From Dead in the Water to Profitable and Why People Don’t Buy Because of the Mission | David Simnick, Founder of Soapbox

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.Hiring agencies is risky — most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-beloved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, social, and more — at preferred rates.https://thehiddengems.com/Whatever your need, just send a request and they’ve got the solution... it’s that easy! – david@thehiddengems.comToday’s episode is with David Simnick, co-founder and CEO of Soapbox. David started making soap in his college kitchen in 2010 (his landlord thought he was cooking meth). Sixteen years later, Soapbox is sold in Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Target, Costco, and Wegmans, it’s profitable, and private equity firms reach out every month.Getting there took a near-death rebrand. In 2016, Soapbox was moving 0.15 units per store per week against a target of two, and their broker said he’d never seen velocities that low. The team rebuilt the brand with the agency Anthem and put it back on shelf in 2018.We get into why consumers don’t buy because of the mission (and why the mission still drives repeat purchases), what a BCG study found about Soapbox’s loyalty, why a one-for-one model beats a percentage pledge, what one of his largest investors said when David brought him a bad acquisition offer, and how David thinks about building new brands through incubation and M&A.Listener offer: 20% off your first order at soapbox.co with code CONSUMERVC20