product quality

When you think of pizza, the first place that comes to mind probably isn’t Finland…or Scotland. But that’s where the two founders of the outdoor pizza oven brand Ooni grew up. In 2012, Kristian Tapaninaho was experimenting with making his own pizza, but he couldn’t get his home oven hot enough to produce an authentic, Neapolitan-style crust. With no background in product design, Kristian decided to design a portable, wood-fired outdoor oven. He used some basic 3D modeling software, enlisted a nearby fence-maker to build a prototype, and raised about $26,000 on Kickstarter. Since launching in 2012, Kristian and his wife Darina have grown Ooni into a $250 million business, accelerated by the home baking boom that happened during COVID. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and sold in 90 countries, Ooni has defined a new product category that has helped transform home pizza making.

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David Heath and Randy Goldberg saw an opportunity to disrupt a long dormant—and arguably boring sector...socks. They met at a startup in their 20s, each already had their own side hustles before they hatched a plan to launch a business together. Randy and David didn’t initially intend to get into the sock business, but in 2011, David read that socks are the most requested clothing item at homeless shelters. That led them to start a company they called Bombas based on a promise: for each pair of socks a customer bought, another would be donated to the homeless. Within about ten years, their one-for-one start-up turned into a quarter of a billion dollar business that has expanded into sweatshirts, underwear, and t-shirts.

Listen to The Great Creators launching September 20th

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(1) Why are core values important and (2) How do you make a good product great? In this ASK ANDY episode of The MFCEO Project, Andy Frisella answers questions from listeners.  Vaughn Kohler joins him for the conversation.