Bryan Porter

Simple Modern Co-founder, President of Simple Ventures | Jesus Follower | Husband & Father x3 Boys | Pro Car Seat Installer | OU Alum

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

Today Simple Modern turns 10.

A decade and 60m units in, we've learned a lot:

1. Transparency is most desired quality in leaders.

2. The strategy and skills fueling a start-up will likely be a limitation at bigger scale.

3. Hire missionaries, not mercenaries. Employees passionate about your company's mission.

4. Brand is your biggest asset. You must value your brand first before others see its value.

5. Customer trust is earned in drops, and lost in buckets.

6. It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know that just ain't so. -Mark Twain

7. Culture isn't catchy phrases or happy hours. It's lived & breathed by the quality of people hired.

8. Many brands start by imitating. Only the unique are remembered.

9. Disrupt yourself. It's better than being disrupted by a competitor.

10. View mistakes as tuition. They might be expensive, but they can provide invaluable learning.

11. Bootstrapped companies handle cash better. When cash is precious, it’s invested well.

12. Everyone will leave the company. We want the company to be remembered as an agent of growth, relationship and purpose.

13. The best products are rarely new inventions. They're usually improved versions of an existing product.

14. When investing, shoot bullets before firing cannon balls. Bullets are cheap ways to know you're aiming in the right direction. Fire the cannon ball when the main assumptions are proven.

15. The world revolves around relationships.

16. Optimize for the 2nd purchase. Lasting brands are built on loyal and repeat customers.

17. Understand incrementality. It’s easy to double down on what’s working, but it is often cannibalistic.

18. Solve for complexity with talent density, not just more people.

19. Outstanding culture is like a garden. Everyone must pick weeds to help the garden grow.

20. Privately-owned brands with no exit plan are set best up to win long term.

21. Know your unfair advantages and use them.

22. Prioritize the 3 C’s in hiring: culture, chemistry and competence.

23. To reach national brand awareness, units sold AND impressions must be at scale.

24. Compounding is real. Focus on what propels the flywheel. The results over time can be amazing.

25. Bias toward action is vital early on. However, it can hurt when there's more to lose.

26. Incredible content & packaging impact a customer's view of your product's quality.

27. Great businesses are built on delayed gratification.

28. The best marketing is creative and different.

29. Generosity is reciprocated. It earns favor and loyalty.

30. At 70 years old, we won't remember our 2025 revenue. We'll likely remember relationships and experiences with those we worked with.

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@CareyAMurdock @bakermayfield Good lookin shelves. I see that SM Thunder Championship ball. 😍

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@mikebeckhamsm @DICKS 👏👏👏

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

We've been so excited about this @Team_BL101 drop.

My boys and their friends are obsessed with Baseball Lifestyle and have been begging for this drop for years.

Let's go @jshap9 @TheBillRom!!

[Dave Stickland @dave_stickland]

For those interested in knowing me, what Popsmith means to me, what gets me out of bed, and why the brand represents what I'm about.

Here's My Why:

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@blueyedjon Would be super cool but don’t have it in the works. When we repeat there will be more time to plan for it!

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

Amazing post season run. I was 7 the last time OU won a baseball championship.

Proud alumni. Booooomer!

[ESPN @espn]

MCWS CHAMPIONS‼️

@OU_Baseball takes down UNC to win its first natty since 1994 🏆

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

We're thrilled to partner with @SEGA and the iconic @sonic_hedgehog franchise.

"Sonic Backpack" is a top 8k searched term on Amazon and top 20 for kids backpacks. Simple Modern wasn't relevant there until now.

In successful partnerships both sides win.

Sonic fans can now shop Amazon’s best kid’s backpack, water bottle & lunch bags.

And Sonic allows Simple Modern to now reach thousands of hedgehog loving fans and introduce them to our brand.

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@JessJport4700 Happy Father’s Day pops!

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

Happy Father's Day! Here's what NO ONE told me about being a dad:

1. A dryer full of toddler clothes equals 5 loads of adult clothes.

2. Car seats expire.

3. You’ll be wiping butts years after they are potty trained.

4. Adults can get childhood diseases. I got pinkeye (in both eyes) from my kids. Hand, foot and mouth. Got that too.

5. I have SIXTY finger/toe nails to cut that aren’t my own. And they grow impossibly fast.

6. Stepping on a LEGO barefoot might require PTO.

7. Having all boys, I can't relate at all to friends with all girls.

8. The times you should be worried are when the house is quiet.

9. When it’s time to leave, the kids shoes are non-existent.

10. Every movie since having kids has a hole in the plot from when I dozed off.

11. I thought my eventual hearing loss would be from loud music. But really it's from my boys.

12. Coaching 1st grade boys basketball meant enduring walking through fart clouds every practice.

13. Eating out with young boys requires approximately 100 things to keep them busy.

14. The big conversations never go well on my schedule. I have to be ready for when they're ready.

15. Snacks are the most essential part of leaving the house.

16. I now get annoyed at dudes choosing the kid's height urinal when others are open.

17. There isn't a better feeling than watching your kids love each other.

18. Having 3 boys, I can't relate at all with girl dads.

19. The youngest is effectively the age as their oldest sibling with what they see and hear.

20. The unconditional love I experience as a Dad gives me a glimpse into God’s love.

Happy Father’s Day to all the great Dads out there. Comment with what you weren’t told about parenting.

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@jeauxy That’s quite a crew. Happy Father’s Day!

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

My son sitting in a toilet is an example of what I find when the house is quiet.

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@AaronOrendorff 😍

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@EmmettNaughton @JeremiahPrummer @mikebeckhamsm 🤣

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@JeremiahPrummer @mikebeckhamsm As the one to blame for our confusing branding, thank you! 😂

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

This is not what we meant by dishwasher safe.🤣

Newest addition to our "inthewild" slack channel.

[Alex Cohen @anothercohen]

Absolute psychotic way of loading the dishwasher by my cleaning people

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

Congrats to the winners! Send me a DM and I'll get your championship drinkware to you:

@Goshay_Era
@SwansonRodney
@emilymiethner

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

🚨Championship Giveaway🚨

A special Simple Modern, Knicks WORLD CHAMPION drop. What a legendary playoff run.

Giving away a few, comment or share to enter.

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

Check out the Knicks championship collection:

https://t.co/hHyBn7LKVQ

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@jonfitzsimon @AaronOrendorff Gotta pay respect to the champs. Wouldn't mind dusting off the OKC champ designs next year. 🙂

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@x_armand So great that you were there

[Bryan Porter @jbryanporter]

@mordechaihoff Congrats!!