PopSockets founder David Barnett talks about building a viral business

David Barnett has learned a lot since he invented PopSockets ten years ago.

As the story goes, the former philosophy professor was looking for a simple way to hold his headphones and went on to create one of the phone accessories that have always gone viral: A device that attaches to the back of the phone and can be used as a kickstand or handle – popularly known as PopSockets.

Barnett sat down with Equity this week to talk about his journey building the company out of his garage, why he chose not to take traditional funding, and some of the lessons he’s learned growing the business.

“I was a philosophy professor, so I had no experience with design,” he recalls, adding that he had no business, tax, accounting, and finance skills. “I spent a lot of money without money,” he continued, adding that he “had a lot of production problems” in the early days.

However, he made it and was able to make it to a toy store where he often passes by to see how customers interact with his brand. “Sales were slow,” he said. He tweaked Popsocket a bit, and that’s when everything started to take off. “That’s when I thought, ‘Okay, this could work in sales.’

From there, he talked about the hits and misses of getting into retail (including a dispute he had with Amazon that led him to pull his product from the site). He also talked about turning things around, protecting intellectual property, and when he knew it was time to step down as CEO and let someone else take over.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that it’s all about people,” he said, adding that he was looking for that quality in his successor. “I think that’s the most important skill a person can have as a leader.”