Libie Motchan & Daniel Nelson | Fulton

August 27, 2021 What I Found

What Is Fulton? Tell Us About Your Product and Brand.

Fulton is the modern brand of arch support. Fulton produces comfortable, sustainable, and supportive insoles. We know that full body alignment starts with your feet, and hope to educate consumers about the benefits of supportive footwear on long-term wellness. We also aim to modernize and disrupt a stigmatized category and make orthopedic insoles desirable. Finally, given that the footwear industry contributes to 1.4% of global carbon emissions, we are excited to be using sustainable materials for our entire product.

What Is Your Background? What Led You To Starting Your Own Company And How Did You End Up In This Space?

Libie: I have known that I was interested in starting a business since receiving my first allowance. I was a thoughtful hustler; curious to understand the needs of others and find ways to meet them. I thought about different ways to create value. I opened up lemonade stands in the summers, and hosted bake sales after school; eventually, I started a business on eBay when I was in sixth grade. I enjoyed working for myself and the creativity involved in building a business. Furthermore, as the child of immigrant parents, who were both business owners, I never felt tied down to traditional career paths. My mother opened and operated a gallery in Soho and my father ran a graphic design shop. They served as my inspiration and role models, and encouraged me to question the status quo. I also witnessed the ups and downs of owning a business: while my family experienced several years of financial hardship, I learned the value of hard work and perseverance. As I started my career I knew I wanted to start something that would make an impact, but also allow me to utilize my creativity, curiosity, and grit.

Daniel: I have always been fascinated by technology as a means to solve real-world problems. I started my first business when I was in college, helping connect bodegas to their local residents and facilitating convenience item delivery in 15 minutes or less. The product worked well, but this was 2015, and the market for rapid online delivery wasn’t where it is in 2021. Then, I moved into digital consulting, where I helped large multinationals across a variety of industries build technology that was able to deliver value to millions of consumers. I had to quickly learn about commercial banking, insurance, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and more for each project, and figure out how to approach each unique problem. I then went to business school, hoping to find another venture that I’d be able to launch, having experienced both starting my own company and operating at global firms. When I met Libie, we discussed our shared experiences with body pain as a result of unsupportive footwear - immediately, I realized that this industry was ripe for disruption, and that building a better product, brand, and vehicle to educate consumers provided a whitespace that other companies had overlooked.

What Was The Inspiration Behind The Company Name?

We chose the name Fulton because it alludes to a street in the heart of New York City. We wanted to build a modern brand of insoles that was relatable to modern consumers, who walk on city streets and need insoles to improve their everyday wellness, as opposed to other brands that target medical use cases or niche demographics.

What Have Been Both Your Favorite And Least-liked Parts Of Your Entrepreneurial Journey? What Have Been Your Most Challenging And Most Exciting Moments For You And The Company?

Libie: I never could have predicted how rewarding launching my own venture would be in so many different capacities. First, I am solving a problem that I personally experienced and that resulted in physical pain throughout my body. I have the opportunity to educate consumers, and help them prevent pain in the future, and knowing I am doing that feels really good. Nothing feels better than customers reaching out and sharing how Fulton has healed their chronic back pain, or helped their Plantar Fasciitis; but the best is when the feedback comes from people who have never worn insoles before, because that means that we have effectively educated a customer about the importance of supportive footwear. In addition to helping customers, I feel very rewarded knowing that I have built something new. I don’t have a background in orthotics or podiatry, so I had to learn so much about materials, biomechanics, anatomy, etc., in order to create our first product. It feels so incredible to know that I created something new; a physical product that is different from anything else out there. It required extensive hard work, testing, research, and iteration, but the final product is something I am so proud of.

