PEOPLE
Joep Verbunt of Matt Sleeps: 'Where my friends spent money, I saved it for later'
Entrepreneur and marketer Joep Verbunt came up with the idea exactly six years ago to launch one advanced mattress on the market with the following facts: direct-to-consumer and 120 days of 'trial sleep'. Mattress phenomenon MattSleeps emerged and the rest is history. Last year the company won the FD Gazelle award, Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and, according to the Financial Times, MattSleeps is the fastest growing interior design company in Europe (1700% in 3 years). Sales in the Netherlands doubled last year and the French are infatuated with the MattSleeps website. But had Joep's bed always been spread? Who helped Joep during his career? In other words: who was his wheelbarrow? Text: Mical Joseph
Image: Martin Dijkstra and Matt Sleeps
What was your very first job?
“I was a dishwasher at restaurant De Hucht in Elst and went to high school in Nijmegen. The nice thing about this restaurant was that the clientele mostly consisted of entrepreneurs. I often caught something here and there. Entrepreneurship appealed to me as a teenager.
Because of my dyslexia, it was difficult at school at first and during my holiday to Turkey I noticed that I was doing quite well in negotiating. I saw it as a game and took bags full of products with me, which I then resold in the Netherlands for a higher price. Then I spent time with my parents in Thailand, where I bought T-shirts and sold them to my classmates. Once back in the Netherlands, I also wanted to bargain in shops here, but of course that was not possible.
In short: I really enjoyed the game of buying and selling. I saw a future for myself in this at a young age. That's why I started saving early. While my friends spent money on equipment, mainly on scooters, I saved it for later, so that I could ultimately invest in my company.”
So you were quite responsible with money at a young age, what were your student days like?
“It was one thing that I wanted to become an entrepreneur no brainer, so I chose to study Commercial Economics and joined an association. I was responsible for various events at the association and brought in sponsors. At one point I left for America for a minor and then to London for my master's degree. In London I rented out a number of rooms from which I also saved capital. With this I founded my first company.”
Which company?
“I wanted to bring electric tuctucs to London, but the Dutch party I worked with kept not coming around. Which was a shame, because we had the municipality on our side: all permits had already been arranged. This situation meant that I no longer wanted to be dependent on the same party. I decided to go back to the Netherlands where I ended up at a number of startups through a VC.”
So you were employed by the startups. How did you like that?
“I really enjoyed the dynamic nature of the startups and it was interesting to be part of, but I still started to get the itch again. What I liked about my time in London was that companies really focused on the brand experience. This is how, for example, the café became Central Perk from the popular series Friends recreated in honor of the 25th anniversary of the show where you could have coffee with Gunther. This stunt went viral. I also wanted gift experiences to create…
So what were you going to do?
“I decided to create the concept of 'the Bubble Bath Cinema'. A cinema with 22 hot tubs and 2 cinema screens. I did this in collaboration with Heineken and Redbull and this concept immediately went viral. Then we continued with the tomato fight on the dam. This project also went viral around the world. Every news station reported on the fight, because it was a political statement to Putin regarding MH17. Tomatoes could not be imported for a while. I got satisfaction from working with a team to come up with cool ideas that stayed on everyone's minds.”
How did you end up in your current job?
“I was very annoyed when buying a mattress or bed. When looking for a quality mattress, I could no longer see the forest for the trees and the seller had a nice talk, but often based on nothing. And after I had selected a mattress, I came home and found the mattress not very comfortable, but I could no longer return the product. I felt that buying a mattress could be much better and more efficient. Inspired by an American model, Matt Sleeps was founded in June 2016. There is no retailer involved, there is one mattress (with six different firmnesses) and you can return the mattress for free within 120 days.
Direct to consumer then came up. Delivering directly from the manufacturer to the customer. This way you keep the retailer out and you can offer a much more competitive price. This was already done with shoes and razor blades, but one industry had not yet been picked up: mattresses.
I pitched my idea to a mattress factory and recruited a number of TU Delft students who started a research project. After this research, we developed a number of mattresses that were tested by guests of the Art'Otel in Amsterdam. We received customer feedback on this and the perfect mattress was created!”
What is the advantage of offering only one mattress?
“Because we offer the solution of a 120-day 'trial', the quality of the mattress is extra good. It may feel awkward to pick up the mattress again if you don't like it, but Matt Sleeps ensures that the quality of the product is excellent. The mattresses that return are sold more as new, but donated to a good cause. Our focus is entirely on that one single mattress.”
Who was your wheelbarrow?
“My father was retired when I started Matt Sleeps and helped me a lot in the first year. He was a good sparring partner. We went to mattress fairs and factories together. The great thing about contacting my father is that he gives the best advice. There is never anything behind that advice. Today he is still a good advisor to me.
What will always stay with me is the entrepreneurial tip: 'The first shares you give away are your most expensive'. That is why I chose in the past to put every dime aside, so that I could finance my own projects myself.”
What is your greatest passion in your profession?
“I really enjoy being creative, especially creating beautiful campaigns, experiences and come up with 'extras'. If you have ordered the pillow from us and you open the box, the song 'Sweet dreams are made of this' to play. Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference experience can make it really big! We also still organize viral events, such as 'the world's first hangover bar', 'our own sleep channel with the sleep-inducing YouTube videos from the internet (not Netflix, but Mattflix) and last year we built a 5-day Bed Cinema in Theater Amsterdam for our 16th anniversary.
People could then book a bed with us and while watching a film they immediately tried out our products. MattSleeps' products often distinguish themselves with clever features... We developed a unique pillow that provides good support for side and back sleepers, you can attach the bedding to your blanket with handy buttons and we have an adjustable mattress that you can adjust on each side yourself. simply by rotating the layers themselves.”
It sounds like you are still very involved in many facets of your company. Do you find it difficult to outsource matters?
“No, I don't mind outsourcing things at all, but I think that as an entrepreneur you should first be able to do things yourself before you hand that particular thing over to someone else in your company. I had never made a television or radio commercial or purchased a bus shelter, so I initially took on this task myself. This way I can explain it properly next time and hand it over.”
What has been the biggest learning moment in your career?
“Matt Sleeps was the first to enter the mattress market and compete with the established order. As a result, we received many questions such as: 'How are you better than, for example, an Auping?' or 'Why do you only offer one mattress?' I actually liked such questions, because the answer was always very simple: we have a lot of customer contact and from the start we started calling every customer to see what they thought needed to be done differently. We learned a lot through these 'call rounds' and that was the moment MattSleeps launched the adjustable mattress. We saw that, in almost all cases, of the people who returned the mattress, the return had to do with the hardness of the mattress. One thought the mattress was just too soft and the other thought it was just too hard. Nowadays, the returns process is automated and we can view the reason for the return per country. If 51% find the mattress too firm, we make the mattress just a little softer so that we are at 50/50.”
What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?
“Start your business early and learn from your mistakes.”
Have you been a wheelbarrow for someone?
“I am often approached by young entrepreneurs to drink coffee, and I am always open to that. I enjoy sparring. Through sparring I always learn something myself!”
