LALO, MICHAEL WIEDER: Baby Gear that Grows With the Family

When it comes to babies, they grow up just so darn fast. Sometimes within a blink of an eye or a celebration of a fallen tooth. As a result, parents are spending a fortune trying to play catchup with their baby’s needs. In an attempt to save your wallet, store visits, and growing pains, Lalo develops premium, modern baby gear for millennial parents.

For those who don’t know, the baby gear sector is deemed a $10B dollar market. However, Co-Founder of Lalo, Michael Wieder realized very quickly that when it comes to shopping for baby products, parents tend to get overwhelmed by their unlimited options. As a result, Lalo focuses on two core products, the Daily Stroller ($515), and a 2-in-1 high chair and play chair combo called The Chair ($195). When it came to designing these products, Michael wanted to create solutions that would grow with the baby. Thus, parents are able to decrease the height of the high chair as their child’s height increases, allowing him or her to become a crucial member of the home dining experience. The Lalo stroller can also expand as your family expands, fitting up to two kids. Talk about a bargain! Available in multiple colors, Lalo leaves gender biases out the window. And while we are still on the topic of gender, did you know that back in the day the color pink was originally meant to represent boys? It’s true.

We caught up with Michael Wieder, the co-founder, and CMO of Lalo to chat about his personal journey with family planning in the Lalo Loft, located in Soho (during pre-Covid times when face masks were not a fad). 

“There were multiple aha moments of how crazy this industry is, and how underserved parents are at this moment when they are going through so much. Your life literally changes and your responsibilities change”, says Michael.

Going back to his childhood, Michael grew up in Plainview, New York, a suburb of Long Island. He attended the Ross Business School of the University of Michigan and instead of taking up a job in a traditional field such as banking, law, or consulting, he decided to start his first company within the music and event production space. “I was managing up and coming artists, producing concerts, and events. I ultimately networked my ass off and ended up becoming a sports agent.” 

The Aha Moment 

Michael later went on to work at WayUp as Head of Brand Marketing. “I remember the CEO of WayUp told me that my best friend already works there. He was referring to another colleague whom he thought I would vibe well with.” Fast forward to today and that colleague was Gregory Davidson, who is Michael’s co-founder and the CEO of Lalo. 

On Making That First Hire

When it comes to hiring your first team member, many startups struggle with defining that role and its responsibilities. “Our first hire was a Customer Service Associate. We had a bunch of freelancers that we worked with for product design. I handled marketing, brand, technology, and partnerships while Greg handled operations and logistics.” Michael felt that as a D2C business he wanted to wow his customers with over the top service. Speaking of great service, while Lalo operated out of a WeWork, Michael actually ended up hiring his first team member by stealing her from WeWork (she was the Community Manager). “WeWork has a great training program for its hires.” 

 “Think about who your customer is. If you don’t define the customer at the onset, you’ll have a tough time defining your brand. If you then innately know your customer, you can create the pillars that are right. Just by thinking about them as people, you can build a brand in relation to those people.”

In order to do this, Michael sent out thousands of surveys to people to gather data and design a brand that would appeal to parents in New York City as well as those in St.Louis. Guess what? It worked! This strategy also helped Lalo gain a track record of celebrity followers organically within their first week of launch! “Jessica Alba just started to like our photos on Instagram, and when we jumped on a call with her, she told us that she loves and uses our products.” Without paying a cent for influencer marketing, other celebrities have publicly endorsed Lalo’s products, including Khloe Kardashian and Shay Mitchell. Talk about generating free buzz!

Michael also gave much thought into the product pricing, and settled on a middle ground pricing strategy similar to suitcase brand, Away. “We landed on a price that would attract parents with less disposable income to buy into higher quality and longer-lasting brand, while also attracting new parents who want to splurge.” 

“Community is also a big part of why we created this business. A lot of parents suffer from fear and anxiety around shopping for baby products. We wanted to create a place where people feel welcomed to test out our products, hang out, and feel loved.” For those who don't know, the Lalo loft is a mixture of residential and commercial space. It is a showroom in the front with an office in the back (similar to Casper’s first office back on Bond St in the early days). 

The Name

As catchy as it sounds, Lalo is an acronym that stands for Love All Little Ones. Michael was touched by the recent stories of migrant children in detention at the border. “We believe that every child regardless of where they are and where they come from deserves the same amount of love.” The brand is designed to sell love, not fear, and make parents and all children feel taken care of. 

The Advice

Launching a company in the baby care space is no pat-a-cake endeavor. It is filled with strict product safety regulations, alongside emotional customers. Michael shares his top tips for those looking to start a baby gear brand:

• Target angel investors and small funds. It is important to do your research and know what sector and stage each fund represent. It is important to choose strategic investors who can add value to your company versus just writing checks.

• Be smart about managing your cash. Future funding isn’t guaranteed, especially in this time of the coronavirus, so balance your growth and profitability.  

• Don’t compare your growth to other companies. Every company should be focused on building their own playbook.

• Define your ideal consumer early on. Build a brand in relation to their needs, vernacular, and aesthetic.

If you are expecting a baby or know someone who is share the Lalo love with them by mentioning “radiche” for a 10% discount. Offer expires on May 30, 2020. 

Photo courtesy of Lalo.

Written by Alysha Malik.