Why did a strange-looking running shoe with giant foam soles become a billion-dollar brand? This week on Ecommerce on Tap, Aaron Alpeter and Mark Riskowitz break down the story of Hoka—from its origins in the French Alps to becoming one of the fastest-growing footwear brands in the world. We cover: • Why Hoka ignored industry trends • The biomechanics behind running shoes • Manufacturing challenges most consumers never see • Why founders sometimes need to leave incumbents • How Deckers scaled Hoka into a powerhouse

How Hoka Built a Billion-Dollar Shoe Brand

Ecommerce on Tap by Sourcify and Izba Consulting

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Ecommerce on Tap by Sourcify and Izba Consulting

## Transcript

Oh my goodness, like the CEO of a shoe company decided to leave and go start a shoe company. Hey everybody, welcome back to Ecommerce on Tap. I'm your host Aaron Alpeter. For those of you who are new to the podcast, each season we take a different industry and we do deep dives in about six different brands whose history, supply chain or X potential teaches something unique about where the industry is right now and where it's headed.

This season we're focusing on a category that we're all familiar with, footwear. So I've got shoes, you've probably got shoes, so that's what we're talking about. We are doing rotating co-hosts this season and this episode we have my really good friend, someone I've looked up to for a long time who knows nothing about footwear he tells me. But Mark Ryskowitz, welcome to the podcast, thank you so much for being on here. You're right Aaron, it's always a pleasure. Great to see you, great to chat and yeah, thanks so much for having me.

Yeah, why don't you just give our listeners a quick deep dive? Sure, yeah, absolutely. So born and raised in South Africa, I moved to the States about 10 years ago. For the past 10 years been working in kind of e-commerce, supply chain, customer experience, operations if you want to sort of chalk it up to that. And currently I'm the SDP of operations at Carraway Home. We're a kitchen away company that sells non-toxic and better-for-you products in the space.

Happy to be here, happy to talk about business, happy to talk about really any of those topics. Yeah, awesome. I think we can have a whole other podcast about all the cool stuff that you're doing at Carraway and things that you have done. What's kind of your connection to footwear? Well, I use it like most people. You know, if you don't, I guess you're probably a certain particular kind of person that lives a certain way. But footwear for me, I have my standard pair of running shoes. I've got some golf shoes.

I then have my just mixture of different sneakers. And I'm not a deep sort of collector or aficionado when it comes to footwear. But I also am very focused on, you know, comfort and usability when it comes to shoes. So I'm a big fan of the slip-ons, the hands-free ones. You know, there's a couple of brands out there that sell some really great shoes. But I also have flat feet.

And so I can't just buy any pair out there and expect it's going to be a miracle solution. So, yeah, that's basically the extent of it. Yeah, I think it's kind of funny. This past weekend, I was teaching my son. He's six, how to tie his shoes. That's kind of like a big milestone for humans to tie his shoes. But I'm going back to him. Like, I go to my slippers. I'm like, I don't want to tie my shoes. Like, that's annoying. So we're making him do something that might be outdated or archaic.

Listen, I mean, everyone says when you're an adult, you want to feel ...

How Hoka Built a Billion-Dollar Shoe Brand

Transcript

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Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
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How Hoka Built a Billion-Dollar Shoe Brand

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.