Henri Wolf

In 2016, this tiny company got f*cked by Apple overnight.

Millions in debt.
Life savings drained.
Weeks from bankruptcy.

But one DESPERATE marketing bet later?

They partnered Mercedes, Google, and now shake hands with the man who almost destroyed them.

Their full story: 🧵 

It’s 2014, and Mous founders Josh Shires and James Griffith believe they’ve found a niche gap in the tech market.

The opportunity?

Apple’s wired headphones were too annoying—they got tangled up in pockets, unrolling them was tough, and therefore took ages to use. 

Mous wanted to solve the inconvenience of tangled earphones—classic startup mindset:

Here’s a problem (headphones are annoying), so let’s solve it.

And so they invented: Musicase.

The case stored the earphones in a convenient, sleek way, ready to use instantly. 

But initial prototypes faced manufacturing problems.

Material selection, ensuring durability, the novel design—developing it from scratch was tough.

Eventually they were able to launch…

But reception in the market was low, and sales weren’t substantial.

And (unknowingly) Apple decided to destroy the future of Musicase.

In 2016 they launched iPhone 7—the first iPhone without the headphone jack.

Moving towards wireless headphones, Apple rendered Mous’s innovation completely useless.

The founders? Caught completely off guard. 

Josh and James had invested their life savings into the development and production of Musicase.

Debt was piling up.
Unsold prototypes filled warehouses.
Bankruptcy seemed unavoidable.

And their only product was useless—they had to either kill their startup or start from zero.

They didn't give up—and went back to first principles.

Mous identified a new market gap and started focusing on a sustainable idea that people actually cared about:

Phone protection.

Easier said than done. They went back to design and pivoted to a new idea: 

Limitless Case. 

This time, the idea was simpler:

Build the highest quality, most durable, yet stylish phone case ever to exist.

They even developed their own patented material, and succeeded:

Limitless was the best ever phone case.

But they were facing a new problem: Nobody knew Mous.

Mous knew their product was the best on the market—they just had to prove it.

And so they brought Lucy Hutchinson on board, a university friend and marketing consultant.

Together, they wanted to get Mous global.

And they did it in the most spectacular fashion... 

Mous knew about the power of viral marketing, and used YouTube to push their product.

With a minimal budget, they didn’t just tell people about how good their case was.

Mous showed them:

In their first ad, they threw an iPhone + Limitless case off a 45ft crane—and it survived. 

This “idiot” marketing strategy worked.

A raw take, no fancy editing and an outrageous promise that held—and the video went viral.

Millions of views, discussions, and multiple claims that they faked the stunt.

Mous went from completely unknown to famous in just a week.

Experiencing the success of their video, the team instantly doubled down.

They started pumping out weekly drop stunts from everywhere in London.

Dropping iPhones from iconic buildings, off flying helicopters, and hot air balloons—nothing was off limits. 

Their virality resulted in going from dead broke to $2M in preorders.

A big deal for a tiny phone case company.

After that, they made this fresh &amp; authentic startup vibe their brand personality:

Mous produced new versions of Limitless and released backpacks and AirPod cases.

Today, they’ve even partnered with Google (producing certified magnetic phone cases), and with the Mercedes F1 team as an exclusive supplier for their drivers.

Not only that:

In 2023 they met Tim Cook, shaking hands with the man who almost destroyed their company back in 2016. 

The story of Mous proves that resilience ultimately pays off.

Plus, they demonstrated: Viral marketing is extremely powerful.

Here's a bit about me:

My name is Henri and I write viral threads about business, science and psychology here on X.

So, if you're an online creator, educator or business owner:

I ghostwrite viral threads to help you grow your personal brand on X (Twitter), 100% DFY, so you don’t have to lift a finger.

Click here if you’re interested:

https://calendly.com/henriwolf07/ghostwriting

Thank you for reading!

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