Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

Turning Friendship into Fashion: The FTL Bags Success Story of Ryan Lane and Xander Chase

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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Can childhood friendships transform into successful business ventures? Tune in as we chat with Ryan Lane and Xander Chase, the dynamic founders of FTL Bags, who turned their bond from high school wrestling practices into a booming handbag brand. Their journey, from initial career paths in finance to a pivotal phone call that marked the beginning of their entrepreneurial adventure, is inspirational. Discover how their complementary skills and history have shaped their venture into a brand loved by young professionals.

Ryan and Xander walk us through their meticulous process of building FTL Bags step by step. From brainstorming in a New York apartment to overcoming the hurdles of finding the right manufacturer, their story is a testament to persistence. They share valuable insights into creating a product from scratch, even without a background in design, and how they navigated the complexities of sourcing materials and managing R&D amid a global pandemic. Their experience highlights the importance of setting and achieving specific, measurable goals at each stage of the journey.

The episode also delves into the strategic decisions that have fueled their brand's growth. Learn how Ryan and Xander expanded their product line while maintaining a consistent aesthetic, managed co-founder relationships, and opted for bootstrapping over equity funding. Their approach to financial discipline and viral social media success offers actionable lessons for both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned business owners. Don't miss out on their compelling story, filled with practical advice and inspiration for anyone looking to make their mark in the world of fashion.


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https://www.instagram.com/ftlbags/



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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host, emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, where we cover everything about handbags from making, marketing, designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag. Welcome to another episode of Handbag Designer 101. I am with the very, very interesting Ryan Lane and Xander Chase of FTL Handbags. Is it FTL Bags or FTL Handbags?

Speaker 2:

FTL Bags.

Speaker 1:

FTL Bags. Okay, I'm saying interesting because this is a. I don't know if I've interviewed anybody who started in investment banking and then went to handbags, let alone that were men. I've had that with women but not with men. So we're going to go to the way back, because Ryan was telling me, xander, that the two of you were childhood friends because your parents were friends and he couldn't figure out if it was a sibling thing or your parents knew each other or like. What was the connection? Do you know? Challenging you on this that's a good question.

Speaker 3:

You're digging deep into the, the anus of chase lane history. I would say that our parents met because my sister and his brother were in the same preschool class or elementary class and then they became much better friends and sort of then brought the family together. So I think initial connection was siblings. Where the deep connection was made was through parents, and then that came down a generation to us now.

Speaker 1:

But you're, ryan is a year older than you, xander, correct?

Speaker 2:

And wiser, yes.

Speaker 1:

That too, More facial hair. It looks like that's a skill. So yeah, that's a good nod, but when you grow up with someone you don't really, especially if you grow up in the city. You're not really making that connection, even being a year apart, until high school high school, right, because middle school things are still wacky. Did you guys really connect as friends in high school? Is that where it really started, like, oh, our parents are friends, we see each other at kids birthdays, but was that really where it clicked?

Speaker 3:

yeah, ryan and I. I think it was my freshman year of high school, ryan's sophomore year of high school we had bio together and we were both on the wrestling team together, so that was the first time really. We're seeing each other on a daily basis in science.

Speaker 1:

So wait, were you advanced bio or was he generic bio? What's the story? Why were you in the same class?

Speaker 2:

Match with sophomores and freshmen. Xander was in advanced, I was in behind Advanced bio senior year.

Speaker 3:

No comment, no comment.

Speaker 1:

So you met in bio. That's really where it came together.

Speaker 3:

And wrestling practice more. We spent a lot of evenings together in the winter rolling around on a mat together trying to cut weight together. So I'd say that's really where it went from. Hey, we're family, friends, friends to like. We have our own great independent relationship, and so kicked off when meaningfully when I guess I was like 15 and you were 16 yeah, so almost 15 years ago yeah, I would say Xander.

Speaker 2:

Actually he has an older brother who I'm in between, and we were friendly also and then Xander kind of swooped in and grabbed me and then we would, you know, we'd travel together and kind of over high school just developed a close bond with lots of shared interests and I think that ultimately, you know, help inspired where we ended up today.

Speaker 1:

So, xander, you're one of three.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm a middle child. I have a younger sister and an older brother.

Speaker 1:

And Ryan, it's just you and your sister, you and your brother.

Speaker 2:

Sister and a brother. And Ryan, it's just you and your sister, you and your brother. Sister and a brother.

