Meridiano

Add Article

No Image Available

Article Details

Title

Article: PopSockets founder David Barnett talks about building a viral business

Impact Score

4 / 10

AI Summary (Processed Content)

David Barnett, a former philosophy professor, founded PopSockets from his garage over a decade ago, overcoming initial challenges like manufacturing defects and a lack of business experience. He notably built the company without traditional venture capital, scaling it through retail after observing customer interactions and refining the product. Barnett discussed the complexities of retail expansion, intellectual property, and his eventual decision to step down as CEO, emphasizing that hiring the right people is the most critical leadership lesson.

The main topics covered are the founding story of PopSockets, its bootstrapped growth strategy, the challenges of scaling a hardware business, and leadership transition.

Original URL

https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/07/popsockets-founder-david-barnett-talks-about-building-a-viral-business/

Source Feed

TechCrunch

Published Date

2026-03-07 18:40

Fetched Date

2026-03-07 16:30

Processed Date

2026-03-07 16:30

Embedding Status

Present

Cluster ID

Not Clustered

Raw Extracted Content

David Barnett has learned a lot since first launching PopSockets more than a decade ago.
As the tale goes, the former philosophy professor was looking for an easy way to hold his headphones and went on to create one of the most viral phone accessories of all time: A device that grips to the back of the phone and can be used as a kickstand or a handle — better known as the PopSockets.
Barnett sat down with Equity this week to talk about his journey building this company from his garage, why he decided to never take on traditional venture capital funding, and some of the lessons he’s learned while scaling the business.
“I was a philosophy professor, so I had no experience with manufacturing,” he recalled, adding that he also lacked experience in business, tax, accounting, and finance. “I burned through a lot of money with no revenue,” he continued, adding that he had “wave after wave of manufacturing defects” during the early days.
Still, he managed along and was able to land in a local toy store where he would often stop by to watch how customers interacted with his brand. “The sales were quite slow,” he said. He adjusted the Popsocket a bit, and that’s when everything started to take off. “That was the point where I thought, ‘Okay, this could work in retail.”
From there, he spoke about the hits and misses of entering retail (including a dispute he had with Amazon that briefly caused him to pull his product from the website). He spoke about adapting the product even more, protecting intellectual property, and when he knew it was time to step down as CEO and let someone else take the reins.
“The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that it’s all about the people,” he said, adding that he was looking for this trait in his successor. “I think that’s the most important skill one can have as a leader.”