演员兼企业家杰西卡·阿尔芭谈名人融资

Actress Jessica Alba co-founded The Honest Company in 2011, to make eco-friendly baby and home products. Three years later, the company just announced $70 millionin new funding at nearly a $1 billion valuation, and is looking toward an initial public offering. Alba, one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2012, spoke with Fortune about Honest Co. and what it’s like to raise money from venture capitalists as a celebrity.

2011年，著名女演员杰西卡o阿尔芭参与创办了诚实公司(The Honest Company)，专门生产环保的婴儿用品和家庭用品。3年后的今天，这家公司刚刚宣布融资7,000万美元，公司估值约为10亿美元，并计划上市。阿尔芭曾被评为2012年《财富》（Fortune）最具影响力的女创业家（Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs）。她对《财富》杂志讲述了她创建诚实公司的心路历程，以及如何以名人的身份向风险投资家融资。

Edited excerpts:

以下为经过编辑的访谈内容摘录：

What goal did you set out to accomplish when you founded the company?

在创建这家公司的时候，你希望实现怎样的目标？

I really found a problem that needed to be addressed and no one was out there doing it, but it makes so much sense. It makes sense to have safe, healthy non-toxic products. All my friends were at an age where they were thinking about starting a family and a lot of them had a difficult time getting pregnant. There are a lot of hormone disruptors in cleaning products and things that are off-putting to your hormones. Then it was like this ripple effect of people not wanting to be sick and wanting inexpensive products that looked good and worked well.

我当时发现一个亟待解决的问题，但市场上却没有公司关注，而这件事却有着重要的意义。那就是为消费者提供安全、健康无毒的产品。我的朋友现在都到了结婚生子的年龄，但很多人却很难怀孕。因为清洁用品中含有大量的荷尔蒙干扰物，以及其他影响荷尔蒙分泌的东西。人们不希望得病，同时还希望买到既便宜、又美观而且实用的产品，但很难买到，这就像连锁反应。

Did you ever think your idea would grow into a brand worth nearly $1 billion?

有没有想到自己的想法会成长为一个价值10亿美元的品牌？

I really didn’t put a dollar amount to it. My goal was to reach as many people globally [as possible] and really redefine the idea of a family brand. I didn’t have any values or limitations on the possibility of what that was.

我其实并没有从金钱的角度来衡量它。我的目标是将这种理念尽可能地传导给全世界更多的人，重新定义家庭用品品牌。对于公司未来发展的可能性，我当初并没有任何价值目标或限制。

How do you think your role at the company would change after a potential IPO?

你认为，即将进行的IPO完成后，你在公司内的角色会发生怎样的变化？

I am still quite hands-on and I still micro-manage probably a little too much. The details are what set us apart and me being meticulous about the details matters. It makes us feel different to everyone else out there. As long as I am the customer, I am going to be involved in marketing, packaging and design. I don’t see my role changing a whole lot, but I guess I won’t be packing boxes anymore. In the beginning, we were packing our own boxes and doing initial product tests by throwing them around in a parking lot to see if they would break. Now we have people to do those things properly. (Laughs)

我依旧会亲自参与公司运营，我还是会进行微观管理，而且我对细节的关注甚至有一点过分。细节让我们独树一帜，而我又是一个对细节一丝不苟的人。这让我们感到与众不同。只要我还在使用公司的产品，我就会参与市场营销、包装和设计。我没有感觉在公司的角色发生了任何变化，不过我想我不会再亲自参与产品包装。最初，我们会自己包装产品并进行初期产品测试，测试的方法就是在一个停车场里乱扔，看包装会不会碎。现在我们有专人通过正规的方式做这些事情。（大笑）

Do you think your celebrity status helped you or hurt you when you went out to raise funds for Honest Co.?

你觉得，当你出去为诚实公司融资时，你的名人身份有益还是有害？

When I go into rooms and talk to venture capitalists, I approach it really as a mom and as a consumer. I have a decent amount of knowledge on ingredients and toxic chemicals. I can dive deep on it and I have the day-to-day of having two kids. We are a lifestyle brand that is catering to customers like me. I am the millennial mom. It makes sense when I am in the room talking about the brand and the product. A lot of [venture capitalists] are men and have wives and they say, “My wife does the exactly the same thing.” They can all relate to the needs and desires and what was out there and having a brand that really spoke to me as a modern woman.

我会以一位妈妈和一名消费者的身份，与风险投资家磋商。对于产品成分和有毒化学物，我也有一定的了解。我可以深入谈论这个话题，而且我还有两个孩子。我们是一家生活方式品牌，目标客户正是与我一样的消费者。我是80后妈妈。所以，我去和风投谈论我们的品牌和产品，是讲得通的。许多风险投资者都是已婚男士，他们会说：“我妻子的情况和你的完全一样。”通过交谈，他们都能联想到消费者的需求和渴望、市场现状，以及一个真正能够吸引现代女性的品牌。

What about when it comes to marketing the brand?

