694: We Were Two Weeks From Shutting Down - Then We Found Our $30M Product
About this episode
Chris and Jake Yap share their journey of overcoming near bankruptcy by shifting their focus from testing designs to testing problems, leading to the successful launch of their product.
Chris and Jake Yap were two weeks from shutting down. A billion-dollar retailer had copied every product they launched and sold them for one tenth the price, then put it in the news - buy this coffee table from us for $499, or from them for $49. They'd burned their business savings, their personal savings, and taken out personal guarantee loans chasing speed. Jake was telling his wife he wasn't sure he could make rent. Then in those two weeks they made one switch that changed everything: instead of testing designs, they started testing problems. Little Lively launched last October, grew 30% compounding month on month, went worldwide in the same month it launched, and now spends around $600,000 a month on Meta. In this interview, Chris and Jake break down the exact testing framework that found their winning product, why they killed 700 SKUs to bet everything on one, and how they built an internal AI agent that runs across their entire company. What you'll learn in this interview: • The switch from testing designs to testing problems - and why it saved the business in two weeks • How they turned $10 wireless chargers off Alibaba into $300K cash in their first year • The Abundance…
People in this episode
Host: Nathan Chan
Guests: Chris Yap, Jake Yap
Topics covered
- business strategy
- product development
- entrepreneurship
- testing frameworks
- financial challenges
- AI in business
Keywords
- business growth
- product testing
- financial strategy
- AI agent
- market competition
- SKU management
- cash flow
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Meta, Alibaba, Little Lively, Foundr Media
More episodes of The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan
- 703: (Solo) If I Had to Start Over in 2026, Here's How I'd Make My First $1M
- 702: Mark Cuban Calls Us His BEST Shark Tank Deal Ever ($200M+)
- 701: Trieu Doubled His Brand To $200K/Month In 5 Months - Whilst Still Working Full Time
- 700: (Solo) The Ambassador Strategy - How to get Famous People to Sell Your Brand for Free
- 699: A Pizza Oven Saved My Life - Then It Built a $100M Company
- 698: (Solo) She Worked 7 Hours a Day & Made Zero Sales - This Was The Fix
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan podcast page.