How PopSockets broke the VC-backed consumer hardware mold

Episode notes

Does a consumer hardware company need to get on the VC treadmill to succeed? Eleven years and 290 million products sold across 115 countries later, PopSockets has proven that the bootstrapped, low-dilution path more viable than the industry gives it credit for. The global consumer hardware brand was built on less than $500k, no institutional capital, and a philosophy professor's determination. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Dominic-Madori Davis caught up with founder and former CEO of PopSockets David Barnett to talk about how he scaled from a Boulder garage, stood up to Amazon at a $10 - 20 million cost, and eventually handed off the CEO role to someone who'd grown up inside the company. Listen to the full episode to hear: How a house fire and some insurance money became the unlikely seed funding for a global brand What nearly sinking the company in manufacturing defects actually taught him about building one that lasts How ignoring his investors' advice turned out to be the right call What he looked for in a successor CEO (and why culture was non-negotiable) What he'd do completely differently if he launched PopSockets today

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