When Jen Bekman burst on the New York scene in 2007 with innovative art company 20x200, she didn't have a edgy concept or assisted venture capitalist cash to stir interest
Fixated with a passion to make art as accessible as possible, Bekman conceived her brand the old-fashioned way — relying on the wide network of established friends she'd built over the years and her background as an art gallery owner and Internet entrepreneur to get it off the ground
"I just reached out to people I knew and said, ‘I don't have the money to do this right now but I really believe in what I'm doing, and I know it's going to work,’" Bekman said of the early days of her site, which lets customers buy limited edition fine art prints in a range of sizes and prices starting as low as $24.
Bekman's hard work paid off, as 20x200 will celebrate its fifth anniversary on September 5, ousting the odds and bringing in capital — an estimated $7 million in 2012 alone.
"I call it the gateway drug of the art world," Bekman joked. "We give people a taste of the good stuff and that gets them hooked."
Original Article By
ALLISON JOYCE/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
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