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Ep. 303: Jeff Leitman - The Gap Hunter
Straight Talk for Business frequently speaks with entrepreneurs who have evolved their business to new levels. This conversation is no different.
Jeff Leitman is the Montréal-born entrepreneur who co-founded Killer Concepts Inc. in 2011 and still serves as its President & CEO from Irvine, California. Before jumping into start-ups, he spent a decade on the big-box retail side as a category buyer, experience he credits with giving him the sourcing, merchandising, and P&L chops that drive the business today.
Killer Concepts began with impulse-priced mobile accessories and has since grown into a multi-brand consumer goods house with multiple brands, such as Piggy®, Rocksteady Audio, and now Hell's Kitchen™ cookware.
Jeff's is an interesting story . . . the "simple suction cup phone stand shaped like a pig" turned into a runaway hit after Walmart put it at every checkout. More than 20 million units sold in four years, proving that a 50-cent item can bankroll a portfolio strategy if the volumes are there.
Through sister company Rocksteady Corp., Killer Concepts released the Rocksteady Stadium 2.0 line in 2025: hifi drivers, 30-hour battery, daisychain to "unlimited" speakers, and an addon portable subwoofer that fills out 150 ft² backyard parties without WiFi or an app.
Leitman's newest play is Hell's Kitchen PFAS-Free Hybrid Cookware. It is stainless tri-clad pans with a ceramic non-stick surface that avoids "forever chemicals." The line launched in early 2025 and quickly expanded to knives and pizza ovens, riding consumer and regulatory pressure to clean up non-stick coatings.
What makes Jeff interesting
-
Jeff is customer service CEO: He still answers emails and calls customers himself, using feedback loops to tweak products and policy in real time.
-
Bootstrapped resilience: He scaled production to multi-million unit runs, survived pandemic supply chain shocks, and kept ownership rather than take VC money.
-
Cross-industry agility: From $3 checkout trinkets to $400 speaker bundles and premium cookware, the Killer Concepts playbook is to spot a mass market gap, design fast, outsource manufacturing, and leverage retail relationships built during his buyer days.
Bottom line Jeff Leitman runs Killer Concepts like a 'consumer goods laboratory': quick to prototype, obsessive about retail presentation, and willing to pivot from piggy-shaped phone stands to PFAS-free pans whenever he senses the next wave of impulse buys.
Jeff Leitman [email protected] 714.443.1111
If you want to better understand how — and whether—your capabilities line up with your ambitions, check out this quick diagnostic. The results may surprise you.
https://bit.ly/5mindiagnostic
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By Dragica GrbavacStraight Talk for Business frequently speaks with entrepreneurs who have evolved their business to new levels. This conversation is no different.
Jeff Leitman is the Montréal-born entrepreneur who co-founded Killer Concepts Inc. in 2011 and still serves as its President & CEO from Irvine, California. Before jumping into start-ups, he spent a decade on the big-box retail side as a category buyer, experience he credits with giving him the sourcing, merchandising, and P&L chops that drive the business today.
Killer Concepts began with impulse-priced mobile accessories and has since grown into a multi-brand consumer goods house with multiple brands, such as Piggy®, Rocksteady Audio, and now Hell's Kitchen™ cookware.
Jeff's is an interesting story . . . the "simple suction cup phone stand shaped like a pig" turned into a runaway hit after Walmart put it at every checkout. More than 20 million units sold in four years, proving that a 50-cent item can bankroll a portfolio strategy if the volumes are there.
Through sister company Rocksteady Corp., Killer Concepts released the Rocksteady Stadium 2.0 line in 2025: hifi drivers, 30-hour battery, daisychain to "unlimited" speakers, and an addon portable subwoofer that fills out 150 ft² backyard parties without WiFi or an app.
Leitman's newest play is Hell's Kitchen PFAS-Free Hybrid Cookware. It is stainless tri-clad pans with a ceramic non-stick surface that avoids "forever chemicals." The line launched in early 2025 and quickly expanded to knives and pizza ovens, riding consumer and regulatory pressure to clean up non-stick coatings.
What makes Jeff interesting
-
Jeff is customer service CEO: He still answers emails and calls customers himself, using feedback loops to tweak products and policy in real time.
-
Bootstrapped resilience: He scaled production to multi-million unit runs, survived pandemic supply chain shocks, and kept ownership rather than take VC money.
-
Cross-industry agility: From $3 checkout trinkets to $400 speaker bundles and premium cookware, the Killer Concepts playbook is to spot a mass market gap, design fast, outsource manufacturing, and leverage retail relationships built during his buyer days.
Bottom line Jeff Leitman runs Killer Concepts like a 'consumer goods laboratory': quick to prototype, obsessive about retail presentation, and willing to pivot from piggy-shaped phone stands to PFAS-free pans whenever he senses the next wave of impulse buys.
Jeff Leitman [email protected] 714.443.1111
If you want to better understand how — and whether—your capabilities line up with your ambitions, check out this quick diagnostic. The results may surprise you.
https://bit.ly/5mindiagnostic