S3 E8: Navigating and Managing Contract Manufacturers with Peter Russo
Peter Russo, a hardware mentor and entrepreneur with 15 licensed brands and $250M in retail sales, shares strategies for managing contract manufacturers (CMs). He emphasizes treating CMs as internal departments, securing IP and tooling ownership in contracts, and avoiding single-source dependencies. Russo also discusses cultural fit, exclusivity negotiations, and how startups can overcome being perceived as 'crappy customers' through storytelling and respect for the supplier's time.