Lucas Lappe, co-founder of Canopy and Doris Dev, joins Hot Takes, Big Stakes to share how he built a successful wellness brand from the ground up without raising venture capital. From launching his first absurd product (a hot glue gun for string cheese) to designing mold-resistant humidifiers now sold at Sephora, Lucas explains what it really takes to launch and scale a physical product.
This episode covers how Canopy focused on solving real user problems, stayed profitable from day one, and turned a bootstrapped product into a trusted beauty and wellness brand. Whether you're building in DTC, design, or consumer goods, there's something in here for you.
Key Takeaways:
- Bootstrapping forced every dollar to count, which shaped the company’s focus on ROI
- Canopy reimagined the humidifier as a beauty and wellness product
- Sephora helped position the brand as more than an appliance
- The team avoided flashy packaging to cut costs and reduce waste
- Doris Dev was created as a learning platform and support system for launching Canopy
- Having a founding team with clear strengths in product, ops, and brand was key
- Spending time with manufacturers was critical for building better products
More Hot Takes Big Stakes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hottakesbigstakes/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hottakesbigstakes/
More on Lucas Lappe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucaslappe/
“Canopy” Website: https://getcanopy.co/
X Profile: https://x.com/lucas_lappe
More on Natalie Holloway:
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalieholloway/
“Bala” Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bala/
“Balacize” Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balacize/
Substack,
“Working Out in Heels”: natalieholloway.substack.com
Book a 1-on-1 Call: https://intro.co/NatalieHolloway
More on Lana Elie-Meyers:
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lanaelie/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lana-elie-875b383a/
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:15 - Lucas’s Engineering Roots & Startup Beginnings
03:40 - Quirky, Goby & Lessons from Failing Fast
07:10 - Launching Doris Dev to Solve Real Problems
09:45 - How Canopy Was Born from an Idea & a Bad Humidifier
13:00 - The Beauty Consumer Deserves Better
14:45 - Getting Into Sephora Without Funding
17:30 - The Real Benefits of a Humidifier
19:15 - Their Strategy Across Sephora, Amazon, & Baby Retailers
21:00 - Expanding into Shower Heads & Bathroom Wellness
23:30 - Why Canopy Doesn’t Do Fancy Packaging
26:00 - Scaling a Business with a 20-Person Team
29:00 - Why ROI Dictates Every Business Decision
33:00 - Advice for Product-Based Startup Founders
36:30 - Hot Takes: Reinventing the Pet Industry?
38:15 - The Product That Shouldn’t Exist
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.