In 2016 I co-founded a drinkware company. It seemed insane to others We would be competing with great brands like Yeti and Hydroflask. We only had $200,000 while our competitors had hundreds of millions. Today we sell over $100,000,000 annually. A secret on how we did it:

Recently one of our newest team members asked if he could decorate his cubical. When I said yes, I wasn't expecting this...

I’m not crying, you’re crying This is the most memorable 2 minutes you will spend today

That's a full wood cabin motif including a stove, hardwood floor, and stuffed moose head He told me afterward that he actually held back a bit. He had bought an authentic cabin chandelier but realized it was a bit much just before he hung it.

Congrats @lucas_mundt, you win employee decorator of the year. We all salute you! Having creative teammates like you is one of the things I enjoy most about Simple Modern

One of the easiest ways to be generous is with your words. It doesn't cost anything to say: "Thank you for..." "I love you." "Great job on..." Generosity is about the attitude of your heart, not the size of your bank account

Update: Simple Modern will be instituting a workspace personalization and decoration budget for each employee. Excited to see what each team member comes up with! Also, today Lucas gave us a guided tour of his mountain getaway👏🏻

There is a major storm brewing in the supply chain. It could dramatically impact everyone's life next year, but almost no one knows about it yet. We are talking empty shelves, crazy inflation, etc. Here's what I am learning about the problem from my contacts in China 🧵👇

We began manufacturing in America in 2022. We will make over a million bottles domestically in our first year. I’ve learned first hand why it is so hard to build things in America. For us, the biggest barrier hasn’t been wages or regulation.

Taxes on unrealized capital gains is the most absurd galaxy brain idea ever conceived

Retailers are slashing prices because they are drowning in inventory. Over the last month, both Walmart and Target reported earnings results that took billions off their valuations. If you want to know how it happened, then this thread is for you:

Best scene in Ted Lasso Be curious, not judgmental

The challenge is the United State’s anemic manufacturing ecosystem. Compared to China we aren’t even close. If you want to build a high quality tool or source a new material it is 10x more difficult in the US compared to China. The reason is simple-there are a lot less experts in America. Tim Cook illustrates this point well. Apple doesn’t build in China because of low wages, they do it for the robust manufacturing ecosystem. I’ve met several excellent US manufacturing experts. They consistently tell me that there is a generational knowledge hole. Skills have not been passed down to the next generation of US workers due to low interest in manufacturing jobs. If we are going to rebuild domestic manufacturing it is going to require investment in the entire ecosystem. We need to invest in vocational training and provide government incentives towards manufacturing. We need to show the next generation it is cool (and necessary) to build things in the physical world.

If you want to learn more about our company, Simple Modern, and why our mission statement is “We exist to give generously” you can watch this video: piped.video/GF7fH17F6Rk

Platforms come and go... But @Wendys social media manager is still undefeated.

This year we will sell over $100 million in hydration products at Target, Sam’s Club, and Walmart. The most surprising part? When I co-founded Simple Modern six years ago, I had zero experience in physical retail. Want to sell into mass retail? Here’s what you need to know:

Update: We hung the chandelier

One of the most essential things I've learned: Be proactive in addressing conflict. Go directly to the source, communicate clearly, and be humble. Don't be afraid to apologize, display empathy, and be willing to offer forgiveness. I dislike conflict as much as anyone, but not dealing with it leads to even deeper problems and resentments. The incredible thing about resolving conflict is it builds trust. When you address conflict with another person in a positive way, it enlarges the future of the relationship. It creates trust. So write that text, schedule that lunch, and be the leader that takes a step towards resolving conflict. Your life and your relationships will be better for it.

The new way for corporations to avoid paying full refunds. I had an account with Verizon and it transitioned to a business account so I was due a refund. For years, I have paid via credit card. But they didn’t credit my card with the refund. Instead they send me a debit card. “Why would they do that?” One word: breakage There is a simple reason companies push gift cards hard. A decently large percentage never get used. The industry term for customers forgetting to use a prepaid card is “breakage” It’s a big deal. Ask Starbucks Verizon isn’t sending me the refund via my credit card on file because then people would claim 100% of their refunds. Using this method, they will be able to avoid paying 10-30% of their refunds out. That’s big corporate savings, but not very fair to customers. It’s one thing for a customer to fail to use a gift card they bought. It’s another to not use a debit card you didn’t ask for. It gets worse. The fine print also explains that the card will be assessed a $3.50 “maintenance fee” each month. You’ve got to be kidding me. As customers we should push back on this hard. Last year I was owed a refund by the state of Oklahoma on my taxes. Guess what they sent me? That’s right, a debit card.

