82 | 🛠️ 99% of Products Are Built to Fail — Why This One Refuses to Break with Keith Carrato (Leatherman)

Keith Carrato, VP of Product at Leatherman, discusses balancing innovation, commercial viability, trust, and integrity in company culture.

In this episode of Good Revenue, host Neeta Bidwai and Keith cover:

• How founder Tim Leatherman’s persistence led to the development of the Pocket Survival Tool (PST) despite initial rejections, resulting in a company that has thrived for over 40 years.
• Why Leatherman’s core philosophy is to equip users to tackle challenges creatively in various scenarios.
• How disciplined product briefs distinguish between essential features and “nice-to-haves” to prevent feature overload.
• Embracing failure as a learning opportunity at Leatherman fosters high performance.
• How the company navigates tariffs and international competition while staying true to core values: quality, American manufacturing, and integrating consumer feedback.

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Where to find Keith:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-carrato-a810911/

Where to find Neeta:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neetabidwai/

Where to find Good Revenue:

https://goodrevenue.io/goodrevenue

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHrhuWbpYnUwrR75H2Ip4yQ

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Highlights:

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:54 Leatherman's Origin Story

03:46 Leatherman's Problem-Solving Focus

06:35 Product Development Insights

20:58 Embracing Failure and Learning

25:02 Recognizing the Role of Colors in Product Design

26:16 The Journey from Apparel to Product Innovation

26:55 The Power of Curiosity in Product Development

29:38 Commitment to Quality and Community in Portland

34:50 Navigating Tariffs and International Growth

42:27 Customer Stories and Product Reliability

45:23 Building a Culture of Trust in High-Performance Organizations

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Referenced:

• Leatherman: https://www.leatherman.com/

• Tim Leatherman: https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/innovators-tim-leatherman

• Nike: https://www.nike.com/

• Gerber: https://www.gerbergear.com/en-us

• Keen: https://www.keenfootwear.com/

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