Framebridge (A): Reimagining Custom Framing

In December 2018, Susan Tynan, founder and CEO of Framebridge, a four-year-old venture-backed startup that sold online custom framing, formulated plans for the future. Her vision was to revolutionize the $4 billion industry by making custom framing easy, transparent, and affordable by leveraging digital technology and automation. Early demand for the product was strong, and Framebridge began experimenting in retail. The company built a high-tech, robotics-driven manufacturing plant in Kentucky but struggled to achieve economies of scale. In the first part of this two-part series (B case 723-353), Tynan needed to decide whether to pivot her operations strategy or remain true to the tech-enabled robotics approach in which her backers had invested. Further, she had to determine her vision for retail and how this might impact the business model.