Best scene in Ted Lasso “Be curious, not judgmental”

Faith became an important part of my life when I was in college. People frequently ask me how being a follower of Jesus impacts my approach to business.After reflecting on it, here are three ways my faith impacts how I approach my job as a CEO. 1. My identity does not come from my job. There is a reason that most CEOs have difficulty after they exit the leadership role. There are countless books and blog posts written about the subject. I think the reason is straightforward: as a CEO, it is easy for your job to become the defining place where you find a sense of identity. One way of thinking about identity is to answer this question: “What do you want other people to associate you with? What gives your life significance? When you meet someone new, what do you most want them to know about you? When I was in college, I found my identity in my accomplishments. For several years I succeeded in building a very impressive resume. Then one day I had to face an inconvenient reality. I wasn’t fulfilled, and I looked better on a piece of paper than I was in real life. I looked for my identity in my accomplishments and ran into a dead end. Fortunately, that experience forced me to look for my identity somewhere else. The Christian faith is built on a simple idea: God giving us the identity of Jesus. Everything He ever did (healing the sick, feeding the poor, living a perfect life) is offered to us. We get the best identity in human history even though we didn’t do anything to earn it. It’s a transformational gift because it released me from a lifetime of trying to build an identity of my own. Because of my faith, I know that I am not worth more as a person because I am a CEO. I will not have more value if my company achieves a certain level of revenue. My value as a person isn’t tied up in what I accomplish but is found in what someone far greater than me did. As a result, I won’t feel that my life is less significant the day I step down from being a CEO. Trying to find identity in our accomplishments is an endless treadmill because there will always be someone who has accomplished more. Faith has allowed me to step off the treadmill. 2. I strive to be a different type of leader Jesus shares an analogy in the Bible. He likens the traditional power systems in the world to a triangle. The goal is to slowly climb the ladder to the top of the pyramid and be the leader at the top. When you are at the top of the pyramid, everyone below you in the pyramid works to follow your commands and serve your interests. Jesus presents an inverted view of leadership. True leadership, he says, is an upside-down pyramid. Instead of the leader being the person who is being served by the most people, the leader accepts the responsibility to serve and empower others. We have all experienced the traditional model of leadership. We have seen corporations that will ruthlessly cut jobs to protect their annual bonus. We’ve observed how the people at the top always seem to be fine. It’s the people further down the pyramid that suffer. We all long for the model of servant leadership that Jesus described. The hard thing about being a servant leader is actually putting it into practice. Using power to get others to do what we want is so tempting. In my life, there has only been one thing that can release me from my own selfish desire to have power. I believe Jesus had ultimate power but chose to use it to serve us. He gives us a powerful and tangible example of how to view power differently. As a result, I see leadership as an opportunity and responsibility to serve others. 3. I know I am flawed I believe imperfection is a feature, not a bug of the human experience. This has been transformative in my life in two different ways. First, I am no longer defensive when presented with constructive feedback. For many years I took the stance of “innocent until proven guilty” when I was presented with personal constructive criticism. When I became a Christian, I embraced the reality that I am deeply flawed. This imperfection runs so deep that there are always going to be blind spots in my life where I fall short of the person that I want to be. I quickly realized something obvious: when I was presented with constructive criticism, there was always at least a kernel of truth. I struggle with pride, self-centeredness, and selfish desires like everyone else. I can be hypocritical. I need others to help me see the blind spots in my character and how I need to continue to grow. This culminated in a change to my default response to hard feedback. I now assume that it is accurate when I am presented with challenging feedback. Now feedback is a learning opportunity because I no longer feel the need to defend myself or my reputation. The great thing about being receptive to feedback is that applying it produces immense personal growth. Most importantly, my co-workers are more comfortable sharing difficult information with me. Second, I don’t hold others to a standard of perfection. The main message of the Bible is that God does not give us what we deserve. The word “grace” describes how God intentionally gives us better than what we have earned. If God treats me this way, how will I treat others when they fall short of the standards I set? The Bible claims that personally experiencing forgiveness and grace enlarges our capacity to offer it to others. I’ve found that to be true in my life.

Update: We hung the chandelier

Our new Disney drop in Sam's Club is 🔥

Recently I celebrated my 42nd birthday. I took some time to reflect on life and business. Here are some of the top things I have learned: 🧵👇 1. Relationships with depth, trust, and intimacy are the primary way to achieve lasting contentment in life.

I got married at 23 Impossible to overstate how much marrying young has positively impacted my life

There's a simple principle about optimization. The more optimized and fine-tuned a system is, the more fragile it is to a major shock. The global supply chain was a highly optimized system that had been pretty stable up until this point. This pause in ordering broke it.

You do need a different strategy than your competition. Use this process: 1. Find a product that has robust demand 2. Examine the strategies and strengths of the existing companies 3. Find white space Ask: Where do your skills and abilities line up with white space?

Bold prediction I want to put on the record: The @okcthunder are at the beginning of a dynasty. The next ten years will bring multiple championships. And it will be because of culture, intelligence, patience, hard work, and strategy.

