Ep158 – Andy Fallshaw (Co-founder & CEO – Bellroy) on taking the stairs vs the elevator

The Startup Playbook PodcastInsights and lessons from the world's best entrepreneurs and investors Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram Ep158 – Andy Fallshaw (Co-founder & CEO – Bellroy) on taking the stairs vs the elevator October 21, 2021 rohitbhargava Podcast My guest for Ep158 of The Startup Playbook Podcast was the Co-founder & CEO of Bellroy, Andy Fallshaw. Andy, his brother (Matt) and sister-in-law (Lina) decided to get into business together and instead of launching 1 business, they ended up launching 9 businesses over the span of 2-3 years. One of those companies was Bellroy, which launched in 2010 with their first product, the slim sleeve wallet, which redesigned the wallet experience.  Fast forward to today and Bellroy is the world’s leader in the carry category, having expanded out into multiple product ranges such as iPhone cases, AirPods cases and travel bags. Despite having built a large global brand and experienced incredible 600-700% YoY growth over the last 11 years, they only took on external capital for the first time, 2 years ago. In this episode we discussed a wide range of topics including: Andy’s business philosophy on taking the stairs rather than the elevatorHow Bellroy applies agile development techniques when launching new productsWhy founders should think about building for resilienceThe deliberate and strategic evolution of Bellroy’s product range from a “hidden” wallet brand to products across a range of categoriesHow to create the right environment and structure to get feedback& much more Timestamps  2.20 – An introduction to Andy and Bellroy 8.07 – Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs and building business a for-purpose business11.53 – Why Andy and his co-founders started nine businesses at once16.17 – How Bellroy determined the product was a good market fit20.22 – The process of developing a product and getting quality feedback24.18 – Seeking good feedback and the type of people you should be getting it from29.14 – Designing the perfect backpack and the keys to great product design 36.18 – Finding your Northstar 37.39 – How to decide on your next product line and why usually the natural progression is the best option42.17 – Why having more control and keeping operations in-house could be the best path to success when building a purpose-driven business45.50 – Deciding whether freelancers, an agency or in-house is the best fit for your team50.32 – The decision to raise capital and the non-financial benefits 55.08 – Seeking feedback, finding mentors and being able to take constructive criticism 1.00.29 – Ensuring the business values stay at the forefront of operations when running a purpose-driven business1.05.10 – How to get in contact with Andy  Links Mentioned  Andy’s Links  Andy’s LinkedInAndy’s TwitterBellroy’s Website Carryology’s Website  People Mentioned  Lina CalabriaMatthew Fallshaw Jo FallshawFrank GaillardProfessor Norman McNallyDaniel Kahneman Jimmy GleesonDane O’ShanassyYvon Chouinard Companies Mentioned  RipcurlFallshaw Wheels & CastorsRadiopaediaB Corporation PatagoniaThe Glasgow School of ArtShopify Magento Previous Episodes Mentioned  Episode 155 – Ash Davies Episode 154 – Nick Franklin Special Thanks: Special thanks to Lina Calabria and Dane O’Shanassy for their help with research for this interview!  Feedback/connect/say hello: [email protected]@RohitBhargava7 (Twitter)/rohbhargava (LinkedIn)@rohit_bhargava (Instagram)My Youtube Channel Credits: Music: Joakim Karud – Dreams Other channels: Don’t have iTunes? The podcast is also available on Spotify, Soundcloud & Stitcher Audio Player. Find all links to the podcast here. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/startupplaybook/Ep158_-_Andy_Fallshaw_Co-founder__CEO_-_Bellroy_on_taking_the_stairs_vs_the_elevator.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: RSS admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. 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