A co-founder of Allbirds admits some of their products ‘haven’t quite met the mark’

• Allbirds has faltered after soaring in popularity with Silicon Valley tech bros.
• Co-founders Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger admit the company’s missteps in appealing to consumers, WSJ reports.
• The company revealed $101 million in annual loss in a March earnings.

Allbirds were the sneaker of choice for the tech bros of Silicon Valley, but leaders of the once beloved company have admitted where it fell short.

Co-founders Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger found much success with its first shoe, the Wool Runner, but their attempts to appeal to a younger audience than its 30- to 40-year old customers didn’t go over well, the pair told Wall Street Journal.

“As we’ve tried to expand and grow the brand, we created products that haven’t quite met the mark,” Brown said in an interview with The Journal.

With its Wool Runner being worn by Barack Obama and described as part of the Silicon Valley uniform by The New York Times, Allbirds began to expand into workout wear without much luck. Zwillinger acknowledged the flaws in the brand’s clothes and said customers just weren’t ready to buy more than just shoes from Allbirds, per The Journal.

In a March call with analysts Zwillinger admitted that the company’s venture into performance sneakers didn’t take off. An earnings report from the same month included a $101 million annual loss and a 13% drop in quarterly sales. In the wake of the report, Allbirds stock plummeted 47%

“It’s a great product,” he said during the call. “We just found out that the customers that are really in our sweet spot aren’t resonating with core technical performance messaging.”

Up until May, Brown and Zwillinger operated the company as co-CEOs similarly to the model of fellow direct-to-consumer brand Warby Parker. The co-CEO model became tumultuous as the business experienced losses.

Now Zwillinger is the sole CEO, and Brown is the chief innovation officer over partnerships, brand awareness, and culture, according to The Journal.

“It’s either the best thing or the worst thing,” Brown said. “There is no in between.”