Making Something From Nothing: Sam Harper Of Hippy Feet On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Whatever you’re doing, do it sustainably. Consistent, incremental building over time is a powerful force in a business. The idea of blowing up a business overnight is seductive, but we often underestimate how much we’re able to accomplish when we take small steps forward everyday for years on end. To do this, you need to work sustainably and avoid burning yourself (or others) out.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sam Harper.
Sam Harper is the c0-founder and CMO of Hippy Feet — a sock company on a mission t0 support homeless youth. Sam launched Hippy Feet in 2016 alongside co-founder, Michael Mader. Since its launch, the company has provided transitional jobs to over 150 young people affected by homelessness, donated tens of thousands of pairs of socks, and continues to evolve its giving model. Previously, Harper has held leadership positions across a number of technology organizations.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
Entrepreneurship has been a part of my life ever since I was a kid. Coming up with ideas for businesses and selling just about anything to anyone was a form of play for me. My dad had his own small business and indulged all my curiosities about how businesses and markets worked.
Naturally, I gravitated to other people who were curious about starting their own businesses someday. This came full circle shortly after graduating from high school. A friend that I had gone to school with years prior had to start a business as part of a class project. He needed help in a number of different areas and turned to his community to help solve those problems. That class project gained quick traction, exceeding his professors expectations. I continued to help in different aspects of the business and by the time I was a senior in college, I had a seat on the board of directors. That company was generating mid-7 figure revenues at that point and still on a strong growth trajectory.
As my college graduation approached, I was faced with the decision of continuing with that existing company or moving onto something new. About 2 weeks after I graduated, I sat down with my current business partner to build a launch plan for Hippy Feet.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Everyone you’ve ever met knows something you don’t know.” I’m not sure where I heard this originally, but I find it applies in many different parts of my life. At Hippy Feet, when a young person affected by homelessness walks through our door, they carry a life experience that is so drastically different than my own. There’s something I can learn from each one of them.
Similarly, when I’m working with my team, I know that each person has a different set of skills and knowledge that they bring to the table. I can empower each person to contribute to solving problems and generating new ideas. It fosters better teamwork and people are more satisfied with their jobs, knowing that their contribution is valued. No individual is as smart as the combined group.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
The podcast that has grabbed my attention recently is Lifespan by David Sinclair. We’re at a pretty amazing time in human history where scientific developments show promise for extending life and increasing the number of healthy years we have on this planet. As a result, I’ve began to think about how some of these longevity and health extending interventions may not end up being democratized. Conversations about different forms inequality are becoming more common, but I fear that longevity inequality will be added to that list as some portions of the population are able to access resources that help them live longer and others are not.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
The biggest mistake I see aspiring entrepreneurs make is thinking their idea needs to be perfected before getting it to market. Oftentimes, founders try to hone an idea in isolation without getting actual customer feedback. As a result, they waste time and resources creating an offering that doesn’t have product market fit.
First-time founders tend to be poor judges of what is truly important for the success of their business. They allow trivial issues to delay the process of actually building their business. You can alway rebrand, iterate, and pivot. What you can’t do is go back in time to take advantage of a trend or seize an opportunity that has passed.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Before you dive into research, it’s worth framing your mindset around this differently. Yes, your business needs to be differentiated and you need a plan of how you’re going to do this. However, no matter how unique you think your idea is, someone out there already is working on it. It’s your job to execute better and get traction more quickly than them.
To illustrate this, understand that the typical VC firm/angel investor won’t sign a non-disclosure agreement before you pitch them. This is because they will likely be pitched on a similar idea in the future (or already have been), and may already be invested in one of your competitors. They understand that the success of a business is more contingent on the founder’s ability to execute than the idea.
The best way to understand whether your idea provides a unique offering to your target market is to immerse yourself in that customer group. This can be done online through forums and communities like Reddit or in person. It’s crucial to not only understand your potential customer’s problem, but also what motivates them to make decisions. From there, you can be sure that you’re differentiating in a way that provides real value.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
My expertise is in eCommerce and apparel brands, so that’s the best place for me to speak from.
Once you have an idea of a brand you want to build, you should start establishing an online presence on day one. This means standing up a website, social media accounts, and publishing content. Most clothing companies are differentiated on either the technical qualities of the garment they’re making or their brand. Unless your product is truly innovative, then you’ll be relying heavily on your brand. By establishing a brand presence as soon as possible, you start to build recognition among your target audience.
