YouSaid · the spoken record

Olivier Bernhard

lines on the record: 68
first: 2024-07-22
most recent: 2024-07-22
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“Hey, thanks so much for listening to the show this week. Please make sure to click the follow button on your podcast app so you never miss a new episode of the show. And as always, it's totally free. And if you're interested in insights, ideas, and lessons from some of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, sign up for my newsletter at guyroz.com. This episode was researched and produced by Catherine Cypher with music composed by Ramtina Bluey. It was edited by Neva Grant and her engineers were James Willetz and Robert Rodriguez. Our production staff also includes JC Howard, Casey Herman, Sam Paulson, Carrie Thompson, Alex Chung, John Isabella, Chris Massini, Carla Estevez, and Elaine Coates. I'm Guy Raz, and you've been listening to How I Built This.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Casper Capetti and Olivier Bernhardt, co founders, along with David Olaman of On Running Shoes, By the way, the company is about to unveil a secret new shoe technology just in time for the Summer Olympics. So if you watch the track and field races, you might see the characteristic on logo on some fast running feet.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When you think about this journey you took. Jump into the business, and then what it became, how much do you think had to do with the work you guys put in and your intelligence and skill, and how much do you attribute to luck”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Casper, I can't help but think about that conversation your dad had with you when you were 14. And he says, We're broke. You're going to have to make it on your own. It's just kind of remarkable because you guys did. I mean, you built not just a brand, you built one of the biggest now, an iconic Swiss brand, and you're coming from a country with Rolex and chocolate, but other brands too. But, I mean, big well-known brands are coming out of Switzerland. You built one. You guys have, of course, this is never a comfortable conversation, but you've all made a lot of money. What do you think this continues, at least for you guys? I mean, at some point, do you have a sense of what, when you'll kind of step away? And I don't know, retire or do something else? Or do you think this, you're in there for life?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You went public in 2021. You had an IPO. And I think you end the day at a valuation of six and a half. I mean, this is a business that you had hoped to hit 10, 15 million just a couple years, a few years before. I mean, was any part of you At that point, just like how do we get here so fast? It seems, I mean, I know that it's a long journey, but it's just 11 years after you guys launched.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Wow. So essentially, I mean, if I'm reading this right, that really is the beginning of the transformation from a running company to a sports company.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I mean, it's really interesting because so many things going on. Now you're making a transition away from just being a running shoe, right? Now you're designing a shoe for a tennis player. A tennis shoe is very different. But then the other thing is for Roger Feder to do this is actually kind of risky because normally he's just being paid to endorse a product, whether the company does well or not.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So you are just saying, I mean, because he could have just said, all right, fine, here's your money, and then you would have never heard from him again”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You're thinking, you're thinking he's like, hey, maybe I'll be the brand ambassador or something, right? That's right. I mean, which cost. Tens of millions of dollars”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I mean, you know, you're talking about a Michael Jordan level athlete, right? I mean, Roger Fedder, one of the greatest. Tennis players ever. What did you guys talk about?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This is an important training point. Obviously, you are. You are compatriots. He's probably the most famous Swiss in the world, Swissman in the world. But he was just wearing ons because he liked them?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Wow. I mean, of course, now today you would again, if this was the business school case study, you would have said, Of course we thought of ourselves as a lifestyle brand from the beginning, but because that's really where the growth could come from. But at the time, it was really a running company. So you thought that probably by 2015, 2016, you were thinking we've built a pretty successful niche in the running market. I mean, I think you guys between 2012 and 2019, you sold 4 million pairs of shoes around the world, which is pretty great. I mean, that's, you're not going to own the running market at that point, but it's nice. It's a nice business.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's amazing. It took you four years at that time. Did you guys primarily see yourself as a running triathlete company like a company, a brand for mainly for runners? Or did you see a future where you were going to be for different kinds of people using the future?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So basically, I guess around by 2013, you do become a $10 million company, at least in terms of sales. Your sales are $10 million. And were you, which presumably you weren't yet profitable? Or were you?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I have to assume that what was really going to be a tipping point was getting these shoes on athletes who would win races. What was the first? Sort of big race, or who was the first athlete who won something wearing the shoe that got you attention?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But it is amazing that if you can. If you can build a product that is differentiated and is unusual and then performs, the things that you think really matter, like the name and the logo, don't actually matter all that much in the end.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You're thinking, I'm bringing the best guys, the heavy hitters, into my business. And here they go, give me this name with a QC.