Hardware Podcasts

13 - Michelle Enright from Sonos

People of Packaging · 4 Feb 2020 · 52m

What this episode covers

Michelle Enright, who leads packaging design at Sonos, traces her career from a small design agency and a sunglass company to Dell, where she pioneered sustainable packaging innovations. She discusses the challenges of balancing brand integrity, cost, and sustainability at a tech startup, specifically highlighting the shift from lithography to flexo printing. Enright also offers advice on packaging education, career coaching, and the importance of industrial design sensibilities in structural packaging roles.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Sonos, Dell, Dioptics
Products
Playbar, Play One, Sub
Also
Cal Poly

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 29m

    Founder Feature: Lex Evan of Lexington Bakes

    Lex Evan, founder of Lexington Bakes, discusses his transition from a 20-year graphic design career at Johnson & Johnson to creating luxury baked goods with radical ingredient transparency. He explains his trademarked 'no naughty ingredients' philosophy, the decision to print supplier logos like Nielsen-Massey and Artisana on packaging, and the recent shock of his co-manufacturer going out of business. Evan shares how staying true to his vision led to winning a NEXTY Award at Expo West and offers advice on protecting time as a solo founder.

    Validation & product-market fitMarketing & brand
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 44m

    #260 - Packaging Changes as you Grow with Evie's Snacks and Belmark

    Eve Ackerley, founder of Evie's Snacks, and Cody Ponsler from Belmark discuss how packaging must evolve as a CPG brand scales from farmers markets to national retail. Ackerley details her journey from hand-applied stickers on craft bags to custom printed stand-up pouches, highlighting a critical lesson where buyer feedback revealed her initial design looked like 'laundry detergent.' Ponsler explains why 50% of brands change their packaging art between their first and second production runs and advises founders to prioritize shelf-life and brand storytelling over premature premium finishes.

    Packaging designScaling production
    6 chapters

  • How I Built This · 45m

    Advice Line with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar

    Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi joins Guy Raz to advise early-stage founders on scaling and product strategy. She discusses her transition from CEO to Chief Experimenter, the strategic value of brand collaborations over immediate revenue, and the importance of packaging in driving repeat gifting behavior. The episode features advice for The Beau Collective on bridge financing, Cotton Clara on market positioning, and Vashon Island Coffee Dust on converting gifters into loyal customers.

    Pricing, margins & unit economicsMarketing & brand
    5 chapters

  • TRADEOFFS · 58m

    T-24-003 : Christina Perla - Industrial Designer to On Demand Manufacturing

    Christina Perla, co-founder and CEO of Makelab, discusses her transition from industrial design at Converse to running an on-demand 3D printing service. She details the company's hub-and-spoke expansion strategy, including a new San Francisco location and a planned Connecticut factory, while explaining why she rejected venture capital after a fund imploded. Perla emphasizes community building as a core growth strategy and shares insights on the 3D printing industry's current reckoning regarding reliability and marketing honesty.

    Manufacturing partners & offshoringFundraising & investors
    9 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 28m

    Founders Feature: Lucy Dana of One Trick Pony

    Lucy Dana, founder of One Trick Pony, explains how her brand pivoted from a standard jar to an upside-down packaging design that eliminates oil separation in their two-ingredient Argentinian peanut butter. She details the operational headaches of early production, including lid fitment issues and a container shipment disaster, and how solving this customer pain point shifted the brand from fighting for retail placement to receiving inbound interest from major club retailers. Dana discusses leveraging viral social media content to drive this demand, her background at Uber and Blue Bottle Coffee, and her strategy as a solo founder scaling from natural channels to mass retail.

    Industrial & consumer product designValidation & product-market fit
    9 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by People of Packaging. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.