In this episode of Add To Cart, we are joined by Chris Mead, co-founder and CRO of CROSSNET.
Chris, his brother and a friend came up with the idea for this new game, a mix of volleyball and foursquare (or handball, as Aussie kids know it), after a late night of brainstorming. They built a rough prototype, figured out the rules and played. Almost three years later, the game is in over 300 retail stores, generates over a million dollars a month in revenue and could become an Olympic sport. Chris talks about channel strategy, manufacturing and wholesale, the power of community and all the lessons he learned turning a 4am idea into a thriving business.
We played for like six hours and we didn’t play because we had a product, we played because it was fun
Chris Mead
Questions answered in this episode include…
- What marketing channels have been most effective for you?
- How did you get your product into retail stores?
- How has Covid 19 impacted your business?
- What mistakes have you made along the way?
- What advice do you have for anyone looking to turn a great idea into a business?
Chris and his team have created a total blue ocean strategy.
They’ve built on volleyball and handball concepts that people are familiar with, but in bringing the two games together, they’ve effectively cancelled out the downsides of each. And sure, the product can be copied, but the team’s recent investment in building the brand, registering trademarks and developing the community, show that this isn’t just a product, it is a movement.
Their job is now building the sport, not the product. It’s an interesting question to ask ourselves…Are we creating just another choice? Or are we creating something unique?
Go for 10x, not 10% growth.
