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Jun 25, 2017 · 22m · top-founders

701: Smart Desk King Sells $10,000,000+

Dewey Huynh · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 9m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of 'The Top,' host Nathan Latka interviews Autonomous founder Dewey Huynh, who details how his company bootstrapped a direct-to-consumer smart office furniture business to over $10 million in profitable annual revenue.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 48.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:0020:001:01–4:48 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Autonomous Mission and Cardboard Product Launch Nathan probes into Autonomous's business model and pricing, playfully chastising Dewey when he claims not to care about making money. Nathan repeatedly presses for concrete sales figures on the newly launched cardboard desk.4:49–10:42 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Origins in Smart Home and Company Scaling Nathan interjects when Dewey questions why tech giants pursue smart home tech, asserting it is purely a data play. Nathan also drills down firmly to extract total prototyping costs and headcount breakdowns.10:42–17:38 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Direct-to-Consumer Model, Revenue, and Acquisition Stance Nathan uses back-of-the-napkin math to extract revenue milestones ($10M+ annual run rate) and teases Dewey for withholding how he got his initial customers until Kickstarter is mentioned. Dewey explains the direct-to-consumer supply chain advantage over legacy furniture giants.17:39–20:49 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Sponsor Segment: Organifi Travel Health Supplement The segment begins with an Organifi sponsor read before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding on a friendly and routine note.1:01–4:48 · Guest teaching 2/10 Autonomous Mission and Cardboard Product Launch Nathan probes into Autonomous's business model and pricing, playfully chastising Dewey when he claims not to care about making money. Nathan repeatedly presses for concrete sales figures on the newly launched cardboard desk.4:49–10:42 · Guest teaching 2/10 Origins in Smart Home and Company Scaling Nathan interjects when Dewey questions why tech giants pursue smart home tech, asserting it is purely a data play. Nathan also drills down firmly to extract total prototyping costs and headcount breakdowns.10:42–17:38 · Guest teaching 3/10 Direct-to-Consumer Model, Revenue, and Acquisition Stance Nathan uses back-of-the-napkin math to extract revenue milestones ($10M+ annual run rate) and teases Dewey for withholding how he got his initial customers until Kickstarter is mentioned. Dewey explains the direct-to-consumer supply chain advantage over legacy furniture giants.17:39–20:49 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Organifi Travel Health Supplement The segment begins with an Organifi sponsor read before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding on a friendly and routine note.1:01–4:48 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Autonomous Mission and Cardboard Product Launch Nathan probes into Autonomous's business model and pricing, playfully chastising Dewey when he claims not to care about making money. Nathan repeatedly presses for concrete sales figures on the newly launched cardboard desk.4:49–10:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Origins in Smart Home and Company Scaling Nathan interjects when Dewey questions why tech giants pursue smart home tech, asserting it is purely a data play. Nathan also drills down firmly to extract total prototyping costs and headcount breakdowns.10:42–17:38 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Direct-to-Consumer Model, Revenue, and Acquisition Stance Nathan uses back-of-the-napkin math to extract revenue milestones ($10M+ annual run rate) and teases Dewey for withholding how he got his initial customers until Kickstarter is mentioned. Dewey explains the direct-to-consumer supply chain advantage over legacy furniture giants.17:39–20:49 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Organifi Travel Health Supplement The segment begins with an Organifi sponsor read before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding on a friendly and routine note.1:01–4:48 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Autonomous Mission and Cardboard Product Launch Nathan probes into Autonomous's business model and pricing, playfully chastising Dewey when he claims not to care about making money. Nathan repeatedly presses for concrete sales figures on the newly launched cardboard desk.4:49–10:42 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Origins in Smart Home and Company Scaling Nathan interjects when Dewey questions why tech giants pursue smart home tech, asserting it is purely a data play. Nathan also drills down firmly to extract total prototyping costs and headcount breakdowns.10:42–17:38 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Direct-to-Consumer Model, Revenue, and Acquisition Stance Nathan uses back-of-the-napkin math to extract revenue milestones ($10M+ annual run rate) and teases Dewey for withholding how he got his initial customers until Kickstarter is mentioned. Dewey explains the direct-to-consumer supply chain advantage over legacy furniture giants.17:39–20:49 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Organifi Travel Health Supplement The segment begins with an Organifi sponsor read before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding on a friendly and routine note.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 45.6% · guest 54.4%0:00 · Nathan 45.6% · guest 54.4%3:00 · Nathan 40% · guest 60%3:00 · Nathan 40% · guest 60%6:00 · Nathan 29.8% · guest 70.2%6:00 · Nathan 29.8% · guest 70.2%9:00 · Nathan 44.5% · guest 55.5%9:00 · Nathan 44.5% · guest 55.5%12:00 · Nathan 39.8% · guest 60.2%12:00 · Nathan 39.8% · guest 60.2%15:00 · Nathan 49.3% · guest 50.7%15:00 · Nathan 49.3% · guest 50.7%18:00 · Nathan 77.7% · guest 22.3%18:00 · Nathan 77.7% · guest 22.3%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 16:36 Dewey rejects furniture company categorization

