Entrepreneur Sukhinder Singh Cassidy founded Joyus with the hopes of providing women with entertaining “shoppable” video content. The Indian American executive is seen here speaking onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 at Pier 70 on Sept. 23, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. (Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)
San Francisco, Calif.-based Joyus is an online video entertainment network dedicated to shopping. After having spent some time in Google and Polyvore, where her eyes opened to the rising fashion trends, the transition to Joyus seemed to make sense.
“I saw how much women loved rich content online and the opportunity to use that to directly drive purchase was clear,” Cassidy told India-West.
Cassidy, 45, who calls Atherton, Calif., home, wanted to be an entrepreneur since she was a child. Her father, a doctor who ran his own medical practice, loved running a small business, she said.
“He always encouraged me to work for myself,” she explained. “And that lesson stuck with me.”
Founded in 2011, Joyus is a rich lifestyle shopping experience that offers products and expert advice on how to use them in the areas of beauty and style. All the products are delivered through “shoppable” videos.
The crux of the site is to delight women daily with great products, expert advice and entertainment, Cassidy said. Joyus is available through its website, a network of partner sites and on its mobile app.
Though the company is around five years old, there is still great opportunity for growth.
“Mobile continues to be an area of massive opportunity with 35 percent of our revenues and 50 percent of our email opens already on the mobile phone,” she told India-West. “But there is no doubt that people love to consume short videos on their mobile devices, and we believe we can offer an even more immersive experience here.
“We also continue to offer deeper product selection and more great discovery every day,” she added.
In addition to Joyus, which boasts offices in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, Cassidy recently launched a social entrepreneurship initiative focused on helping to drive global business performance through gender diversity called ChoosePossibility. The first product of the initiative is www.theBoardlist.com.
Cassidy said theBoardlist is a “curated marketplace that seeks to match highly-endorsed women leaders with great private and public board opportunities starting in the tech industry.”
A graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Cassidy — who was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to parents of Sikh descent — has also spent time at Merrill Lynch, British Sky Broadcasting and Accel Partners in varying positions. She also co-founded Yodlee, Inc., where she served as the senior vice president of business development. Additionally, she serves as a board member at TripAdvisor and Ericsson.