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Sharpshirter Interview

Hey guys, it’s David from SEIBEI – awhile back, I got a bunch of messages from this guy Dan Lachman, who was looking for advice on getting his line, SharpShirter, into stores. So, I told him what I knew about getting in touch with buyers, good ways to scope out potential stores, and whatever else I could think of, and he ran with it – now, he’s kicking ass in retail stores, and the first guy I turn to for advice on getting more retail accounts.

Dang. Fortunately, Dan was cool enough to take some time to answer a few of our questions, and tell us a bit more about where he’s taking SharpShirter.

Dan’s got a new website in the works, but and you can check out a lot of his latest designs at Oak Aquarium (http://www.oakaquarium.com/index.php/manufacturers_id/18/sort/3a/page/1).

I’ve read other features on you about how you got started and such, so tell us, what made you decide to go ahead and start your own company in an already flooded market?

Well, I started coming up with t-shirt ideas when I was in 10th grade. I thought it would be cool to send out my ideas to t-shirt companies, have them print my ideas, and then I could get $50 and a free shirt or two. After sending my ideas over to a couple of sites, they hated them. In a moment of high school angst I decided that I would make the designs myself and make those companies rue the day that they didn’t take my stuff. The one problem was that I couldn’t draw. In the next year or so, I worked on tracking down some fantastic designers to help me bring my ideas to life (this year of searching was a blessing in disguise because the t-shirt companies were right: my ideas had sucked!). Now armed with sweet designers and better ideas, Sharp Shirter slowly evolved from a high school pipedream into a business with the possibility of being my full time job once I finish college.

Tell us about the SharpShirter aesthetic – is there something you’re aiming for? I personally think of you in kind of the same area as No Star – kind of that college humor vibe, but with solid design. Are there any other lines you think are kind of in the same vein as SharpShirter, or that you look up to?

I’m actually shifting my aesthetic from the funny haha word shirt to captivating images with little to no words on them. All of my new designs debuting on my site hopefully by the end of August are much more artsy than my first run. A word shirt can get old after you wear it once, but a great design never seems to lose its appeal.
I’d have to say that the guys I both admire and am trying to compete with are: Defunker, Spraygraphic, Ames Bros etc…

This is the question I ask everyone – is there anything you’re tired of seeing in t-shirt design?

How many words do you have for this interview? I doubt you’d be able to finish it with my answer to this question. Top 3 design concepts that make me wince/smile politely: “Everyone Loves A ________”, any type of location shirt (especially Ithaca), and shirts with hearts. Also, those out of focus 3-D looking ones…they hurt my eyes.

In your second season, I think my favorite is “Bring It”, which is a three panel battle between a bear and a penguin that’s really well done. It seems like some of your second season – Not So Dandy, Storm Trooper, and Bring It in particular – have a bit more of a Threadless vibe than last season, which brings me to this question: how often are SharpShirter designs ideas that you contract out, and how many are completed designs (say, expired Threadless submissions) that you purchase?

Oh no! You know my secret! Anyways…Of my new designs, only the Well of Tears and Bring It were expired submissions from Threadless. After a couple of my own design concepts fell flat on their face, and I paid the price for a useless design, I decided that there was nothing wrong with buying a sweet design that no one wanted to print. If I have the ability to spot a hidden gem that no one wanted to print at Threadless, I think that’s just as good as coming up with my own design.

Now, some nuts and bolts questions: how do you keep it all together during the school year? Does anyone help you with the day-to-day operations?

If you buy any of my t-shirts during the Wesleyan school year, you’ll have it in the mail to you the next day sealed with a kiss from my mom. I love you Mom.

One of the things I’m most impressed with is what I’m guessing is a pretty good knack for cold-calling – from conversations we’ve had, you seem to have a pretty decent success rate with retailers, and you’ve scored some pretty nice accounts. Could you give us mere mortals any tips? Are there any mistakes you made in the beginning that you’d be kind enough to help the rest of us avoid?

I’d be happy to share a bit of my marketing success. Just as a side note, I was extremely frustrated when I asked for some marketing tips from an already successful t-shirt tycoon, and was rejected. I decided that from then on, I’d assist my fellow t-shirters with advice so that we could build more of a friendly community vs. what do I get from giving this info.
Anyhoo, in response to your question, retailers for the most part will forget you. Don’t take it personally if you don’t get a call back from a retailer that said they were interested in your product two weeks ago. The trick is to keep a strict calendar of who you called and when. It’s kinda like that scene in Swingers when they talk about when you should call a girl back. Basically, you want to come off as persistent but not naggy. Here are my big points:

1. When you cold-call a company, ask if they sell men’s/women’s tees, and if they buy from outside vendors (for example, The Gap and Old Navy are all in-store printing).
2. If they say they do, tell them who you are and what you represent.
3. Ask if you could speak with whoever is in charge of buying your product. If you do get that person on the phone, politely ask them if they are by their computer and have a quick minute to look at your product. This point is very important, because if you just get their email address and send them your info, they will forget you. You need confirmation that they’ve seen it and hate it vs. no word from them.
4. If they say they’ll check out the site when you send them an email, send them the email, but follow up ASAP. Retailers get more email than you can imagine. No response is not NO. Just for the record, I get rejected daily. Don’t take it personally. Be happy that they are one name on the list that you don’t need to call again. That’s the way I look at it.

So, why don’t you list retailers on your site? Is that going to change when the new one comes out?

That actually won’t change with the new site. I’m happy to give people advice on how to go about breaking into the industry, but since I sell to a lot of stores that have a limited budget on their t-shirt buying, I don’t want to invite competition.

What kind of future plans do you have for SharpShirter? Any plans to attend any of the trade shows next year? Any other big projects in the works?

Oh yeah! I’m going to walk MAGIC; other shows that I’m going to be at are Cap Fringe in DC, Black Stitch in Philly, Renegade in NY next summer and hopefully many more. I’m just chugging along with the shirts right now. I’d like to double the girl’s line by next summer, add some more men’s tees and bring out a youth section. Maybe move into tote/messenger bags later on.

Awesome! Have your college plans changed at all with SharpShirter’s success? What are your plans for the school year when the order volume gets to be too much for your mom?

The whole college major thing actually has become an issue recently. Wesleyan is a very artsy school and doesn’t offer any business courses, so I’m planning on taking an academic leave of absence this coming spring, and will go to either Georgetown or AU to take a couple of business courses in hopes of better preparing me to deal with my company.

My mom’s retired now and loves being my unpaid volunteer (so she says). I do however hope that things get too out of control for her because that will mean big bucks for me!

Alright, big ups to Dan for answering a few of our questions, and giving us some solid advice on selling those t-shirts and getting that loot. Be sure to keep an eye on Dan Lachman’s SharpShirter and cop some of his Season 2 gear once the new site is launched! now!