Casper co-founder Philip Krim reflects on Casper's discontinued media effort Van Winkle's and how audio apps captured sleep routines.
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Krim: Casper financed the Sleepopolis acquisition but had no editorial control
“They wanted to buy this site, and we talked to them about financing that acquisition so that they could operate it, and they had complete, independent editorial control, and they ran their business. We were just a financing partner for them.”
Assertion Supported
Krim: Mattress makers renamed identical beds across stores to block comparison shopping
“Right, and that was one way that you couldn't price shop it. So it very well could be that Macy's is selling ABC mattress, and Sleepy's is selling XYZ mattress. Those could be the same mattress for all intents and purposes, but you would never know that becaus…”
Insight
Krim: Mattress businesses do not need repeat purchase frequency to make money
“You can make a lot of money selling mattresses. You don't need frequency.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Krim: Casper was the first company to brand the unboxing experience
“To my knowledge, we were the first to ever brand the unboxing experience, and so we put the stripes on the box on the exterior, and we put a tray on the interior.”
Assertion Supported
Krim: Casper sued review sites over undisclosed advertiser payments, not negative reviews
“There are some companies and some sites out there, especially at the time when we were litigating against this, that did not represent themselves as being paid by these advertisers, and they represented themselves as independent and unbiased, and that just was…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Krim: Casper faced post-WeWork public market backlash against unprofitable startups
“We were the first, I think, visible high profile company to go public post WeWork, which meant there was a ton of negative sentiment around companies that were investing capital into their business and around, you know, these, the startup And side of things.”