#350 - Mike Beckham - Co-Founder & CEO @ Simple Modern - A Former Pastor Built One Of The Fastest Growing E-Commerce Businesses In The US

The Fort - An Entrepreneurship Podcast

Mike Beckham is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Simple Modern, a leading producer of premium drinkware and lifestyle products. Founded in 2015 and based in Oklahoma, SimpleModern currently generates a nine-figure annual revenue and is committed to generosity, donating at least 10% of annual profits to nonprofit organizations. Under Mike’s leadership, the company has grown into a category leader for Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Sam’s Club.

We discuss:

• Building Simple Modern during the peak of Yeti’s domination
• Hypergrowth strategies and living in a future with AI
• The power of product licensing and building moats
• The disadvantages of selling products online

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Links

Simple Modern

Mike on X

Topics

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:48) - Starting Simple Modern

(00:15:46) - How much thought do you need to put into a product as simple as a cup?

(00:17:51) - The Stanley Phenomenon

(00:22:06) - Influencer marketing

(00:24:15) - The pros of hiring your friends

(00:33:21) - Learnings from spending 10 years as a pastor

(00:43:43) - Hypergrowth

(00:48:05) - AI

(00:55:23) - Product Licensing

(01:04:00) - Building moats

(01:09:07) - Does Amazon take more and more margin out of products as you grow?

(01:18:35) - Becoming an ESOP

(01:27:01) - Offshoring and China

(01:34:22) - What are some disadvantages to selling online?

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