Ep. 34 How House Of Léon is Reshaping the Luxury Furniture Industry
09/07/22 • 19 min
Steven and Jordan Neman started House of Léon as a DTC business that only the brave would attempt: furniture. Massive, bulky, made to order, and expensive, how could they apply DTC building blocks to something so far outside of the box? In this episode, Jason talks with Steven about how they got started and what they are learning along the way.
Jason and Steven begin by talking about what went into founding House of Léon and how they were able to work around the standard furniture manufacturing conventions that guarantee that almost everyone is paying the same prices for mostly identical pieces, no matter the branding. Instead Steven and his brother Jordan began by designing one-of-a-kind pieces and then found someone who would make them to order, always putting their vision first. Of course, the brand has only existed since 2021, so there have been lots of learning along the way - Jason and Steven get into what it takes to manage inventory when it is so large in size, how to manage it by doing market research ahead of time, and what Jason wishes he had learned when he was at the beginning of his founders journey.
Topics Discussed:
- Jason’s 56 page deck for ecommerce founders
- What changes for companies based on the size of what they sell - from tiny false eyelashes to sectional sofas
- House of Léon’s founder story
- How House of Léon was able to upended manufacturing’s hold on furniture pricing
- How House of Léon stands out: quality materials and excellent design
- How to avoid making products your customers don’t want
- Listening to your customers to make production choices
- Different inventory problems: overstock and stockout
- Different inventory solutions: conservative ordering and demand prediction
- Jason’s take on hiring early in the business life cycle
➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co
🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI
Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter: http://news.bbclass.co
Steven’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-neman-93625488/
House of Leon instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houseofleon/
Steven and Jordan Neman started House of Léon as a DTC business that only the brave would attempt: furniture. Massive, bulky, made to order, and expensive, how could they apply DTC building blocks to something so far outside of the box? In this episode, Jason talks with Steven about how they got started and what they are learning along the way.
Jason and Steven begin by talking about what went into founding House of Léon and how they were able to work around the standard furniture manufacturing conventions that guarantee that almost everyone is paying the same prices for mostly identical pieces, no matter the branding. Instead Steven and his brother Jordan began by designing one-of-a-kind pieces and then found someone who would make them to order, always putting their vision first. Of course, the brand has only existed since 2021, so there have been lots of learning along the way - Jason and Steven get into what it takes to manage inventory when it is so large in size, how to manage it by doing market research ahead of time, and what Jason wishes he had learned when he was at the beginning of his founders journey.
Topics Discussed:
- Jason’s 56 page deck for ecommerce founders
- What changes for companies based on the size of what they sell - from tiny false eyelashes to sectional sofas
- House of Léon’s founder story
- How House of Léon was able to upended manufacturing’s hold on furniture pricing
- How House of Léon stands out: quality materials and excellent design
- How to avoid making products your customers don’t want
- Listening to your customers to make production choices
- Different inventory problems: overstock and stockout
- Different inventory solutions: conservative ordering and demand prediction
- Jason’s take on hiring early in the business life cycle
➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co
🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI
Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter: http://news.bbclass.co
Steven’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-neman-93625488/
House of Leon instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houseofleon/
Previous Episode
Ep. 33 Using a Little to Do A Lot: Capital Efficiency with Matt Mullenax from Huron
Matt Mullenax founded Huron because he saw a void in the men’s grooming industry and tested this hypothesis by launching a dummy brand before pouring all of his capital into developing real inventory. He and Jason run through how this testing worked, and dive into the topic of capital efficiency - a solid business concept in the age of rampant branding.
In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason invites Matt Mullenax to outline his business mindset in a variety of ways: what it means to truly be a leader and to grow a team, how Matt detected and leveraged a disconnect between high-end and chain store skin care products for the male population, and why carefully watching the two metrics of gross margin and profitability will outlast any waves of hyper growth, virality, and branding trends. Jason shares stories from his own business and breaks down how Matt’s theories can be applied to time usage and social media marketing.
➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co
🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI
Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter: http://news.bbclass.co
Matt’s Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-mullenax-4b4b086
Matt’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattmullenax
Next Episode
Ep. 35 Aishwarya Iyer from Brightland on Finding her Brand’s Superpower and Creating a Cult Product
Brightland might be the first sustainably sourced DTC olive oil company to exist, and it has achieved cult-status for its freshness, its colorful and beautifully designed bottles, and its personal touch. All of this is thanks to Brightland’s founder, Aishwarya Iyer, who joins us this week to share her story, and some tips for finding your own success story.
It often seems like crossing the distance between an idea and its execution is impossible, especially when you have a product in mind but no clue where to start. In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason wants to find out from Aishwarya Iyer how she went from corporate communications to founding Brightland, the much-heralded sustainably sourced California olive oil company. Aishwarya eschewed the typical marketing tricks used by DTC founders and chose to lean into her skill set. She focused on what she could do, and on how she could educate herself in areas where she needed to learn making every step of the production process into something personal and meaningful.
Topics Discussed:
-The difference between product affinity and brand affinity, and why it matters for your marketing strategy
-How Aishwarya Iyer got the idea for Brightland
-Her thought process in telling the story of Brightland
-Why she began with PR and Communications instead of branding
-How Aishwarya Iyer legitimized her product even without a background in food
-Using your superpowers as your marketing compass
-The preparation that went into creating Brightland’s supply chain: olive education, establishing relationships with farmers, creating packaging
-How packaging and shipping are intertwined, and how to prepare for common pitfalls
-How to use DTC’s major communication advantage when you experience delays
-What makes a cult favorite?
-How Brightland takes their customers on the journey with them, and why that is so valuable.
-Aishwarya Iyer’s if she could do it all over again advice to herself as a young entrepreneur
➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co
🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI
Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter: http://news.bbclass.co
Brightland: https://brightland.co/
Aishwarya’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/aishwarya228
Aishwarya’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aishwarya-iyer-44112a19a
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