The mood was tense as David Daneshgar made his way to the final table at the end of a grueling, day-long poker tournament. He and two friends, Farbod Shoraka and Gregg Weisstein, had arrived at the Commerce Casino, a card room east of Los Angeles, for breakfast; it was now long past dinner. Daneshgar, who won a bracelet in an event at the 2008 World Series of Poker, had turned his $1,000 buy-in into a wad of potential as he picked off most of the 70 entrants. Finally, a single opponent remained. The other player shouted and pumped his fist in the air as he laid down two pairs on his final hand. But Daneshgar also held two pairs, and his were higher.
When Daneshgar collected the $27,000 in prize money later that night, he wasn’t dreaming of cars, parties, or island vacations. Instead, an exhilarating thought crystallized in his mind as he turned to his friends: “It’s flower time.”
As startup stories go, BloomNation’s is among the less likely–and the source of its initial funding is no exception. The idea that a poker pro would invest his winnings into a bid to shake up the floral business sounds far-fetched. But that’s how Daneshgar, Shoraka, and Weisstein financed the launch of BloomNation in 2011, and since then, the online marketplace has blossomed into what its founders envision as the Etsy of the flower industry. Now the young company is undertaking a major expansion. After successful launches in L.A., Las Vegas, and Chicago, BloomNation is prepping for a big move into the East Coast this spring. In early April the team will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet and recruit local florists, and they will embark on similar membership drives in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia around Mother’s Day.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Fast Company
