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Meet Shea Gerhardt

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Meet Shea Gerhardt

July 28, 2022
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We recently connected with Shea Gerhardt and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
Our listening habits have evolved drastically over the past several years. I mean, podcasts and audiobooks weren’t even a thing when the ipod came out, and while devices have evolved, the earbuds have not – until now! Hard plastic earbuds are painful 15 minutes into one episode, and simply don’t work for those of us who binge listen to audiobooks, consume multiple podcasts and make damn good use of our time entertaining ourselves on the fly. So we went ahead and designed the world’s most comfortable earbud, optimized for voice and, in the process, revolutionized the industry.
Our goal was to create earbuds so comfortable you can keep them in after your work call, and switch right over to your podcasts. With crisp sound and revolutionary comfort, you become immersed in the content and can tune out the world around you.
Buderflys was founded on the slopes at Steamboat Springs after I realized that no earbud could fit comfortably in my ear for an entire day of skiing. I was not the only one feeling discomfort. In my research, I found that over 95% of earbud users experience pain or ear fatigue after 45+ minutes of wear. There was an obvious need. So I invented Buderflys, a high-end, premium sounding earbud made with a proprietary squishy material that flexes with the ear’s movement as we talk, chew and exercise.

Having been an executive in the mobile and music industry, I also knew there was a huge market for earbuds that was not being tapped. The market of spoken word, meaning audiobooks, podcasts and zoom calls. These listeners are on their buds 4-6 hours a day. I knew I had to create an earbud for this market. Buderflys can be worn continuously, comfortably, and securely – even responding to your own body heat for improved comfort the longer you listen, all while delivering incredible clarity of sound. Buderflys are, hands down, the most comfortable earbud on the market for long term listening.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I’m fueled by the need for constant learning and I’m inspired by the ideas of great thinkers. Essentially, this is my inspiration behind creating Buderflys, because I needed an earbud that was comfortable enough to binge content all. day. long.
Prior to Buderflys Tech, Inc – I’ve spent nearly two decades in executive roles in the mobile, gaming and music industries. Having worked with major music labels including Universal, Sony, EMI, and Warner Bros. as well as some of the world’s largest mobile wireless companies including VZW, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Vodafone, I’ve built my career on the ability to develop a clear and focused path to cutting through the noise in crowded and stale industries and growing business where user-centric product are king.
On the slopes of Colorado, I came to the literal and figurative painful realization that the constant friction from today’s earbuds design did not deliver the experience I needed. Knowing that discomfort of the traditional earbuds is the top complaint from users in this $30B industry, I led an amazing Buderflys team of experts to spend the past four years solving for this pain point. A product that solves the top complaint in the earphone industry and one in which no one thought was possible. But after 1.2M in development and 5 years later we can officially say we did it and are delighting our users every day.
I founded Denver-based Buderflys in 2016. We are a next generation earbud brand and our mission is to redefine fit, comfort level, engagement and acoustical design for the industry. Buderflys are built for long-term comfort to adapt to the ways we use earbuds today.
Our innovation, creativity and grit resulted in bringing to market a high-end, premium sounding earbud made with a proprietary, innovative squishy material that flexes with the ear’s movement as we talk, chew and exercise. Finally, an earbud that can be comfortably worn for a long period of time, paired with a crisp and clear sound profile for the long-form/spoken word vertical.
We own a market advantage with our unparalleled Patented comfort technology and our sticky AI engagement software/hardware (MRR) that is positioned to leap ahead in this high-growth market ($152B in 2030), while changing the way we listen, communicate and engage with the world around us. By capturing just 2% share of our SOM will equate to $1B in value.

 

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I was thinking about raising capital but knew nothing about how to pitch, plus I suck at public speaking. So, I joined a class run by Dave Harris and Peter Adams at RVC on pitch decks and pitching. After the class Peter suggested that I pitch to their fund. I went through the RVC hyper accelerator, (which I would recommend to everyone). At the end of the 7-day program we had two lead investors and something like 30 LP followers. From there we were invited to participate in the Telluride accelerator with TVA and TVF. Outside of the TVA program, I happened to meet this amazing local residential architect who built a house in Telluride for the founder/CEO of one of the biggest brand names in our target ecosystem. Long story short, and a little stocking, he is now a strategic investor in the company. Plus, I got to meet one of my personal heroes. I did a deal with the brand and the founder/CEO invested in us.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

It’s been said that starting a business is all about going from one set back to another with enthusiasm. However, the amazing feedback we’ve received from our first public product release has made all the hard work and sleepless nights worth it. However, the ups and downs are no joke, being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart, and I think it takes a little bit of crazy and a whole lot of luck. High points include the marketing launch of our G2 Curiosity Wireless Earbuds last November where we sold close to a half million in the first few months via our site Buderflys.com as our only sales channel; hearing Will Arnett mention that his Buderflys are as comfortable as his favorite T-Shirt; after 5 years, we were awarded our broadest patent around our comfort technology; but most of all it is notes like the one we got yesterday from one of our users – “I love wearing my Buderflys. They make me feel smart and cool. Such a great brand.”

The low points are there too, with the MOST challenging being supply chain/manufacturing. It has been a bear where every month our demand is out-passing our supply. However, we have only been able to navigate the space through sheer will, innovation, and not taking “no” for an answer. In Q4 we had larger than expected demand but had 60% less inventory, due to labor shortages in our two factories (US based). Therefore, we had to throttle marketing/sales to accommodate available inventory. We are now working to create redundancy in our manufacturing so that we have more options to meet demand. With the ups and downs comes the satisfaction that we have truly created an innovative earbud that will change the way we listen, communicate and engage with the world. Plus, you know that moment when you get precious time to yourself where you can connect with the audio content that inspires and feeds you – well we just made it 1000% more enjoyable!

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