Building Brands, Scaling Products, and Staying Entrepreneurial: A Conversation with Lenny Vayberg

Podcast: 3D Media Live
Host: Dmitry Hanuka
Guest: Lenny Vayberg
Topics: Entrepreneurship, product development, manufacturing, Costco retail, building materials, Laundry Labs, Go Fence, business acquisitions, and founder-led growth

Introduction

In this episode of 3D Media Live, host Dmitry Hanuka sits down once again with entrepreneur Lenny Vayberg for a wide-ranging conversation about building companies, scaling physical products, entering retail, and staying focused as a founder.

Lenny has spent decades building product-based businesses across manufacturing, importing, brand development, retail distribution, and consumer products. Since his last appearance on the podcast, several major developments have taken place, including the evolution of TerraFlame, the growth of Moda Concrete, the launch of Laundry Labs, and the continued development of Doma Structures and Go Fence.

This conversation is packed with practical lessons for entrepreneurs, product founders, manufacturers, and anyone interested in what it really takes to take an idea from concept to market.

From TerraFlame to Solo Brands

One of the major topics in the episode is Lenny’s experience with TerraFlame, a company built around alcohol-based gel fuel fire features, including indoor tabletop fire bowls and s’mores roasters.

Lenny originally acquired TerraFlame from private equity. At the time, the business had revenue, but not all of that revenue was profitable. One of the first steps was to look at every order and determine whether it made money at the time of shipment.

That meant making difficult decisions. Revenue that was losing money had to be cut. After reviewing the business carefully, Lenny’s team reduced the revenue base to only the portion that was sustainable and then began rebuilding from there.

Over time, TerraFlame expanded into major retail channels, including Costco, Target, and Walmart. The s’mores roaster became one of the easiest products to explain and merchandise because customers immediately understood the use case: a simple, fun way to make s’mores indoors or at the table.

Eventually, TerraFlame was acquired by Solo Brands, best known for Solo Stove and its smokeless fire pits. The acquisition made sense because TerraFlame’s clean-burning tabletop fire products complemented Solo’s outdoor fire category.

The Importance of Product Clarity

One of the strongest business lessons from the TerraFlame story is the importance of making a product easy to understand.

The tabletop fire bowl was a unique product, but customers sometimes had to stop and figure out what it was. The s’mores roaster solved that problem. When the product was merchandised next to marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers, the use case became obvious.

For product founders, this is a major takeaway: a great product is not enough. Customers need to quickly understand what it is, why they need it, and how they will use it.

Moda Concrete: Returning to Core Manufacturing Strengths

After the separation from Solo Brands, Lenny retained ownership of the concrete manufacturing factory in Baja, Mexico. That factory is now being refocused around Moda Concrete, a boutique manufacturer of architectural and building materials.

Moda Concrete produces cementitious products such as wall veneers, architectural blocks, dimensional tiles, textured paving materials, high-performance concrete products, GFRC, and limestone-based materials.

The factory’s location gives it a major logistical advantage. Because building materials are heavy, shipping costs matter. Moda Concrete’s ideal market includes Southern California, Las Vegas, Arizona, and nearby regions that can be reached efficiently from the factory.

Manufacturing in Mexico and the Push Toward Automation

The conversation also explores the advantages and challenges of manufacturing in Mexico. Mexico offers access to a capable and cost-effective labor pool, lower overhead, and strong proximity to the U.S. market.

But even with lower labor costs, labor remains one of the biggest challenges in manufacturing. Lenny explains that the goal is to automate wherever possible, reduce dependency on manual labor, and create scalable production systems.

Laundry Labs: A Commercial Laundry Product Built for Operators

Another major venture discussed in the episode is Laundry Labs, a brand focused on commercial laundry capsules.

The idea started when a friend of Lenny’s, a major commercial laundry operator, saw an opportunity in the laundry industry. Many commercial laundry operators were buying detergent from Walmart, Amazon, Costco, or other general retail sources. There was no widely recognized product specifically engineered for wash-and-fold businesses and commercial laundry operators.

That insight led to the development of Laundry Labs Power Packs, a commercial-grade laundry capsule designed for operators who need consistency, performance, convenience, and efficiency.

The product includes multiple functions in one capsule, including detergent, stain treatment, antimicrobial components, softener, and fragrance. It was launched as a subscription product, creating a recurring revenue model.

The Power of Recurring Revenue

One of the most interesting differences between Laundry Labs and Lenny’s previous businesses is the subscription model.

With furniture, outdoor products, or building materials, a customer may buy once and not return for years. With detergent, customers use the product, run out, and need more.

That makes subscription-based consumables attractive because customer acquisition can lead to ongoing revenue.

Doma Structures, Go Pergola, and Go Fence

The conversation then shifts to Doma Structures, a business Dmitry and Lenny are both involved in.

Doma Structures originally started with a pergola product, now branded as Go Pergola. These are high-quality bioclimatic aluminum pergolas, but the product is highly custom. Each order requires personalization, planning, and support.

While the pergola category has strong potential, it is not as scalable as a more standardized retail product. That realization helped lead to Go Fence, a wood-plastic composite fencing system designed to offer a premium alternative to traditional wood and vinyl fencing.