The next step is to begin sourcing your product. Some clothing items will require you to create a “tech pack”. Think of this as a blueprint that a manufacturer will use to know exactly what kind of cuts, seams, and features to add and exactly how to do it. Other products are very simple like screen printing a design on a premade t-shirt for example. The level of complexity will vary significantly based on the product you want to create.
Most apparel companies don’t own their manufacturing internally. Instead, you hire a factory for a period of time to produce your products. Finding these manufacturers can be tricky. While you can start by searching on Google or Alibaba for someone that makes a product similar to yours, I highly suggest that you try to get in touch with a person who has apparel sourcing experience. Often, these people will have standing relationships with manufacturers and be able to provide an introduction.
Once your product is actually created, it’s time to sell and fulfill it. One great thing about apparel is that there are multiple channels you can sell on. From establishing your own eCommerce presence, to selling promotional products, and wholesaling your product into stores — there’s a wide range of ways to generate sales.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?
Learn to live with (and manage) risk.
I once asked a mentor “when did you feel like you were finally comfortable in your business?”, at which point he just laughed at me and said that he’s still not comfortable. Managing a growing business, you’re constantly balancing conflicting priorities like revenue growth, profitability, risk, and your own comfort. The numbers may get bigger as you become more successful, but if you’re in growth mode then you’re always assuming some level of risk.
Getting your idea out quickly is more important than perfecting it.
I’ve found that I’m much more likely to get a successful result in something if I start doing it and course-correct as I’m going, rather than trying to get everything right from the beginning. I see a lot of people get hung up on trying to get the perfect name or perfect logo for whatever they’re trying to start, then never actually get their business or social cause off the ground.
Whatever you’re doing, do it sustainably.
Consistent, incremental building over time is a powerful force in a business. The idea of blowing up a business overnight is seductive, but we often underestimate how much we’re able to accomplish when we take small steps forward everyday for years on end. To do this, you need to work sustainably and avoid burning yourself (or others) out.
Your idea may cost more than you originally thought.
Starting a business can be expensive, but there are often costs beyond the financial commitment. Unfortunately, almost every founder could tell you how their entrepreneurial journey has come at the cost of their own physical and mental wellbeing, relationships, or other things they didn’t expect to sacrifice. You should understand that bringing an idea to life may take more than you think.
You’re not doing surgery.
When you’re starting a business, you’re passionate about an idea and you’re taking on risk to make it a reality. However, we have the tendency of telling ourselves the work we’re doing is more important than it really is. You’re starting a business, not doing surgery. No one dies if something goes wrong (and things WILL go wrong). Just stay calm, work hard, and make the best decisions you can with the information you have.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
Early on, you need to confirm that there is actually a customer need and a sufficiently sized market to support your product. This means getting to know your customers, the issues that they’re facing, and understanding how they’re currently solving that problem. If there are enough people having that problem and you offer a better solution than what is currently available, then you have a strong foundation to build upon.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
This will vary from person to person. Do you have the skillset to prototype the product yourself? What about establishing cost-effective and scalable manufacturing? How about actually getting the product to market and selling it? Very few people have all of these skills. You’ll certainly need people along the way to help bring your product to market — deciding who these people are starts with an accurate appraisal of your own ability.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
Since day one, we’ve bootstrapped Hippy Feet. This has led to slower growth than if we had sought outside capital, but we’ve been able to retain full control over our company as a result. This strategy wouldn’t have worked in other industries that are more capital intensive or are driven by product innovation. If you try to bootstrap your growth in one of these industries, another company will beat you to market and you’ll be pushed back into a product development phase in order to differentiate from them.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I’ve been fortunate to work with a couple of different companies that have had a massive social benefit. In particular, my work at Hippy Feet has had a direct impact on young people experiencing homelessness. We’ve been able to provide transitional job opportunities to over 160 young people affected by homelessness. This March, we just announced that we’re committing to donating 50% of company profits from this point on. These funds will be donated to nonprofit organizations that are serving homeless youth. This will enable organizations that are already doing amazing work to have an even greater impact for young people in need.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
There are plenty of problems for smart people to dedicate their energy and talents toward, but I’d love to inspire problem solvers to turn their attention to the food system. I believe we’re going to see greater disparities in health and wealth driven by access (or lack of access) to affordable, high-quality food.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I’d love to have lunch with Lex Fridman. He’s fostering some really important conversations about the direction our world is heading and how the people driving that change can use their positions of authority responsibly.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
