How I Built This – Advice Line with Bobby Trussell of Tempur-Pedic

Podcast: How I Built This with Guy Raz
Host: Guy Raz
Guest: Bobby Trussell, Founder and Former CEO of Tempur-Pedic
Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of “How I Built This: Advice Line” features Bobby Trussell, the founder and former CEO of Tempur-Pedic. Guy Raz and Bobby take calls from entrepreneurs seeking advice on growth, scaling, and brand-building. Bobby draws on his experience transforming Tempur-Pedic from a horse-breeder’s far-flung gamble into a dominant player in the mattress industry. The episode focuses on evaluating pivots, scaling operations, building community around niche brands, and raising early-stage capital.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Bobby Trussell's Unlikely Founding Story (00:50–06:49)

• Bobby’s leap from horse breeding in Kentucky to importing Swedish memory foam mattresses during a personal financial crisis.
• Built Tempur-Pedic from scratch, leading to the acquisition of Sealy in 2012 and decades of industry success before stepping back in 2022.
• Bobby’s shift in recent years to writing and speaking about faith, notably his book, “The Logic that God Exists.”
  • Quote: “When you give, you give gratuitously. And so my goal now is just to give back for that in any way I can.” – Bobby Trussell (04:45)

Discussion on Faith and Resurgence Among Gen Z (06:28)

• Bobby recounts a recent leadership conference with Gen Z attendees pointing to a “revival” of faith due to a sense of emptiness in a hyper-connected world.
  • Quote: “We have everything in the world, but we're not happy. So they're seeking, and I think that explains it.” – Bobby Trussell (06:49)

Advice Line Callers

1. Leif Gildersleeve, Flying Fish Company, Portland, OR (07:36–18:09)

Business: Retail fish market + restaurant

Challenge:
How to determine which business segment to focus on when considering expansion/franchising. Should he open more locations, franchise, or focus on the restaurant or fish market?

Key Discussion:

• Leif’s business has evolved from fish trucks to a combined restaurant and market; restaurant now generates 75% of revenue.
• Guy highlights the importance of data: “Your customers have already told you where the demand is, right? It’s the restaurant.” (13:18)
• Bobby suggests a practical approach before franchising: “Open up another location or two… that would be the way to go.”
• Bobby shares Tempur-Pedic’s “throw mud at the wall” approach and following what works:
  • Quote: “Generally speaking, if it’s a good one, it’ll let you know.” (11:28)
• Emphasis on systematizing for scale:
  • Guy: “You can’t scale yourself. But you also need people who are going to care about the quality and the standards like you do. But you need to codify it, not only in how to do things, but why you do it.” (16:33)

Actionable Insights:

• Don’t franchise yet: Prove the model with more locations first.
• Start creating an operations manual or “bible” for consistent quality across locations.
• Scaling depends on finding great managers and offering incentives (profit-sharing, clear standards).

2. Colleen King, Hala Gear, Steamboat Springs, CO (22:58–32:44)

Business: Specialty inflatable river stand-up paddle boards

Challenge:
How best to grow: Increase participation in the sport, strengthen specialty shop presence, or expand the product line?

Key Discussion:

• Hala Gear pioneered the river SUP segment; now faces competition.
• Bobby recounts a $200k market research project that showed Tempur-Pedic was strongest as a mattress company, not as a general “innovation” company:
  • Quote: “You are a very small part of a very big niche... You should not be branching out into all these other places because you don’t want to take your eye off the ball.” (26:54)
  • Focusing on the core led to Tempur-Pedic’s explosive growth.
• Guy encourages building an aspirational brand and community, leveraging passionate customers:
  • Guy: “You want to make your brand aspirational... really builds a community.” (30:53)
• Discussed limited resources: Experiment with ads vs. costly event attendance.
  • Bobby: “We went to all the shows and everything. It was really a waste of money... My advice is advertise.” (31:51)
  • Rule of thumb: Spend ~10% of sales on advertising.

Actionable Insights:

• Double down on core niche; don’t diversify prematurely.
• Build a passionate, tight-knit user community with user content and stories.
• Invest more (aim for 10% of revenue) in targeted advertising instead of in-person events.
• Recognize that competitors validate and expand the market niche.

3. Amanda Horan, Line and Cleat, Chicago, IL (34:05–45:51)

Business: Stylish, US Coast Guard–approved life jackets

Challenge:
How to raise a pre-seed round (~$400k) and attract strategic partners as outsiders to the startup/VC scene.

Key Discussion:

• Amanda aims to disrupt the “boring” life-jacket space with style and comfort.
• Struggling to break into VC funding, despite early traction.
• Bobby’s fundraising experience: Tempur-Pedic was initially funded by friends and family, not professional investors.
  • “I had to convince them that even though we lost money in something that I knew a lot about, that we were going to make money in something that I knew nothing about.” – Bobby Trussell (48:30, reflecting on his classic episode).
• Guy: VC investors want clear data and a path to scale, not just a compelling story.
  • Key is to build traction (sales, partnerships, waiting lists), then approach investors.
  • “It’s not about connections and contacts. It’s about what the data shows, what you can prove. Because investors don’t make investments because they know they met somebody. They make investments because they think they’re making money back and they need that assurance.” (40:20)
• Bobby’s advice on structuring early deals:
  • “Equity is your currency, and you don’t want to give it all up, but you gotta be prepared to give some of it up.” (43:01)
  • Prepare a three-year pro forma to help investors visualize the upside.

Actionable Insights:

• Prioritize friends-and-family, “friends-of-friends” capital as professional investors want more traction.
• In every meeting, ask for a new introduction – expand the network with each conversation.
• Paint a clear vision of scale and “the pot at the end of the rainbow.”
• Don’t give up too much equity early, but be realistic about trade-offs.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On pivoting and testing ideas:
  “If it’s a good one, it’ll let you know.” – Bobby Trussell (11:28)
• On hiring for scale:
  “You’re only as good as the guy you got there… Pay him whatever it takes, because what you’re trying to do is reproduce you.” – Bobby Trussell (17:00)
• On niche businesses:
  “So many people are used to looking at the downside of a business and fail to look at the upside… How big can it be if it works?” – Bobby Trussell (38:03)
• On fundraising at the earliest stages:
  “You want to start… with ‘friends of friends of a friend.’ Ask any conversation you have… when you leave, make sure you walk out of that with another number or with another person to contact.” – Guy Raz (44:10)
• On ‘think big’ mentality:
  “Do you want to be a niche player, or do you want to be big? My instincts were, we gotta think big, and that was a huge part of our success.” – Bobby Trussell (48:12)

Timed Segment Highlights

• Bobby’s Tempur-Pedic origin story: 02:50–04:45
• Discussion of faith & Gen Z trends: 06:28–07:11
• Flying Fish Company advice (pivots, scaling, documentation): 07:36–18:09
• Hala Gear (niche, brand community, ad spend): 22:58–32:44
• Line and Cleat (fundraising, traction, structuring deals): 34:05–45:51
• Reflections on building a unique brand & Bobby’s “think big” advice: 45:54–48:12

Closing Reflections

At the conclusion, Bobby distills his key lessons—having beginner’s mind, doing the opposite of legacy competitors, and always thinking bigger than your current niche. The episode is packed with concrete advice for emerging founders—test your pivots, focus on fundamentals before scaling/franchising, build community around your niche, and be scrappy and creative when fundraising.

This episode is essential listening for entrepreneurs navigating growth dilemmas, product pivots, and the early-stage fundraising maze.