20VC: From $4.1BN to $142M Market Cap; Why Public Markets Have Written Allbirds Off, What Allbirds Need to Do to Get Profitable, Why Growth has Slowed and The Bull Case for Allbirds Next Five Years with Joey Zwillinger, Co-Founder @ Allbirds

Joey Zwillinger is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Allbirds, the company behind the world’s most comfortable shoe. In Nov 2021, Joey took the company public and the stock soared to an all-time high of $4BN, today the company has a market cap of $137M. Prior to Allbirds, Joey spent six years at biotechnology firm, Terravia, leading its renewable chemical business, developing and selling high-performance algae-based chemicals into various industries such as CPG, personal care, and industrials.

In Today’s Episode with Joey Zwillinger We Discuss:

1. The Founding Moment:

• How did Joey’s wife’s friendship lead to the co-founding of Allbirds?

• What does Joey know now that he wishes he had known at the founding moment?

• What does Joey believe he is running away from? What is he running towards?

2. Public Market Performance Review:

• Why has Allbirds lost 97% of it’s value since going public? What mistakes were made?

• Why has revenue declined for the first time this year?

• What strategic investments have Allbirds pulled back on or paused entirely?

• When will Allbirds be profitable?

3. The Competition:

• How do Allbirds compete and catch up with On and Hoka?

• What strategic mistakes did Allbirds make in COVID that allowed others to take the crown?

• Was the movement into running and athletics a mistake for Allbirds?

4. Joey Zwillinger: The Leader and Person:

• Did Joey take secondaries out during the Allbirds journey?

• How does Joey reflect on his own relationship to money?

• How has Joey dealt with the last 12 months personally? How does he manage the stress effectively?