David Barnett has learned a great deal since first launching PopSockets over a decade ago. As the story goes, the former philosophy professor was simply looking for an easier way to manage his headphone cord. That search led him to create one of the most viral phone accessories of all time: a collapsible grip that attaches to the back of a phone, functioning as a kickstand, a handle, and more.
Barnett recently shared his journey of building the company from his garage. He discussed why he decided to avoid traditional venture capital funding and recounted the hard lessons learned while scaling the business. “I was a philosophy professor, so I had no experience with manufacturing,” he recalled, noting he also lacked background in business, tax, accounting, and finance. “I burned through a lot of money with no revenue,” he continued, adding that he endured “wave after wave of manufacturing defects” in the early days.
Despite the challenges, he persevered. He managed to get his product into a local toy store, where he would often visit to observe how customers interacted with it. “The sales were quite slow,” he said. After making some adjustments to the PopSocket design, everything began to take off. “That was the point where I thought, ‘Okay, this could work in retail.'”
From there, Barnett spoke about the successes and setbacks of entering retail, including a dispute with Amazon that briefly led him to pull his products from the site. He also covered topics like further product adaptation, protecting intellectual property, and recognizing the right time to step down as CEO and hand over leadership to someone else. “The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that it’s all about the people,” he said, explaining that this was the key trait he sought in his successor. “I think that’s the most important skill one can have as a leader.”