Ever wondered how a company goes from a single steam mop to a global empire of home and outdoor products? In this interview, SharkNinja‘s Chief Commercial Officer Neil Shah reveals the company’s problem solving philosophy that fuels its rapid growth. He discusses how SharkNinja identifies consumer pain points, balances performance and value, and has evolved its retail and marketing strategies to win in a crowded marketplace.
Dave Knox: Can you give us a brief overview of SharkNinja and your personal experience and journey with the company?
Neil Shah: I’ve been with SharkNinja for about 18 years. When I started in 2007, we were a one-category company, beginning with steam mops. We’ve grown from that one category to over 37. We were also very North America-centric at the time. Over the last 15 years, we’ve expanded to over 35 markets, bringing innovative Shark and Ninja products to consumers worldwide.
Not many people know this, but the company was called Euro-Pro back then.The Ninja brand didn’t even exist yet; it was just Shark. Ninja was born in late 2009. We changed our corporate name from Euro-Pro to SharkNinja in 2015.
To see both Shark and Ninja become global, multi-billion-dollar brands has been an exciting journey. For me personally, to be part of a team that has grown from a small group of 100-150 associates to over 3,600 globally, making a difference every day, has been incredibly rewarding. Waking up and trying to understand what consumer problem we can solve better than anyone else, and bringing that innovation to market faster and at a greater value, has been super exciting.
Knox: You’re in 37 different product categories, from vacuums to kitchen appliances and now outdoor living. What’s the common thread that ties all these different industries together?
Shah: Great question. As we were growing, we reached a crossroads many times. We’d get asked by retailers, “Are you a cleaning company? Are you a kitchen company? What category are you in?” After a point, we realized we are actually in the business of solving consumer problems.
The thread that connects all our products is this: What is the whitespace? Is there a consumer problem that’s not being solved in a category? We do a lot of research, observing how consumers use products, and trying to find a pain point. Once we identify it, our job is to create innovation that addresses it. Throughout the process, the question we ask ourselves is, “Can we solve it at great value?” A lot of brands can solve a problem, but if it’s super premium, it only serves a small percentage of the population. We pride ourselves on solving those problems at great value. If we can answer those questions—Is there a pain point? Can we solve it better and faster? Can we solve it at great value?—we enter the category.
Knox: How do you pry out those consumer needs and figure out the “job to be done”?
Shah: It’s so much tougher than it sounds. If we asked a consumer, “Do you love your current vacuum?” they might say, “Yeah, it has great suction, it cleans.” We once observed consumers cleaning their homes. After a week, we asked how their experience was, and they said it was fantastic. Then we pointed out, “But on day five, you turned the vacuum over, took a scissor or a knife, and chopped off all the hair stuck in the nozzle.” The consumer replied, “Yeah, I have long hair and two pets.” The consumer was making it their problem. We looked at that and asked, “How is that a good consumer experience?” We went back to our engineering team and said, “Here’s a problem.” The team created a self-cleaning brush roll that chops hair as it’s vacuumed and sends it to the dust cup. We then told that story through our marketing, and sales increased tremendously. We pride ourselves on solving problems consumers can’t articulate or don’t know they have.
Another example: We observed consumers who were pressure cooking chicken. They would pressure cook it, then take it out and put it in the oven for crispiness. But then they would complain that it had lost all its moisture. So we created the Ninja Foodi pressure cooker air fryer, which combines both functions in one unit. This completely changed the pressure-cooking business and made us the number one market share leader. We’ve learned that consumers often behave a certain way because it’s the only option they have. If we can give them a better one, we can change that pattern.
Knox: Digging into that, what consumer need did you see that led to the inspiration for the Fireside360 in the outdoor living space?
Shah: The journey started after COVID, when we saw a pattern of consumers wanting to extend the life of their patio. People were gathering and cooking outside more. The first product we launched was the Ninja Woodfire Grill, which did well. Then we saw a need for outdoor fans to provide comfort and bug protection, leading to the Shark FlexBreeze fan, which has been a complete sellout.
