Frictionless: Why the Future of Everything Will Be Fast, Fluid, and Made Just for You ―A Visionary Guide to Entrepreneurship in the Era of Frictionless Commerce

Serial entrepreneur Christiane Lemieux describes the new rules of entrepreneurship and business, arguing that visionary startups leverage the concept of “frictionless” to beat their competitors.

Based on interviews with dozens of startup founders, experts and scholars on entrepreneurship, Frictionless provides readers with a wide-ranging education in starting companies that thrive in the world of frictionless commerce―made possible by new technologies, a new mindset, and new demands from Millennial consumers. Working with bestselling author and journalist Duff McDonald, Lemieux also shares her own story―lessons learned, failures absorbed―at the helm of DwellStudio (which was acquired by Wayfair) and her latest venture, The Inside.

Some founders profiled in the book are reducing friction in their own business models, others reduce friction through improved customer experiences, and still others are revolutionizing their operations to create frictionless organizations. Readers will glean lessons from the founders of well-known companies such as Instant Pot, Bonobos, Hims, and Halo Top―as well as upstarts Billie, Dame Products, and Convene.

Frictionless outlines the groundwork necessary for getting a company up-and-running and explains how companies make and market products and services while meeting the demands of their customers and employees today. Frictionless is the essential handbook for creating tomorrow’s mind set and competitive advantage.

Learn the new rules of entrepreneurship and gain a competitive edge with these key lessons:

• The Frictionless Framework: Go beyond the buzzword and learn how to apply the principles of frictionless commerce to your own business model, customer journey, and operations.
• Lessons from Startup Founders: Gain insights from dozens of interviews with the founders behind disruptive brands like Bonobos, Hims, and Halo Top, learning directly from their successes and failures.
• Direct-to-Consumer Strategy: Master the modern playbook for building a direct-to-consumer brand, from meeting the demands of Millennial consumers to competing in the age of Amazon.
• The Founder’s Journey: Follow Christiane Lemieux’s own entrepreneurial path, from building and selling DwellStudio to Wayfair to launching her next venture, The Inside.

Christiane Lemieux is a serial entrepreneur. She is the founder of direct-to-consumer home furnishings brand, The Inside and also operates and designs her namesake lifestyle brand, Lemieux et Cie. The first company she founded, DwellStudio, sold to Wayfair in 2013, where Lemieux served as Wayfair’s Executive Creative Director until 2016. Additionally, she was a co-host and a judge on Ellen Degeneres’ HGTV furniture design competition show Ellen’s Design Challenge.

Lemieux authored her first book to critical acclaim in 2011, titled Undecorate and released her second best-selling book The Finer Things in 2016. Her most recent book focused on the new rules of entrepreneurship and business, Frictionless, goes on sale this June 2020. Lemieux is a frequent contributor to Architectural Digest, Apartment Therapy and other design media. 

Lemieux has been listed as one of Fortune’s 2012 'Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, sits on the board of Every Mother Counts, and is a passionate philanthropist. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design and Queen’s University in Canada and resides in New York City. 

Duff McDonald is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business, Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase, and The Golden Passport and the coauthor of The CEO, a satire. A contributing editor at the New York Observer, he has also written for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York, Esquire, Fortune, Businessweek, GQ, Wired, Time, Newsweek, and other publications. He lives in New York.