Why Go Fence Has Strong Market Potential

Go Fence is positioned in the residential fencing market, a large category with significant long-term opportunity.

Traditional fencing options often come with tradeoffs: wood can rot, warp, and require maintenance; vinyl can look inexpensive or lack a premium feel; aluminum and block serve specific use cases but do not solve every design need.

Composite materials offer durability, aesthetics, and low maintenance. Go Fence uses wood-plastic composite material, similar in concept to composite decking. The result is a product that feels premium while resisting many of the problems associated with traditional wood fencing.

Building a Brand in a Commodity Market

One of Dmitry’s key points in the episode is that the fencing industry is often treated like a commodity category. Many companies focus on the material and the transaction, but not enough focus is placed on branding, customer experience, and long-term trust.

Dmitry sees an opportunity to build Go Fence into a memorable household brand. The name is simple, direct, and brandable. But beyond the name, the goal is to create a premium customer experience around the product.

That includes strong customer service, personalized support, clear communication, high-quality product design, trustworthy ownership behind the brand, and a VIP-level experience for customers buying a long-term product for their home.

Customer Service as a Competitive Advantage

A major theme throughout the episode is that customer service can separate a company from its competitors.

Dmitry explains that at 3D Media, the service itself matters, but the customer service behind the service matters just as much. Mistakes happen. Products fail. Shipments go wrong. What matters is whether the company takes accountability and makes things right.

Lenny agrees that whether you are selling laundry capsules, pizza, cakes, photography, fencing, or building materials, superior customer service is one of the strongest ways to build loyalty.

Founder-Led Companies vs. Investor-Backed Growth

The episode also explores the difference between founder-led companies and investor-backed companies.

Lenny and Dmitry discuss how some companies raise large amounts of money and become focused on growth at all costs. In those situations, the original mission can become diluted. Instead of focusing on product quality, customer service, and sustainable growth, the company may become focused on pleasing investors.

Lenny emphasizes the importance of staying lean, staying focused, and getting a minimum viable product to market before taking on too much outside capital.

Minimum Viable Product and the Danger of Feature Creep

One of the strongest entrepreneurial lessons in the conversation is the importance of knowing what the minimum viable product really is.

When resources are limited, founders are forced to focus. They must determine what features are essential, what customers actually need, and what can wait.

When funding is abundant, companies sometimes build endlessly without ever launching a focused product. This creates feature creep, delays, and confusion.

Purpose, Profit, and Solving Real Problems

Dmitry adds an important perspective: profit matters, but it should not be the only purpose of a business.

A strong business should solve a real problem. Profitability is essential because it keeps the business alive, but the deeper motivation should be creating value.

The best companies often combine purpose and profit. They solve a real need, create jobs, serve customers, and generate financial returns that allow them to keep growing.

What Makes a Business Big?

Lenny makes the point that the difference between a multimillion-dollar company and a multibillion-dollar company often comes down to the size of the problem being solved.

A business that solves a local or niche problem can still be valuable and successful. But businesses that solve massive needs across huge markets have the potential to scale much larger.

Working On the Business, Not Just In the Business

Near the end of the conversation, Lenny shares one of the hardest lessons for entrepreneurs: founders must learn to step out of the day-to-day weeds and work on the business.

Many entrepreneurs start by doing everything themselves. But to scale, a founder has to rise above the daily minutia and look at the bigger picture.

That means building systems, hiring the right people, putting processes in place, and creating a business that can function beyond the founder’s personal involvement.

Selling a Business and Earnout Lessons

The episode closes with a preview of a topic that could become its own full conversation: selling a business.

Lenny shares a direct lesson from experience: if you sell your business, understand that once the transaction is done, it is no longer your business.

Earnout structures can be difficult, especially for entrepreneurs who are used to control. Even if the agreement says certain things, the reality is that once another company owns the business, the founder is no longer fully in charge.

Growth Through Acquisition: When It Works and When It Does Not

The conversation also touches on acquisition strategy.

Lenny explains that acquisitions can work when they are part of a clear formula. Rolling up many similar businesses in a fragmented industry can create economies of scale if the buyer can consolidate systems, reduce costs, unify branding, and improve operations.

But buying unrelated businesses simply to acquire revenue can create chaos. The key lesson: acquisition should create operational leverage, not just top-line growth.

Key Takeaways from the Episode

  • Cut unprofitable revenue early. Not all revenue is good revenue.
  • Make your product easy to understand.
  • Use your core strengths.
  • Recurring revenue changes the business model.
  • Scalability matters.
  • Customer service is a brand advantage.
  • Stay lean.
  • Launch the minimum viable product.
  • Profit matters, but purpose matters too.
  • Work on the business, not only in it.
  • Be careful with earnouts.
  • Acquisitions need strategy.

Featured Companies and Links

Watch the Full Episode

This blog post highlights some of the biggest ideas from the conversation, but the full episode goes much deeper into Lenny’s entrepreneurial journey, manufacturing strategy, product development, retail lessons, and business philosophy.

Watch the full episode on YouTube