Popsmith popper – Popsmith nearly ran out of cash in early 2024, then leveraged retail traction and Oprah’s “Favorite Things” to sell out repeatedly.
A premium popcorn maker nearly ran out of cash before landing on one of the most influential shopping lists in the world, a turnaround that has since turned Popsmith’s stovetop popper into a fast-moving retail product.
In early 2024. Tal Moore. cofounder of Popsmith. said the company had less than two weeks of cash left in the bank.. The business. which launched its stainless-steel stovetop popcorn maker in 2023. struggled to sell enough product to keep up with operating costs.. Moore said he covered the gap by selling $600. 000 worth of his personal stock. describing a burn rate of $100. 000 per month that left the company with roughly six months to stabilize and restructure.
What followed reshaped the trajectory of the company.. Two years after development and launch began. Popsmith’s popper can be found on retailer shelves including Crate & Barrel and Williams-Sonoma. and it is also available on Costco.com.. The product also earned a high-profile appearance on Oprah’s annual “Favorite Things” list. a moment Moore said helped propel the brand beyond its early struggles.
Moore said the journey started long before popcorn.. He describes himself as a serial entrepreneur who built early businesses in novelty and consumer products. from selling gumballs as a teenager to developing a vending route in the Pacific Northwest.. By his early 20s. he had purchased the domain Gumballs.com. pushing into e-commerce. then later expanded into other categories. including popcorn.. Nostalgia is central to his appeal: he said both gumballs and popcorn carry positive, joyful associations.
The company’s later shift toward a single category was deliberate.. In 2020, Moore and his business partner decided to sell off other e-commerce operations and focus entirely on popcorn.. Their goal was to create a premium stovetop popper that would feel closer to “heirloom-quality” cookware than to a novelty carnival item.. Moore said the market lacked a product built around that approach. and he and his partner spent about two years and $3.5 million developing the premium popper.
Even after the popper reached the market, costs remained heavy.. Moore said the company was spending about half of its revenue on advertising, including Meta and Google.. That spending intensity, combined with the difficulty of scaling sales quickly, contributed to the urgency by January 2024.. At that point. the cofounders laid off all employees. cut agency spend. and reduced the business to essentials—moves aimed at extending runway and getting through the most expensive phase of growth.
Reaching customers required brand visibility without relying on large-scale ad budgets.. Moore said his approach shifted toward “Hail Marys” to generate awareness quickly.. One early tactic was direct outreach: he sent poppers and handwritten notes to the CEOs of Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel—retailers he had originally designed the product for.. Within two months, Moore said the buying teams from both companies contacted him.
Meanwhile, a bigger breakthrough arrived through Oprah.. Moore said he did not understand how to get Popsmith onto Oprah’s annual “Favorite Things” list. calling it a “black box.” He found a potential entry point by spotting an opening on LinkedIn posted by a junior editor at Oprah Daily who was discussing popcorn.. Moore cold-messaged the editor, provided a popper, and later said the editor helped bring the product to Oprah’s consideration.
The selection process, as Moore described it, is highly competitive.. According to the editor he spoke with, the team reviews roughly 15,000 products each year before choosing the final list.. Popsmith made the cut. and after the list was announced in November 2024. Moore said the company sold out of every popper in a matter of weeks.. The sellouts continued, with Popsmith selling out three times over the next five months.
The result demonstrated the power of a trusted recommendation in consumer markets. Moore framed Oprah as a decisive influence, saying that when Oprah points to a product, shoppers pay attention and demand follows.
Moore also emphasized that the brand is trying to outgrow the limits of a single hero product.. While the popper became the flagship, he said the company is now focused on kernels, seasonings, and other consumable offerings.. The ambition is to “own popcorn,” turning what started as an appliance purchase into a broader repeat-purchase business.
International expansion is another step on the roadmap.. Moore said the company saw early signals of global demand during its 2023 Kickstarter campaign. when about a quarter of backers were international.. He also noted a practical advantage: the Popsmith popper does not plug in. which can reduce some of the complications that come with selling electrical appliances across different markets.. Moore said the non-electric design means “anyone with a stovetop can cook popcorn in a Popsmith.”
Behind the scenes. the company’s survival plan also reflects how quickly DTC brands can find themselves under pressure when ad-heavy growth meets slower-than-expected conversion.. In Popsmith’s case. the combination of a high ad spend rate and limited cash reserves forced immediate cuts and a narrower operational focus—steps Moore described as necessary to keep the business alive while sales momentum built.
By pivoting attention toward high-leverage channels—retail partnerships first. followed by Oprah’s platform—the company was able to turn earlier product development and distribution into sustained demand.. Moore said the company is on pace to reach $10 million in revenue this year and to become profitable. noting that this timeline is faster than he typically sees among DTC brands where profitability can take year six or year seven.
Looking further out, Moore’s goals are considerably larger than near-term targets. He said Popsmith aims to become a $100 million brand and expressed confidence in reaching that scale.
Popsmith stovetop popcorn popper Tal Moore DTC brand Oprah Favorite Things retail distribution cash runway