Ryan Hurley has understood the importance of a good night's sleep since he was forced to wake up before dawn to train as a competitive swimmer. But he didn't realize his obsession with sleep could be turned into a business opportunity until he was faced with buying a set of pillows at a big box retailer.
“I was like, ‘Sure, let’s get these pillows with no rhyme or reason at all to it,’ “ he recalled thinking. “You make such educated decisions about all these other things — like running shoes — but you’re really just going to pick up random pillows based on whatever is on sale?”
That experience led Hurley to found Lagoon, a retail startup that is pairing sleepers with pillows that meet their specific needs.
Rather than awkwardly fluffing pillows in a store aisle, Lagoon starts its customers off with a seven-step pillow quiz that delves into sleep goals and habits. Hurley configured the quiz by talking to sleep experts and doing research on materials, sleeping positions and required loft. That information is then continually updated with user feedback.
“We’re using that qualitative feedback from our customers to continue to improve,” he said. “And I do feel like our recommendations have actually gotten a lot better now that we have a product on the market we’re getting feedback from.”
Before launching Lagoon’s own line which now consists of eight pillows, Hurley spent six months buying, and trying, virtually every pillow he could.
“I knew pretty early on I didn't want to just have us matching to other people's product,” he said. “I wanted to create our own line of pillows.”
Last August, Lagoon launched its e-commerce site, but Hurley said he didn’t see consistent traction until this spring, when the company saw 100% month-over-month growth in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.
The company’s momentum is the result of several factors. Since its launch, Hurley has better optimized the website, used better product photos, and has leveraged a group of social media influencers to promote to a wider audience. Plus, earlier this year, Lagoon was included in Beta’s spring 2022 accelerator cohort.
Up until now, Hurley has bootstrapped the company, and only sought funding from friends and family. He said this summer he carefully considered raising a venture round, but is staying away for now.
“I came into this wanting to build a lifestyle business and to be my own boss,” he said. “So I never wanted to go to the point where I lost control of the business, because we gave away so much equity.”
