Lucas Lappe on Building Canopy: Why You Need a Humidifier, How To Land Sephora, and Lessons from Founder Therapy

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Hot Takes Big Stakes

Natalie Holloway and Lana Elie

18 episodes

6 days ago

The real-world highs and lows of building a business—from early ideas scribbled on napkins to multimillion-dollar raises and the pivotal moments in between. Hosted by serial founders Natalie Holloway (Bala) and Lana Elie (Floom). We explore the unfiltered truths most founders are too polished (or too cautious) to say out loud. No hype, no jargon—just honest conversations about what actually works, what doesn’t, and what it really takes to grow something from nothing. Each week, Natalie and Lana sit down founder-to-founder to share sharp insights, fresh perspectives, and the kind of candor you rarely hear in the boardroom. Build your dream. Burn the playbook.

Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship

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Lucas Lappe on Building Canopy: Why You Need a Humidifier, How To Land Sephora, and Lessons from Founder Therapy | #5

Hot Takes Big Stakes

40 minutes 29 seconds

3 months ago

Lucas Lappe on Building Canopy: Why You Need a Humidifier, How To Land Sephora, and Lessons from Founder Therapy | #5

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