How did two non-parents build one of the most design-forward, community-trusted baby brands in America and then blow the doors off retail with a 43-SKU Target launch?
Greg Davidson, co-founder & CEO of Lalo, breaks down the entire playbook.
This episode goes deep into consumer insight, design taste, category white space, SKU expansion, operational pain, retail rollout strategy, and the fundraising reality of a modern DTC/CPG brand. Greg is unusually transparent, especially about what worked, what didn’t, and what he’d do differently.
We get into:
Why Lalo’s original superpower was naivete and why it still matters
How two guys with no kids built a category-defining aesthetic
Designing baby products using zero baby-product inspiration
The “Mastige” positioning strategy: premium feel, mass-market appeal
Why Lalo’s mood boards never include competitors; only furniture, art, architecture
Building a connected product ecosystem (high chair → play kit → tableware → bathroom → whole home)
The real risks of SKU expansion: AOV compression, working capital drag, margin complexity
Innovation as marketing: why small functional tweaks can drive massive revenue spikes
The truth about retail: why Lalo skipped crawl/walk and went straight to sprint
What it takes operationally to land (and survive) a 43-SKU Target rollout
Fundraising reality: from $10K checks to major institutional rounds
The hidden cost: 25%+ of a founder’s mental bandwidth tied up in fundraising
If you want to understand how modern consumer brands scale through product, design, community, and distribution, this is a masterclass.