Speaker 1:

I'm the oldest of three. I have a middle brother and a younger sister. Oh wow, that's trauma bonding. So that's so. You know, I'm a professor. I teach entrepreneurship at FIT and one of the questions I ask my students in first class is what number child you are, because birth order really dictates who you are and I bet that's really interesting in terms of how your responsibilities are a segment right. So I could say Xander, you're probably the one who's the risk taker and Ryan, you're the one who keeps things organized. Just step from that alone.

Speaker 2:

Organized for sure. I'm definitely the OCD one of the group. I think risk taking yeah, I think that's exactly right yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Look at that. So you guys go to college, Do you keep in touch? Is it like, oh, when you come home for school breaks and then you know, were you both like, oh, we're both. Was it assumed you'd go into finance just by default?

Speaker 2:

I don't think so. So we went off to college. We stayed friends, of course, but we didn't really keep in touch on a day-to-day basis. After college I moved back to New York. Xander was in DC at the time. We both had majors that were similar to what we're doing now, but, frankly, I never thought I would use anything I learned in that major and I just did business and went into real estate and you yeah, I studied engineering and did a minor in entrepreneurship and I think deep down I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and take this path.

Speaker 3:

But graduating college just sort of followed the path of a lot of my classmates, went work for a bank in New York and thought, hey, you know, this will be good training, no matter what I do. And I guess a year and a half into us working in the professional world, brian called me with this idea and I was like, yeah, I would love to do something entrepreneurial, let's get started on this. I didn't think it would take in my naive mind. I was like, yeah, this sounds like a great idea. I could probably leave my job in six months and do this whole time Like tomorrow. Yeah, exactly, it took about five years, but I think for both of us like doing something entrepreneurial was something we wanted to to do but was really hard to know up until pretty recently whether it was like a dream we could actually see through to fruition do either of your parents have their own companies, their own businesses?

Speaker 2:

mine don't. Well, my dad now does. He's been in the music industry his whole life and he's kind of had. He's worked for companies but has has been entrepreneurial. Your family yes.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, my dad ran a small business when I was growing up. It was a candy manufacturer, importer, exporter, which is really cool. A lot of candy in my house growing up, so definitely my dad was an entrepreneur throughout my childhood.

Speaker 1:

Because, you know, another case study is that most people don't have the balls or the courage to do it unless they've seen someone else do it, to know that if it doesn't work out, there's always a recovery right, especially with what you've done. So you know, the interesting thing about starting your own business which I'm sure you know is that it doesn't even seem like a risk when you do it. It just seems organic and this is just the natural progression. Like okay, this is what we're going to do now, and that's it. Organic and this is just the natural progression. Like, okay, this is what we're going to do now and that's it. And I think you need to see someone else do it in your family, without you know. There's some kind of subconscious validation, like it's okay, I know I can do this, and if it doesn't work out, figure it out next. There's got to be that like fear component that's pulled out.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I think that's spot on and I think for us, that's exactly what we saw.

Speaker 2:

It's just like this was always the dream.

Speaker 2:

We wanted to make sure we were in an okay place personally, that you know, we could give ourselves six 12 months of runway along with the fact that we saw something in the company that was like, okay, there's something here, but we need to give it our full time, and it kind of really felt like the time was now, I think, you know, with my family, when I spoke to my parents and just kind of mentioned it here and there off the bat, they're just like you're crazy, you're not, you're not going to leave your job, like why would you do that and that.

Speaker 2:

Until I sat them down and taught them through everything, at which point, like I knew they'd be supportive, but I think they really saw what we're seeing it and they had that exact same realization. Despite not going through it themselves, they said, okay, this by not going through it themselves, they said, okay, if this doesn't work, you can hopefully go back to a job in real estate or pay it or whatever. I think your conversation maybe was a little bit different with your dad, who's gone through it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, my dad, who, you know, at age 31 or right around my age, also left a job on Wall Street to go and do his own business, I think, was so excited to hear I wanted to do it and was like such a supporter and said the same thing like, hey, I think and believe and hope this will work out, but if it doesn't, you'll learn so much. And he said not every week is going to be a good week, but that's the name of the game of being an entrepreneur. And he loved his entrepreneurial journey so much and, like, was very supportive of hey, go, go give it, go give it a shot. So it's definitely helpful when you have parents who are in your corner, who have made it out on the other side.

