Burrow: Customer obsession as a competitive advantage

Ethan Song and Stephen Kuhl of Burrow discuss the power of the customer experience in driving organic growth and retention. Brands are thinking more holistically about the consumer experience to differentiate from competitors, building brand equity and community is a key part of that process. Hear from Stephen’s experience turning an idea originally conceived in an entrepreneurship class at Wharton into Burrow. Stephen is a Y Combinator alumnus that has since raised over $50 million dollars in venture capital with Burrow and scaled to over 150,000 customers. This episode also explores how to measure and validate a market opportunity, the ins and outs of the furniture industry and how to target and define your ideal customers.

Subscribe to our Substack and YouTube for more engaging content and thoughtful analysis. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Links Discussed

Y Combinator

Casper

JAND (now Warby Parker)

RareCircle’s Community Membership Platform

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Show Notes:

5:10 - The old DTC playbook

9:15 - Identifying a market opportunity

16:55 - Defining a target market

22:00 - Customer experience

28:00 - Supporting small brands

30:00 - Getting your first customers

35:45 - Fueling growth with VC dollars

38:30 - Profitability and valuations

40:40 - Capital needs and risks

42:00 - Finding capital in today’s market

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Past guests on the Pop Up Report include Karen Danudjaja (Blume), Jake Karls (Mid-Day Squares), Alan Wood (Rally Beer Company). 

Stay tuned for new episodes from upcoming guests including Lanny Smith (Actively Black), Aubrie Pagano (Alpaca VC), J.P. Robert (Quartz Co., Want les Essentiels) and many more.

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Additional Episodes You Might Enjoy:

Rally Beer Company: Tapping into Passion

Mid-Day Squares: Building the Next Great CPG Brand through Authentic Content

Why You Shouldn’t Take VC Money, Even When You Can (Bonus)

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

The Pop Up Report interviews DTC and CPG founders to uncover how they fostered and scaled their communities to create profitable businesses. Gain a deeper understanding of the tools, tactics and retention strategies that build true customer loyalty.

Subscribe to the Pop Up Report on Substack or YouTube for more.