PopSockets’ new chief govt officer is Jiayu Lin.
The ever-popular PopSockets was born out of a necessity for accessibility. The corporate’s origin story started two years prior when, in 2010, founder David Barnett, a philosophy professor, was annoyed by the cords on his earphones getting tangled, so he glued two buttons to the again of his telephone and wrapped the wire round. It labored like a allure. In 2012, he launched a Kickstarter challenge for an iPhone case with the buttons built-in, and the marketing campaign was funded. Barnett finally began PopSockets from his Boulder, Colorado storage in 2014.
From these heady days, PopSockets has grown into a world model, working in additional than 30 international locations and promoting greater than 280 million merchandise during the last decade. The corporate’s new CEO is Jiayu Lin, who’s new to her perch in PopSocket’s catbird seat having assumed the place solely on September 1. In a latest interview performed by phone, Lin, who beforehand labored at PopSockets as its normal supervisor of APAC, defined to me PopSockets is the originator of the “telephone grip” class. The accordion-like design makes it simpler for individuals to not solely grip their telephone, however use it as a de-facto stand whereas watching video or doing FaceTimes. PopSockets, she stated, are “for everybody who makes use of a smartphone” and instructed me the corporate “[sits] on the intersection of style and performance.” The corporate has a slew of partnerships with media corporations, together with Disney, Warner Brothers, and extra. Take a cursory look on the homepage of PopSockets’ web site in the present day and also you’ll discover it dominated by merchandise festooned by DC-owned superhero Batman. In addition to telephone grips, PopSockets’ aperture has widened to supply issues like circumstances, mounts, wallets, and rather more.
In line with Lin, considered one of her high priorities as PopSockets’ new chief is to develop the corporate’s partnerships. One deal is decidedly high-profile, as PopSockets is collaborating with Apple such that the Cupertino-based tech titan carrying an exclusive collection of MagSafe phone grips in each its on-line retailer and retail outposts. The gathering rolled out on the finish of final week, on Friday, November 8, with Lin saying PopSockets is “actually excited” concerning the alternative to achieve “a brand new technology of shoppers.” The work with Apple is a key strategic transfer for PopSockets, as Lin stated it’s an enormous step in direction of PopSockets’ aim of “forming sturdy relationships with companions and collaborators and [finding] new methods to get the model into new areas.” The corporate already has a presence in gross sales channels like Amazon, Greatest Purchase, Goal, and Walmart; Apple will allow even higher visibility and much extra prospects, Lin stated.
Whereas I’ve but to expertise PopSockets personally, I can communicate to its accessibility advantage at a excessive degree. As I wrote within the lede, Barnett’s unique conceit was born from accessibility: he wanted a extra accessible solution to carry his earphones such that the wire wouldn’t change into entangled. Because the canonical product stands in the present day, the accordion-esque mechanism makes it a lot simpler for somebody with sure fine-motor situations to accessibly maintain their telephone. The grip provides friction and safety, one thing not everybody will get with even a case alone. The MagSafe grips are that significantly better, as they use the legal guidelines of physics to use and take away the grip as wanted. Lin spoke of PopSockets sitting on the confluence of style and performance—nevertheless it’s greater than that. Should you’re a disabled one who likes PopSockets, it’s accessibility too.
My dialog with Lin coincided with Barnett asserting he was handing over the CEO reins to Lin. In an announcement supplied to me, he stated he was “thrilled” to take action whereas calling her “a rockstar who has pushed unimaginable progress and enthusiasm for our model in China.”
When requested about suggestions, Lin instructed me prospects “love” their PopSockets. She stated individuals oftentimes inform her on the road how the corporate’s gadgets are “lifesavers” as a result of they assist forestall injury from accident. Furthermore, individuals are also appreciative how useful PopSockets are for serving as a makeshift stand to prop up the telephone whereas watching video. And due to how simple they’re to pop on and off, Lin stated there are “loyalist prospects” with huge collections of PopSockets. The myriad designs, she stated, makes PopSockets akin to jewellery insofar as individuals like to decorate with matching PopSockets.
“Prospects actually benefit from the performance and trendy parts of PopSockets,” Lin stated.
As to the long run, Lin stated her overarching aim as she settles into main PopSockets is to complement what she characterised as its “success system.” She envisions the corporate persevering with to develop and persevering with to change into a “international life-style model” with its ever-burgeoning cadre of merchandise complementing individuals’s smartphone. “I actually see the way forward for PopSockets [as becoming] this beloved international life-style model,” Lin stated.