Speaker 1:

So, ryan, this concept was yours for this said bag. So what was your aha moment? Because typically, at least with handbag designers, it's the. I'm looking for this product, I can't find this product. And then it's the wouldn't it be great if I could, if someone made this product? And then it's like, well, what would this product look like? And then it turns out it ends up being me. So how did all this come to pass?

Speaker 2:

Sure, I think I mean first and foremost, the idea when I called Xander was way different than it is now, so I can't take the idea as it stands today.

Speaker 2:

But I did find myself working in New York City, basically waking up and trying to have my most productive days get up early, try to go to the gym, go from the gym to my corporate office, maybe go from the office to a happy hour or a date or dinner, whatever it was and I just constantly found myself with two to three bags a garment bag, a briefcase, any combination thereof, or a backpack or a backpack Any day.

Speaker 2:

Two to three bags that not only functionally didn't really serve each destination but aesthetically just didn't look great. I would have to bring my briefcase to the gym, I'd have to take my backpack to the office, and there has to be a better way or a better bag out there that functionally and aesthetically can serve me on those best days. And looking around on the subway every day, I saw tons of people looking like they were dealing with the same problem. So that, paired with just an entrepreneurial itch and desire to do something creative, led me to call Xander, who we've always, really since high school, I've seen eye to eye on a lot of this stuff and I knew he'd be a great person to talk to about it and he was sold, I think.

Speaker 1:

So did you try shopping for said product first?

Speaker 2:

We definitely did a lot of research. We were like, okay, first step, let's see if there's anything out there. I think in trying to find a bag for me, I just was searching day to day for something that would fit and, functionally, aesthetically. I just couldn't find anything and we said let's put our heads together. The next week, xander was in New York and we were sitting down in his apartment mapping things out and figuring out a path to making it happen.

Speaker 1:

So you didn't do anything on your own. You got an idea and then you straight up called him like hey, I got this idea. What do you think? Does this happen for you too?

Speaker 3:

Exactly, and for me the problem immediately resonated. Every morning I was waking up packing my gym bag, packing my briefcase, packing a backpack.

Speaker 3:

You had a proper briefcase like old school bag and I had a backpack and I also would do a lot of one night, overnight trips. I was living in DC at the time but down to either Richmond, virginia or up to New York. So a lot of one day trips, two day trips and like these three bags were just chasing me everywhere I went and so immediately resonated with this and with this problem Ryan was talking about. I was like yeah, there's got to be something. And I think as we dug into it a little bit we kind of realized like hey, there's a product missing in this space, but it also feels like there isn't really a brand that's speaking directly to us as consumers.

Speaker 3:

There were things that felt very much like this is a product I would have in high school or middle school. Things that felt like super expensive and targeted towards like an older demographic and didn't see anything that felt like it was speaking to us as right sort of professional but still youthful people who wanted to look good and wanted to live a certain life. So it felt like there was an opportunity for a product, but also like a broader brand with certain values that we wanted to try to create so did it start with like a paper sketch, like, okay, it would look like this, and then a post-it note on my desk, which, of course, we have it.

Speaker 2:

Okay, we will send you a picture after this. But that's exactly what it was a sticky note with a sketch of what the concept was, and it now looks pretty close to that obviously five years and about 15 prototypes in between, but the concept was still there so you get this idea.

Speaker 1:

I I'm so curious, considering your backgrounds again, like I said, are funnily enough so non-traditional to moving into this space. Did you immediately LLC, get a brand name trademark immediately, or were you like, hold on, let's figure out the concept and we'll take care of all that after.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a great question and for us it was really just one step at a time.

Speaker 2:

We had never started a company, we had never built a product or a bag, and it was always just what's the next milestone? So the first thing was like let's get our thoughts and sketch it out on paper to the best of our ability. The next step was let's go find somebody who has done something similar that we can rely on. Let's research, let's figure out how to take this note, this sticky note, and build an actual, tangible product. We probably won't be able to sell it right away, but let's actually get that in our hands. And from there it was just like I said, two steps forward, one step backwards, building this product into a product that we felt confident taking to market. And then, once we had that, we're like okay, let's you know, we had been taking marketing photos and learning from who we thought our customer was and all that. So we were ready to go with what we envisioned the brand to be. But then it was time to build our website, open a bank account, file an LLC and become a legitimate company.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think that the way that we approached it in retrospect was hugely helpful to us. There's this concept of SMART goals, which stands for specific, measurable, actual, realistic, and I don't think we knew what that acronym was, but we kind of into having really specific goals, and the first one was let's create a product that we can touch and feel and that we like. And I think for the first year a year and a half it was just about creating one bag. So a lot of the other stuff was out of mind and it was like, hey, if we can create one product, one sample, we'll have learned so much, we'll feel good, like that will be a W. And so we were just really focused on let's create one sample. And we did that and we were so proud and happy and it was like, okay, well, now what and why didn't you create two?

