E184: How Casper Hit $100M in Year One: The Untold Startup Playbook

Philip Krim is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Casper, one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups in history. Under his leadership, Casper hit $100M in revenue in its first year, went public in early 2020,and was later taken private. Today, Philip is building again—this time through Montauk Climate, a platform innovating in what he calls the “electron economy.” We talked about lessons from hypergrowth, managing through crisis, organizational design, and the future of climate investing.

Highlights:

• How Casper hit $100M revenue in its first year
• Building a brand consumers want to talk about
• What it takes to lead through hypergrowth
• Lessons from taking a company public right before COVID
• Why he believes DTC was just the beginning of a bigger thesis
• What the “electron economy” means and why it matters
• Why Montauk Climate is vertically integrated across venture, credit, and incubation
• How Philip evaluates early-stage founders—and what makes a good bet
• Why portfolio construction is the most underrated concept in venture

-- Guest Bio: Philip Krim is the founder of Montauk Climate and the former co-founder and CEO of Casper. Under his leadership, Casper became one of the most iconic DTC brands in the world, reaching $100M in revenue in its first year and going public in 2020.After exiting Casper, Philip launched Montauk Climate, a platform focused on building and investing in the “electron economy,” with a mix of venture incubation, growth investing, and credit strategies. He is also an active early-stage investor, with early bets in Ramp, MasterClass, and Relativity Space.

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LinkedIn: David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/ Philip Krim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-krim/

Links: Montauk Climate: https://www.montaukclimate.com/

-- Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at david@weisburdcapital.com.

(0:00) Episode preview (11:12)Hiring for new skills and functions (16:50)Organizational design for startups (19:42)Task structuring for scalability (20:56)Adapting core beliefs while maintaining credibility (22:21)Data-driven decisions versus gut instincts (23:02)Skills needed for founding a company (26:19)Venture vs. public investors' perspectives (31:09)Introduction to Montauk Climate and its strategy (34:47)Role of credit in energy transition (37:21)Electron economy and incubated companies (50:42)Investment approach for private allocators (53:08)Exploring the electron economy (54:35)Traits of successful early-stage founders (57:16)Predicting investment success challenges (59:35)Portfolio construction in venture capital (1:00:13)Closing remarks