# 199: Selling a New Product Successfully on Amazon

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2023-10-28
- Length: 19m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Tim Angel, founder of Zugu, explains how his company achieved over $30 million in annual sales by focusing exclusively on high-quality iPad cases sold via Amazon. He details a strategy of starting with a premium product to avoid price wars, using competitor reviews to drive iterative engineering improvements, and building a snowball effect of five-star reviews before investing in advertising. Angel emphasizes that focusing on a single niche product category allows for the deep refinement necessary to dominate a market segment.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=0) Introduction and Zugu's Origin Story
- [3:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=218) Why Amazon is Critical for Single-Product Startups
- [4:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=299) Using Competitor Reviews to Drive Product Iteration
- [8:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=533) The Premium Product Strategy and Brand Positioning
- [11:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=673) Review Acquisition and Advertising Timing
- [14:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=876) Pricing, Ad Spend, and Niche Dominance
- [17:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon#t=1072) Focusing on One Product to Scale

## Topics

- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Zugu (company)
- Amazon (company)
- Walmart (company)
- iPad (product)
- Mako Design (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#127  Launching on Amazon with Leon Lewis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2024-02-06-127-launching-on-amazon-with-leon-lewis) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Scrub Daddy: Aaron Krause. How a Failed Experiment Became a Billion-Dollar Sponge](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2026-03-16-scrub-daddy-aaron-krause-how-a-failed-experiment-became-a-billion-dollar-sponge) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-08-advice-line-with-jim-koch-of-boston-beer-company) (How I Built This)
- [Amazon Success Secrets - Actionable Expert Insights on Launching & Growing a CPG Brand on Amazon](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-25-amazon-success-secrets-actionable-expert-insights-on-launching-growing-a-cpg-bra) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Advice Line with Jack Conte of Patreon](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-10-28-199-selling-a-new-product-successfully-on-amazon. 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 Product Startup.