[Swim & eCommerce Series] The Strategy Behind Consumer Tech Growth With Bruce Borenstein

Bruce Borenstein is the Founder and CEO of OPN Sound, a company specializing in innovative open-ear audio technology. A veteran technology executive with over 40 years of leadership experience, he co-founded AfterShokz, now Shokz, helping pioneer the open-ear audio category and scale the company to tens of millions in sales. Bruce is a recipient of the Consumer Technology Association’s Innovation Entrepreneur Award and the author of Beyond the Startup: What Every Founder Needs to Know After Launch. He also advises emerging technology companies through PH Advisors, helping founders navigate commercialization, partnerships, and business growth.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [7:07] Bruce Borenstein shares why passion in sales is contagious and essential for success
• [12:01] Leveraging sales rep relationships to open retail doors and accelerate growth
• [17:10] Long-term partnership investments that fueled brand growth
• [21:13] How a lifetime warranty can build customer loyalty and long-term trust
• [24:13] The put-call agreement behind Bruce’s Shokz exit
• [29:27] How directional audio differs from bone conduction technology
• [36:47] Using an online-first distribution strategy to build brand momentum
• [42:06] When to move from online sales to physical retail partnerships
• [48:34] Founder resilience and the importance of embracing discomfort

In this episode…

A great idea is only the beginning — the real challenge is turning innovation into a brand customers choose. Breaking into major retailers is only part of the challenge — how do you create demand, drive sell-through, and build customer loyalty that supports long-term growth?

With decades of experience in consumer technology, Bruce Borenstein credits passion, partnerships, and customer education as the foundation of sustainable growth. He highlights how leveraging established industry connections opened doors with major retailers, while close collaboration with retail partners turned shelf space into sales. Bruce also emphasizes the value of exceptional customer service, including lifetime warranty to build trust and loyalty. His experience shows that successfully introducing a new product category requires more than innovation — it takes strategic pricing, thoughtful distribution, and a long-term focus on customer value.

In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, host Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Bruce Borenstein, Founder and CEO of OPN Sound, to discuss building and scaling innovative consumer technology brands. They explore launching a new product category, breaking into major retailers, and creating effective distribution strategies. Bruce also shares insights on pricing, customer loyalty, and the lessons founders need to scale successfully.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Bruce Borenstein on LinkedIn
• OPN Sound
• Shokz
• PH Advisors
• Beyond the Startup: What Every Founder Needs to Know After Launch by Bruce Borenstein
• Don’t Be A Schmeckle: A Road Warrior’s Perspective on Sales in the Fast Lane by Bruce Borenstein

Special mention(s):

• Guthy-Renker

Related episodes:

• “[Swim Series] Custom Swim Goggles Powered by Innovation With Rasmus Barfred” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Protein Bar Series] How To Start From Scratch With a Food Product Business with Peter Rahal Founder of RxBar” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Protein Bar Series] Destroying Metabolic Disease With Tom Bilyeu of Quest Nutrition” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Protein Bar Series] Growing a Brain and Body Nutrition Company With Will Nitze” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Sweet and Snack Show Series] Creating a Positive Impact with Rob Nelson Founder of Big League Chew” on Inspired Insider Podcast

Quotable moments:

• “If you aren’t early, you are late. It’s always better to be early than late, no matter what you’re doing.”
• “Passion is contagious — if you’re not excited about what you’re selling, how do you expect anyone else to be?”
• “You ride the horse in the direction it wants to go; listen to your customer, not just your own opinions.”
• “Take care of the customer — it probably costs less in the long haul than saying no and dealing with bad reviews.”
• “Get comfortable with the uncomfortable. The more you do it, the better and more comfortable you’ll get.”

Action steps:

1. Adopt “Lombardi Time” by making it a habit to arrive early: Being early gives you time to prepare, shows respect for others, and helps you make the most of every meeting or opportunity.
2. Lead with genuine passion for what you’re selling: Authentic enthusiasm builds confidence in your product, engages customers and partners, and helps your message stand out.
3. Leverage strategic relationships to open new opportunities: Trusted industry connections and partnerships can provide access to key decision-makers and help accelerate entry into new markets.
4. Prioritize exceptional customer service to build lasting loyalty: Responsive support, strong warranties, and a clear value proposition help earn customer trust and encourage repeat business and referrals.
5. Step outside your comfort zone to strengthen your ability to grow: Taking on uncomfortable tasks, from cold calling to fundraising, builds resilience and prepares you to handle greater challenges.

Episode Transcript

Intro 00:15

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz 00:22

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here. I am the Founder of InspiredInsider.com, where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders. Today is no different. I have Bruce Bornstein, and you could check him out at OpnSound.com. It’s OpnSound.com. Also, his book, Beyond the Startup: What Every Founder Needs to Know After Launch, and his website, phadvisors.com, where he helps companies as well. And Bruce, I’m going to formally introduce you, but I always like to point out episodes of the podcast people should check out.

You know, Bruce created this Headset. It’s Shokz. It started off AfterShokz. I use it if you’re watching the video; you can see me holding it up because I swim. And I was getting bored, and I was like, what’s the best headset out there? And this is what people told me now. I didn’t know about open sound, so I’ll have to check that out. Bruce, now that I know that you run OPN Sound, but some other products that I just love and use, who I’ve had the founders on THEMAGIC5, which is a custom goggle company. I had the founder on there, Bruce, you should definitely talk to him. There’s probably a lot of opportunity for OPN Sound and THEMAGIC5.

