Introduction

In Episode #65, we explore solving simple problems and building profitable businesses. We’re joined by Marshall Haas, Founder and CEO of Peel and Shepherd. We cover creating products, overseas recruiting, and tweaking and optimizing a business. “It's back to basics—just be a good person and operate with some integrity, and you can be around long enough to see some success for yourself.” – Marshall Haas EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marshall-haas1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marshall-haas-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to solving simple problems and building profitable businesses. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:57) – Marshall's background and path to entrepreneurship (00:04:02) – Influential books (00:06:38) – Need/Want and creating products (00:12:09) – Profit margin is crucial for product companies (00:14:37) – The ups and downs of running a physical product business (00:24:55) – On Shepherd and overseas recruiting (00:33:10) – Tweaking and optimizing the business (00:36:09) – Personal projects and of Haas (00:39:11) – The core principles of business ABOUT NEED/WANT, PEEL, AND SHEPHERD Serial entrepreneur Marshall Haas founded and scaled Need/Want, Peel, and most recently, Shepherd. After launching a collection of products from innovative, smart bedding to wearable emoji masks under the name Need/Want in 2013, Marshall doubled down on their most successful product. That happened to be insanely thin iPhone cases that they marketed under the name Peel. A business that, nearly 10 years later, still sells hundreds of thousands of cases a year. His most recent venture is Shepherd where he helps companies around the world hire the best emerging talent from the Philippines. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices