The Founder's Files
Wrong box, bad label, late shipment, unreadable barcode. At any given time we had over $100K in chargebacks we were fighting. What the Walmart leaderboard taught me.
Read the post →Target needed my package smaller to fit the planogram. I said yes without a fight, and we were pulled six months later. What I would bring to that buyer today.
Read the post →In 2008 a Target program most founders had never heard of put my first product on the shelf. Target just opened another door like it — and three things to do this week so you catch the next one.
Read the post →The yes is not the finish line. The first 30 days on shelf, Net 60 terms, chargebacks and the reset that deletes brands — what actually happens after a retailer says yes.
Read the post →The product got you the meeting. It doesn't get you the PO. Four things a Walmart buyer is quietly deciding while you talk.
Read the post →Most founders who didn't get in think it was the product. It almost never is. The four things to do between now and next year's application window.
Read the post →Babies “R” Us launched BooginHead. Then the 2017 bankruptcy took $250,000 in receivables with it — and three lessons I'd hand any founder whose biggest account is wobbling.
Read the post →Six questions I'd be asking myself in the three weeks before Bentonville, from twelve years as a Walmart supplier and one brand taken through Open Call.
Read the post →An introduction to this space — why I'm writing, and what you can expect to find here as I share the real stories behind building BooginHead.
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