Bruce Borenstein: 01:39

Some cross-marketing.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 01:40

Have you heard of them before?

Bruce Borenstein: 01:42

Yeah, I have heard of them. Yes.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 01:43

Okay. Yeah. I mean, I was looking again, like, the swim products. I was like, okay, I need, you know, because I was going through these goggles. I’m like, okay, open, you know, THEMAGIC5 goggles are amazing. Some other ones I had the one of the founders of RxBar on the podcast; I like protein bars. So I had the founder of Quest Nutrition, IQBAR, RxBar, and another interesting one: Bruce was the founder of Big League Chew. That was also an interesting interview. And it was similar to you, where he just it took off very quickly. Yeah.

Okay. And so that was an interesting one. Many more at InspiredInsider.com. This episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25, we help businesses connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. One, we’re an easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast.

So we do the strategy, accountability, and the full execution production. Number two, we are an easy button for a company’s gifting. So we make gifting. It can be staying top of mind for clients, partners, prospects, even staff, from a culture perspective. Just give us the list. We’ll send a campaign of gifts. It’s not just a one-off gift, but I like to send something every 3 to 4 months for five years. Okay, think of getting some sweet treats in the mail with some content. Okay. The number one thing in my life is relationships. I’m always looking at ways to give to my best relationships. I’ve found no better way to profile the people I admire and send them sweet treats in the mail so you can learn more. You can email [email protected] with questions.

I’m excited to introduce Bruce Borenstein. He’s a veteran consumer technology executive, entrepreneur, and growth strategist. He has decades of experience building brands and expanding businesses, including his own. He co-founded AfterShokz, now Shokz, which I talked about, and really helped pioneer the open-ear audio category because it’s a bone conduction. So you put it over; it doesn’t go in your ear. And it’s really good. I think the original idea, it was also for athletes, for safety purposes, because you could actually hear things if you’re running or biking or doing whatever you’re doing, because it’s not, you know, actually in your ear. He’s also been recognized as the Consumer Technology Association Entrepreneur of the Year. He leads, which we’ll talk about PH Advisors, where he helps entrepreneurs and emerging companies turn their great ideas into scalable businesses. And he’s the author of Beyond the Startup, which we’ll talk about as well. Bruce, thanks for joining me.

Bruce Borenstein: 04:21

My pleasure. Jeremy.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 04:23

You know, I do want to talk. We’ll talk about Shokz and how you got into the industry and OPN Sound. But I do kind of want to start with the book. I feel like people spend a lot of time kind of distilling their best lessons and ideas into a book that people can get. And, you know, typically it’s like 15 or $20 for someone’s kind of life’s lessons. So I always find it super valuable. So why don’t we start there and talk about Beyond the Startup and maybe about Vince Lombardi time. And I’m going to pull up. If you’re watching the video, I’m going to pull up the book and PH Advisors.

Bruce Borenstein: 05:00

Sure. Great. Yeah. So actually, Lombardi Time is the opening chapter in both my books in the Don’t Be A Schmeckle and Beyond the Startup and, and the thing that’s to me is, is very important is that Lombardi’s. Had this mantra that if you aren’t early, you are late. And for those of you familiar with Vince Lombardi, he was maybe the best coach that ever was in professional football, coach of the Green Bay Packers, and at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, they have a clock that’s right in front of the stadium that runs 15 minutes fast. Why? Because Vince had the mantra that if you had a meeting at 11:00, you should be there at 10:45. And so that clock is in remembrance of Vince. And I say that because if you, as a salesperson have a meeting that an appointment at 11:00, you know, typically when you’re going into a meeting, you have material to set up.

And if you’re not early, you’re, you’re, you’re wasting your time because the buyer may only be giving you 30 minutes, and you’re spending those first ten minutes setting up when you could have had that all done and gone right into your meeting and and maximize your time with whom you’re talking to. And if you think about it, you know, I, I, I make the reference to sales, but it’s true in anything. If you, no matter what you’re doing, whatever, you’re going somewhere always better to be early than late. And that’s one of the reasons why I thought Lombardi time was a was a good way to start, really in both books.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 06:55

I know, you know, sales. It’s kind of how you got started in the industry. But talk a little about some of the lessons in sales you share in Beyond the Startup.

Bruce Borenstein: 07:07

Okay. Well, something I think that’s extremely important for being successful in sales is that you need to be passionate about whatever it is that you’re selling, because passion is contagious, meaning, and also it’s counter contagious because if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, what you’re selling, how do you expect the person on the other side of the table to get excited about what it is that you’re trying to offer to them? It and it’s very obvious, you know, when somebody comes in and they’re what I call a, a page turner and they have a catalogue of products and they say, okay, do you want any of these? Flip the page, any of these? I think it’s all they can do on the other side to stay awake. So it’s very important to, to, to be passionate because passion is contagious.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:05

From a sales perspective. Do you remember with Shokz, one of the first big milestones from like a distribution perspective?

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