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Sure siblings Howard and Gail Sonnenschein seemed destined fortheir roles as purveyors of wholesome fun via their"Disneyland meets the beach" site Bikini.com. Between their swimwearfabric manufacturer father and swimwear boutique proprietor mother,walls of the family abode donning vibrant fabric as opposed towallpaper wasn't atypical, nor was co-producing swimsuitspecials for E! Entertainment Television.
A beach brand with a diversified revenue model (of whichlicensing things like swimwear and calendars featuring Bikini.comsupermodels brings in most dollars) and a multifaceted site thatresurrects Frankie and Annette fun seemed the obvious route the duowould take. But Howard always knew "founder" would followhis name. "I love the word [entrepreneur]," he says.
Good thing, because the Sonnenscheins should enjoy a long haulwith Bikini.com, founded in 1997 with the intention of gettingtheir guy- and girl-friendly beach programming to TV. Expectingprofitability next year, the site has already received greatreception, a cover piece in Variety and meetings with TVexecs after exhibiting at a trade show last January. "I feelthe same as I did when we invested our savings and were working inan apartment," says Howard. "It's like being a bullin a bullfight-just charging ahead until it happens."
They secured the perfect name ("If we didn't get thatexact name, we wouldn't have done the project," saysHoward); they've also gotten about 50 investors fromentertainment, merchandising and the VC world. Expect to see andhear a lot more from the Sonnenscheins.
