1.6 In-Class Activity: Stickergiant Case Study

Who the heck is “Saul”?

Located in Longmont, Colorado, StickerGiant fabricates just about any sticker you can imagine.  CEO John Fischer launched the company in 2000 during a very contentious presidential election.  Seeing an opportunity, he decided to produce a bumper sticker that read “He is Not My President”, a statement that would ultimately appeal to both parties.  According to Fischer, he sold about 3000 at $3 each.  Initially, Fischer and his wife started selling political stickers out of their basement.  

The success of his initial venture inspired him to open an online retail sticker store that quickly became an online shop for just about any sticker design imaginable.  “We were the Amazon of stickers”, Fischer said.  However, Amazon was paying attention…and jumped into the sticker business as well.

Fischer had to rethink his market.  

By 2008, Fischer had repositioned into personalized custom stickers and found that it was a more lucrative market…presenting both wholesale and direct retail opportunities.  Average sizes increased from $16 to over $300 per order.  

As Stickergiant became more successful and added more employees, Fischer introduced the concept of “open-book management”.  Employees were given open access to all the company’s financials every week.  Employees were also given access to customer feedback, employee concerns- both positive and negative.  Fischer believed that employees were stakeholders in the outcome of the organization- and had the power to change the trajectory of the company’s success.  Simply put, Fischer empowered his employees (referred to as “Giants”) to be more actively involved in company decisions and outcomes.

His instinct was right.  By 2012, revenues were reaching 3 million and he was able to finance his own custom-label digital printing presses through Hewlett Packard.  By 2020, revenues soared to more than 20 million.

Fischer proved that he understood the external and internal environment of a business by harnessing political and economic opportunities when he saw them.  His open-door policy empowered the “Giants” (employees) to make decisions that improved internal business processes.  “Our Giants are real people, who actively co-create an environment where they can bring their whole selves to work.  Together, we collectively provide a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work space that aligns with our company values.”  All of this ..combined with the unique system of capitalism within a free market economy has led to incredible success.

Fischer was not alone on his journey.  “Saul the sticker ball” has been sitting on his desk…or on the floor the whole time.  What started as a few stickers hobbled together on his desk, basically turned into the Guinness World Record (2016) for the largest sticker ball on the planet.  “Saul” is the mascot, and the company offers tours to visit “Saul” …where you can add your own personalized sticker!