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When you entered the US market, from what I understand, you had some challenges with your name. I mean, the name was great, but then all of a sudden you realize that for a Google search, you type in on and you're not necessarily going to hit running shoes. I mean, now you do, but then you wouldn't. And also the stylized way that the logo looked, a lot of Americans thought it was like QC or...”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Hey, welcome back to How I Built This I'm Guy Raz. So it's 2013 and on Sneakers are becoming popular among runners in Europe, but Europe is just one market. So to really break through, the founders have to establish the brand in the US. And you guys went to the Belly of the Beast. You opened an office in Portland, which is, I think a lot of people know this. It's the center of the shoe world in the US. Obviously, Nike's there, Adidas is there. And presumably, they weren't even paying attention to you. You were like a fly spec to them. They probably didn't even know who you were at that point.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“If you want to share your favorite episode of How I Built This record a short voice memo on your phone telling us your name, where you're from, what your favorite episode is, and why. A lot like the voice memo you just heard. And email it to us at h-bt at ID.wonderie.com and we'll share your favorites right here in the ad breaks in future episodes. And thanks so much. We love you guys. You're the best. And now back to the show.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Hey guy, Danny Snyder here up in Spokane, Washington. Now I have listened to every single episode of how I built this and several of them many times, but the one I keep coming back to as a personal favorite is Gary Hirschberg and Stoneyfield Yogurt. There are just so many times throughout his journey that you think to yourself, a reasonable person would have given up then and definitely then, and no doubt then, but he persevered. He pushed through it and in the end he triumphed. And as me and my wife have started our own business, something like that is just so inspirational to help you get through those early bumps and bruises. Thanks so much.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When we come back in just a moment, On breaks into the US market and then catches the eye of one very talented tennis player, you probably have heard of him. Stay with us, I'm Guy Ros, and you're listening to how I built this”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“He did. But was that really your ambition? Like, you thought, okay, we'll be a very small niche shoe brand mainly for runners. Was that what you were thinking?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“From what I understand, Casper, I've seen you say our intention, our goal was to build this into a $10 million company. That was your ambition.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, when that factory went bankrupt, how did you rescue the shoes, right? I mean, presumably you paid for it or whatever. Like, what did you do?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Kesper, I read something that you said about the company early on, and I just think it's such a great insight into a business, and you basically said something to the effect of when we started this company, it felt like the world ended at least once a week that just collapsed. Was it that stressful? Was it that tense?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Know one of the things that I'm curious about, because I know you win this award at this trade show, this best new product. And from what I gather at that point, people are telling you, you better get this on the market quick because you got the hype going, strike while the iron is hot. When you went to China initially to get the shoes manufactured, from what I've read, you were told by people that your design drawings and your schemes were impossible to make these affordable. You could not mass produce these in a way that would enable you to sell them for $150 or $200. You would have to sell them for $1,000 to make your money back.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Our listeners can't see, but I'm holding up one of your models that I have. And I'm wondering, obviously there's a function here, right? This is functional here. But the design, the holes in the soles are also weird. I mean, I remember the first time I saw them. I was like, those are weird shoes. You have to stop and look at them. And I wonder if that was part of the design element or were you just thinking we got to make a functional shoe, this is going to be the best shoe that we think we can make but did you also think and let's make it look kind of weird so it stands out”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“One of the things that strikes me about. So, okay, Olivier, if you're going to go to a race and you're going to talk to other athletes, you're coming in with immense credibility and standing because you walked the walk. You ran the ran, right? So it's not like some marketing guys coming to a race and going, hey, try our shoes. It's literally Olivier doing it, which is a huge advantage. But at the same time, I have to imagine that it's not that easy to get runners to just try a pair of shoes because what if they get injured in those shoes? Like that could really screw them up. So how, I mean, what was it that enabled you guys to even just get runners to try them? I guess part of it was because they looked so weird, right? They were so unusual.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I'm curious about sort of the design aesthetic of the brand that you got. I read some more that you guys put together a mood board of different images and different, even different brands that you were inspired by. Tell me a little bit about that process, about sitting around and saying, this is what we want this to be.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, you did okay. So, how did you guys finance a production run? I mean, you know, George was the money guy, but now it's the three of you. You probably had a good salary, young in Rubicam, and David probably had a decent salary from Vitra. And I know, Olivia, you were probably making very little money in the previous years because you were working on this shoe. So how did you guys have any financing to even do a production run for prototypes?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I have to imagine that initially you're trying to conquer the Swiss market, which is globally a relatively small market, but that's what you're trying to do at the beginning.