Building Mizzen+Main, Stories with J.J. Watt and Phil Mickelson, & Founding Harbor - Kevin Lavelle

Kevin Lavelle is the CEO & Cofounder of Harbor. He’s also the Founder and Chairman of the Board at Mizzen+Main, where he invented the world’s first performance fabric dress shirt, ultimately driving it to hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

He successfully raised a growth round from L Catterton and established partnerships with athletes like Phil Mickelson, JJ Watt, and dozens of others. Today, Mizzen+Main has more than ten of its own stores with 1,000 retailers also carrying its products.

We discuss:
- Starting and growing Mizzen+Main
- The intricacies of celebrity-equity deals
- The inspiration for founding Harbor
- The realities of building physical products vs. software
- Stories with Phil Mickelson and J.J. Watt

Links:
Mizzen+Main - https://www.mizzenandmain.com/
Harbor - https://harbor.co/
Kevin on X - https://x.com/kevinslavelle
The Phil Mickelson Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45xF1C76I88

Support our Sponsors:
BetterPitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I
Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies
Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/

Topics:
00:00 - Intro
02:03 - Kevin’s early career and inspiration to found Mizzen+Main
06:05 - Building the first prototype
10:30 - The early days of building the brand
14:14 - The impact of sponsoring the Tim Ferriss Podcast
20:40 - Choosing the name “Mizzen+Main”
23:00 - Inventory Management
26:09 - Starting over today, what would be your hiring order?
27:51 - Celebrity partnership stories: J.J. Watt & Phil Mickelson
47:58 - The inspiration for founding Harbor
01:03:18 - Bringing on a Co-Founder and building hardware
01:07:12 - Marketing approaches
01:15:20 - How celebrity equity deals work

Chris on Social Media:
The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd

Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX
Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys
Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0
Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO