Who is Olivier?

Meet Olivier Momma, Founder of Ekster!

About Ekster

Ekster creates sleek and sustainable wallets and card holders for people on-the-go. Because people tend to lose their wallets, the brand boasts a trackable feature throughout its line of products.

Olivier’s Journey

In college, Olivier pursued a business degree and took a growth hacking course, where he discovered an  entrepreneurial interest. After receiving a Fulbright Scholarship and meeting Rick, his future business partner in the U.S., he completed internships in Hong Kong. There, he noticed that people were paying with QR codes, which piqued his interest. In Europe, people still held blocky wallets everywhere they went. Olivier realized that there was a gap in the wallet industry — the public needed a sleek and innovative wallet that was also practical. Thus, Ekster was born.

“We asked ourselves the question: ‘Why can’t we just create the next-generation wallet that has all the features [wallets] are missing? Why are people still carrying a fat bifold wallets? Why have phones evolved but the wallet has stayed the same for years’"

Olivier, Rick, and Richard, a friend from Hong Kong, began sketching up designs for a trackable wallet. To fund their start-up, the three went to Kickstarter. Through the platform, the three young entrepreneurs raised $400,000 in 40 days. The fundraising completely skyrocketed their company in the first days of the business. Together, they crowdfunded their first $1000,000.00 within their first year of business.

Using those funds, the three found a warehouse and manufactured products. Quickly, their new business started coming together.

The Early-Stage Creation Process

To begin producing their next-gen wallets, the budding business first reached out to dropshipping companies like Alibaba and Aliexpress. When those options didn’t pan out, they met an agent in Shenzhen, China who had a product solution house. After vetting his experience, the three felt good about the partnership, and began creating sustainable products.

Ekster offered worldwide shipping from the get-go, opening five warehouses across the globe. Even though they had high hopes, the wide-range of production ended up spreading the team thin at a faster rate. 

To solve this problem, the team transitioned to the U.S., their biggest market, and closed down the other warehouses. The recentered focus brought a sense of calmness to the team — and later, success.

“I’m happy we were able to solve that and just focus on the things that really moved the needle,” he says.

Innovating Strategic Marketing

At the beginning, the team focused on PR marketing and brought everything in-house to focus on each part of the performance engine. They put together a creative team of four video editors, two graphic designers, one head of content, and a lot of freelance content creators. Even though performance marketing has been Ekster’s biggest driver, it wasn’t enough to take the business to the next level.

In response, the company added influencer marketing on platforms like YouTube and TikTok with thousands of influencers creating content for 10 products each day. Ekster also uses bigger ambassadors and product collaborations with other brands to mix audiences. These tactics have a larger payoff for the brand.

“I would say it’s like a snowball effect,” he says. “Once one thing starts working, it feeds [into] the other funnel and really helps you get to that next plateau.”

Creating a Successful Team

In the beginning, the company was against hiring, but they now see the value of having an in-house team.

Olivier explains that hiring the right people leads to a brand’s success. He uses automated systems like Hubspot, Aspire, and Grin to target creators and send out reminders, ensuring that everyone is on the same page. The marketing team helps to keep track of all the deals, as though it’s a business unit of its own within the company.

“The more organized it is, the quicker you can send that product out,” he says.

With diligent managers and the help of data-scraping tools, the Ekster team has grown in success and propelled forward to the next level.

The team also includes one head of partnerships and six agents who brainstorm new content angles. The ideas are then reused for advertising. Ekster has a good mix of virtual assistants, in-house assistants, and freelancers that bring the brand’s vision to life.

Prioritizing Customer Lifetime Value

To ensure that customers could return to the brand, Ekster expanded its product lines as much as it could, which included adding more product colors. The brand also expanded accessories such as small add-ons, and created a website strategy, where customers could easily add items during the checkout process. Ekster pushes as many add-ons as they can, and gives out discounts so customers can purchase multiple add-ons at a time.

The team also uses aggressive email and SMS marketing and has a group of thoughtful customer service representatives that take care of customer experience. In turn, the customers can recommend the products to friends and return to the brand themselves.

“It’s all connected to each other,” he says, “but it starts with the product.”

Using Customer Service to Drive Revenue

Since the company’s early days working with Kickstarter, customer service has been their highest priority. To thank their supporters, Olivier wanted them to be a part of the design process. The team shared product designs with them and asked for feedback. 

Transparency became a primary tenet of the brand’s ethos because the team understood that customers should be included every step of the way.

“It became part of our brand ethos to be extremely transparent and very open, but always treat the customer as… king,” he says. “If you treat them well, they will come back [and] recommend you to their friends. Customer satisfaction is worth so much more than any [other] retention strategy.”

Ekster measures KPIs like CSAT, resolution time and reviews on Google and Trustpilot. Now, customers have become a foundation of the company’s pride. 

“Customer service has become a machine for us,” he says. “[It’s] one of the things we’re most proud of.”

Gifting is also a large proponent of revenue for the company. Ekster focuses on holidays like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day because wallets are easy, affordable, and can be personalized. 

“Essentially, [wallets] are the perfect gift,” he says.

Tech Stack

Google Suite

Klaviyo

Attentive/Concierge

Aspire

Elevating to the Next Level

Ekster is expanding categories, like travel, to elevate to the next level. The company dropped their first backpack design in August and will drop another within the next few weeks. Additionally, the brand plans to drop larger designs and other products that include tech.

Olivier explains that the brand’s products have to be innovative because it sets them apart from competitors and helps them grow.

“We will never release a product if it’s not innovative,” he says. “[Our new products need] to have some kind of innovative feature that has not been launched before.”

Moreover, the team is revisiting the international market. With a warehouse that opened in the U.K. just last year, Ekster will also open new warehouses in Europe and Australia.

“Those are very promising for us, and I think that will bring a lot of new opportunities to open our performance channels to those places,” he says.