Joey Zwillinger

The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch · Joey Zwillinger, Co-Founder of Allbirds

• Why Is Simplicity the Key to Success in the DTC Business

  Direct to Consumer market is oversaturated, and a great brand with only a few offerings can stand out by helping the consumer to make shopping less challenging.

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• Why Allbirds Are Not Available on Amazon

  Joey says that once a brand lists their product on a marketplace, that sends a negative signal to their consumer and undersells their brand value. Instead of being compared on price, Allbirds wants to be differentiated by the quality of their shoes, and the difference they are trying to create in the world.

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• What Is the Amazon Impact on Traditional Retailers of Consumer Goods

  Amazon has created a completely competitive market where a consumer is able buy practically anything at the lowest price. As the result, brands are pressured to cut costs and to discount their merchandize, making cost and now quality, their primary focus.

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• Is Retail Dying Today

  Retail as we know it is definitely dying. The internet has enabled consumers to shop for the cheapest deals.

  All that said, when it comes to picking a tangible good, like the Allbirds sneakers, consumers still want the satisfying experience of being able to touch and feel the product, before making their first purchase.

  The internet is a great way to order replacements after that.

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• What Was the Reason for Starting Allbirds Shoes Brand

  Through his work on biotechnology projects, Joey learned that selling an innovative renewable product to a traditional brand was an uphill battle. Direct to Consume (DTC) was the best way to get renewable, really innovative chemicals and materials to market.

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• Who Is Allbirds Co-founder Joey Zwillinger?

  Harry Stebbings introduces Joey Zwillinger on The Twenty Minute VC as co-founder of Allbirds, the wool-shoe company Stebbings calls the maker of the world's most comfortable shoes. He says Larry Page, Mary Meeker, Ben Horowitz, and Dick Costolo are fans, and that Allbirds has funding from Maveron, Lerer Hippeau, and Slow Ventures. Before the shoe company, Zwillinger worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, in venture capital at Industry Ventures, and at TerraVia, a food and nutrition company. He tells Stebbings he was an engineer in biotech when the idea for Allbirds took shape.

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