Olivier Bernhard, co-founder of On running shoes, describes the technical innovations of On's early footwear designs on How I Built This.
Disclosure
On only pursues product concepts considered impossible to build
“I think it's so deeply ingrained nowadays in the company that we only approach things that are impossible. If people are coming back, you know, after initial idea or vision, and people come back and say, oh, yeah, we can do it. I said, then we don't do it. Lea…”
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Bernhard's garden hose prototype cured his chronic Achilles issues in six weeks
“Again, I have had my Achilles issues for maybe three, three and a half years to at the end of my career. And I've seen so many doctors and specialists and nothing really helped. And within six weeks walking and running in the garden hose shoes, since today, th…”
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Nike refused to look at sponsored athlete Bernhard's shoe prototype
“I was an athlete, right, running for their company, becoming world champion, they didn't even want to look at the technology, not even at the drawing.”
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Bernhard pitched On's early prototype to Nike, Puma, Adidas, New Balance
“We pitched it to Nike, Puma, Adidas New Balance.”
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Puma invited On's founders to headquarters to lab-test shoe prototypes
“And Puma actually invited us to their headquarters, and they, you know, to me, the CEO back then said, when we sent the shoes, he said, yeah, we sent the semi, you know,
Three, five shoes.
We're going to take it to the lab.”
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On produced its first 8,000 to 10,000 shoes in South Korea
“I think it was like 10,000 or 8000 shoes we produced in Busan in South Korea.”