We are running astronomical deficits and this is our answer? Future generations are not going to view this period of fiscal policy favorably. No matter what tax rates the wealthy pay-we have to cut spending or things will eventually implode.

Thanks for reading. In addition to leading Simple Modern, I also teach entrepreneurship at the University of Oklahoma. I tweet about what I'm learning along the way. If you liked this thread please like or retweet it so it can be shared with others.

Big News🎉 I am proud to announce that every team member at Simple Modern will now be an owner! In the first year alone, we will allocate 5 million dollars in stock across the team. The plan includes everyone. It spans from senior leaders to the team members who work in our domestic manufacturing facility. Here's the story: Eight years ago, I co-founded Simple Modern with my life savings of $200,000. It seemed like a crazy idea to most people. The first few years, I got comments like, "How's your Yeti knockoff thing going?" "Seems pretty risky." "How are you going to compete?" To be an entrepreneur, you have to be borderline naive. You can't spend too much time thinking about the reasons why your company won't work, and you have to accept that most people will be skeptical. The list of risks is always long, and focusing on them only discourages taking action. We kept building because we focused on the opportunity to create something different. We were fascinated with a question: What if you created a for-profit company that was focused on generosity? I am an eternal optimist, but the results have exceeded my biggest dreams. Today, we have annual revenues approaching 200 million dollars. We have created a meaningful brand that serves partners with the biggest companies in the world. And we have done it all while keeping our commitment to generosity by donating 10% of our profits each year to incredible charities doing important work worldwide. The company's success enables us to give millions towards clean drinking water, homelessness, marginalized communities, ending human trafficking, and education. But there's more opportunity than ever to live out our goal of being a generous company. The success of Simple Modern is a result of its exceptional team. It's only natural to share the value that they have helped to create. A final story. Yesterday, I told the team that they were all becoming owners of Simple Modern. One team member's response made my day. They said, "My family has been poor for generations, but for the first time, I have an opportunity to build a different future."

Today, I made a big announcement to the entire Simple Modern team. Every team member will receive up to $6,000 in childcare reimbursements as a part of their annual compensation. It's a significant expense, but I'm proud to have business partners who believe it is the right thing to do. When we started Simple Modern, my children were toddlers. Over the last ten years, I've experienced first-hand the tension of striving for excellence in the business world while prioritizing family. I've also observed that it is particularly challenging for talented women who feel called to work and motherhood. They shouldn't feel forced to choose between the two. If we are serious about gender equality, we should put our money where our mouth is. Unsurprisingly, our country is experiencing rapidly falling birth rates. Instead of waiting for the government to fix this issue, we are proactive. We believe in helping people start families, and we're committed to doing our part. Over the past 10 years, childcare costs have exploded across the country. In many situations, the annual cost of childcare can be more than a full-time salary. It doesn't make sense to lose talented men and women from the workforce because of poor incentives. If we want to change this dynamic, we must change the math. Other things need to be done. We need to create more childcare to bring costs down, and we should have tax incentives for working parents. I hope our political leaders will do their part in the years ahead. From day one, our goal has been to create a company that doesn't force people to choose between their careers and their families. Balancing these areas of our lives is not easy, but with the proper support, it is possible. My children have been one of the greatest joys of my adult life. I'm proud to lead a business that supports families.

This is the thought process of mastery. Nuanced quality thought built over years and decades. There is no shortcut. It is only achievable through thousands of hours of focus.

Our brand sells millions of units through Amazon each year. Contrary to public sentiment, they've been a great partner to our business. But 2022 is a major crossroads because Amazon retail will likely shrink this year My thoughts on what's wrong and how to fix it (1 of many)

I co-founded a company that has grown to national prominence. I'm often asked about our "eureka" moment, where we had our vision for what we wanted to build. That moment never happened. Instead, it has been a day-by-day process that has unfolded over the past 8 years. When people ask about our success, it is tempting to fall victim to mythologizing the process. This has come to be termed "The Founder Myth." The Founder Myth is creating a more polished and engaging historical narrative. This narrative emphasizes the brilliance and insight of the founder. The story usually features a moment of sublime clarity and insight that sets the stage for future success. These stories make great Twitter and Podcast fodder, but they are often partially true at best. At worst, they mislead or discourage others. Building a company is a daily process of experimenting, learning, pivoting, and problem-solving. Even today, at Simple Modern, we still make strategy pivots almost weekly. There have certainly been influential moments, but what has built our success has been the accumulation of thousands of days of work. One of the best summaries of these ideas is included in Good to Great by Jim Collins. He writes: Here’s what’s important. We’ve allowed the way transitions look from the outside to drive our perception of what they must feel like to those going through them on the inside. From the outside, they look like dramatic, almost revolutionary breakthroughs. But from the inside, they feel completely different, more like an organic development process. Picture an egg just sitting there. No one pays it much attention until, one day, the egg cracks open and out jumps a chicken! All the major magazines and newspapers jump on the event, writing feature stories—“The Transformation of Egg to Chicken!” “The Remarkable Revolution of the Egg!” “Stunning Turnaround at Egg!”—as if the egg had undergone some overnight metamorphosis, radically altering itself into a chicken. But what does it look like from the chicken’s point of view? It’s a completely different story. While the world ignored this dormant-looking egg, the chicken was evolving, growing, developing, incubating. From the chicken’s point of view, cracking the egg is simply one more step in a long chain of steps leading up to that moment—a big step, to be sure, but hardly the radical, single-step transformation it looks like to those watching from outside the egg. It’s a silly analogy, granted. But I’m using it to highlight a very important finding from our research. We kept thinking that we’d find “the one big thing,” the miracle moment that defined breakthrough. We even pushed for it in our interviews. But the good-to-great executives simply could not pinpoint a single key event or moment in time that exemplified the transition. As Thomas Edison once said: "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."

