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12
Stefan Ytterborn
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Why This Episode Matters
Stefan Ytterborn created the IKEA PS collection that shook the Italian furniture industry, founded POC Sports to save lives through better helmets, and now leads CAKE—electric motorcycles helping rangers catch poachers in Africa using solar power. In this conversation, he reveals why he lets his heart lead and brain follow, why premium means purpose plus innovation plus performance plus quality, and why the era of buying cheap trash must end. For founders building purpose-driven brands, this is a masterclass in creating products that matter.
Key Takeaways
Let your heart lead and your brain follow
When Ytterborn gets passionate about something, he dives in without overthinking the challenges. If he knew beforehand exactly what obstacles he'd face, he might never start. Passion before analysis.
Don't force yourself into the market—create mutual sympathy
Build genuine relationships with users step by step. The venture capital model of "grow super fast" contradicts the patience required to build something true and real.
Premium means purpose, innovation, performance, and quality
These four parameters define premium products. With this definition, you'll never be the biggest player—but you'll create products that last and matter.
The era of buying low-quality trash must end
The biggest challenge to climate is our pace of consumption. High-quality products cost more upfront but have lower total cost over time. We need financial solutions to help people afford quality.
There's no use launching a product if it's not better than competition
Every product needs a clear reason to exist. Be transparent about the purpose, the intended user, and why the world needs this specific thing.
Conversation Outline
00:00 — Meeting the man behind POC and CAKE
02:00 — Starting in furniture: CBI Interior and the journey to IKEA PS
05:00 — IKEA PS: shaking up the Italian furniture industry in 1995
07:00 — Why quality products have lower total cost over time
10:00 — From POC to CAKE: discovering electric motorcycles at ISPO
12:00 — "Stubborn change maker": being naive enough to start
14:00 — The tension between VC growth expectations and building something true
17:00 — Working with Marc Newson, Jasper Morrison, and Alfredo Häberli
18:00 — CAKE bikes for anti-poaching: solar-powered conservation in Africa
21:00 — Pharrell Williams and celebrity customers
22:00 — What Ytterborn believes: let your heart lead
25:00 — Working with his sons Carl and Nils at CAKE
27:00 — Creating classics: products that last for generations
30:00 — Premium defined: purpose, innovation, performance, and quality
Stefan Ytterborn
→ Founder & CEO of CAKE — premium electric motorcycle company
→ Founder of POC Sports — protective gear brand with mission to save lives
→ Created IKEA PS Collection — disrupted Italian furniture industry in 1995
→ Serial entrepreneur in contemporary Swedish design since age 19
→ Worked with iconic designers: Marc Newson, Jasper Morrison, Alfredo Häberli
→ Pioneer in sustainable transportation and anti-poaching technology
Show Notes & Links
Mentioned In This Episode
→ CAKE — electric motorcycle company Ytterborn founded
→ POC Sports — protective gear company Ytterborn founded in 2004
→ IKEA — where Ytterborn created the iconic PS collection in 1995
→ Marc Newson — legendary industrial designer Ytterborn worked with
→ Jasper Morrison — influential product designer Ytterborn collaborated with
→ Alfredo Häberli — Swiss designer and friend in Zurich
→ Southern African Wildlife College — where CAKE bikes help train rangers
→ Gold Zero — Utah company making solar power stations for CAKE bikes
→ Pharrell Williams — celebrity CAKE customer
→ ISPO — trade show where Ytterborn discovered electric motorcycles
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