Ep. 66 - Dan Mirth (Artifox Furniture and Accessories)

Everyone’s entrepreneurial journey is different, and to me, that’s what’s so fascinating about the experience. It’s also part of the reason I started this podcast because I knew no two stories would be alike. Taking this into account one might argue that Dan Mirth’s business started like many others in that he created products he wanted himself only to find out others were willing to buy them. However, this is also where his story differs. You see, Dan built a desk and then his wife Sarah found a product competition to submit it for…and they won second place. Then they submitted the design to another competition and in a week, they branded the business Artifox, built the brand’s website, even shot a video - all in a week! Oh, and then wound up being selected as one of the winners. If that isn’t efficiency at its finest I don’t know what is. I recall a Venn diagram where the three circles were comprised of Awesome Brand, Quality Product, and Cheap (or) Discounted, and the middle where the three intersect stated THIS DOESNT EXIST. Well, I’m here to tell you: Artifox is about as close as it comes to that brand existing. It’s tasteful, it’s cool, it’s very well-designed, it’s functional, it’s timeless, all while being affordable considering the industry in which it exists. We explore Dan’s beginnings including the Thanksgiving soccer matches that occur in his sister’s basement - you heard that right - in her basement, and how Dan was meant to be an engineer but decided to apply his understanding of how things function and couple it with his creative outlet of design. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation getting to know Dan and hear what could be described as an ethics-based approach to running his business, who incidentally happens to be a cyclist, as well, but I’ll let him tell it…