Investor Update — Strategic Partnership
Nina Takesh
Founding Creative Director
An overview of the proposed partnership structure, role scope, and strategic rationale — prepared for investor review.
Audience reach
1M+
Followers across Instagram, TikTok & YouTube
Proven track record
Ruggable
Top-performing creative collaborator & product driver
Deal structure
Equity
Early-stage stake + active Founding Creative Director role
Who Nina is
Top collaborator for Ruggable — Nina’s Ruggable collection is the #2 best-selling collaboration in the brand’s history, second only to Jonathan Adler. She is one of the most commercially effective tastemakers in the home and interior design space, with a demonstrated ability to move product at scale.
Expert on-camera content creator — Highly skilled on camera with active, engaged audiences across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. She has already produced unprompted organic content about Roman shades and how to select the right fabric — demonstrating authentic, pre-existing alignment with The Shadery’s exact category.
Two-sided design authority — Nina reaches both end consumers and fellow design professionals, making her uniquely valuable: top-of-funnel consumer awareness and trade-level credibility in the same partnership.
Motivated by founding-level equity — Nina joined Ruggable after it was already an established brand. The Shadery represents a rare opportunity for her to come in at the ground floor as a true brand partner with equity stake — the core driver of her excitement and the reason she is open to a deeper structural relationship than a standard influencer arrangement.
Scope of involvement
01
Creative Advisement
Ongoing trend analysis on what her clients and audience are shopping. Connections to fabric and pattern vendors within her trade network. Direct input on product and brand direction as a founding creative voice.
02
Project Installations & Shoots
The Shadery will be featured in a contracted minimum number of her active client design projects annually — creating an ongoing, authentic stream of real-world installation content. Her own home is also available as a shoot location.
03
Consumer Education Content
Dedicated video content — across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram — educating buyers on how The Shadery works: how to measure, choose fabrics, install, and swap panels. Content is owned by The Shadery and distributed across its channels.
04
Brand Figurehead & Voice
Nina serves as The Shadery’s primary creative ambassador — West Coast, with geographic exclusivity. Her presence is additive to the brand story: The Shadery is the brand; Nina is a founding pillar and creative authority within it. The structure also preserves the opportunity to bring on additional ambassadors over time, including an East Coast / New York-based designer to build presence in that market.
05
Trade Network & Vendor Access
Introductions to designers, fabricators, and trade community figures within her network. Directly accelerates The Shadery’s trade program development and launch partner pipeline in the design industry.
06
Equity Alignment
Nina’s team has proposed an equity stake, reflecting long-term brand commitment. Her financial upside is directly tied to The Shadery’s success — an alignment structure rare in influencer and creative partnerships.
Why this matters for the raise
Addresses pre-launch risk directly. Investor hesitation has centered on whether consumers will discover and buy the product. A Ruggable-affiliated tastemaker with 1M+ engaged followers — who demonstrably moves product — directly counters that concern with a known, proven model.
Validates the collaboration playbook. Investors excited about The Shadery’s Ruggable analogy now have a direct Ruggable connection as proof of concept. This is not a hypothetical comparison — it is a literal extension of the same creative partnership model, with one of Ruggable’s own key collaborators.
Strengthens the team narrative. Once finalized, Nina’s role as Founding Creative Director adds a meaningful, credentialed name to the founding team page — with the Ruggable association doing significant work in a single line of context.
Immediate next steps
01
NDA execution — NDA to be sent to Nina’s team imminently to enable formal material sharing and a richer conversation about structure.
02
Introductory call — First direct meeting between Matt and Nina (and teams) to align on vision, creative direction, and deal framework.
03
In-person NYC meeting — Coordinating around Nina’s NYC travel schedule for a live product demo and in-depth relationship conversation.
04
Deal structure alignment — Define equity terms, project minimums, content commitments, West Coast exclusivity, and announcement timing collaboratively with Nina’s team.