“The biggest piece of advice I can give would be to do your research – PLENTY of research before you begin your campaign.”

Fohm is an innovative memory foam company.The two guys behind Fohm are Erick Arbe and Nick Ondrako, two long-time friends and business partners that have grown several different companies together.
Over the past year, they have forged great relationships within the memory foam industry and worked closely with industry experts to develop a truly cutting edge memory foam company.

The pillows are made in the US and the chemists working on the product have made huge strides in the advancement of memory foam. Their hard and work and innovation will ensure you get a better night of sleep.

BusinessInterviews.com: Technology and pillows are not words you often hear in the same sentence. What inspired your decision to innovate memory foam?

Erick: I’ve been full-time in the tech space for about 7 years now and I’ve had my fair share of late nights. I know that proper sleep is vital to feeling and functioning at your best – and one night after a not-so-good sleep, my business partner and I got to talking about sleep and how it can be improved. The one aspect that we realized no one really gives much thought to is their pillow. Everyone needs to sleep on one – but it didn’t really seem like anyone paid much attention to it. Stores like Wal-mart and Target sell all kinds of cheap pillows that never last and never feel great. So we did some research and started reaching out to manufacturers who we felt could make a difference in the world of memory foam. After doing some research with a manufacturer, we realized just how much technology can go into a pillow.

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you talk about the Science of Shapes when it comes to the quality of sleeping?

Erick: When we worked to develop a memory foam pillow that would be extra cool and extra comfortable, we had to take into account that not everyone sleeps the same way. Most people tend to have a particular way they sleep – on their back, their side or their stomach. There are also a few more positions that people have to sleep in due to constraints like sleep apnea devices. Most people that have never had a memory foam pillow tend to only think about the “contour” shape pillow. However, that’s just one of three shapes we offer. Offering three different shapes gives you options when it comes to your sleeping habits. Typically, once you find a shape you love – then you’re hooked on it and never want to try something else.

BusinessInterviews.com: What advice would you give to someone contemplating launching their first Kickstarter campaign?

Erick: The biggest piece of advice I can give would be to do your research – PLENTY of research before you begin your campaign. Unless you have a product that will absolutely WOW everyone, then you need to build the hype around your product all by yourself. Kickstarter will only help you so much – you need media coverage and social sharing to actually get the word out about your product. Kickstarter can be a fantastic platform, but only if people know about it.

BusinessInterviews.com: Fohm is only a few weeks old. What are some ways that you’ve been spreading the word about the company and what does your marketing strategy for the coming year look like?

Erick: Well, Kickstarter was the first step for us. We’ve already experimented with Facebook and Twitter ads to get some awareness out there. Once we launch our full website, we’re going to be relying on organic SEO as well as Google Adwords. Selling something so personal as a pillow requires us to have a compelling website with great imagery and most importantly – video. Video will continue to be one of the biggest ways we market our products down the road.

BusinessInterviews.com: You and Nick have grown several different companies together over the years. What lessons and insights have you gained from previous ventures that you’ve been able to apply to Fohm?

Erick: Wow, almost too much to write here! We’ve definitely learned about how to do things the “right” way. We’ve seen lots of companies come and go mainly because of lack of attention to detail. Nick and I always make sure to do our research and cover all of our bases in whatever it is that we’re doing. We also make sure to put an emphasis on the human connection. Customer service is important no matter what industry you are in. People want to be helped and made feel special – so why not do that? It makes your customers feel good about choosing your company or product. Oh, and finally – hard work. We’re not afraid of putting in long hours in order to get the job done.

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you talk about your plans on coming out with a mattress that will include the same technology that’s in your pillows? How far along are you along in the process so far?

Erick: Yes, I can talk about our mattresses – just a little. We’re currently prototyping our mattresses right now – you could consider them to be in “alpha” right now. Next January we’re going to be working out production details for them and hopefully shipping sometime in spring. We’re very excited about this line of mattresses – this is one part of the bedding industry in serious need of change and we’re going to be out there innovating how mattress purchasing is done.