Dewey firmly rejects Nathan's buyout scenario by insisting Autonomous is a tech company rather than a traditional furniture firm.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:41 Nathan demands tactical customer acquisition details

Nathan refuses Dewey's vague answer about word-of-mouth growth and presses him until he discloses the initial $300k Kickstarter campaign.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:03 Dewey explains supply chain margin disintermediation

Dewey breaks down why legacy office furniture competitors charge massive markups to cover wholesale layers, contrasting it with Autonomous's direct-to-consumer model.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 7:17 Nathan counters smart home utility premise with data monetization

Nathan corrects Dewey's skepticism of smart home devices by pointing out that big tech companies invest in them for consumer data collection rather than light-switch utility.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Autonomous Mission and Cardboard Product Launch 4214 Nathan probes into Autonomous's business model and pricing, playfully chastising Dewey when he claims not to care about making money. Nathan repeatedly presses for concrete sales figures on the newly launched cardboard desk.
Origins in Smart Home and Company Scaling 5215 Nathan interjects when Dewey questions why tech giants pursue smart home tech, asserting it is purely a data play. Nathan also drills down firmly to extract total prototyping costs and headcount breakdowns.
Direct-to-Consumer Model, Revenue, and Acquisition Stance 6326 Nathan uses back-of-the-napkin math to extract revenue milestones ($10M+ annual run rate) and teases Dewey for withholding how he got his initial customers until Kickstarter is mentioned. Dewey explains the direct-to-consumer supply chain advantage over legacy furniture giants.
Sponsor Segment: Organifi Travel Health Supplement 2101 The segment begins with an Organifi sponsor read before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding on a friendly and routine note.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Huynh: Autonomous intends to reinvent every single object in the office
“We wanna reinvent every single object in the office whether that's a desk, a chair, a bookcase a headset, or whatever it is. We wanna look at them. We wanna reinvent them. How can we change this product? That's been around for thousands of years.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 2:50
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Huynh: Autonomous Has Shipped Nearly 100,000 Units
“I think we ship close to a 100,000 units.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 5:07
Disclosure
Huynh: Autonomous Raised About $200K in Outside Capital
“We raised at the beginning about 200,000 dollars from an investor.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 6:07
Opinion
Huynh questions why Google, Amazon, and Samsung invest in smart homes
“So we don't really see the value in the smart home space, and we still don't understand why Google and Amazon and Samsung are still working in the smart home space.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 7:09
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Huynh: Autonomous has sold to over 30,000 offices in 18 months
“I mean, we officially launched about 18 months ago, Nathan, and we've been selling to over 30,000 offices.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 11:12
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Autonomous generates double-digit millions in annual revenue and is cash-flow positive
“But in terms of size I mean, our revenue is in double digit million dollars right now and we cash out positive, and we are very proud of what we achieved so far.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 11:23
Disclosure
Huynh would likely reject a $40M acquisition offer from Herman Miller
“Probably not right now. I think we have an exciting roadmap for our product, so it's not just a piece of furniture. When you look at Autonomous from the name itself, we are not a furniture company, Nathan.”
Dewey Huynh Jun 25, 2017 ▶ 16:37
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