Ex-BlackRock employee bought 10,000 socks for $100,000; startup hit $2M

A former BlackRock employee took a $100,000 gamble on socks after deciding to test whether consumers would actually buy her idea. Allison Strumeyer, who co-founded sock brand Doublesoul with her husband Ben, ordered 10,000 pairs as an initial test of the business. Rather than immediately leaving her corporate career, she used the experiment to establish whether there was demand for the product. The test generated organic sales and gave the couple confidence to pursue the company further. Doublesoul officially launched in 2022 and went on to raise about $2 million in funding. The company later secured a spot on Shark Tank, where Strumeyer's husband and investor Pete Davidson pitched the brand while she was unable to travel because she was heavily pregnant.How a former BlackRock employee turned a $100,000 sock idea into a startupAllison Strumeyer studied at the University of Pennsylvania and initially chose a corporate career after graduating. She spent about two years at BlackRock, where she said she learned about communication, project management and working under pressure. She later joined Mirror, the home-fitness startup that was acquired by Lululemon, and spent about four years ...