Others have added some helpful context here: This is a tax they want to implement at death. So it is a defacto big increase in inheritance tax.

Last night I mowed my lawn and thought about tariffs. Over the last week I've talked to countless CEO's and industry leaders. I've had conversations with people in DC and in China. Just like everyone else, I don't know what the future holds. But we are clearly in a new era. The new tariffs create a lot of costs that will need to come from somewhere. For my company, we expect to pay almost $40,000,000 in new tariffs this year. Interestingly, we have invested millions in domestic manufactuing over the last few years. For many nuanced reasons we still don't have the ability to produce a large percentage of our products in the US. I know this to be true for many companies. It is not a lack of willingness to make things in the US. It is a lack of financial viability. There are only three options for companies to manage these new tariff costs: -Raise Prices -Cut Expenses -Accept Lower Profits In every business there are essential costs and costs that make life easier. There are business activities that the company needs to survive and initiatives that contribute at a nominal level. There are softwares that you cannot live without, but there are many more that make the work easier and less monotonous. I don't know the road ahead, but I know it is going to be bumpy. CEO's are going into wartime mode. They are going to be looking to slash operating expenses. They aren't going to pay others to do something they can do themselves. They are going to be spending money on essentials. It is going to be a tough few weeks for many service providers. There will be a lot of churn and some massive price reductions. And profits are going to be hard to come by over the next year. Recent studies have shown that 50% of the discretionary spending in this country comes from the top 10%. That top 10% owns equity in private and public companies. Whatever your opinions about income distribution in America, that group currently drives the discrectionary economy. That top 10% is going to spend significantly less in the months ahead. We are likley headed for a recession. To survive and thrive in the months ahead you are going to need to drive results. CEO's are going to have to make hard decisions to protect their company from going under. My advice to every person reading this who is not a CEO: Be Proactive! Seek feedback about how you can be producing the value your employeer needs. Don't assume that "no news is good news". Have a bias to action in looking for ways to contribute, take on more, and find effeciency. This period is going to be hard, but there will be some great things that come from it. I have been an entreprenuer for 16 years. I would estimate that 80-90% of the best ideas I have seen implemented were the result of challenging business climate. Pressure helps us to focus and make the needed tough decisions. Lack of resources spurs creativity and new approaches. During easy times there is a build up of things that need to change, but because there is no pressure to take action nothing happens. When the going gets rough it leads to decisons that were long overdue. For most of the last 10 years I have paid someone to mow my lawn. But recently I decided to start doing it myself again. As I was mowing, I kept coming back to one thought: We are entering the "mow your own lawn" era for businesses.

I hope this thread was helpful. Retweets, comments, and likes on the original tweet in this thread are appreciated. You can follow me for more content like this.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs get stuck trying to invent a new product to sell. It's a trap. 99.9% of successful businesses sell an established product in a new way. "But if I sell something other people are selling I'll have competition!" My response:

Never look down on someone when they mispronounce a word It’s because they learned it from reading

The most successful companies in the world are selling an improved derivative of an already successful product: Netflix -> Video + Streaming Tesla -> Cars + Electric Power Apple ->Phones + Apps & Internet You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Some of our primary production is in a yellow region. These partners now have electricity caps and can work 4 days a week instead of 6. Their production has been cut by 33% and these cuts are likely to last until Chinese New Year. This is a BIG deal.

Everyone Retailers, Brands, Customers

Thus, there was a 2 month period when ordering from Chinese factories fell off a cliff. IMPORTANT: This is where all the pain in the logistics industry started. This is why inventory is such an issue now. It goes back to this moment.

Competition always comes with demand. If you're launching a product that has no competition there are only two possible reasons: 1. There is great demand and fortunately you were the first person on earth to tap into it (unlikely) 2. There is not much demand for that product

The motto of every entrepreneur You have to be optimistic to the point of naïveté to start a business.

The problem with COVID is that it has led to cascading failures throughout the supply chain. If production drops so dramatically over the coming months then empty shelves will be commonplace. We are talking about a situation where many product types will be completely nuked.

