“Never go into business with your friends,” is what Rob and Taylor both believe and both ignored when throwing all governing rules to the wind at the height of the pandemic and starting their sock brand, InStitches, together. Taylor happened to have the world’s most advanced, eco-friendly textile factory in China, and the guys had so much respect for one another as entrepreneurs, it was a no-brainer. And while the first iteration of Boosocki was generating $30k a month pretty much out of the gate, it was when they decided to pivot hard into whitespace with the sock card that the vision really became clear.
Taylor Shupe is the co-founder of InStitches with Dyrdek Machine and its sub-brand, BooSocki. He is a longtime entrepreneur, having co-founded Stance and most recently FutureStitch. He built a state-of-the-art knit factory in China and has a vision to make clothing entirely recyclable and remedy the growing environmental impact of fashion. As he expands his operation to Los Angeles, he is currently serving as the Vice-Chairman of YEEZY.
You think you know how to pitch the end-user value of a product before you even create it. Then you build a company and go through rigorous testing to zero in on the right messaging to entice customers to try your product. Then you put that message out into the market. That’s when the real work begins. The consumer reaction may not be exactly what you had hoped. But rather than be married to your original messaging, it’s then time to continue to evolve that value prop until it resonates with a larger audience. The goal is to continue refining until it is simple, clear, and unique. Rob uses the evolution of Mindright’s value prop over the last year since launch as a prime example. To follow the Mindright story from launch day to now, go back and check out episode 4 and episode 13 with Mindright CEO, Chris “Bernie” Bernard.
Also in this episode, Rob is joined by Amanda Greenberg, CEO of Balloon. She has built a product to make meetings more effective, which Rob has partnered with prior. Rob has some insights about how she could make Balloon’s value proposition clearer and more valuable.
Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY
Another group of hungry, relentless entrepreneurs proved their merit by submitting detailed pitch videos with their experience and ideas for the chance to Build With Rob. While they may not be exact fits for the Dyrdek Machine’s hyper-specific criteria (see: EP01 Welcome to the Machine) for creating a company, Rob still believes all of these founders have what it takes to be successful and wants to lend his unique point-of-view to help them keep pushing forward to achieve their dreams.
Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY
These hungry, relentless entrepreneurs proved their merit by submitting detailed pitch videos, highlighting their experience and ideas, to apply for the chance to Build With Rob. While they may not be exact fits for the Dyrdek Machine’s hyper-specific criteria (see: EP01 Welcome to the Machine) for creating a company, Rob still believes all of these founders have what it takes to be successful and wants to lend his unique point-of-view to help them keep pushing forward to achieve their dreams.