Tiami's Single-Product Sales Philosophy | Entrepreneur

David Wolfe, co-founder and CEO of luxury mattress brand Tiami, discusses the company’s launch and growth plan. “This is our second act, he told Entrepreneur. “I’m building it alongside my longtime business partner Jamie Diamonstein, our Chief Product Officer. Together, we bring over 50 years of industry experience. We’ve built a successful mattress brand before. This time, we’re not chasing disruption — we’re focused on refinement.”

Please give the elevator pitch of your business.
We’re challenging the traditional luxury mattress category. Customers will spend on a Rolex or a Birkin because of the prestige. They’ll switch from Lululemon to Vuori because it’s cool. But when it comes to a mattress, what matters most is how it performs. Tiami is built for that buyer. Handcrafted in the U.S. with premium materials, it’s designed to outperform traditional luxury mattresses, often priced at $5,000, $10,000, or more, at a far more accessible price point. This is real luxury: no gimmicks, no noise, just intentional design that works.

What inspired you to create this business?
After we sold our last mattress company, we kept getting the same question from smart, thoughtful people: “Which mattress should I buy now?” And the answer kept getting harder. The category has evolved from the Wild West of retail to the Wild West of online—saturated with noise, loaded with affiliate-driven reviews, and burdened by overwhelming choice.

Consumers who bought a mattress 10 years ago, thankfully, often with us, are now ready to upgrade. But the luxury space hasn’t evolved with them. It’s full of legacy brands charging premium prices for outdated products. We saw the gap and decided to fill it. And we made the purchase experience simpler, too. No product quiz and no long list of products that leaves you paralyzed by choice. Just one beautifully constructed mattress that meets the needs of every sleeper. We went for intelligent simplicity over marketing noise.

Any lessons about effective marketing you can share?
Focus beats frenzy. You don’t need to say more. You need to say what matters. The best marketing starts with a product that works, a clear story, and a brand that earns trust. We’re focused on building community through real referrals, word-of-mouth, and meaningful partnerships, like our exclusive retail relationship with Design Within Reach. It’s about showing up where your customer already is, not shouting at them to pay attention. We believe transparency is still the most powerful currency.

What does the word “entrepreneur” mean to you?
Being an entrepreneur isn’t about having a title — it’s a way of seeing the world. As I wrote in a Medium piece a few years ago, “The decisions we take look like risks to others, but to us, the biggest risk is standing still.”

We build because something’s missing. We’re problem-solvers. We’re bridge-builders. We’re not chasing headlines, we’re focused on crafting something better for people who care about what they bring into their homes. Entrepreneurship is about moving forward, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.

What is something many aspiring business owners think they need that they really don’t?
Complexity. A big product line. Fancy features. Startup “rules.” It’s easy to get distracted by what everyone else is doing. But most of the time, the real answer is restraint. Simplicity is a luxury. You don’t need more, you need better.

And here’s a take that may be a little controversial, too many founders buy into advice that only makes sense after you’ve made it. Everyone loves to talk about work-life balance. But when you’re building something from nothing, there is no off switch. You integrate. You make it work. I never missed a single important moment with my kids, but I was also fully present with my teams. You show up. You go all in. And if you do it right, the hard parts teach you everything. And the good parts? You’ll remember them forever.