As a product developer, Bob Monahan worked with some iconic brands: the Pump at Reebok, the Taurus and Mustang at Ford. When he moved on to work at a baby products company, he happened to discover another set of wheels that caught his eye: a sleek-looking stroller that could accommodate a car-seat or a bassinet. Bob was itching to start his own venture, so in 2006, with the help of his wife Lauren, he launched UPPAbaby and started selling a European-style stroller at an "entry-level luxury" price. As a dad himself, Bob guessed that other dads would be intrigued by UPPAbaby's design; meanwhile, big-name celebrities started to use the stroller, and photos of them pushing it helped accelerate sales. The brand grew quickly, and 15 years after its launch, UPPAbaby employs over 100 people and sells strollers in more than 50 countries.

While working at a farmers market in Chicago, Jennifer Martin had a Jack-in-the Beanstalk moment - a chance encounter with some tiny kernels, which wound up growing into a small giant of a business: Pipcorn, snacks made of heirloom corn. Along with her brother Jeff and sister-in-law Teresa, Jennifer launched the brand in 2012, hand-popping mounds of popcorn and hand-stamping the packaging. Within a few months, the team was featured on Oprah, and within a few years, they were on Shark Tank, but each time the publicity nearly derailed them, forcing them to scramble to meet demand. Today, Pipcorn has expanded to include cracker, dippers, and cheese balls, and is sold in more than 10,000 stores across the country. 

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Show Notes:

2:22 - Intro
5:22 - Lauren’s experience with ice hockey
7:08 - Bob and Lauren at Reebok
8:15 - Bob and Lauren meet
10:10 - Bob goes to First Years
12:10 - Lauren has a baby, Bob starts at Safety 1st
15:20 - Research begins strollers
17:10 - Starting a company
20:03 - The market
24:58 - The modular stroller
25:45 - The name UPPAbaby
26:06 - Getting the first strollers made
28:25 - The first trade show
30:26 - The successful trade show in Vegas
32:10 - Growth
33:35 - Getting the word out
37:00 - Lauren takes over sales and marketing
38:09 - The office
41:40 - Meeting with Buy Buy Baby
42:48 - The financial crisis
44:15 - The consumers
45:48 - This is going to be big
47:33 - Who is the target audience?
49:28 - The system to make the relationship work
52:06 - The future for Bob and Lauren
53:40 - Luck vs. hard work

Selected Links:

UPPAbaby
Bob and Lauren Monahan
Yale Women’s Hockey
Reebok
First Years
Safety 1st
EZ Leaf Hauler
Quinny strollers
Bugaboo
Albee Baby
Little Tikes
The Vista stroller
The G-Lite stroller
Buy Buy Baby