Manduka: Peter Sterios

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2023

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Peter Sterios discovered yoga by accident when he was in college, and wound up—also by accident—launching a multimillion-dollar business around it. He used yoga to ease neck strain and loosen his hamstrings, but eventually became a serious practitioner and teacher, running his own studio in central California. In the late 1990’s, before the proliferation of yoga brands, Peter came across a mat that was thicker and more durable than any he’d seen. He anticipated there would be growing demand for quality yoga gear, and decided to take a risk: ordering $25,000-worth of mats to store in his garage and sell to yoga studios and students. Over the years, he grew the business by targeting prominent yoga teachers who became IRL influencers, effectively spreading the mat by spreading the mat. Despite early cash flow issues and many personal challenges, Peter helped grow Manduka into one of the best known yoga accessory brands in the U.S.

This episode was produced by Alex Cheng, with music by Ramtin Arablouei

Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Katherine Sypher.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	What if the greatest tragedy of your life was just covered up?
0:12.0	I have never seen anything like that before or after.
0:15.0	This is the story of the worst marine-on-marine friendly fire in modern history.
0:20.0	A story kept from the public.
0:22.0	It's like, what did y'all have to hide?
0:24.0	Listen to NPR's embedded podcast and its latest series, taking cover.
0:30.0	How I built this is pleased to have Upwork as our presenting sponsor.
0:34.0	Visit Upwork.com to get hiring.
0:36.0	Upwork has a message for you.
0:38.0	Everything you know about business, it was made up by a bunch of guys a hundred years ago.
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0:53.0	It's a portal to the future of business and it's disguised as a website.
0:57.0	Go to Upwork.com, there you'll see the light and also find talent for projects of any size,
1:03.0	from simple deliverables to complex projects, from short-term help to full-time hires.
1:08.0	You can finally let those old business titans and their tired ideas rest in peace.
1:13.0	This is how we work now.
1:15.0	Visit Upwork.com to get hiring talented professionals today.
1:19.0	Hey, it's Guy here.
1:24.0	You know, we hear a lot about pivots on how I built this.
	...

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