Next, we looked at outdoor heating. We saw traditional fire pits that were smoky and didn’t give you a comfortable “warm blanket” effect unless you were very close. We also saw floor heaters in restaurants that only provided heat from the top. We set out to solve these problems by creating a 360-degree heating environment that also provided ambience. We needed a heating element at a specific level to create a dome of heat. The Fireside360 pushes radiant heat out in all 360 degrees, warming you from head to toe. It also has a flame for ambience and is easily movable. We launched it a few weeks ago, and the feedback on social media has been phenomenal.
Knox: You’ve created a really interesting price point: premium performance but not a premium price. How have you balanced that performance plus value sweet spot.
Shah: Every product category we enter goes through a funnel. We have to be honest with ourselves and ask: Are we providing better performance? The answer on the fire pit was yes. Are we providing the best quality? We want consumers to have a five-star experience. The quality has to be five-star rated because every consumer deserves a five-star product. The third piece is great value. When a consumer spends their hard-earned money, we want them to say, “Wow, I can’t believe the value I’m getting out of this.” That’s when we know we have a consumer for life.
Through the product development cycle, we are focused on putting cost in the right areas to deliver a five-star experience without over-engineering it. We could have added Wi-Fi connectivity or Bluetooth speakers, but then the product would cost $999, which is not great value for the consumer. We stay away from “nice-to-have” features that look cool but don’t provide a “wow” experience.
Knox: You’ve had to evolve your retail strategy as you’ve moved into different categories. How have you thought about expanding into new channels and direct-to-consumer?
Shah: At the end of the day, we want to be where the consumers are. For our cleaning and kitchen businesses, we have strong partnerships with traditional retailers. But over the last three or four years, we’ve entered the beauty space with our hairstylers and CryoGlow mask, which has led us to retailers like Ulta and Sephora. With the fire pit and outdoor grill, we’ve started doing business with Dick’s, Ace Hardware, and REI.
Our approach with retail partnerships is the same: our job is to bring them innovation and solutions their consumers are looking for, and it’s our job to create demand. It’s a win-win. We create the innovation and the demand, and it’s the retailer’s job to put the products on the shelf. The top 10 retailers we did business with in 2007 are very different from our top 10 today. As the retail marketplace has evolved, we’ve been able to continue partnering and winning where the consumers are.
Knox: Your marketing strategy has also evolved, from being a pioneer in infomercials to one of the most viral brands on social media. How did you push your team to keep pushing the envelope?
Shah: It has been a super exciting journey. Fifteen years ago, infomercials were our only platform to tell the full story and demonstrate our products. Fast-forward to now, we see social media, OTT, and OLV as different ways of telling that same story. We can demonstrate a product in 15 seconds, and instead of having one infomercial with a few demos, we can have hundreds of pieces of content showing a hundred different things.
Our marketing is problem-solving driven. We don’t want any fluff. We go to the consumer and say, “Here’s the problem, here’s how SharkNinja solved it, and here’s how we’ll make your life easier.” It’s exciting to use platforms like TikTok and Instagram to show our innovation with hundreds of different videos, and to have both micro and macro-influencers talking about our products. The most exciting piece for me is when the organic, consumer-generated content takes over. When consumers are telling other consumers how a Ninja Creami changed their life, that’s magical. It’s no longer just the brand talking about the product; it’s the consumer marketing for us.
Knox: As a leader who has been at the company for so long, how has seeing this evolution shaped your personal leadership style?
Shah: It has been an amazing journey. From a leadership style standpoint, I’ve realized that everything starts and stops with an unstoppable team. We talk about this internally: we want a team that no one wants to compete against. We are constantly putting that lens on our organization. As I look at our commercial team today, I wouldn’t want to compete with them. This is an organization that is obsessed with the consumer, obsessed with winning, and obsessed with raising the bar. When we become number one in a category, the first question is, “What else?”
Having an unstoppable team with that mindset and that relentless focus on the consumer is what allows us to do what we do every day. We wouldn’t have been able to grow at a 20% Compound Annual Growth Rate for the last 15 years if it wasn’t for the team and bringing in people who have the same mindset. We can teach skills, but we can’t teach passion for the consumer. That’s where my leadership style has evolved; I’m much more focused on building that team and making sure the SharkNinja mindset is applied globally as we continue to grow.