Entrepreneurship sometimes feels incredibly uncertain. I am the type of person who prefers a clear plan: but with a startup, there is only so much you can predict. Furthermore, since so much of the industry and category is new to me, there are often many more questions than answers. I’ve learned to lean into the uncertainty, by understanding the gaps in my knowledge and prioritizing getting answers. Another challenge of entrepreneurship is balancing life and work. Fulton has become so central to my identity and my life that it is hard to turn it off, and I often don’t want to. I find myself working at all hours. The transition to working on Fulton full time has been challenging as well, and I am still in the process of creating more structure in my work life.

Daniel: My favorite part of the journey has been the fact that I get to consistently keep learning new things: no two days have ever been the same. We incubated a seedling of an idea into a physical product: finding a manufacturer, understanding the technical specifications, selecting materials, and running a pilot. We developed a brand: a name, logo, look and feel, and website. We stood up an international supply chain and launched our company during a global pandemic. The variety of the work that I have been able to do across the lifecycle of building our brand has been beyond rewarding - this has continued to be more interesting as we enter into the post-launch scaling phase of the company.

My least favorite part has certainly been importing our products from abroad. Our manufacturer has been a fantastic partner, but we have experienced extremely high shipping rates, delays, and miscommunications with nearly every shipping team we have partnered with. I’ve had too many late nights and early mornings with customer service trying to understand why our packages were being held up in customs or why they ended up in the Philippines instead of Philadelphia (true story). It’s definitely been a whirlwind, but we paid our dues and now know how it all works!

Tell Us About How Each Of Your Skill Sets Supplements That Of Your Co-Founder.

Daniel has a strong strategy, technology, and operations background, while Libie has a strong marketing and research background. Naturally, those two pair very well for building a digitally-enabled brand. We both have a unique blend of academic, startup, and corporate experience that have given us a holistic understanding of exploring unique problems and scaling solutions.

What Was The Fundraising Process Like For You? Tell Us About Your Investors And How You Use The Funds You’ve Raised.

Thus far, we’ve raised a small amount from family and friends to help get the brand off the ground. Since our launch, we’ve been blown away by the feedback from customers and are currently speaking with investors to prepare for a seed round. We plan to invest the funding towards growing the company and building out the organization. We’ve been testing several different channels and are excited to continue building them out.

As A DTC Company, What Are Some Of The Marketing Strategies You’ve Implemented That Have Been Most Effective So Far?

We recently launched out of home advertising around NYC; this included wheat posting at construction sites, spray painting sidewalks, and hanging pull-tab fliers around downtown Manhattan. It got a lot of buzz - we were intentionally thinking about meeting people in places where they are walking - so the streets of NYC were a natural place to go!

Do You See Fulton Expanding Into Other Product Categories Relating To Either Footwear Or Wellness In General? Anything In The Works That Will Be Launching Soon?

We’re currently hyper focused on getting our Fulton Insoles into people’s shoes across the country, but we are definitely looking at expanding into product categories. There are many opportunities to create insoles for various types of shoes and use cases, so we are working with our customers to understand their most urgent needs and build out our product roadmap.

How Has COVID-19 Impacted Your Growth and Operation Over The Last Year?

COVID-19 made standing up a global supply chain incredibly difficult - we were only able to visit our manufacturer once (pre-pandemic) and had to prototype together from overseas for months. Additionally, shipping lead times have been long and prices have been high. Despite the operational challenges, we’ve seen some shifts in favor of our business: people are wearing more comfortable shoes, caring more about wellness and sustainability, purchasing products online, etc. It’s been a very unique time to launch a business, and we look forward to rebuilding as the world emerges from the pandemic.

What Does Your Typical Day Look Like?

Libie: I love to start most mornings with either a run or a Pilates class. I’m fortunate to live close to the running path by the Hudson river on the West Side Highway in NYC which I’ve been taking advantage of. I usually take some calls and meetings from home, and then head out to a WeWork for the rest of the day. We’ve been switching locations everyday, so we get to mix it up with new spaces and faces. In the evenings I love cooking meals at home, or in the summer going for picnics or walks - I haven’t been living in NYC for the last two years and I love taking advantage of the nice summer evenings. I often end my evenings with some work, I find myself very creative at the late hours!

