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To The Top: Inspirational Career Advice

#104 Jared & Jordan Schmidt: How Two Brothers Disrupted The Cutlery Industry

Feb 13, 2025
01:32:32

Jared and Jordan Schmidt are brothers who disrupted the cutlery industry by making high-quality, beautifully designed knives affordable. They share the life and career lessons they learned through their journey that led from a concept to a successful company. You can find Schmidt Bros knives in over 10,000 retail locations across the country. 

In this episode we discuss: 

  • How to spot and execute on a market gap: See how they identified the need for affordable premium knives and built a business around it
  • Why opposing skills can create perfect partnerships: Discover how a philosophy major and a business graduate complemented each other to build a national brand
  • How to disrupt a traditional industry: Learn their strategies for challenging established norms and introducing innovative designs that competitors now copy
  • The power of patient networking: Understand how they built retail partnerships over years, not months, expanding from a garage to 10,000+ stores
  • How to scale while staying lean: See how they grew to national distribution with just 30 employees by cultivating the right company culture
  • Why some "old school" wisdom still works: Learn the two simple philosophies from their father that guided their major business decisions and more..

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email questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me

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