Proof Data Can’t Always Help You Make Decisions

I started Adore Me, an e-commerce lingerie startup, at age 29 by trusting my gut. It surprised everyone, myself included, as I was always a die-hard, data-driven decision maker. With a masters degree in mathematics and computer science from Les Mines in Paris—the French equivalent of MIT—followed by three years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and a Harvard Business School MBA, every single business decision I made was based on dry, number-backed rationale.

And that’s exactly why I knew, for the first time in my life, that I needed to put data aside and trust my gut: when it refused to be easily overpowered by pure rationale.

See also: Doing This Will Help You Make Tough Decisions

While at Harvard, I got the idea for Adore Me when I tried to buy lingerie on a budget as a birthday gift for my girlfriend. I realized the lingerie market was underserviced and saw a venture opportunity there. As a guy who had never shopped for lingerie before, I had absolutely no knowledge of the market, so I did what I do best: looked for data.

I did some heavy researching and everything I found only emphasized what a terrible idea it was to start a lingerie company: A single player whose reign seemed never-ending fully dominated the lingerie market, barriers to entry were sky-high, and every single player that had tried to penetrate the lingerie market had failed—even huge brands with a lot of money and resources like Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and the now-deceased Fredericks of Hollywood.

The data clearly pointed out that this was a no-go. As a usually very rational guy, the story should have ended right then because data was telling me to give up.

But for the first time in my life, I had a gnawing feeling that didn’t go away. And because that gut feeling went so against the very definition of my data-driven DNA, I knew I just couldn’t ignore it. And so I, a man with no knowledge of lingerie, started a lingerie startup.

Today, Adore Me has raised $11.5 million from VCs and private investors, has 86 employees, and is ranked No. 14 on the fastest-growing company in America on the Inc. 500 list. Sometimes, when you follow your gut, others follow suit.

Morgan Hermand-Waiche is founder and CEO of Adore Me, a disruptive e-commerce startup revolutionizing the lingerie industry, ranked No. 2 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies in NYC. With $11.5 million raised from VCs and private investors, Morgan leads a team of 86 employees across the U.S. And Europe.

Read all responses to the Entrepreneur Insider question: When making a tough business decision, how do you know when to trust your gut?

Here’s What Happens When You Don’t Trust Your Gut by Gesche Haas, founder of Dreamers//Doers.

Here’s What You Should Do When You Have to Make a Tough Decision by Alexander Goldstein, founder and CEO of Eligo Energy.

Never Make a Big Decision Without Doing This First by Feris Rifai, cofounder and CEO of Bay Dynamics.

Here’s How Questioning Decisions Can Ruin a Business by Pat Peterson, founder and CEO of Agari.