A key characteristic of successful people I know: They are process-oriented instead of outcome-oriented. Outcome-oriented = all the focus is on results This mindset inspires sayings like, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." But this thinking has a fatal flaw:

Retail is described as a "Ditch to ditch" industry. Two predictions about the future: 1. The next few months are going to see lots of sales and lower margins for everyone. 2. The next time the retail sector misses, it's going to be too little inventory instead of too much.

All the retailers are heavy on inventory. All the consumer brands are heavy on inventory. If you want a deflationary force, then you are going to love what comes next. We are about to see some crazy sales! Seasonal items are going to be priced to move.

What happens when you get unprecedented ordering? You get unprecedented shipping and logistics demand. Immediately, container prices skyrocket hundreds of percent. Some of the inflation we are dealing with today comes from this huge surge in logistics costs.

This is the all-time best order shipping status update:

In stainless steel drinkware, 93% of the world's production happens in one province in China. Of that production, about half happens from now until Chinese New Year. What that means is that almost 20% of the world's production isn't going to get built this year!

This year, we will sell several hundred million dollars worth of hydration products with retail partners like Target, Walmart, and Costco. But when I co-founded Simple Modern eight years ago, I had zero experience in physical retail. Here's what I've learned along the way:

As a communist country, China is centrally planned. That means that things like electricity usage are planned in Beijing by party officials instead of governed by the supply and demand of the market.

This is my daily supplement stack I'm not trying to live forever like @bryan_johnson, but I'm not interested in dying anytime soon. Here's how I built it. For years I have been piecing together the combination I use from different things I read on the internet, but this year I rebuilt it from the ground up. Here's how I did it: 1. I invested in comprehensive blood work from @function based on a conversation with @calleymeans The good news was most of my markers looked great, but there were some areas of concern. I took all my biomarkers and medical history and uploaded it to Chat GPT as context. Then I told it my goals and the current supplements I take. I worked with it to formulate the perfect choice of supplements and dosages for my body. Here's the new daily supplement regimen I use Psyllium Husk: 500mg Vitamin D3: 5000iu Trans-Resveratrol Complex: 605mg DHEA: 100mg NAC: 600mg BCAA: 1000mg Niagen: 300mg Omega 3 Oils: 4080mg Berberine: 1200mg IP6: 800mg Magnesium Glycinate: 400mg Ashwagandha: 300mg Tumeric: 1500mg Prebiotic and Probiotic: 370mg Vitamin K2: 400mcg Red Yeast Rice: 1200mg CoQ10: 200mg Vitamin E: 180mg Alpha Lipoic Acid: 600mg Milk Thistle: 500mg Taurine: 1000mg B6: 50mg B12: 1000mg Folate: 665mcg Astaxanthin: 4mg Spermidine: 10mg Vitamin C: 1000mg Potassium: 550mg L-Citrulline: 2000mg Zinc: 100mg I think this is a glimpse of the future. Health is going to be much more personalized. It's exciting to see how it will expand healthspan and reduce suffering. Ok longevity and health experts, what am I not using that I should consider?

At the beginning of the year, China set electricity quotas for each province. As a result of supply chain disruptions from COVID and unprecedented factory demand, many of the provinces have used way more electricity than planned. Now, China doesn't have enough coal power

Products being produced in the more restricted "red" regions are going to be hit even harder. There are already stories about regions having to operate by candlelight due to the power rationing. yahoo.com/finance/news/china…

Ships literally spend months waiting to unload. The inventory planning that all consumer brands and retailers do depends on some assumptions about how long production and shipping will take. All those assumptions are suddenly WAY off. 120 days is the new 60 days.

It's very likely if that happens that we see the biggest traffic jam that the supply chain has ever experienced. This year we got a taste of what happens when you apply pressure to the logistics supply chain. Next year we may see a full break in some places.

Over the past 24 hours I have learned that the problem is deeper than just planning. Electricity prices in China are regulated and capped. Recently the cost of coal has skyrocketed and Chinese power companies have a disincentive to produce more power because it is unprofitable

If you don't know when you will get your next shipment, the only way you can stay in stock is to keep more inventory on hand. The delays cause everyone to order even MORE products. We are now fully stuck in a negative feedback loop.

The Chinese government has begun restricting electrical usage for the provinces based on how much electricity they have used so far this year. There is a green, yellow, red system that has been put in place. The map below shows the provinces and their color.

