July 09, 2025

E184: How Casper Hit $100M in Year One: The Untold Startup Playbook

1 hour 2 minutes

Philip Krim is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Casper, one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups in history. Under his leadership, Casper hit $100M in revenue in its first year, went public in early 2020, and was later taken private. Today, Philip is building again—this time through Montauk Climate, a platform innovating in what he calls the “electron economy.” We talked about lessons from hypergrowth, managing through crisis, organizational design, and the future of climate investing.

Highlights:

How Casper hit $100M revenue in its first year

Building a brand consumers want to talk about

What it takes to lead through hypergrowth

Lessons from taking a company public right before COVID

Why he believes DTC was just the beginning of a bigger thesis

What the “electron economy” means and why it matters

Why Montauk Climate is vertically integrated across venture, credit, and incubation

How Philip evaluates early-stage founders—and what makes a good bet

Why portfolio construction is the most underrated concept in venture

Guest Bio:

Philip Krim is the founder of Montauk Climate and the former co-founder and CEO of Casper. Under his leadership, Casper became one of the most iconic DTC brands in the world, reaching $100M in revenue in its first year and going public in 2020. After exiting Casper, Philip launched Montauk Climate, a platform focused on building and investing in the “electron economy,” with a mix of venture incubation, growth investing, and credit strategies. He is also an active early-stage investor, with early bets in Ramp, MasterClass, and Relativity Space.

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Stay Connected:

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David Weisburd: @dweisburd

LinkedIn:

David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/

Philip Krim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-krim/

Links:

Montauk Climate: https://www.montaukclimate.com/

Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at [email protected].

(0:00) Episode preview

(11:12) Hiring for new skills and functions

(16:50) Organizational design for startups

(19:42) Task structuring for scalability

(20:56) Adapting core beliefs while maintaining credibility

(22:21) Data-driven decisions versus gut instincts

(23:02) Skills needed for founding a company

(26:19) Venture vs. public investors' perspectives

(31:09) Introduction to Montauk Climate and its strategy

(34:47) Role of credit in energy transition

(37:21) Electron economy and incubated companies

(50:42) Investment approach for private allocators

(53:08) Exploring the electron economy

(54:35) Traits of successful early-stage founders

(57:16) Predicting investment success challenges

(59:35) Portfolio construction in venture capital

(1:00:13) Closing remarks

...more

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By David Weisburd

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