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His house burned down. He used the insurance money to build PopSockets. | Equity Podcast

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…

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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.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:15 From philosophy professor to phone grip inventor

05:17 How a house fire funded PopSockets

07:33 Manufacturing nightmares nearly killed the business

10:08 The local toy store that proved it could work

13:14 The $20M Amazon standoff

16:09 Growing too fast?

18:20 Beating counterfeits in China through brand building

19:11 Why David never wanted to be CEO

23:07 The worst advice received, and what to do instead

26:35 Outro

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26 Comments

26 Comments

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CNET

This AI is Giving Doctors a ‘Report Card’ After Procedures

Northwestern Medicine has been using a technology called “Medtronic GI Genius” to assist with colonoscopies and has been harnessing AI to offer post-procedure feedback. You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below *CNET may get a commission on these offers Read more about it on CNET.com Timecode Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction: AI…

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Northwestern Medicine has been using a technology called “Medtronic GI Genius” to assist with colonoscopies and has been harnessing AI to offer post-procedure feedback.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
*CNET may get a commission on these offers

Read more about it on CNET.com

Timecode Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: AI in Medical Procedures
00:13 – AI Extra Eyes: Medtronic GI Genius
00:40 – Post-Procedure AI Analytics & Quality Improvement
01:22 – AI Pre-Watching & Video Reviews
02:05 – Standardizing Healthcare & Doctor-Patient Trust
02:26 – What the Future: MedTech Recap & Conclusion

Video Credits:
Host: Jesse Orrall
Scripted by: Jesse Orrall
Producer: Jesse Orrall
Camera: Jesse Orrall/ Northwestern/Medtronic
Video Editor: Jon Gomez
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

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CNET

We’re Folding the iPhone Duo Until It Breaks (ASMR)

Our custom-built Fold-A-Phone machine is folding the iPhone Duo constantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, up until either one breaks. Catch the livestream every Monday through Friday on CNET’s YouTube from 1pm to 5pm ET. #foldaphone #iphoneduo #torturetest #foldablephone #allthingsmobile Video Credits: Shot and edited by Faith Chihil Add CNET as a…

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Our custom-built Fold-A-Phone machine is folding the iPhone Duo constantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, up until either one breaks. Catch the livestream every Monday through Friday on CNET’s YouTube from 1pm to 5pm ET. #foldaphone #iphoneduo #torturetest #foldablephone #allthingsmobile

Video Credits:
Shot and edited by Faith Chihil

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CNET

Meet the Machine That Will Break the iPhone Duo, Eventually | All Things Mobile

Get a behind-the-scenes look at CNET Labs, where our team of engineers built a machine that folds and unfolds phones exactly like a human would, and measures exactly how many folds a folding phone can be folded. How many folds will the iPhone Duo handle? Read more about the Fold-A-Phone on CNET.com The iPhone Duo…

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Get a behind-the-scenes look at CNET Labs, where our team of engineers built a machine that folds and unfolds phones exactly like a human would, and measures exactly how many folds a folding phone can be folded. How many folds will the iPhone Duo handle?

Read more about the Fold-A-Phone on CNET.com
The iPhone Duo Is Now in Our Custom-Made Foldable Phone Test Machine. Will It Beat the Galaxy Z Fold 8?

00:00 Introduction to Louisville Labs
00:17 Meet the Fold-A-Phone
00:22 Louisville Labs Testing Facility
00:53 Engineering the Fold-A-Phone Machine
1:26 Testing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
2:29 Replicating Human Folding Speed & Pressure
3:30 iPhone Duo Fold Count Predictions
4:15 How to Watch the Live Stream Test

Video Credits:
Host: Dillon Payne & Matthew Murray
Producer: Dillon Payne, Stephen Beacham & Owen Poole
Camera: Dillon Payne & Faith Chihil
Video Editor: Owen Poole
Thumbnail Designer: Tharon Green

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#iphoneduo #foldablephone #tech #apple #durabilitytest #galaxyzfold8

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