Right now, none of the numbers in our business work as a result of the trade war. I believe we are going to negotiate new deals that will allow the company to continue to thrive, but it is a period of tremendous uncertainty. We were founded ten years ago, and over that time there have been several crisis moments. They are the gut check situations where you hope things are going to be ok, but you don't know for sure. For example, We once had our Amazon account suspended 4 days before Black Friday. During Covid, we had multiple retail partners tell us they could not order from us for months because they had to use all buying power on essential medical supplies. During each of these challenging periods, I have found myself at a crossroads. How do I manage myself through the chaos? Each time I have chosen to lean into my faith and to double down on the values that matter most to me. Generosity, excellence, collaboration, humility, and growth mindset to name a few. Looking back, I don't know that the choices I made with my attitude changed the outcomes from those trying situations. But I know it changed me. Your biggest asset is not your money and it isn't your career. It is your character and who you are as a person. Going through tough times has made me realize that the number one way Simple Modern has enriched my life is that it has helped me to continue growing towards the person that I want to become. The hardest part about personal growth is that it primarily happens in periods of extreme adversity. The times we most want to choose comfort are the best opportunities to experience the growth we desire. Right now, 2025 is not going the way I had planned. I would not have chosen this business environment. But I am not going to feel sorry for myself or get angry. I'm going to use it as fuel to grow. How you frame your circumstances is powerful. How are you framing the adversity you are experiencing in your life right now? What is happening in your career, your relationships, your health, or your finances that is an opportunity to grow? Choose the less taken path. Convert adversity into opportunity. To become a better leader. To reorder priorities. To become the best version of yourself.

When we decided to take on manufacturing products in America, I knew it would be a massive challenge. Today, I saw a video of a machine that took us years to help create. It is hard to overstate how much this automation will help us scale.🚀

Being a CEO of a quickly growing company is hard. There are stressful aspects that you don't control (economy, COVID, competition) but you do control your actions Here are 5 things I have learned in the process of leading a company from founding to millions of customers.

Even worse is one simple fact: The system is not set up to move this much product, no matter how much you pay. The bay of the heavily trafficked Long Beach port begins to look like a nautical parking lot. Shipments are diverted to other ports, they clog too.

An experience that made a huge impact on my life: Years ago, when I was a college student, there was a class that I really wanted to take. "Freedom in Greece" was the most popular course at the university. Hundreds of people wanted to take it each semester. Unfortunately, it was outside of my major, so it was full before I tried to enroll in it. I decided to show up to the first day of class anyway. If I could convince the professor to give me a special exception (called a pink slip), I could take the course. When I arrived in the classroom, it was packed with students. Every seat was full, and hundreds of people stood around the edge of the room. Apparently, I was not the only person who had thought about trying to get a pink slip. The professor, Rufus Fears, started the lecture. The first thing out of his mouth was, "If you are here trying to get a pink slip, I can tell you that the class is full, and there will be no pink slips given." I was deflated, but I decided to stay for the lecture. It was excellent. After class was over, I sat in my chair as the other students filtered out of the classroom. Even though I couldn't get into the class, I was still going to introduce myself to the professor. I went up to him and introduced myself. I mentioned that I wasn't in the class but had sat in because I had heard amazing things about the course. Then something unexpected happened. He said, "Come by my office hours on Thursday." That Thursday, I showed up at his office. On the door was a sign that said, "Absolutely no pink slips will be given for Freedom in Greece." I knocked on the door. I heard the professor say, "Come In" When I opened the door, I saw him sitting at his desk with a stack of pink slips on his desk. He immediately remembered our conversation and offered me a pink slip to be a part of the class that semester. I would go on to take three classes with him even though he taught humanities and I was a business major. What I learned in those classes significantly impacted my worldview and character. I learned something important from that experience. Take the initiative! The number one characteristic I see in successful people is a willingness to act. They have a bias to action when they see an opportunity to learn, advance, or start something new. Taking the initiative will propel you toward success. One of the reasons isn't obvious from the outside. People who have become successful got there by taking the initiative. Not surprisingly, they tend to give opportunities to people who remind them of a younger version of themself. So go for it! You only get one shot at life. I would rather aim high than live with regret.

This year we will sell over 100,000,000 in retail value on Amazon. Over the past few months, Amazon released a treasure trove of data. This information has helped take our business to the next level. If you sell on Amazon, here are seven ways to level up with a new tool:

None of this is anyone's fault. The retail sector is full of amazing people who have worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic to keep the good ship lollipop afloat.

Our newest endcap in @walmart just hit stores this week. My favorite part is that we manufactured over 150,000 bottles here in 🇺🇸!

This photo hits home with me. I want to be a parent that avoids the path of least resistance with devices. I want to help my kids develop an imagination and expand their mind. There’s nothing I love more than hearing one of my kids pronounce a word wrong. When I hear that I know it is because they are trying to use a word that they have read in a book but never heard.

Today we started our five year lease on this 175k sq foot space in Oklahoma City. This is where Simple Modern is going to start manufacturing products in the USA! It’s a big challenge and I’m excited to share what we learn in the process.

