Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gold: Lane Furniture forced him to hide his sexual orientation
“They had moved me down to North Carolina, and it became very obvious to me that I couldn't be out. I couldn't bring Bob with me to functions of the company functions when they had spouses, and their whole way of operating was just not honest, is the best way I…”
Insight
Mitchell Gold: Furniture makers must over-order fabric by up to 20%
“And if they order, let's just say, 500 chairs, you really can't order fabric for 500 chairs. You really have to order for 550 chairs, 600. You have to give yourself a little bit extra in case some of the fabric's not good, or in case they get it. It sells real…”
Insight
Gold: Building customer-requested products pre-secures sales before production
“And that's the best way when your customers are asking you, And they're engaged with you on the product that you're developing, then they're buying it. They're buying it before you even make it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gold: Cutting retail accounts from 72 to 48 grew business 48%
“Bob and I sat down, and we went through the 72 customers that we had, and we dropped it to 48, and we said, these 48 we're going to be able now to give better service to. I swear this number is true. In that year, our business increased 48%.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gold: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams reached $1,500 sales per square foot
“And in short order, we were doing 1500 dollars a square foot, which is unheard of in the furniture industry. The furniture industry on average at the time was about 240 dollars a square foot.”
Insight
Gold: A factory cannot be profitable running at 55% capacity
“And you really can't make money running a factory at 55% capacity”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Founders sold 5,000 chairs and 800 tables in debut pitch weekend
“We had basically, in that weekend, sold 5000 dining chairs and 800 tables.”
Disclosure
Mitchell Gold Secured Exclusive Deal for Computer-Routed Jointless Plywood Frames
“Somebody had come to us with taking cross-banded plywood and cutting them by computer, so the side of the frame had no joints in it. As soon as I saw that, I said to the owner of this factory, give us an exclusive on this. Don't sell it to anybody else.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Founders secured rare 15-day payment terms to fund initial manufacturing
“And I went to them and said, you know, we're just starting. But I knew these people well, and they knew that they could trust me. And I said, you know, I'm being open with you. These are big orders. I got to buy a lot of materials. I can't necessarily get the …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gold: Competitors Could Not Match 25-Year Frame Warranty
“Nobody else could offer a 25 year warranty on the frame because those type of wooden frames at the time, they became loose. Our frame would never become loose.”
Disclosure
Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams bought out their factory for $850k
“So we came up with buying them out for 850,000 dollars to be paid over five years at eight percent.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gold: Only one factory worker quit after his LGBTQ+ advocacy letter
“I was so nervous that the next day I would come in and we'd have half the factory quit, but it turned out only one person quit.”
Disclosure
Mitchell Gold: Company eliminated seasonal factory layoffs through flexible hours
“There's more business usually in the fall than in the spring in a furniture factory. So a lot of the factories would hire up in the fall, lay people off after Christmas. Hire up, lay people off. And in simple terms, we came up with this idea that rather than d…”
Disclosure
Mitchell Gold: Private equity holds majority ownership in the company
“They're the majority. We own a good piece of the minority.”
Assertion Contradicted
Mitchell Gold: Annual revenue is somewhere near $300 million
“Somewhere near there. We're a private company. Can't say.”
Assertion Supported
Gold: Homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder during his youth
“In those days, it was considered a mental disorder.”
Assertion Contradicted
Gold: Christian Dior launched the first designer-coordinated domestics collection
“Christian Dior had designed this comforter, dust ruffles, pillow shams, sheets, draperies. It was the first time a big-name designer like that had done anything in domestics, and the first time anybody had done this very coordinated look.”
Insight
Gold: Presenting Products Without a Sales Agenda Is Uniquely Effective
“There's something special about having somebody talk about the product who doesn't have this agenda as a salesperson.”