Speaker 1:

Because both of you needed to take it for a test drive. Yeah, we did. We did, okay. So where did you and how did you find someone to make your brand back? Did you look in New York City? Because to get sample making and that is a harsh lesson in finance to learn how much, at least domestically, people can charge you to make a first sample.

Speaker 1:

And it's not that I agree or disagree with how these sample makers run their businesses, as someone who's worked with hundreds, with a Z of independent new designers. There's the learning curve cost, and that is well how I've explained it to people. They're in a position to charge you so much because you don't know what you're doing. So the time, value of money it takes them to educate you, to show you to do this they have learned over time that they're not even going to bother educating you because at some point you're probably not going to come back. So how did you go through this process to find said person to make a sample for you? Because a Google search will get you people, but they may not be the people you want.

Speaker 2:

That is all so spot on. We kind of looked through every nook and cranny to find somebody that would do this for a reasonable cost. We were directed by a friend, allie Kamineski, shout out Modern Picnic to some factories in New York that she had experience with, but, like you said, to make a sample. It was gonna be I think it was $7,000. And we had concept. We didn't have money to spend like that. We're going to go asking friends and family for money before we had even tested this and we're just like.

Speaker 2:

It seems like a little bit of a cop out for us to just take the first one that we know existed. Let's use Google research around, see who we can get in contact with. Everything. So much comes from overseas and we're like let's at least start there because it's going to be a little reasonable. So I think we just started cold outreach to any factories email we could find, hoping for a response. I think we probably sent over a hundred emails and I think maybe we got like two or three back. But one factory was willing to build a prototype for us and they send us back our two first samples, which we still have China. Okay, we still have those samples today and I hold them very near and dear to my heart. However, that was the last sample they'd make for us, because they said your product is too complicated. Yeah, we're just not working with you guys anymore. So we're like all right back to square one, but we had our product.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So what did you do then? Then you're like, okay, go back. And did you say okay, is this a sign that we shouldn't work in China, or is this a sign? And what were your feelings? Like leather, non-leather, Were you both like this is who we are. What do we think? I mean, what kind of thought process did you think about materials?

Speaker 3:

Yes, we got that material we knew was going to be huge for us. We always said, oh, we're going to have this awesome, modern, sleek material that's super unique. And people would be like, oh, it sounds super cool, what is it? And we'd say, oh, we don't know yet, we haven't figured that out. So our first couple of samples were just made out of like nylon, because we really wanted to just get the dimensions down, the functionality down, and so that first sample we didn't want to hold it up while we looked for material. So we sort of parallel path, a bunch of material exploration with constructing the bag, figuring we could swap the material out later, when that factory said, hey, we can't work with you anymore, and we were kind of back in square one.

Speaker 3:

That wasn't the last time that would have happened because we did a lot of this through COVID. So we then found another factory. Luckily we talked to a bunch of people in our network who worked in manufacturing. Someone said, hey, there's a material fair that's going on or a manufacturing fair that's going on in New York City. You can look into getting some passes. We went there. We made some connections there, found a new factory.

Speaker 1:

Premier Class or Linea Pele.

Speaker 2:

The convention.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, which one was it for materials? I think it was called Hexworld oh that was the third one I was going to say.

Speaker 3:

Jabbit Center. Jabbit Center.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

So we got some connections there. We did a couple more samples with two factories that we had gone and connected with through there and then COVID hit and they both said, hey, we can only really support existing clients that are putting in orders with us.

Speaker 3:

We can't renew R&D and so once again we found ourselves in a position of we don't have a to work with and once again we just started kind of emailing, calling anyone who might have a connection to someone who might have a connection to someone who knows manufacturing, and we luckily got connected with a sourcing agent who was based overseas, who had a lot of experience in bags and manufacturing and leather goods, and once we brought him on board it really helped things in a big way because he had a big network of factories, he was really experienced in R&D and he sort of became the third point of our team and really helped us expedite a lot of the steps of the rest of the research and development process.

Speaker 1:

So you came to the final conclusion. In terms of materials, you were like that's it.