We didn't know: How long lockdowns would last How dangerous COVID was When consumer behavior would normalize As a result, every consumer products leader I know did the only sensible thing. They paused all production. No reason to make inventory that you don't know you can sell

One additional point is that China is simultaneously rolling out its “2021-2022 Autumn and Winter Action Plan for Air Polution Mangement" This plan curtails even more production from factories with higher pollution.

Did anyone on Twitter know that hotdogs are only $1.50 at Costco? How do they keep prices this low? Is there a story behind this?

Yeah that’s the idea-wild

This year our company will achieve almost 9 figures in revenue. After 6 years of passionate work, we will be doing our first(!) profit distribution to owners. Even incredibly successful businesses require patience and a long-term mindset.

Guess what? All the uncertainty about timetables is about to matter. Riddle me this: What happens when a retailer owns 100 containers of Christmas trees that were supposed to arrive in October, but instead they sit on the water for 70 extra days? Disaster

The problem started in March 2020. When COVID began spreading in the US and led to stay-at-home directives the purchasing behavior of everyone changed. Demand for toilet paper, masks, hand sanitizer, and other "essential supplies" skyrocketed. Retailers had to pivot quickly.

Even more concerning is what will happen on the other side of Chinese New Year. The lack of production caused by the electrical shortages is going to cause an unprecedented amount of demand on Chinese factories in 2022.

Every retailer runs their inventory through a sorting center called a "Distribution Center". A direct quote from a major retailer: "We're stuffed so full of Christmas trees and air fryers that we can't buy or move the product we need through the distribution centers."

A few months ago, I found myself in the office of a remarkably successful billionaire. He was 94 years old yet still came to work at the company he founded. For reasons I still don’t fully understand, he’d carved out time to meet with me. I knew very little about him beyond his exceptional reputation—but I soon learned much more than I ever expected. As we talked, our shared passion for using business as a force for good took center stage. He told me about the causes he championed and the joy he found in funding philanthropy. Then, suddenly, his phone rang. He checked the caller ID, saw it was his son, and said, “I need to take this—it’s my great-grandson’s birthday.” Instead of leaving the room, he put the call on speaker. I then witnessed one of the sweetest conversations I’ve ever heard. He wished his great-grandson a happy birthday, told him he loved him, and said how proud he was of him. It wasn’t just the words—it was the warmth behind them. You could hear the tenderness and genuine affection, and his great-grandson’s response made it clear the feeling was mutual. In that moment, I saw exactly what kind of man Gene Rainbolt was. Today, I watched his memorial service. It was both encouraging and challenging to me—a celebration of a life that spanned 95 years. Gene was a tremendously successful businessman who built a multibillion-dollar bank in BancFirst, growing it by supporting underserved communities and weathering the oil bust of the 1980s. Every interaction I’ve had with BancFirst has reflected first-class values, and as someone who understands the challenges of building a company, I deeply admire what he created. Yet even more remarkable than Gene’s business achievements was the lasting impact he made on people’s lives. He was committed to improving the communities where BancFirst did business. He participated in countless philanthropic endeavors, gave generously, and lived out a faith that led him to take meaningful action. Above all, he understood that life is about relationships. He will be missed by many. When a great person dies, it’s always a mixture of pain and joy—sorrow for the loss, but also a beautiful sense of completion, knowing they spent their life well. In a way, we’re all born with a debit card loaded with hours; we don’t know the balance, but we do know it will eventually hit zero. Our life is defined by how we choose to spend those hours. The world is a little bit better because of how Gene Rainbolt used his. RIP, Gene. Thank you for the example you set.

So to recap: Retailers buying loads of inventory Retailers buying a lot more inventory in China Brands manufacturing at a torrid pace Really unpredictable shipping time-tables People buying heavily for their homes Costs up across the board

I have been told by contacts at discount stores that they are being offered the best deals they have ever seen from inventory-laden brands. But just like anything else, this too shall pass.

Today I spent two hours at the most remarkable funeral I have ever attended. The man had 5 sons. Each spoke for nearly 15 minutes about the profound impact their father had on their life. There were over 1,000 people in attendance...

Today was a big day for Simple Modern. We prepared to ship our first mass retail order that was manufactured in the USA! The entire team helped with the packing process. Then we celebrated with our version of the manufacturing Olympics.🏅

Be this kind of teammate nitter.app/JRudd_Scout/status/173…

When a cold email goes terribly wrong

If you made essential items you were working round the clock to spin up production to meet the unprecedented demand. But for most product categories you had a sudden and violent drop off of demand. As a CEO, I know I experienced a massive amount of FUD. I wasn't alone.

Government stimulus is coming Reopening begins Vaccines are coming by end of year People begin buying "non-essential" items again, but spending habits are still altered. Everyone is buying things for their homes. Home workout, renovation materials, air fryers, etc.

Tons of extra inventory because demand was less than expected (see Peleton for example) Tons of inventory that missed a critical window but has to go somewhere (our Christmas tree example) And now we have arrived at today.

