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

Jul 9, 2025

Discover how a mattress startup skyrocketed to $100M in its first year through innovative direct-to-consumer strategies. The conversation dives into the essentials of leading during hypergrowth and navigating challenges, especially going public just before the pandemic. Explore the concept of the 'electron economy' and why it’s crucial for climate innovation. Gain insights into evaluating startup founders and the importance of portfolio construction in venture capital.

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ANECDOTE

Founding Casper Story

Philip Krim co-founded Casper with four others in 2013 and saw the mattress industry ripe for disruption by direct-to-consumer models.
Inspired by companies like Warby Parker and Harry's, they aimed to innovate in a traditionally outdated market.

INSIGHT

DTC Model Emergence

The direct-to-consumer business model was emerging strongly in 2013, affecting various industries like eyeglasses and razors.
The mattress market was seen as an untapped opportunity for similar disruptive consumer innovation.

INSIGHT

Teamwork Drives Growth

Success requires concerted efforts at every level including scaling, hiring, and training.
Surrounding yourself with great partners and a strong team culture is critical for growth.

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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.

Our Podcast now receives more than 300,000 downloads a month. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email David Weisburd at david@weisburdcapital.com.

#VentureCapital #VC #Startups #OpenLP #AssetManagement

-- Stay Connected: X / Twitter: David Weisburd: @dweisburd

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