Calling It Quits

Alexis Tryon co-founded Artsicle in NYC in 2010 to sell original art online to the masses—people wanting to decorate their homes without dropping millions of dollars at auctions. The company’s early days were promising, with glowing reviews and artists signing up to sell their work on the platform every week. Venture money soon followed.

But then business plateaued. A hundred customers signed up the first year … and the second year …