Recently, team ZAO presented at a “shark tank inspired” demo night. For those unfamiliar with the reality TV show, it features business pitches by entrepreneurs to a panel of investors (“sharks”). Our version included a panel of New York City based VCs and a live audience of 200 with rolling cameras. Despite what was meant as a pressure test during the Q&A, Ling and I emerged relatively unscathed. We did receive one question that we’ve never had to address before, and I am going to expound on it here in greater detail in case others have been wondering the same.

The exact question, which wasn’t really a question at first, but more of an accusation, was that we had intentionally misrepresented our market size. That is, the market consisting of a particular demographic of American women who purchase accessories, jewelry and handbags within a certain price range. The follow up questions were, “what subset of that group will purchase Asian things? What subset of your customer base is Asian-American?” implying that our product is somehow directed towards or made exclusively for Asians.

Whoa there. Back. It. Up.

Quite the contrary. We relocated ZAOZAO to the US as a direct result of experience running our crowdfunding platform in Hong Kong, realizing that Asian people don’t buy Asian stuff. Not to mention a growing trend of cultural exploration Eastward. This answer did not do much in the way of quelling the contentious judge. “You don’t have to lie about it, it’s ok if it’s actually smaller”, he condescended. Fair point, but that’s not what we were purporting it to be.

The fact that our product comes from Asia has nothing to do with the size of the potential demand because our customer buys awesome things from anywhere. It’s not like there is a segment of Asian fetishers that purposely seek out Asian things and buy Asian things exclusively…if there is, then they certainly aren’t limited to unique jewelry, accessories and handbags. Whether we source from Asia or Africa doesn’t change the size of the opportunity. I’d buy an authentic tribal hand-carved bracelet made by Namibian villagers, and it’s not because I have rampant jungle fever.

The Asia aspect simply anchors our positioning and content to create a unique point of view. In biz terms, it’s the hook that drives customer acquisition and engagement. We’re not going to be all things to all people; that’s one illusion we’re not under. In user terms, it’s for that wanderlusting, free-spirited yet ambitious woman in her 20’s and 30’s who sees fashion as a means of expressing herself, highlighting in particular these qualities from within. She finds statement jewels that speak to her, regardless of her own ethnicity and whether or not she’s ever stepped foot in Asia.

For once, it’s not about race.