In 1998, David Wilkenfeld—who describes himself as “kind of entrepreneurial”– approached his father about starting a business. His father had been in the garment industry for decades, and the then-40-year-old David suggested that they begin selling dresses on the internet.

His father agreed, and with a partner, they started an on-line business.

“After a year,” Wilkenfeld recently recounted, “they said, ‘this is a total waste of time,’ and I took it over.”