Most of us keep our whole lives in our wallets: our IDs, our cash, our credit cards. It’s such an important item, yet for the longest time, it’s existence was typically overlooked.
That is, until Olivier Momma took the premium accessory world by storm.
As a tech-savvy college student with a passion for innovative solutions, in 2015 he noticed that the humble wallet had largely stayed the same in design and function throughout the decades. So, with a friend and some thorough design research, he went about creating a wallet better suited the technological and ID safety needs of today – launching a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign (which made more than $340K), and gaining the attention of Forbes and The New York Times in the process.
His company, Ekster, continues to grow with new products in the carry and travel gear space, and is a thriving example of how solid product innovation and market research always outlives novelty.
Allow me to introduce Olivier Momma…
—
My name is Olivier and I’ve spent the last 6 years building Ekster – one of the fastest-growing DTC brands in the carry space. I moved about every 5 years from the time I was born, having the opportunity to live in countries including Japan, Italy, the USA, Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong. This international insight plays massively into everything I do, from management and brand building to content creation and design. After completing a Fulbright scholarship in the US, I founded Ekster during the second year of my Bachelor’s degree and made the Forbes 30 under 30 list just a few years after launching. We started with just two people and now run an international team of 45 individuals across the globe.
Ekster is all about bringing together the worlds of technology and premium accessories to create innovative products that help people move through the world in more streamlined ways. We started by reimagining the wallet for the 21st century, making it slimmer, smarter, and easier to use. We’ve taken this philosophy and expanded our product line to encompass a range of everyday carry essentials, creating an integrated ecosystem of products that help people move through the world better.
I have always had an interest and belief in the vital role that technology plays in day-to-day efficiency for the average person. As an early adopter of tech, I’m always hungry to try out every new product on Kickstarter or ProductHunt, and this proclivity gave me invaluable experience that eventually led me to create Ekster’s first product.
In 2015, I noticed that even though the way we move through the world is constantly evolving, the way we carry things through the world seems to often lag behind. The daily life of someone in the 21st century looks starkly different from someone in the 20th, yet one of the most vital of our daily carry items, wallets, look almost identical. I found myself asking: with all the technological safeguards for our phones, laptops, passwords, homes, why does the traditional wallet leave so much up to chance when it comes to protecting your funds and your identity? These questions led me to start messing around with the idea of what a wallet could look like and how it could perform and eventually disrupt an industry that had gone unchanged for decades by creating the world’s slimmest smart wallet.
Our first design was drawn in a notebook with a pencil. A super simple 2D sketch that would later be turned into a makeshift wallet with materials from the Hong Kong markets. The initial drawings had far too many features built into them, in places that were never going to be possible with our dimensions. After assembling our first wallet and cardholder from materials we bought at the market, we were able to test the everyday feel of the product. Asking people on the street for feedback and continuously importing the sample got us to a point where we felt ready to stalk to prototyping agencies. We interviewed 13 agencies, and only 2 actually ended up reaching back out with interest. Working with a professional agency, with a minimal budget, was a huge learning experience for us and exposed us to the world of product design. From there on we started getting more involved with 3D designs, extrusion, and 3D printing.
We started as just two friends in university with a shared vision for our brand. Being in our 20s and having limited experience and limited funds meant we had to do everything ourselves. From photo shoots and marketing campaigns to creating prototypes, Ekster was totally home-grown. We kept running into roadblocks with the design and finding investors – all while working out of a college classroom. Then one day we met our future partner Richard. He was experienced in Kickstarter campaigns and website building and after joining forces everything started falling into place. We launched a successful Kickstarter campaign with over 3,000 pledges and $340,000, and started getting recognition from Forbes, The New York Times, and more.
Thanks to our Kickstarter campaign we were able to create a customer base that backed our products because they got to experience the benefits for themselves. Another big aspect that helped create loyalty for our brand is the effort we put into customer service, making sure our customers could always get in touch with us directly for any questions and feedback. In this sense, our customers have given us invaluable input in the evolution of our products and allowed us to create a community of like-minded people.
Naturally Email and SMS marketing became a big piece of the pie and remain the biggest retention channels for us today. We also recently launched our Loyalty program: ekster+. https://ekster.com/pages/loyalty-program. This allows our customers to start earning points for every dollar they spend, but also earn through certain actions like referring friends and signing up for our newsletter. These points convert into a discount on future orders at ekster.com
Limited Supply, Building a Story Brand, The Great CEO Within, Traction, High Output Management.
Things are going better than they ever have – our international team continues to expand and we are experiencing consistent growth year after year which has allowed us to grow and diversify our product line. Most recently, we’ve been working on moving into the travel gear game and our first product will debut in the coming months. With this growth we also have the opportunity to dedicate time to exploring new materials and technologies to integrate into our products which is getting us closer and closer to our goal of becoming fully carbon neutral.
I’ve found it vital to always connect with other experts in your field, be open to their criticism, and learn from their mistakes. We built our business by benchmarking the best in class and by consistently reaching out to other brands for advice. Not only does this give you extra information to work with, but it’s also great for building a network of trusted people you can turn to when you need advice.
https://www.instagram.com/eksterwallets/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviermomma/
My mother in law loves to sew.
A few years ago she asked me how to set up an online store.
She wanted to sell fancy throw pillows she was making.
I gave her very basic steps. Enough to get started (I don't know much about ecom).
A few weeks later she showed me her site. It…
Whatever your 2024 goals, hopes, and dreams are.
I hope you make it.
Everyone wants “yes.”
But they don’t wanna pay the price.
100 Nos is the price of one yes.
You can get as many as yeses as you damn well please as long as you’re willing to pay the price.
I was sad to learn that Charlie Munger died today at age 99.
What a life.
He would likely roll his eyes and argue that none of us should be too surprised, based on the actuarial tables, but we’ve lost one of the 20th century’s greatest investors and businessmen.
Chris and I…
