When Bartlett and a couple friends pooled $3,000 to launch men's apparel brand True Classic in 2019, he'd never sold clothing before. But the idea behind True Classic, affordable shirts built to flatteringly fit the everyman, seemed to resonate with people. The mistake, he says, nearly put True Classic out of business. Now, finally, True Classic is once again positioned to compete with direct-to-consumer rivals like Everlane and Vuori, and clothing giants like Nike and Ralph Lauren. True Classic spent $40 million on its first inventory order for the year.

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Persons: Ryan Bartlett's, Bartlett, he'd, — Nick Ventura, Matthew Winnick —, Ralph Lauren, who'd, should've, couldn't Organizations: CNBC, Nike, Facebook Locations: Los Angeles, Ventura