How To Build a $60M Physical Product Brand | Kris Dehnert, CEO, Dugout Mugs® | ROI Podcast™ ep. 500
Release Date: 12/31/2025
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info_outlineEpisode 500 of ROI Podcast®! Who better than the CEO and Owner of Dugout Mugs®, Kris Dehnert, the entrepreneur behind a wildly successful physical product brand built on craftsmanship, storytelling, and relentless customer focus.
Kris breaks down how he scaled a novelty idea into tens of millions in revenue without relying on a traditional sales team, why product quality is still the most underrated growth lever, and how listening to customers drives smarter product expansion. We get into licensing strategy, corporate gifting, surviving hypergrowth, and the mental frameworks required to stay durable as an entrepreneur.
This episode is a masterclass for founders, operators, and creators building real businesses in the physical world and trying to scale without losing their soul.
Subscribe for more business conversations that blend strategy, lived experience, humor, entrepreneur podcast, ecommerce scaling, product based business, brand building strategies, physical product startup, business growth podcast, customer driven product development, licensing strategy, corporate gifting ideas, founder mindset, and manufacturing entrepreneurship.
00:06:00 How do you turn a novelty product into a scalable business?
00:09:55 How can a company grow without a traditional sales team?
00:14:40 How do personal values shape long-term business decisions?
00:18:55 How do you survive and stabilize after hypergrowth?
00:21:30 How should founders decide when to expand a product line?
00:24:10 How does product licensing actually work at scale?
00:29:05 How can gifting become a repeatable revenue channel?
00:32:20 How do lean operations improve profitability during growth phases?
#entrepreneurship #ecommercebusiness #productbasedbusiness #brandbuilding #businesspodcast #startupstories #scalingbusiness #directtoconsumer #manufacturingbusiness #corporategifting #smallbusinessgrowth #founderjourney #roi
How To Build a $60M Physical Product Brand | Kris Dehnert, CEO, Dugout Mugs® | ROI Podcast™ ep. 500 | Law Smith @LawSmithWorks + Eric Readinger
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