????沒有接受過正規的時尚教育，沒有MBA學歷，憑著個人出資100萬美元，托里?伯奇從2004年開始銷售”買得起的奢侈品”，如今這家公司價值已達幾十億美元。

????但這位時尚界的幸運兒近來經歷了一場”創業者的噩夢”——上周，我在斯坦福大學（Stanford University）對托里?伯奇進行獨家采訪時談到了她公司共同創始人的離開，當時我用的就是這個詞。自從伯奇了結與前共同創始人克里斯?伯奇的法律糾紛以來，這是她首次接受采訪。曾經的共同創始人如今已變身咄咄逼人的競爭對手，而這位競爭對手的另外兩個身份則是她的前夫和她三個兒子的父親。克里斯?伯奇用C. Wonder的名字創立了一家連鎖店，類似于Tory Burch、Kate Spade和J. Crew品牌的低端版，出售與Tory Burch相似但價格更低的商品，包括把Tory Burch帶到國際品牌高度的的雙T標識芭蕾舞平底鞋。

????根據去年12月底達成的法律和解，克里斯?伯奇調整了零售理念，退出Tory Burch董事會，還把在Tory Burch持有的28.3%股份賣出了一半。

????任何一方都不準公開談論此項法律訴訟或和解情況。但幾個月前就答應我、要在斯坦福大學與我坐下來談談的托里?伯奇還是就引入投資者給出了她的建議：“我總是看到有很多創業者過早地讓出公司太多股份。”

????現年46歲的托里?伯奇早年在拉夫?勞倫（Ralph Lauren）和其他時尚大品牌的工作經歷為她奠定了創業基礎，但直到最近歷盡波折，她才認識到投資人的重要性。收購克里斯?伯奇股份的兩位新投資人分別是康涅狄格州投資公司General Atlantic和芝加哥投資公司BDT Capital Partners。

????“不是一見鐘情，”托里?伯奇告訴斯坦福大學的師生和校友們說。她花了約一年時間來了解General Atlantic的CEO比爾?福德和BDT的布萊恩?特羅特，評估他們的期望、衡量他們的可信度，心中一直在權衡一個關鍵的問題：“（它們的投資）會對公司未來五年或十年產生什么影響？”

????福德和特羅特說服伯奇，他們是有耐心的投資者，和她一樣關注長期成長。特羅特是前高盛（Goldman Sachs）銀行家，曾經頗受當時的客戶沃倫?巴菲特的贊賞，2009年之后離開高盛，設立了自己的公司。除了新購入Tory Burch的股份，特羅特的BDT Capital還持有Peet's Coffee and Tea、Caribou Coffee和Weber燒烤用品制造商的股份。General Atlantic的投資組合則包括Facebook、Gilt Groupe、中國互聯網巨頭阿里巴巴（Alibaba）和一些中國消費品公司。這家公司的投資持有期通常為5-7年，長于很多競爭對手。

????當然，兩家投資者都不愿冒險，直到托里?伯奇了結了與前夫的法律糾紛才開始投資。隨著克里斯?伯奇（和托里?伯奇一樣，九年前也投資了100萬美元）賣出一半的持股，托里?伯奇已是這家同名公司的大股東，持股28.3%。她的新投資人對公司的估值是25億多美元。按照這個數字計算，她的持股價值已超過7億美元。

????Tory Burch公司擁有83家獨立門店，同時也在1,000家百貨商店和專賣店中出售色彩亮麗的運動服飾和配件，年營收約8億美元。現在，特羅特和福特有望成為公司重要的顧問，幫助這位設計師兼CEO加快公司的全球性增長。

????Tory Burch公司會上市嗎？或許，但托里?伯奇表示，近期沒有IPO計劃。事實上，她認為與增長同樣重要的一件事是克制。她說：“我們是一個非常有耐心的品牌。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：早稻米

????With no formal education in fashion, no MBA and just $1 million of her own capital, Tory Burch started selling "affordable luxury" in 2004 and built a business now worth billions.

????But the golden girl of the fashion industry recently experienced "every entrepreneur's nightmare"--as I called her company's partnership gone awry, in an exclusive Q&A with Burch at Stanford University last week. Our on-stage session was Burch's first interview since she resolved a legal battle with her co-founder who became a fierce competitor. In her case, the competitor is her ex-husband and the father of her three sons. Using the name C. Wonder, Chris Burch opened a chain of stores that seem like a downmarket mix of Tory Burch and Kate Spade and J. Crew, with Tory-like but cheaper merchandise, including the signature logoed ballet flats that helped make Tory Burch a global brand.

????The legal settlement, finalized in late December, has Chris Burch revamping his retail concept, leaving the Tory Burch board, and selling about half of his 28.3% stake in her company.

????Neither party is permitted to speak about the legal battle or the settlement. But Tory Burch, who committed months ago to sit down with me at Stanford, offered this advice about bringing on investors: "One thing I see all the time with entrepreneurs is that they give too much of their company away way too soon."

????Burch, 46, earned her entrepreneurial chops while working early in her career for Ralph Lauren (RL) and other fashion icons, but lately learned about partnerships the hard way. Her new partners, who acquired her ex-husband shares, are Connecticut-based investment firm General Atlantic and Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners.

????"It was not a just-met situation," Burch told the audience of Stanford students, faculty and alumni. She spent a year or so getting to know General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford and BDT's Byron Trott, assessing their visions, gauging their integrity, and keeping in mind a key question: "How is [their investment] going to affect the company five, ten years from now?"

????Ford and Trott convinced Burch that they're patient investors, as focused on long-term growth as she is. Trott is a former Goldman Sachs (GS) banker who earned the favor of his client Warren Buffett (BRKA) and left Goldman in 2009 to open his own firm. Trott's BDT Capital has, in addition to its new position in Tory Burch, stakes in Peet's Coffee and Tea, Caribou Coffee, and the maker of Weber grills. General Atlantic's portfolio includes Facebook (FB), Gilt Groupe, Chinese Internet giant Alibaba, and a collection of Chinese-based consumer companies. The firm typically holds on to its investments for five to seven years, longer than many of its rivals.

????Of course, neither investor was game to bet on Tory Burch until she settled with her ex. Now that Chris (who like Tory, invested $1 million nine years ago) has unloaded half his holdings, Tory is her namesake company's largest shareholder, with 28.3% of the stock. Her new investors valued her business at more than $2.5 billion--making her stake worth more than $700 million.

????With 83 freestanding stores and her colorful sportswear and accessories in 1,000 department and specialty stores, Tory Burch brings in some $800 million in annual revenue. Now Trott and Ford are expected to be key advisers and help the designer-CEO accelerate her company's global growth.

????Will Tory Burch go public? Probably, but Burch says that an IPO is not in her plan soon. One thing she values practically as much as growth: restraint. "We're a very patient brand," she says.