AuthorRob Ward

Rob Ward co-founded Quad Lock in 2011 off the back of a Kickstarter campaign and, with co-founder Chris Peters, bootstrapped it into the global category leader in performance phone mounts. Profitable from year one, Quad Lock grew to $200M+ in revenue and around $50M EBITDA, selling in over 100 countries, before a $500M exit to Swedish outdoor giant Thule Group in 2024. Rob has since moved on from Quad Lock entirely and invested and advises. He also put out The DTC Playbook a free interactive platform built from everything he learned scaling and selling the business, helping founders diagnose and fix their brand across finance, supply chain, marketing, brand, retention, scale and exit.

Rob Ward, Quad Lock on Add To Cart episode 652

The Best Exit Is the One You Don’t Need: Rob Ward on Selling Quad Lock for $500M | #652

Rob Ward bootstrapped Quad Lock to a $500M exit, then gave away everything he learned in a free 100,000-word playbook. He breaks down why unit economics beat topline, why brand is the only real moat left, and where AI hands smaller brands an edge.