brick-and-mortar luxury retail store.

At the same time, Cavens had young children and noticed the lack of unique yet affordable clothing and gear options available to them. Cavens put these two creative sparks together and set out to not only break into the Internet retail industry, but to reinvent the traditional e-commerce experience. These were seen as significant challenges, but Cavens believed in his vision and steadfast desire to revamp the e-commerce shopping experience while offering heavily discounted flash sales of designer clothing.

Taking the right risks

Cavens describes the culture at zulily as one that empowers employees to take risks and embrace change, which fosters creative thinking and innovation. These creative juices are what keep zulily fresh and engaging, traits that are appreciated by the company's loyal customer base.

As a leader, Cavens sets the tone by not criticizing unsuccessful risks, but rather making light of them and using them as learning opportunities for the future. This philosophy has not only been beneficial for employee retention but has attracted hundreds of new employees, as zulily has doubled its headcount over the past year.

The company's philosophy thrives with its specific employee base, as the majority of zulily's workers are between 20 and 30 years old and relish the confidence Cavens has in their ability to take risks. Cavens prides himself on being a humble leader and part of the day-to-day operations. He hosts weekly town hall meetings to discuss recent company events and performance, giving employees a forum to ask questions and interact directly. This open communication fosters innovation and prevents the development of information silos.

Growing its partners

zulily's philanthropic focus is geared toward the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Hospital. Several times a year, zulily will host sample sales in which the company heavily discounts vendors' sample clothing and donates all proceeds to the Center. Additionally, Cavens takes pride in zulily's ability to help other small businesses grow and develop. zulily approaches each vendor with the intention to help them grow as individual brands. Many of these vendors started as a small "mom-and-pop" boutique operation and, through a partnership with zulily, have grown into over 50 employees with their own manufacturing facilities.

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 National Emerging category finalists

In addition to Cavens, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Emerging finalists in the US were: Robb Fujioka, Founder & President, and Jim Mitchell, CEO, Fuhu, Inc., based in El Segundo, Calif.; Tom Gildred, CEO, Emerald Textiles, based in San Diego, Calif.; and Bobby Harris, President & CEO, BlueGrace Logistics, based in Riverview, Fla.

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 National Overall Award winner

Dr. David Hung of Medivation was named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year^TM 2014 National Overall Award winner.

Video and photos

To view photos of all of the Entrepreneur Of The Year winners, please visit ey.com/us/eoy.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by EY, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the US by SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries. ey.com/eoy

About EY's Strategic Growth Markets Network

EY's worldwide Strategic Growth Markets Network is dedicated to serving the changing needs of high-growth companies. For more than 30 years, we've helped many of the world's most dynamic and ambitious companies grow into market leaders. Whether working with international mid-cap companies or early stage, venture-backed businesses, our professionals draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help your business succeed. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/sgm or follow news on Twitter @EY_Growth.

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

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This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, an EY member firm serving clients in the US.

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