Jack Smith's Obsessive Chair Quest
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This story is about Jack Smith, a successful entrepreneur, who became obsessed with finding the perfect ergonomic chair.
After selling his company for $750 million at age 29, Jack decided to focus on personal projects. One day, he needed to buy an office chair. Instead of just picking one, he dove deep into researching the best way to sit. He read academic papers on ergonomics and started testing different chairs.
Over the course of about 6 to 8 months, Jack bought and tested 52 different chairs. He was so committed to this project that his wife made him a birthday cake shaped like an Amazon box, because he had a room in his home dedicated to all the chair boxes.
Jack's obsession with finding the perfect chair led him to design and build his own in his garage. It ended up looking like a dentist chair, with him laying down in a crazy position while working.
His chair-buying spree was so intense that Amazon actually banned him for returning too many items. Despite this setback, Jack continued his quest to create the ultimate ergonomic work chair.
Shaan Puri
Host of MFM
Shaan Puri is the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Milk Road. He previously worked at Twitch as a Senior Director of Product, Mobile Gaming, and Emerging Markets. He also attended Duke University.