The Ledger
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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”
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 …”
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”
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”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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,”
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.”
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.”