Obvi’s Ron Shah on Fails, Exits & Lessons Learned

"You start with ‘there’s no way this is me.’ Then you question everything. Then, eventually, you realize—this really could be me."

Ron Shah built Obvi into a $100M+ powerhouse, with $40M in top-line revenue in 2024. But not every business he touched turned to gold. Today, Ron gets brutally honest about two brands he started—Coffee Over Cardio and Paw Rangers—that didn’t go as planned.

This isn’t your typical success story. Ron shares:

• Why success in one business doesn’t guarantee success in another
• The emotional toll of failure and the ego traps that cost him money
• How to know when to walk away, pivot, or double down
• What he’d do differently if he launched these brands today

Most founders only share their wins. Ron is sharing his losses. And why, in hindsight, they might be even more valuable.

Resources & Links

• Follow Ron on Twitter: @obviceo
• Check out Obvi: myobvi.com
• Listen to Ron’s podcast, Chew On This: Listen here
• coffeeovercardio
• pawrangers.com

Sponsors

• Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
• Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
• Address Validator: https://www.addressvalidator.com/

Work With Kurt

• Grow your Shopify store with me: ethercycle.com/apply
• Join my newsletter for Shopify insights: kurtelster.com

📩 Enjoyed the episode? Leave a review and let us know what you think!