Tim Brown had his MBA professor pull him aside to say that while he did not believe his idea for woolen sport shoes was a good one, he thought he should go for it because he seemed the most committed to making it work. The launch was initiated by selling 1,000 pairs of shoes on Kickstarter, which sold out in 4 days and raised $120,000. Since then the company has enjoyed tremendous success:
Allbirds’ sales passed 1m units on the company’s second anniversary last year, helped by a strong online following. Last month it secured $50m to help fund a second hub in London, adding to 140 staff in the US. The company has not revealed revenue figures, but Mr Brown says it has been profitable since 2016.