Speaker 3:

So that's a funny story. We were trying to figure out what our material was, and this was something that was constantly on our minds. And I was at a museum in New York one day and I saw someone like 50 yards down the hall in front of me wearing this rain jacket that I just thought looked so cool and such a sleek material and I was like that's it. And so I sort of tracked this guy down and I was like, hey, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I love your rain jacket. Where's it from? It was a Scandinavian brand that had been doing really high end, sort of like rubberized vegan leather rain jackets for a while.

Speaker 3:

And so then we talked with the sourcing guy and said, hey, we're looking for something like this leather or this PU leather, and he helped us get it. And that was the first iteration of it, and we've now met with a lot of suppliers, given them specifications, and have been able to go from like an off the shelf version of this product to a product that has something like the width and the finish and the colors are all to our brand specifications.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

So you know so many questions, obviously. So the two of you being men and banker men, and you know was your lens? Always let's stick to dark colors. Let's stick to dark, neutral colors, and you know khaki is black. How did you determine your palette? Because, again, for a new brand, your unique selling point is more than the bag itself. Right, the name is one thing, whatever, it's really the product that's going to be the hero. So how did you determine your color palette and say we have to stand out, but we can't stand out because we don't want to alienate who our potential customer is?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. I think we knew we wanted to do a black bag, because we just thought that was going to be the most basic, neutral. Well, we envisioned the brand and like to think today that the brand is unisex and obviously, you know, we're building a mission that should resonate with men and women, with two guys designing the bag. Inherently it came out more masculine and we said, okay, this is a masculine bag right now. Hopefully we will build out products for women, but right now we want to focus on our one hero customer, which is that male in there, anywhere from maybe post college, like early 20s, 40s, 50s, somebody who's on the road, somebody who works in a city with a packed day kind of like we alluded to or just travels weekenders, overnights, et cetera.

Speaker 2:

So black was pretty much automatic. And then we wanted to have some variety. But while doing this kind of side of desk, we weren't able to really go and test a bunch of different colors and spend all this money for different samples, because we just didn't have the time or money. So we kind of took our best guess at what would be two good alternatives we went with navy, which I love, and we went with a kind of a forest green which I think Xander really liked too At least on the shirt.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2:

And we went to Marquee with that and started to learn and have success. But we're super excited because we just actually were overseas for the first time, visiting our partners and factories, and in a few weeks we were able to accomplish, I think, what would have taken probably four to six months sitting at our desks at home. Really, just in colors and different cues and stuff, we were able to mix and match and see tons of different stuff and combinations and get a really good sense. So we've got a gray that we're going to come out with later this year, hopefully some other color variations that will attract a whole wide audience.

Speaker 1:

Are you sticking with this one hero silhouette before you start really trying to push forward, like, make this the biggest and the best and then going from there? Because my experience, you know and I was just interviewed for the Wall Street Journal and I spoke about this actually I had one sentence, or my dialogue with the, with the writer, whom I love. We had this conversation back and forth, but my case study is always the Balenciaga motorcycle bag or city bag, because that is the hero as far as the most recognizable one back within. You know, any assortment would stand out and the clever thing about that bag, amongst others, is that any bag that comes from it looks like it's related. It's definitely not.

Speaker 1:

You know, the cousin's, uncle's, sister's knee is twice removed, it's. You know the bag's a little smaller, the bag's a little bigger, there's a little extra hardware, there's a little less hardware. It's in a different color, but you know they're all the same. You know they're related. Is that how you see your assortment growing? Kind of keeping it within the family, or you want to like? That's it. We worked so hard on developing this one bag. Now we're going to pivot and do a totally new bag. What's your thoughts on that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's a great question, Definitely taking the Balenciaga approach. So we've gotten a ton of great feedback on this bag and customers who really, really love it. And there are two things that we heard a lot. One was there are some days where I just don't need this much space and I love material, I love the profile, I love the aesthetic, but sometimes just don't need something this big. And then other times where we hear customers saying all the same, but hey, I just need something with a little bit more room to pack.

Speaker 3:

So we have two new versions that are coming out in November. So one is going to be a smaller version of the bag. Again, the profile looks very same, the aesthetic is very similar, but it's going to be sized down. And then we have another version of the bag, also in November, where the construction of it and kind of how the different compartments and pockets are laid out is different to be more useful in different scenarios, but again, the aesthetic. Like you said, it's very clear that these products are siblings, not second cousins. So that's, at least for the near term, variations of the Hero product.

