Bootstrapping an E-Commerce Startup from Utah: KURU CEO Bret Rasmussen (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Did you have any expertise in shoe design? Who designed the shoe?

Bret Rasmussen: I had no clue on how to design a shoe or how to make a shoe. I just started networking. There was a local design firm here in Salt Lake that had done shoe design for a handful of brands.

They taught me a lot. I went to a couple of industry trade shows for footwear, where I met some footwear vendors and suppliers. I networked in China. I went over there and visited factories and learned from the experts there. 

Sramana Mitra: Eventually, you managed to come up with a prototype of what the shoe would be?

Bret Rasmussen: Are we talking about the technology or the shoe?

Sramana Mitra: The whole thing. I mean you have to have a product to sell. That’s your investment thesis that you were going to come up with a new kind of shoe with more support. That’s what I’m asking you. How long did it take you to get to that prototype and how did you manage to get there?

Bret Rasmussen: I wanted to build a better product. I had some aftermarket insoles that you can buy for $30 to $50. I had one or two and realized that these were more comfortable than what comes standard with shoes. I thought that there has to be a way to just build that level of support and comfort into a shoe and still meet a reasonable and fair price point.

That’s when I started researching patents to try to see what was already invented and what is out there. That taught me a lot about shoes, how they are made, the materials, shoe construction, how the foot works, and the biomechanics of the body. Researching prior patents was an excellent way to get up to speed quickly on how shoes are made and see what shoe technologies are out there.

In doing that, I started seeing where there were opportunities. That’s when I invented the KURU sole technology. We are not the first shoe company out there to say that we are going to be shaped ergonomically. There are a lot of brands that have some kind of ergonomic foot shape. What we did different is, we said that everyone’s feet are different. Not everyone’s width and foot shape are the same. Some have higher arches and some have lower arches. Some have a wider heel and some have a narrow heel. Some have a wider forefoot and some have a narrow forefoot.

I asked myself if we could invent a dynamic technology – something that would adapt itself to different unique foot shapes. That’s when I invented the KURU sole. The other shoes are static. They might be contoured and shaped like your foot to a degree, but they are static. They don’t move and they are not designed to flex and support your foot as you move.

The thought then was, “Could I invent a technology that moves with your foot, that adapts itself, and changes itself to your unique foot shape?” We have a patented technology. Every step you take is designed to flex inward around the heel.

The genesis of that was, I learned how the biomechanics of the foot worked. You have a heel bone called the Calcaneus and below that, you have a fat pad. That fat pad is nature’s cushioning. It’s there so that it cushions the skeletal system and your whole body.

The problem is that when we walk around flat hard surfaces on flat shoes that don’t have good support, that fat pad gets squashed and flattened. Even if you are wearing a shoe that has a contoured foot bed, if that foot bed doesn’t match the shape of your foot perfectly, then your fat pad is still getting squashed and flattened.

The KURU sole that we patented is designed to flex inward. It’s designed to flex and cup that fat pad and keep it where nature wants it. it’s a healthier way to move. In particular, the higher the load on the shoe, the more it flexes inward. It’s beneficial to the wearer, because if you have a higher load, then you need even more support, stability, and cushioning.

Our technology does exactly that. That’s what sets KURU apart from everyone else out there. Our contoured foot bed is more than just a foot bed; it’s molded into the midsole.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Bootstrapping an E-Commerce Startup from Utah: KURU CEO Bret Rasmussen
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