# Allbirds: Tim Brown & Joey Zwillinger

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2019-06-10
- Length: 1h 09m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger

## Summary

Tim Brown, a former professional soccer player and designer, and Joey Zwillinger, a former consultant and clean-tech entrepreneur, co-founded Allbirds to create comfortable, sustainable footwear. They launched the Wool Runner using merino wool from New Zealand, initially via a Kickstarter campaign that faced fulfillment nightmares before they partnered up. The duo structured Allbirds as a B Corp with a legal charter embedding environmental responsibility, focusing on direct-to-consumer sales and carbon neutrality through materials like SweetFoam.

## Chapters

- [4:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=271) Tim Brown's Soccer Career and Design Roots
- [7:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=475) Joey Zwillinger's Consulting and Clean-Tech Failure
- [16:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=974) The First Wool Shoe Prototype and Kickstarter
- [32:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=1975) Fulfillment Nightmares and Meeting Joey
- [40:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=2455) Partnering Up and Raising Seed Capital
- [47:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=2844) Launch Strategy: Comfort, Sustainability, and DTC
- [54:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=3245) Early Success, Tension, and B Corp Charter
- [1:06:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger#t=3962) Postscript: Kirby Erdely and the Orange Screw

## Topics

- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Allbirds (company)
- Wool Runner (product)
- SweetFoam (material)
- Merino wool (material)
- Kickstarter (tool)
- Shopify (tool)
- Solazyme (company)
- Orange Screw (product)
- University of Cincinnati (other)
- Kellogg School of Management (other)
- Deloitte (company)
- University of Pennsylvania (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [050: Creating environmentally-friendly athletic apparel,  Tim Christian of OORR](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-04-25-050-creating-environmentally-friendly-athletic-apparel-tim-christian-of-oorr) (Product Startup)
- [Founder Feature: Matt Jacobs and Kristen Doyle of Pedestrian Project](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2024-07-12-founder-feature-matt-jacobs-and-kristen-doyle-of-pedestrian-project) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Haylee Jordan and Tom Eddleston of FABRIC](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-10-17-founder-feature-haylee-jordan-and-tom-eddleston-of-fabric) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Zoe Levin of Bim Bam Boo](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-03-21-founder-feature-zoe-levin-of-bim-bam-boo) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Hippy Feet is the coolest company you haven't heard about until now! Michael Mader, CEO](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2025-11-05-hippy-feet-is-the-coolest-company-you-havent-heard-about-until-now-michael-mader) (People of Packaging)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-06-10-allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.