Speaker 2:

The one thing I'll just quickly add is I think, even as we get farther into the future, hopefully, we'll no matter what product kind of we bring to market and no matter who that's for, if it's for men, if it's for women, older, younger, use cases, et cetera. I think what we really will, you know, try to hold true to, like Xander said in the former approach, the blends, yoga approaches, where the brand is going to be similar, like the brand's going to be the same, the materials are probably going to be similar. Obviously we'll have some variation, but at the end of the day it's going to be a bag that you can tell just based on the aesthetic, based on the material this is FTL and the functionality might be a little bit different. The bag might be a little bit of a different shape. By the end of the day, the values will stay the same.

Speaker 1:

Who came up with the name? That's a great question. There's so many great questions. Was it someone's mom?

Speaker 3:

No, no, it was you, ryan, was it I?

Speaker 2:

think so. So we had a couple names that we don't need to dive into, just because I feel like people go through that all the time. But essentially we had one name that we ended up diverting from because just with COVID, there's so many companies popping up that every single name we looked at through like the trademark system was taken and we're just like and now it's getting to the point where it's holding us up. We couldn't design a logo. The bag was ready but we couldn't start building our brand because we couldn't find a name that we loved and essentially, we started just piecing words and letters together that we liked and eventually we were trying to talk to each other what does this brand really stand for?

Speaker 2:

When we think about this, when people are holding our bag, what do we kind of evoke? And I think we came to the conclusion this is kind of what we, what's our mission now is. This is a product that helps you have great days and this is a brand that really celebrates those best days. So we're like okay, this is really just about for the love of whatever you're doing, so people. So we said, for the love. Love was just a great phrase that we loved and we're like let's name this company FTL. So a lot of times people say what does FTL stand for? And we say for the love. And they say for the love of what? And we say that's really up to you for you to decide. So sometimes it's a little cliche, but we really believe it and stand by it. It's just whatever makes you tick. We're just about helping you celebrate those great days and here's a bag just to help you get there.

Speaker 1:

You never thought about Chase and Lane.

Speaker 3:

We did, yeah, we did think about that. That was brought up to us a bunch, but I think for us that made the brand very much about us, and we didn't want this brand to be about us at all. It was about our customers and the people with the product. And so we kind of said, okay, what's something that really makes the hero of this brand not us at all but the consumers? And I think that's what brought us from the Chase and Lane school of thought over to the FTL school of thought.

Speaker 1:

You know it's funny that you brought up the trademark search because the USPTO is a friend and I think a lot of people don't realize that it is an amazing resource to just constantly search names and so forth and like who has it and what categories and what classifications. And can I do my trademark myself? Because I kind of can, because you know I can kind of figure it out. It is an incredibly helpful resource and from someone who's done multiple trademarks on their own, it's really fascinating to learn, especially for the love, that you obviously couldn't trademark any of those words on their own. It had to be together. You had to throw in a disclaimer. And is it trademarked for the love or is it FTL? Which one is the brand?

Speaker 3:

So it depends on the class, but we have FTL in some classes we have for the love. Or is it FTL? Which one is the brand? So it depends on the class, but we have FTL in some classes, we have for the love. In other classes we have FTL colon for the love in other classes. So it sort of depends. I forget, I can't remember the class codes, but we have different coverage in different areas depending on kind of how competitive or hard it is to get a trademark in that specific class and how much protection we need in that specific class.

Speaker 1:

You know I'll share a fun fact with you and I don't know how much you guys have put into motion for your brand at this point, but I had a brand a billion years ago called Yasmina. Don't ask about the origin, I thought it sounded amazing, global, international. It could get translated da-da-da-da-da. You know, everybody comes with an idea and they think they're best thing that's ever. It's splitting the atom, right. And I had patents. I designed patents on my silhouettes.

Speaker 1:

Again, don't ask how I came up with the idea for that. I just said, oh, I think these need to be protected. That was my gateway into getting licensing. I decided fun fact to knock myself off before anyone else did and as a result of that, I came up with the Yazzie bag. So I had my Yasmina, which was my high end, and the Yazzie, which was the low end. I would reserve one of those for something for the shelf for the future, because I think in building brand equity, put all your money in one and save the other. Just my opinion. Something to think about, because it's confusing for someone to say which one is it? Just something to think about.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm good with that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Because at some point, whatever you're at, you're going to want to either go up here, go higher, or want to go lower for something diffusion, because it's really hard when you're starting a brand, obviously, to get to scale right. Economies of scale it's tricky, but once you're in that position, that could cannibalize this beautiful brand equity you created. So you don't want it to be the same name Something to think about. But I'm good for that. Last question, Actually last two questions when have you guys butted heads? Or you never had that? If I'm good for that last question, actually, last two questions where have you guys butted heads? Or you never had that?

