And at the end of the cleaning session, we ask if they changed anything with their vacuum. They say it works great. But we observed them turn over the vacuum, rip hair off, almost cut a finger. Consumers actually apologize for the product's lack of ability. They just live with and manage problems. That inspires us to solve problems, like making a vacuum that doesn't wrap hair.
I'm Patrick J. McInness and I coined the term FOMO, fear of missing out. This is Fomo Sapiens, where we explore how entrepreneurial thinkers find inspiration to build exceptional lives.
Welcome back to Fomo Sapiens. I'm your host Patrick J. McInness. Today we are joined by Mark Barrocas, CEO of Shark Ninja, the company behind household names like Shark and Ninja. Since 2008, Mark has helped transform Shark Ninja from a small appliance player into a multibillion dollar global innovation powerhouse. Welcome, Mark.
Thank you so much. Really appreciate you having me.
It's my pleasure. I want to dive into your background. How did you end up at Shark Ninja and what was it like?
We were a small company just outside of Boston, about 40 people in the office. We only had the Shark brand then. The company was called Europro and we sold the Shark Steam Mop and Shark Sweeper. I joined my best friend Mark Rosenwag, who founded the company, and we repositioned the business around solving consumer problems. That was back in 2008.
Wow, interesting timing with the financial crisis. Consumers were reluctant to spend. You talk about a problem-solving culture. What does that mean in practice, how do you figure out the consumer's problem?
It would be easy if consumers knocked on our door. We see problems others don't by scouring consumer data, visiting homes, and commercial environments. We create hypotheses. For example, watching a consumer vacuum, turn it over, cut hair off the brush roll, throw it away. At the end we ask if they'd change anything. They say it works great. But we saw that they had to do all that work. Consumers apologize for the product's shortcomings. They just manage. That inspires us to solve the hair wrap problem. We have 1,300 engineers. We need to identify problems and solve them at the right balance: market-leading performance, high quality, extraordinary value. When those three come together, it excites the consumer.
That's really cool. I have your toaster that becomes a toaster oven. It's delightful and makes cooking fun. But you also have to explain to the customer why they want it. How do you ensure the story is baked in from the beginning?
If your product development is driven by price, retailer opportunity, or just a personal idea, it's hard to tell a compelling story. Our stories are authentic because they start with a real problem. Take the toaster oven: consumers have limited counter space. We combined a great toaster with a great oven that can flip up to save space. There's a journey behind it. Our history from infomercials taught us to demonstrate benefits. Today it's a 12-second TikTok, but the story must be there. We might go through 30 iterations before getting it right.
I love that mindset. It's about figuring out problems, innovating, and communicating in a fun way. I have your LED face mask and posted it on Instagram. People ask if it works or want one. Give us an example of a viral product and how you drive virality.
In 2009, we launched infomercials on Saturday morning at 10am on USA Network. By 11am we knew if it was a success based on calls. That built our focus on immediate consumer feedback. On virality: the Ninja Creamy, an at-home ice cream maker developed during COVID. A board member asked why not focus on sanitization. I said people love ice cream. We saw dietary restrictions and kids with allergies. The at-home ice cream market was $40M. Retailers said even 50% share was only $20M. But we believed we could enlarge the market. We created viral content with recipes. Then consumers hacked it: they made protein ice cream from their protein shakes. That went viral. Consumers become ambassadors. We grow one five-star review at a time.
That's so interesting. All marketing is FOMO. When consumers do the heavy lifting, it's more credible. Do you bake elements into product design that make them more shareable on social media?
We think about three thresholds: acceptability (e.g., vacuum noise), excellence (e.g., amazing dust pickup or blender crushing ice), and over the last four years, viral. We design for virality. For the face mask, we added LED lights to show it's working and make it look cool on social media.
That's really smart. I appreciate how clearly you communicate. I want to talk about failures. Tell me about a product that completely failed.
