How I Built A $7 Billion Shoe Company Called On | Founder Effect

Good story on growing a successful company: ON knowing what you don't know, ON experiential marketing, ON IPO and dual-share class, and ON competition.

Just bought my first and sister's first pairs of on❤

I thought these were from Old Navy

How you built it?? You got Federer on board!! Final answer! Only reason why anyone knows anything about this shoe is because of him

They are so comfortable and my favorite brand right now. It's too bad that the shoes last 4 months at best if you're not rotating them out.

I will buy a pair for sure.

I bought their product for the first time ~ in 2014. No one knew this company back then. It was nothing to write home about. Interesting idea but mostly it was the looks. To my surprise, however, they really took off. At first, I saw mostly people in Switzerland wearing ON - this is a special thing with the Swiss, they are conditioned to buy Swiss made (or at least there needs to be Swiss-something) even if it is not something special -- not a bad thing IMO. Then I gradually started seeing ON shoes in Germany, California, Austria, and The Netherlands -- mostly upper-class people. Nowadays, more and more people use them casually, not for technical purposes. This is mostly attributed to the relatively slick design of the upper part of the shoe. Minimalist and clean, not cheesy apart from the "engineered in Switzerland" bs. The latter is necessary as the shoes are not "Swiss made" but mostly made in China instead. The midsole is still funny to me -- it is clear they want to move away from the "clouds" gimmick and are trying to figure out ways to evolve the design, but they still rely on the holes. My point is that this is a Patagonia-type semi-fashion brand for people that justify spending a lot of money based on some technical promises. ON might be yet another gimmicky brand but, boy is it an amazing lesson in marketing. It is the textbook example of how the Swiss industry works -- aim at the premium product in order to be able to charge that 25% Swiss premium.

Love this guy

His final statement was the winning formula.

Good stuff.

You can create 1000 different stories about ON shoe sucess but the real reason is the name accosiated with it " ROGER FEDERER "

The video is about a Swiss company and shows images from the Swedish countryside as an illustration. I mean, those two countries are not even close.

On running are very comfortable I want an all white pair stylish

I bought them for long distance walking.👟 But the dampening is not enough for me. It leads to knee pain for marches>50km. I guess I am to heavy 🪨😂.

Lifelong runner and sneakerhead.
The trademark sole design I think will not age well almost falling into gimmick category. I'm sure Nike, Adidas, etc. are all following closely if ON is a serious threat or not.

l respect this guy for his progression in business but l never knew what that brand is offering different to others and l find them trainers quite ugly

It looks great but how to keep the shoes clean with those holes ?

What a great dude, and amazing business story 🩵

First time I hear english with a strong swiss accent.

Just got the cloudmonsters and out of the thousands of miles ran in hokas , Nike, la sportiva , salomon. The ons are superior in my opinion, they just feel so good and springy

You guys dont't know the difference between Sweden and Switzerland, that's embarrassing !😠

This close to the poverty line and Switzerland, in the same sentence, is hilarious.

Despite the disdain for communism, it seems many companies get their products made in China. I am impressed by his athletic achievements!

Yo I remember when this company started availability in the US and even a little before then. As someone starting a business this is very cool

Comfortable but lacking design

I am similar position looking to build a software in the healthcare industry i done a mock up and wireframe just need the right connection.

Terrible name, confusing logo.

So wait, it was “his” idea and yet the guy who actually came up with the idea is barely mentioned?

the quality is suspect On (sic) the early models. My hiking shoes fell apart: the heel rubbed through and both soles came off. From what I've seen this wasn't an aberration. Spend your money on Hoka or Brooks as On isn't a serious running/trail shoe.

🇨🇭 connection helped 🗣🎓 💶

I thought this was Uniqlo sports brand… “U”ni”Q”lo

On became famous and succeeded coz of Roger.

so ugly

we are born without shoes but get buried in shoes......

No one in Switzerland grows up close to the poverty line

I just purchased some on - cloud monsters at REI, they blew my mind how comfortable they felt so I also got the waterproof Cloud wander, then went to the website and purchased the all black cloud monsters. There is not a shoe on this earth that’s better than this brand in my opinion. Only bad side is they look so nice I don’t want to wear them so I might start just collecting them or something.

ON shoes have exploded in the U.S. Sales are soaring

I bought one pair of ON shoes. A very flexible one. I thought to use it for rather short distances up 10 to 14 km. Somehow I preferred a more solid shoe or do distance with real minimal shoes. So since then, that pair of ON shoes has been a easy to slip in indoor shoe. It is worn out now, even though I really never did any work out with them. So to me, this cloud technology doesn’t offer any advantage, maybe great flexibility. Cushioning, direct energy return etc are much better in other shoes. Sorry. And I am big Roger fan

a heavier expensive running shoe, how amazing /s

Definitely the best looking pair of sneakers I’ve ever owned. I also love that they didn’t need to be laced and I could easily step into them. The soles started to feel really firm on each foot strike recently, though. I only got about 70 miles of running, but many more of walking (all on my treadmill) on that pair before retiring them. I just bought a pair of Hoka Bondi 8’s. They’re much uglier than my Ons and they squeak when I walk in them (I don’t notice it while running because it feels like it’s the back end of the insole that squeaks and I usually strike my mid or fore-foot when running)
I’m excited to wear my retired Ons casually this summer even though I won’t run in that pair again. I’d like to try another pair of On running shoes, I just want to be sure they have some with a softer ride.
I wish all running stores had treadmills- it makes all the difference when choosing a new pair of running shoes. I’ve ended up with so many pairs I’ve hated because the only test drive option was bouncing and awkwardly walking around the store, that and relying on gimmicky foot tests from the sales people. Just let me run in them for two minutes and I’ll feel confident about my purchase!

The beginning of the story is exactly what I'm experiencing now with the GEMJI game :) So this video came just on time. Thanks, Oliver & CNBC :)

PE teacher here, just bought my first pair two weeks ago, I was searching for a waterproof shoe that would still breathe. It took a few wears but now they feel perfect. Very excited I found these.

I have a lot of long distance runner friends and they all say the same. Great shoes for everyday wear, but not great shoes for running.

I had no clue what they were called. I only knew they were comfortable and I ran my first ever marathon in them!

Think Liverpool is the sole reason this company is so successful 💀 everyone wears them here

In love with cloudmonster ❤

And they just fall apart. They are poorly made.

Just got my first pair. Both functional and beautiful.

The brand closest to Skechers in the sense of style