Speaker 1:

Because I'm sure, like, how do you deal with conflict? I've heard so many different ways that people have. Like there are a couple of founders that I've heard that it's like is it a one for you and a 10 for me? So for this matter, if it's a 10 for you, I'll go with that. Like, how do you handle conflict for things? Because, again, what you find with a work partner ends up you end up spending more time with them and having deeper conversations than perhaps your marital partner or you know person with whom you end up dating, living with. So there's got to be a seamless way that you guys have figured out how to work through conflict. So what is your secret sauce to date?

Speaker 2:

Usually I just bring you some food. Are we really only getting conflicts when Xander's hungry or tired? No, that's not true.

Speaker 1:

A little bit.

Speaker 3:

Well, it's a really good question. I was like reflecting on it and thinking about it deeply, because we really don't butt heads that much and I'm curious your answer. But there's two things I think that really help with that. The first it is for so many years we have talked so at depth about really fundamental things of like what is this brand, what do we want out of this and when. Because I think we're so aligned on like the the deepest here, it makes decision making really easy.

Speaker 3:

If there's a question on, it could be something around inventory or a design decision or how to handle a customer issue, because I think we're so aligned at the mission and value level, it becomes really easy to be like here's the right answer, because we've established that we see eye to eye on the really core thing. So I think that's one thing that helps a lot. But when there is a difference of opinion between two things, very quickly one of us will say like this is not a hill I need to die on, and it becomes clear that you seem to care a lot about this, or this is something that falls more into your domain. I have complete faith. Like here's what I think, but you make the decision. I really can't think of many, if any, situations where we had differing views and we both felt really really strongly about it and weren't willing to defer to the other. So that's kind of what I think, but I'm super curious to hear your answer to the other.

Speaker 2:

So that's kind of what I think, but I'm super curious to hear your answer. I defer to Ryan on that Echo that I think from the deep kind of big questions we have to answer, we have really discussed this and aligned on this for so many years that, like Xander said, we usually can come to an agreement or one person can kind of say, at least on the surface level issues. If that's the case, one person can kind of say, all right, I'm not going to die on this hill, and I think that's also in that, like we've been working on this for five years and I think a lot of people would get fatigue We've certainly been very close, both at the same time, at different times, but at the end of the day, I think from day one, we really had a vision for where we want this to be and we knew it was going to take a long time. So even if one person wasn't feeling it one day, the other person kind of picks up the slack and vice versa. But at the end of the day, in the long run, we've been both very committed and I think that's the number one thing.

Speaker 2:

And I think it's very hard to be a solo founder I can't even imagine. But it's also hard to be co-founders because you have to be perfectly kind of in lockstep on the long-term vision. But in those really more so day-to-day little obstacles, I think it's really about just coming to the table, having respect for one another and each other's opinions, a foundation of really great trust. And obviously there are horror stories that hopefully, god forbid, won't happen. But at the end of the day I think it's just a relationship built on trust and kind of a long-term vision, and I think that's what's helped us have success today.

Speaker 1:

Are you looking to raise money? Do you think you're good? Do you want to avoid that? Are you willing to give away pieces of the pie? I mean both of you being finance people. I feel like the default is oh, we need to raise money, we need other people's money, but fashion and handbags it's a different ballgame in terms of perception and risk and inventory. It's not the same response you'd get if you were developing a tech app for real estate and people with good beards like yourself.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a great question and I'll let Xander dive in as well. The only thing I'll say is that I think we've been in an interesting position, which I think has been helpful. I think we haven't found ourselves today and this might very well change but in a place where we need to go out and raise like a large amount of capital and give up equity. Instead, you know, we bootstrapped everything from the beginning and then, as soon as we had to write a check for inventory, we went out to friends and family after we ran a Kickstarter. So we had real data and a real case study that we could point to and say hey, this is a product, market fit, there's a need for this. Our friends were going to just hand over whatever money just to support us.

