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Lena Phoenix

Co-Founder & Board Director, Xero Shoes · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutiveoperatorauthorLinkedIn ↗xeroshoes.com ↗

In 2009, Lena Phoenix co-founded the barefoot footwear brand Xero Shoes with her husband, Steven Sashen, overseeing operations and finances as the company scaled globally. Previously, she built and sold a mortgage company and published the novel The Heart of a Cult.

10statements → 6claims → 2claims resolved → 4.2/5average certainty → 1.5/5average debate potential →

1 supported 0 partly supported 1 contradicted 2 not yet assessed 2 not checkable as stated how the 6 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

6 assertions · 3 insights · 1 disclosure · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 6 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 2 are resolved, 2 are not yet assessed, and 2 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Lena argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Xero Shoes achieved $48 million in net sales in 2022
“Well, we did forty eight million in net revenue, well, net sales in twenty-twenty-two.”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 1:13:55 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Xero Shoes created the first outsole specifically designed for barefoot running
“These guys helped us with the initial design for what was actually the first outsole specifically designed for barefoot style running”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 47:51 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
none yet certainty 3
0% certainty 4
100% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Lena Phoenix on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Lena Phoenix said on How I Built This that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight
Phoenix advises entrepreneurs to run away from starting shoe companies
“Like if you're thinking about Starting a shoe company, I would just say run as fast as you can in the other direction”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 1:17:03 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Xero Shoes scaled from $114,000 to $500,000 in its first three years
“So our first year, we did a 114,000 in revenue, and the, that was our first 12 months, so late to twenty-oh nine. Late to twenty-ten. Twenty-ten... And so we, our second year in business, and we're not getting paid, you know, everything is going back into the …”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 45:00 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Assertion Contradicted
Xero Shoes created the first outsole specifically designed for barefoot running
“These guys helped us with the initial design for what was actually the first outsole specifically designed for barefoot style running”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 47:51 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Insight
Factories initially lose money on new manufacturing clients and take a bet
“It's very difficult to become a new manufacturing client because the factory is losing money on you. They're really, they're taking a bet”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 52:28 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Xero Shoes' original Chinese manufacturing partner secretly patented their design
“We learned that our first factory had actually patented our Saturnal design in China, so that was something we had to deal with.”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 1:01:36 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Disclosure
The founders put $100,000 on credit cards to finance shoe molds
“We had put about a 100,000 dollars on those credit cards to pay for the cost of the molds, and we had to pay in advance of selling the material.”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 50:10 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Xero Shoes generated 10% of its lifetime sales in one week
“And then about 45 minutes after the airing, then the phone started blowing up as well, and the orders just started pouring in, and we did 10% of our lifetime sales volume in that week.”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 1:00:00 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Assertion Not checkable as stated
The co-founders personally guaranteed $5 million in business debt by 2020
“By 2020, we had personally guaranteed Five million dollars in debt financing, a combination of SBA loans, the, this family office, as well as short-term lines of credit,”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 1:10:16 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Assertion Supported
Xero Shoes achieved $48 million in net sales in 2022
“Well, we did forty eight million in net revenue, well, net sales in twenty-twenty-two.”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 1:13:55 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
Insight
Heel straps let toes relax, unlike flip-flops which require constant effort
“That strap around the back is actually really important, because flip-flops actually take a lot of effort to keep on your feet. But when you just have that strap around the back, then your toes can relax, and your foot can move as intended.”
Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 ▶ 35:33 Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix Mar 13, 2023 24m
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