> No one had heard of brands like SodaStream, Fitbit, OtterBox, PopSockets, S’well, Bombas, SimpliSafe and Mrs. Meyers when we embraced and launched them.<p>I'm a little confused, it sounds like they're taking credit for SodaStream, a company that's more than 100 years old and has been in homes for decades [0]? And Fitbit was only a success because of these people?<p>Or am I just misunderstanding what they're trying to say here?<p>[0] Aside: SodaStream is surely ripe for disruption. Home fizzy water is great. Their margin on a tiny bit of CO2 gas must be enormous, surely they're laughing all the way to the bank. How have they maintained their virtual monopoly for so long?
I was involved in e-commerce when The Grommet came about and they have a lot to be proud of. That said, the reason for things ending with the founders losing control is that they took a lot of money and then didn't live up to expectations.<p>Put more directly, they never held their own against Kickstarter, IndieGogo, or Etsy.<p>Their investor/owners went from Rakuten (the Amazon of Japan) to Ace Hardware. The latter probably thinks of The Grommet as a way to use quirky products to get people into physical stores. At that point the founders probably want out more than they are letting on.