Daniel: I generally start my morning by talking with our manufacturer - they’re based in Europe, so are already well into their workday by the time I wake up. I tend to jump into a quick workout, shower, and have tea (no more coffee!) to ramp up my energy and prepare for the day. Then, I take some meetings from home and head out to the WeWork for in person meetings and strategy sessions. Every day is different, but we usually stay at the office until dinnertime. I try to take a walk for 30-60 minutes every day and either listen to a podcast or audiobook as well. I’ve always prioritized taking a nice walk to maintain mental and physical wellness - wearing a nice pair of comfortable, supportive insoles always helps. Then, I head back home and relax a bit before knocking out around midnight and doing it all again!

What Are The Top Qualities or Skills You Believe Entrepreneurs Need In Order To Be Successful? Also, What Advice Do You Have For Entrepreneurs Who Are Just Starting Out?

Libie: Gritty, open-minded, and humble. I would advise entrepreneurs to be incredibly open minded, and ask a lot of questions. It’s important to get a broad set of opinions and perspectives bt take everything with a grain of salt because there is truly no “right” way to be an entrepreneur. I also think its important to be open to wearing many hats, and willing to take on any task, no matter how big or small.

Daniel:

Being a systems thinker- like to deconstruct complex systems and understand how things work, what incentives drive what outcomes in any given industry. You need to become the expert, so if you don’t have a true understanding of the space you are going into, you’ll need to learn how to become the smartest person about it in any given room.

Building out a vision- for me, it’s the best way to understand what you are truly solving for. Rather than just a cool idea that solves a problem, a vision allows you to build a company that will be able to self-sustain and continuously innovate. There are many great ideas, but great companies come from philosophies that are guided by a better vision of how things should work.

Ability to go from 0 to 100 on an idea- as an entrepreneur, you really need to be passionate. It’s going to take some time to truly see the rewards, and you will need to be 100% invested from start to finish. It took us nearly two years to get from idea to launch, and you’ll need to be as passionate on day 720 as you were on Day 1.

Tell Us A Story Of Something That Happened To You, Something You Heard, Or Something You Saw, That Either Made You Laugh Or Taught You An Important Lesson.

Daniel: Libie and I were in a business school class and we pitched our idea for Fulton. The professor, in a bit of disbelief that young people actually wanted to wear insoles, asked the students in the room to raise their hands if they currently wore some type of orthotic. To everyone’s surprise, about 75% of the room’s hands went up. It was incredibly validating to us as entrepreneurs, learning that this seemingly rare behavior is actually quite prevalent, and taught us to continue trusting our gut and our research despite what others may think along the way.

If You Can Have A One-Hour Meeting With Someone Famous Who Is Alive, Who Would It Be And Why?

Daniel: Roger Federer. I’ve been a huge tennis fan for as long as I can remember, and have always admired his ability to demonstrate true dominance, class, and leadership throughout his career. I’ve always been inspired by his work ethic off the court and his incredibly calm, effortless style of play on the court, and aspire to emulate him as I think about building out my own career and personal life.

What Does Success Mean To You?

Libie: Success means finding and pursuing a career that is fulfilling. For me, that requires work that involves creativity and challenge. I need to be solving problems that force me to think differently and creatively. I’ve always been excited about a career in entrepreneurship because it allows me to do both of these things.

Daniel: To me, success means getting to control your own life. Although I love intellectually stimulating work, I didn’t love the reasons i was pursuing them in the past: “for a client” or “for a manager.” I wanted to find my own problems and solve them, which is why entrepreneurship became so appealing to me. Granted, there’s so much on a given day that is beyond the scope of my control. However, understanding the larger vision I am building towards and getting to create my own day-to-day life in light of that has been incredibly enriching. Success means allowing me to keep controlling where I invest my time and energy, a luxury that I now hope to maintain for the rest of my career.