Скачать или смотреть Founder Hour S2E18: Xero Shoes

Join host Joe Pawlak as he sits down with Steven Sashen, co-founder and Chief Barefoot Officer of Xero Shoes, for an incredible founder story spanning 15+ years in the barefoot footwear space. From accidentally creating a lifestyle business that customers say "changed their lives" to navigating rapid growth challenges and supply chain nightmares, Steven shares raw insights about bootstrapping, scaling, and the realities of taking private equity money. This episode dives deep into eCommerce strategies, the future of AI in retail, and why sometimes the biggest challenge isn't getting customers—it's having enough inventory to serve them.

Key Highlights:
• From Hobby to Life-Changing Business: Steven never intended to build a major footwear company—Xero Shoes started as a "lifestyle hobby" to solve his own running injuries, but quickly evolved when customers kept saying "you've changed my life," proving that solving your own problem can create massive market opportunities.
• The "Good Problem" That Nearly Broke Them: Xero Shoes' biggest challenge wasn't customer acquisition but cash flow—growing 100% year-over-year while being inventory-heavy meant constantly scrambling for capital, cycling through credit cards, and eventually needing private equity just to keep products in stock.
• Test Everything, Trust Nothing: Steven's philosophy of "I don't care what anyone tells me—show me the data" led to discovering that common eCommerce "best practices" (like trust seals) actually hurt their conversions, emphasizing the importance of testing over following conventional wisdom.

Xero Shoes' website: https://xeroshoes.com/