Hardware Podcasts

Tempur-Pedic: Bobby Trussell

How I Built This · 22 Oct 2018 · 1h 02m

What this episode covers

Bobby Trussell, former horse trainer and founder of Tempur-Pedic USA, explains how he pivoted from a bankrupt horse racing career to distributing Swedish memory foam products in the U.S. He details the initial failure of selling 3-inch overlays to chiropractors, the breakthrough success of mailing free pillows to 500 chiropractors, and the pivotal moment of convincing Brookstone to stock the product. Trussell also discusses the strategic decision to position the brand as a high-end luxury item, the eventual merger with the Swedish manufacturers, and the company's path to going public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Brookstone, Sealy, Simmons, Serta, Spring Air, Danfoam, BatBnB, NASA, IKEA, Sharp Image, Relax the Back
Products
Tempur-Pedic
Also
Christopher Rannefors, Michael Magnuson, Doug Lanvik

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