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345 | Finding Hidden Opportunities in Customer Behavior | with Sam Shames

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Manage episode 503748517 series 2470924
Content provided by Shopify Expert Chase Clymer. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Shopify Expert Chase Clymer or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Sam Shames is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Embr Labs, the company behind the Embr Wave: a wristband that heats and cools to help people manage comfort, sleep, stress, and hot flashes.

What started as a project in an MIT prototyping competition turned into a 12-year journey building a hardware company from scratch. Along the way, Sam and his co-founders grew Embr Labs to 200,000+ units sold, $50M+ in lifetime revenue, and $66M in venture funding. A $100K Kickstarter goal became $630K in sales, powered by a loyal community they engaged long before launch.

Sam’s path blends technical innovation with customer-driven growth. From proving the science behind their product, to surviving on $2K a month while raising capital, to pivoting into a hardware subscription model, he’s learned what it really takes to scale an ecommerce hardware brand.

Whether you’re building a DTC product, validating a new idea, or evolving your business model to better serve customers, Sam offers an unfiltered look at the grind, the pivots, and the lessons behind turning a student prototype into a category-defining company.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

  • [00:42] Intro
  • [01:03] Sharing early lessons in subscription
  • [01:34] Connecting through founder communities
  • [02:26] Brainstorming solutions to real pain points
  • [03:21] Receiving thousands of customer emails
  • [03:58] Deciding to sell when demand was clear
  • [04:52] Realizing experience changes decisions
  • [05:14] Understanding the customer segments
  • [06:34] Raising angel and pre-seed funding
  • [07:41] Building community through early feedback
  • [08:53] Episode Sponsors: Electric Eye, Heatmap, Grow
  • [12:05] Preparing manufacturing before crowdfunding
  • [14:10] Adapting playbooks as channels change
  • [15:36] Spotting misalignment in value capture
  • [18:00] Screening customers to limit fraud
  • [19:08] Partnering with experts on subscriptions
  • [19:51] Highlighting temperature as a daily pain point
  • [21:32] Showing value instantly on first try

Resources:

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

  continue reading

493 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 503748517 series 2470924
Content provided by Shopify Expert Chase Clymer. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Shopify Expert Chase Clymer or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Sam Shames is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Embr Labs, the company behind the Embr Wave: a wristband that heats and cools to help people manage comfort, sleep, stress, and hot flashes.

What started as a project in an MIT prototyping competition turned into a 12-year journey building a hardware company from scratch. Along the way, Sam and his co-founders grew Embr Labs to 200,000+ units sold, $50M+ in lifetime revenue, and $66M in venture funding. A $100K Kickstarter goal became $630K in sales, powered by a loyal community they engaged long before launch.

Sam’s path blends technical innovation with customer-driven growth. From proving the science behind their product, to surviving on $2K a month while raising capital, to pivoting into a hardware subscription model, he’s learned what it really takes to scale an ecommerce hardware brand.

Whether you’re building a DTC product, validating a new idea, or evolving your business model to better serve customers, Sam offers an unfiltered look at the grind, the pivots, and the lessons behind turning a student prototype into a category-defining company.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

  • [00:42] Intro
  • [01:03] Sharing early lessons in subscription
  • [01:34] Connecting through founder communities
  • [02:26] Brainstorming solutions to real pain points
  • [03:21] Receiving thousands of customer emails
  • [03:58] Deciding to sell when demand was clear
  • [04:52] Realizing experience changes decisions
  • [05:14] Understanding the customer segments
  • [06:34] Raising angel and pre-seed funding
  • [07:41] Building community through early feedback
  • [08:53] Episode Sponsors: Electric Eye, Heatmap, Grow
  • [12:05] Preparing manufacturing before crowdfunding
  • [14:10] Adapting playbooks as channels change
  • [15:36] Spotting misalignment in value capture
  • [18:00] Screening customers to limit fraud
  • [19:08] Partnering with experts on subscriptions
  • [19:51] Highlighting temperature as a daily pain point
  • [21:32] Showing value instantly on first try

Resources:

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

  continue reading

493 episodes

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