如何进行品牌营销？

I get free marketing. I have an authentic relationship with media. When I go onThe Tonight Show or Ellen or some other show, I have already been on there seven or eight times so it is nice to be able to have that relationship with media and I do have that connections so it has saved on costs.

我获得了免费的市场营销。我与媒体的关系一直不错。我已经上过七八次《今夜秀》（The Tonight Show）或《艾伦秀》（Ellen Show），能与媒体保持良好关系确实是好事，这种关系为我节省了大量成本。

How do you juggle Honest Co. with your acting career and your family?

在诚实公司和你的演艺事业与家庭之间，你如何实现平衡？

It’s an imperfect balance and I am not sure if I do it very well. I spend most of my time at the office, but my kids’ health and well-being is my priority. I talk to my [business] partners about my responsibility with my children. I have worked around board meetings and conferences. With email, I am still involved in the process of design and it is easy to share files with Dropbox. I can still work on product development that way.

我无法达到完美的平衡，我也不确定自己是否做得足够好。我的大多数时间都在办公室里度过，但对我来说，孩子的健康快乐永远是最重要的。我与商业伙伴谈论过我需要对孩子承担的责任。我要参加董事会议和各种其他形式的会议。通过电子邮件，我依旧可以参与到设计过程当中，而且有了Dropbox，分享文件变得容易得多。我还可以通过这种方式参与产品开发。

What’s it like to shoot a movie while running a company?

一边运营一家公司，一边拍摄电影，那是一种什么样的感觉？

I have a movie out now called Sin City. You shoot it for six days over five months. That is all it took. Movies don’t really take that much time. I can go for a week and come back. It is really not time-consuming like a television show where you are on set 14 hours a day, five days a week for ten-and-a-half months. It is a difficult balance and I feel a bit crazy sometimes.

我拍摄过一部电影叫《罪恶之城》（Sin City）。你可能在5个月内只需要拍摄6天，仅此而已。拍电影花费的时间并不是很多。我可以拿出一周时间来拍摄，然后回到公司。拍电影并不像电视剧一样耗时很久，拍电视剧的时候，你可能要每周5天、每天14个小时在片场拍摄，而且这样的状态可能要持续10个半月。实际上，你很难实现两者的平衡，有时候我会觉得有一点疯狂。

What is one of the biggest misconceptions people have about you and the company?

人们对你和你的公司最大的误解之一是什么？

People think we are a baby company. We are a lifestyle company and it is about living a healthy life. A lot of journalists think we are a baby company just because we sell diapers and wipes, but we are really expanding into categories that are really adult focused.

人们认为我们是一家婴儿用品公司。实际上，我们是一家生活方式公司，我们关注的是如何健康生活。许多媒体之所以认为我们是一家婴儿用品公司，是因为我们出售纸尿裤和柔湿巾，但事实上我们正在增加针对成年人的产品。

Is turning the company into a lifestyle brand one of your goals with the latest round of funding?

将公司变成一个生活方式品牌，是你最近一轮融资的目标之一吗？

Definitely. We want to get into beauty and skin care and we are also looking into home. We are exploring building out our deck and thinking about how we can build these products in an affordable price points in all these categories. We are also thinking about international expansion and going into China and Europe.

当然。我们希望涉足美容护肤行业，家居也是我们的目标之一。我们正在研究扩建平台，以及如何以更实惠的价格生产各种类别的产品。我们也在考虑海外扩张，并计划进入中国和欧洲市场。

What’s the best advice you got along the way when building Honest Co.?

在创建诚实公司的过程中，你得到的最好建议是什么？

If you are going to fail, fail fast and move on. Learn from your failures and move on. There are several failures that we had along the way. We didn’t even test our website when we launched. We didn’t have the technology to really change orders in the first month or two. What you got is what you got, if you didn’t like it you got a full refund. We learned through our mistakes. Luckily, there hasn’t been anything that we haven’t been able to learn and move and grow from.

如果你即将面临失败，不妨迅速了结，然后继续前进。从失败中总结教训，然后继续前进。一路走来，我们也遭遇过许多次失败。我们的网站刚上线时，甚至没有进行测试。在前一两个月，网站甚至都不能提供订单修改的功能。消费者一旦下订单便无法更改订单，如果不喜欢可以全额退款。我们从错误中不断学习总结。幸运的是，到现在为止，还没有我们学不会的东西，我们正在学习中不断成长、进步。