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Okay, I'm going to get back to the name in a bit. But meantime, Casper, you had said to Ollie, That you thought this was crazy to go to build a running shoe company. And now you've not just left your company, but you're pursuing this idea. Why did you think, because this is like 2010, I think, right, at this point?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Power I really, it's funny because I ask founders about the potential names for business all the time. How'd you come up with Lululemon? And there's like 20 names before and you're like, oh my God, that was a dumb name. That's a dumb name. That's a dumb name. Thank God you picked Lululemon. Neon's actually pretty good. It's not bad.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I imagine one of the first things Think about the branding of this thing, right? Because you have this shoe, these prototypes, you've got the licensing for the technology. The shoe is called GNL. And that was not the name you were going to use. You thought, were you thinking this is not quite right?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's like Russian roulette right there. Or what's it called? Maybe not the Mexican standoff. I can't remember. It's one of those things.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, the three of you decide to start this company, but you say, here's the agreement. If one of us has another job, or like you've got, you're out, this is all in.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You brought him in. Casper, you said something. I know that you always intended to be an entrepreneur, but you had a really great job at Young and Rubicam. Did you, at what point were you comfortable quitting that job and pursuing this full-time?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You mentioned David. This is David Allaman, who was a friend of you who brought him in. He was the head of marketing at Vitra, which is an amazing furniture designer. I think they have the license for EMS.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, Casper, you agree to kind of intervene. And you went to George and said, I think it's better for you guys to separate. What was his reaction?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Olivier, I know that this is probably sensitive and it's all business is tricky, and there's always Personality clashes, and it could be painful, but what was going on between you and George?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And Casper, what convinced you to work on this shoe idea with Olivia? I mean, to at least help him out a little bit, just because he's a friend”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Meantime, Oliv You are determined to try and do this. So tell me what you and George, but what's George's last name, by the way? Okay, and so what are you and George? I mean, none of the big shoe companies want to do this. In the meantime, you guys said we're going to do this anyway. So what was the next step”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah. And by the way, just to be clear, you had a lot of standing to say that because you worked at Jung and Rubicam and you knew how challenging this market was going to be to get into and how the massive ad budgets that Nikes and Adidas and Pumas of the world had. It's a fool's errand, right, to try and enter a market like that.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When we come back in just a moment, how a pair of garden hose sneakers becomes an emerging brand with a name, a following, and a manufacturer, a manufacturer that at exactly the wrong time goes bankrupt. Stay with us, I'm Guy Ross, and you're listening to how I built this. Hey, welcome back to How I Built This I'm Guy Ros. So it's 2008 and Olivier and his design partner George have developed a new space age looking sneaker which they think could revolutionize running, but nobody is giving them the time of day. So Olivier decides to call up Casper, his old friend and former agent for help.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“They just got unglued as you were running. All right, I want to just pause because obviously this is going to be a huge part of the story, right? But for you, running on, these are sort of garden hose pieces stuck to the bottom of the shoe, what kind of sensation did it give you? Like the landing was softer, the gate was more spring-like as your foot left the ground? Like, what do you remember?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And now I think comes a pivotal part of the story because at this point, Olivier, you're living in a small town in Switzerland. And this guy you know, this is another runner and an engineer. I think his name is George, he calls you up out of the blue. And he says he has an idea of like a new kind of sneaker. Is that right?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Meantime, Olivier, as your career starts to wind down, because at a certain point, your body just cannot, like, as we age, you just cannot compete at a certain level, right? I mean, that just happens. It's just nature. As you started to think about retiring, I'm sure there was some minor injuries or maybe more than minor injuries. There's a lot of Achilles issues and plantar vacitis. I mean, you go through a lot, you put a lot of strain on your body. When you started to think about retiring, you're married, you've got a family now, what were you trying to figure out what to do? I mean, you were a coaching athletes. Did you think, okay, maybe that's the career I'll move into?”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I imagine. And then meantime, Casper, I mean, you were also pursuing your academic career and then your professional career, right? I mean, there's like your lives kind of go off eventually into separate tracks, right? Because Olivier, you continue to compete. And Casper, you're working towards a PhD in economics. And I think you also started working at a consultancy at McKinsey. And then eventually at the ad agency, Young Arubicam in Zurich.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Your argument was which would be proven correct was that it's a naturally occurring substance in your body. And you just had a slightly elevated amount because of your training.”
2024-07-22 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · On athletic shoes: Olivier Bernhard and Caspar Coppetti · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT