Sam Shames is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Embr Labs, the company behind the Embr Wave: a wristband that heats and cools to help people manage comfort, sleep, stress, and hot flashes.

What started as a project in an MIT prototyping competition turned into a 12-year journey building a hardware company from scratch. Along the way, Sam and his co-founders grew Embr Labs to 200,000+ units sold, $50M+ in lifetime revenue, and $66M in venture funding. A $100K Kickstarter goal became $630K in sales, powered by a loyal community they engaged long before launch.

Sam’s path blends technical innovation with customer-driven growth. From proving the science behind their product, to surviving on $2K a month while raising capital, to pivoting into a hardware subscription model, he’s learned what it really takes to scale an ecommerce hardware brand.

Whether you’re building a DTC product, validating a new idea, or evolving your business model to better serve customers, Sam offers an unfiltered look at the grind, the pivots, and the lessons behind turning a student prototype into a category-defining company.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:42 ] Intro
• [01:03 ] Sharing early lessons in subscription
• [01:34 ] Connecting through founder communities
• [02:26 ] Brainstorming solutions to real pain points
• [03:21 ] Receiving thousands of customer emails
• [03:58 ] Deciding to sell when demand was clear
• [04:52 ] Realizing experience changes decisions
• [05:14 ] Understanding the customer segments
• [06:34 ] Raising angel and pre-seed funding
• [07:41 ] Building community through early feedback
• [08:53 ] Episode Sponsors: Electric Eye, Heatmap, Grow
• [12:05 ] Preparing manufacturing before crowdfunding
• [14:10 ] Adapting playbooks as channels change
• [15:36 ] Spotting misalignment in value capture
• [18:00 ] Screening customers to limit fraud
• [19:08 ] Partnering with experts on subscriptions
• [19:51 ] Highlighting temperature as a daily pain point
• [21:32 ] Showing value instantly on first try

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Personal temperature control embrlabs.com/
• Follow Sam Shames linkedin.com/in/samshames
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Clear, real-time data built for ecommerce optimization heatmap.com/honest
• The Premier Conference for Ecommerce Operators joingrow.com

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