Wisdom.MBA - Branding, Innovation & Explosive Growth with Ted Baker

Branding, Innovation & Explosive Growth with Ted Baker

07/18/20 • 56 min

Ted Baker is the co-founder of QALO (pronounced “kay-lo”), an active lifestyle company which was started in 2012. Their hero product, a functional silicone ring, has disrupted the multi-billion dollar wedding ring industry. In 2018, QALO was ranked #151 on Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing companies list. People like Lebron James, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Steph Curry now wear them. Ted’s story is a great example of how new innovative products can create a white space, unlocking unmet sources of customer value while capturing share in established markets. Ted shares his insights on the grit and tenacity it takes to bootstrap a company to phenomenal growth. Ted earned his MBA, with a focus in entrepreneurial and small business operations, from Loyola Marymount University. He currently serves as Board Chairman of www.qalo.com.
Discussion Topics:

(1:29) Backstory on how and why Ted started QALO.

(5:35) Launching without outside investment.

(7:35) Brand, culture and building an active lifestyle brand.

(14:30) Dealing with new competitors after explosive growth.

(17:26) Innovation and new product launches.

(22:57) Selling on Amazon and omni-channel marketing strategies.

(29:15) How to bootstrap a company for growth.

(35:40) Variable marketing and return on advertising spend (ROAS).

(40:45) Leveraging a business school education as an entrepreneur.

(1:29) Backstory on how and why Ted started QALO.

(5:35) Launching without outside investment.

(7:35) Brand, culture and building an active lifestyle brand.

(14:30) Dealing with new competitors after explosive growth.

(17:26) Innovation and new product launches.

(22:57) Selling on Amazon and omni-channel marketing strategies.

(29:15) How to bootstrap a company for growth.

(35:40) Variable marketing and return on advertising spend (ROAS).

(40:45) Leveraging a business school education as an entrepreneur.

Previous Episode

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition with Ari Medoff

Wisdom.MBA is a podcast where I interview business school students, professors and alums. We look to share wisdom, focusing on the hard-lessons learned through different career, school and business endeavors and share insights into how you can put a business school education to best use.
On this episode, I interview Ari Medoff who is a good friend and business advisor with a wealth of experience in search fund entrepreneurship, also known as Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). ETA is a challenging and at time lonely path, but if successful, it can be a great way to own equity in a business and become a CEO at a young age. If you’ve had dreams of owning your own business or are just interested in learning more about the search fund process, I think you’ll enjoy this podcast.
Ari earned an MBA/MPP from Harvard Business School and Kennedy School of Government. Before that, he worked as a Venture Capital/Merchant Banking Analyst at Lehman Brothers in New York where he was part of teams investing in consumer products, healthcare services, hotels, and enterprise software. Ari founded Arosa LLC in 2011 as a self-funded searcher and completed his acquisition of Nurse Care of North Carolina, a premier provider of in-home care services, where he serves as CEO. Since that time, he has also completed numerous other acquisitions within the healthcare space. Ari teaches a seminar on Search Funds at HBS and is also a board member of a number of great organizations in North Carolina.
Discussion Topics:

(2:00) Venture Capital at Lehman Brothers.

(9:45) Being a good Operator/Investor.

(11:45) The mindset required to be a Search Fund Entrepreneur.

(16:23) Why search funds are growing in popularity.

(23:18) Tenacity, loneliness and the challenges of searching for a business.

(33:30) Post-acquisition and the transition phase.

(40:29) Building trust and setting a vision for your new business.

(44:29) The wisdom of long-term business focus.

(48:34) Pivoting a healthcare business during COVID-19.

(53:37) Volunteering in the community as a business leader.

Next Episode

Facebook Advertising, Diversity, Inclusion & Duke Basketball with Chidi Erike

Chidi Erike is a Client Partner at Facebook where he helps clients like Unilever, Peloton and Starbucks optimize their businesses across Facebook’s ad platforms. I met Chidi a few years back while I was attending a Facebook marketing summit. I was impressed with a presentation he gave on leveraging the platform for growth and taking an analytical approach to optimizing social media ad spend. Having worked at JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and SocialCode, Chidi leverages his experience in banking and technology to identify opportunities and solve problems for large growth companies and help them reach their potential through strategy, marketing, and operations. Chidi also helped launch Facebook Elevate, a program designed for women and minority-owned businesses, providing them with customized workshops focused on business solutions and reaching new customers.
Chidi has a BS in Marketing and Finance from State University of New York at Albany. He completed his MBA from Duke in 2012 with a focus on Strategy and Finance. He was also a professional basketball player, so Duke fans, we also talk about one of my favorite topics – Duke Basketball.

Discussion Topics:

(1:43) Chidi’s roles at Facebook from ad auctions to client partnerships.

(5:45) Leveraging a background in Finance at Facebook.

(6:40) How best to improve one’s marketing on Facebook/Instagram.

(14:35) Optimizing creative for engagement.

(16:59) Instagram shopping.

(20:44) Spooky Instagram ads. Are you listening to my phone?

(25:56) COVID-19’s impact on advertising and businesses.

(32:45) Diversity & inclusion at Facebook Elevate.

(40:37) Why Chidi selected Duke over other schools.

(42:00) Playing professionally & thoughts on Duke Basketball.