There was a lot of talk and concern on the bird app (and in very knowledgable industry circles) about huge out of stocks during the 2021 holidays. That didn't happen, but it was because everyone bought a ridiculous amount of inventory and paid through the nose to get it here.

September 7th is not a special e-commerce shopping day But we are having a pretty explosive sales day. The reason? We dropped some 🔥fall ornamentations today. We have used our 4d printing technology to create some awesome looks.

In order to meet this challenge, retailers greatly reduced purchases of non-essential supplies. We sell at Target and were told we wouldn't receive purchase orders for several weeks. We sell on Amazon and our deliveries went from 2-day timelines to 1 month.

So you have a 2 month period where not much gets ordered in many consumer categories. Then around May, it becomes obvious that COVID is serious and can be deadly, but it isn't going to be a worst-case scenario. This isn't the onset of some zombie apocalypse.

Josh McDaniels was fired by the Raiders, but how it happened is the more interesting story. This has to be the craziest way a coach has been let go

I believe the birth of Jesus was the defining moment in history. I'm not alone. Previous generations certified it as the focal point in history. This is why Jesus's birth marks the calendar transition from BC to AD. Christmas points to 4 important truths about God:

I'm in my 8th year as a CEO, and I've been a part of growing multiple startups from founding to 9 figures of revenue. When asked for leadership advice from younger leaders, I always mention one principle. To scale, you have to excel in three roles: Player Player/Coach Coach Stage 1: Player In the earliest days of any company, the founders are doing all the work. There is no extra money to hire others. You have to be ready to grind. It is a season of late nights, shoestring budgets, many tactical to-dos, feeling overwhelmed, and constant learning. During this stage, you build high competency in execution and develop expertise in several core business areas. You will wear a lot of different hats during this period. For example, in the early days of Simple Modern, I led sales, Amazon advertising, purchase orders, hiring, licensing, and business development. This period is exhausting because there is so much to do, and the pressure is 100% on your shoulders. It can feel like your work is all-consuming. To use a football analogy: You are like a running back during the "player" stage. If you aren't carrying the ball into the endzone, your team isn't winning. As the company succeeds, you begin to have the resources to hire & the inability to get everything done. You are ready to graduate to stage 2. Stage 2: Player/Coach You don't have the resources to hire someone for every aspect of execution in the company, but you start to fill key positions of need. These new team members you are hiring need direction and coaching. Ironically, adding people to the company only increases your workload in the short term. There is a ramp-up period where you devote significant time to coaching these new teammates, but they have a limited ability to contribute. As a result, you still have heavy execution and tactical obligations, but you are also responsible for coaching others. You will commonly hear people in this phase say things like, "I feel buried" or "I wish I could just get some time to think and prioritize." This stage is dangerous for an emerging leader. The organization is growing and has relied on your ability to execute up until now. New team members can't execute at your level yet. Coaching them requires significant time, but there is so much to do. The temptation is to not prioritize developing others and double down on your own execution. We have all heard a leader say something like, "Never mind. I'll do it myself." Resist this temptation to slide back to an exclusively "player" role. It kills your ability to scale. You must become comfortable with the reality that execution will be less effective with new team members. You have to be willing to take a step back temporarily to take ten steps forward. In coaching, I recommend using this 5 step process: 1. I do. You watch. We talk. 2. I do. You help. We talk. 3. You do. I help. We talk. 4. You do. I watch. We talk. 5. You do. Someone else watches. Success at the player/coach stage requires a commitment to building a team. During this phase, you are like a quarterback. You are responsible for calling plays, coaching the other players on what to do, AND throwing touchdowns. As you develop others, you go to stage 3. Stage 3: Coach At this stage, the company no longer relies on your ability to execute. The teammates you have been coaching can now perform at a high level and teach these skills to new hires. Your new role is crafting strategy, recruiting, and leading the leaders. At first, it feels incredible as tactical responsibilities come off your plate. You've been looking forward to this stage for a long time. As your calendar frees up, you discover another leadership hurdle you must overcome. You feel unproductive. For years, success was getting stuff done. It was crossing lines off a to-do list. Now, your job is leading and developing others. It is harder to point to the tangible things you are accomplishing. Making the transition requires you to manage the most challenging person: Yourself. You will have to work through your own insecurity. Many leaders struggle to overcome their personal issues. They revert to the player-coach stage and become micro-managers. Transitioning from an excellent executor to an average coach is painful. No one is a great coach right off the bat. It is a skill developed through experience. If you put in the work, you can become a great coach over time. Success during the coach stage starts with understanding the enormous leverage you now possess. By coaching and leading others well, you can accomplish 50x, 100x, or 1000x more than you could ever do alone. You can now multiply the time you invest in the company. Now, you have created the freedom of movement to work "on" the business instead of "in" the business. You can give your team the strategic guidance, encouragement, development, and leadership they need to succeed.

This is what the future of manufacturing looks like. Plan accordingly