My conversation with Joey Zwillinger of Allbirds
I recently sat down with Joey Zwillinger, co-founder of Allbirds, to record an episode of Lightspeed’s podcast Tomorrow, Built Today. Allbirds makes insanely comfortable footwear made of natural materials like wool and eucalyptus. It started selling online a little over 2 years ago and has seen incredible traction out of the gate.
At Lightspeed, our interest in companies like Allbirds dates back to our early investment in Bonobos almost a decade ago. Bonobos CEO Andy Dunn set out to reinvent mens’ pants and pioneered many of the techniques used today by what he called digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs). Since then, Lightspeed has invested in several other DNVBs, including Honest Company (baby), Goop (cosmetics/apparel), Rothy’s (women’s footwear), Hungryroot (healthy snacks), and Daily Harvest (frozen meals).
I spoke with Joey about a number of topics, ranging from his career journey from industrial chemist to “wool cobbler,” to the importance of brand values, to why it’s “the best of times” for e-commerce startups, to the role of Amazon in the ecosystem. Joey and I also opined on what each of us might do if we were CEO of a major apparel retailer or brand holding company.
Below are some highlights from the discussion. I’d encourage you to download the entire episode, give it a listen, and subscribe:
On Allbirds’ laser focus on innovation
“We think of ourselves as much more of a material innovation company. We’re delivering amazing materials that happen to be very, very sustainable and great for the planet.”
How company values can drive customer loyalty
“We call it a post purchase halo. It’s about what happens after [the purchase], and the ripple effect of that. You can engender more loyalty if there is something more meaningful beyond just the performance and value that you get from buying the shoe.”
On the fragmentation and lack of innovation in casual shoe market
“There really is room for something to be aspirational. It’s got to be playful; it’s got to have great personality; and it’s got to be innovative; it’s got to be with new material.”
On developing Allbird’s product development process:
“We researched it and we found — because we constrain it to natural materials or naturally derived materials — that eucalyptus pulp has this really silky soft feel to it when you touch your foot or your hand against it and it has a cooling sensation. That sent us down this rabbit hole of developing a line around trees.”
On the challenges of e-commerce:
“Being a direct to consumer business, I think people forget that you’ve taken on two challenges. You’ve taken on the challenge of the best product brand in the world, and you’ve taken on the challenge of best retailers of the world.”
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