Speaker 1:

How did you decide for the Kickstarter what people would get for this $50? You get this. How did you decide that with a brand that you were trying to raise money for?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that was a lot of price discovery and that was part of the Kickstarter intention for us figure out where this product was going to sell and if we could grow it. So we picked a price that we thought was reasonable. We did a friends and family at one price, and that wasn't to make money, just get the bag into the hands of the people we know and get some capital in the door. And then we took that price and we improved the bag and we improved materials. And then we went to Kickstarter with a price point and we said, okay, here's our price point. These people are pre-ordering it. They're going to have to wait six months. They're taking on risk. So if they're willing to buy this at this price point, then if it's a success when we go to market outside of Kickstarter, there's a pretty significant increase that we can tack on, just because now you're operating like a real company. They're not first risk takers, et cetera. So that was great for us.

Speaker 2:

And then to kind of go back to the first question, it's because we haven't done equity and we've just raised debt from friends and family thus far. It's put us in a position where we can't just spending money and seeing what works. Every sale has to be profitable so we can pay back our investors. And I think that's Zaner and I, very, very, very careful and strategic and I think sometimes we wish we could move faster. But I think it's a blessing in disguise that we've kind of been built and being risk averse because-.

Speaker 1:

It stops you from overhead. It stops you from stupid marketing decisions. It stops you from Facebook ads that you may or may not like. Hey, wouldn't it be fun if and let's do that, if and everything, every penny spent has to answer a why, and I think that's, you know, case study building right there.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, couldn't agree more. It's every penny needs a why. It's one of those situations where constraints is to your benefit and it makes us spend and operate in a much more focused and lean way. So I think it is really to our benefit and something we'll try to do for as long as possible. There probably will be a point at some point maybe it's a year, maybe it's two years where we do need capital, because at a certain point you need money to grow, but we're trying to wait until again. It's a burning need for us and there's clearly things we need to invest in, not to raise money just to say, hey, we raised money. We want to wait until it's like there's a very obvious reason for why we need to take on external capital.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, guys. How can people follow you? Learn more, learn about the non-chase and lane FTL bag. How can we find, follow and purchase your amazing hero bag?

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, thank you again. This has been so fun chatting with. For FTL. We're on Instagram at FTLbags. You can find us online, ftlbagscom. Subscribe to our email list on there to get all the updates, everything we're up to. We do a lot about the bag, but a lot of stories too, about people we're working with athletes and musicians and just people that we think really like, resonate with the brand and that we're proud of to have as as customers of of ftl anywhere I missed we got some funny tiktok videos.

Speaker 3:

You can check us out on tiktok too, but yeah, instagram do you enjoy?

Speaker 1:

do you enjoy doing the tiktoks?

Speaker 2:

sometimes I really like filming them. The editing process it's not like you know everything we do, but we've learned and it is also I will say we did have. This was crazy. We had one TikTok about a year or two ago go fully viral, and you know that's always the goal of TikTok. You're like let's get viral, let's go viral, let's get this brand out into the world. And it just so happened we posted a few and they weren't hitting. I'm like heck, I thought this was gonna be easy. Like it was all about the story and the brand and how we all these people are carrying two bags and we're like one bag to replace the rest. And all of a sudden, I like check our Instagram and we've got like 400 new followers and I'm like, oh my god, oh my god, something's happening. And Xander, of course, happens to be on like a 12 hour flight at the time, so I got no one to talk to about this. I'm like talking to my parents. They're like what are you talking?

Speaker 1:

about.

Speaker 2:

Whatever, what does that even mean? And I'm fully freaking out. And then I go to TikTok and I see that one of our videos has now surpassed like 50,000 views and I'm like, oh my God, it's happening. Comments everything from all the great things to the internet trolls, which made me extremely angry. But you know, you learned that?

Speaker 1:

what was the tick tock, what made it? What was the unique angle of it?

Speaker 2:

It was really our story. It was just about us and where this problem you know came from and our desire to solve it, and just the journey of building this bag and it ended up surpassing about 2 million views, which was insane and unthinkable. And the comments are brutal. There's many good comments. There's also a couple bad, which I'm texting Sam. I'm like I'm going to answer this guy. He's like Ryan put your phone down.

Speaker 1:

Ironically, he was telling you to stop. So there you go, go figure. Guys, this has been absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for joining and looking forward to seeing more of FTL. Go, big, go, big, go, big, big Thanks so much guys.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, this has been awesome, Really appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to rate and review, and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer. Thanks so much. See you next time.

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Emily Blumenthal

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