{"podcast":{"title":"POWERS","slug":"powers-1144811","podcast_index_feed_id":1144811,"rss_url":"https://thefort.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://www.powerspod.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/542c1dce-d934-11ed-b705-43cdef1b1abd/image/acaa7171a7a4ab31e8321b0fe2409f64.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Chris Powers","episode_count":421,"summary":"Conversations with the best founders, entrepreneurs, and investors.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T18:22:17.375067+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/powers-1144811"},"episode":{"title":"#409 - Jason McCann - CEO @ Vari - How a Simple Product Became a Global Brand","slug":"409-jason-mccann-ceo-vari-how-a-simple-product-became-a-global-brand","published_at":"2026-04-07T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/powers-1144811/409-jason-mccann-ceo-vari-how-a-simple-product-became-a-global-brand","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/powers-1144811","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ATHLLC3500616650.mp3?updated=1775520216","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ATHLLC3500616650.mp3?updated=1775520216","summary":"Today I sit down with Jason McCann, Co-Founder and CEO of Vari - a company that started when his business partner stood at a cardboard box complaining of back pain and turned that moment into a brand that has shipped millions of desks and transformed over a thousand offices. Jason built Vari direct-to-consumer in an industry that had never seen it. He bootstrapped the company while every instinct in the market said raise capital and burn cash. He became the fastest-growing company in Dallas, survived COVID after just putting $15 million into a TV campaign and opening 12 showrooms, and came out the other side as a fundamentally different leader. We go deep on what it actually takes to innovate legacy product categories, how he recruited the former Chief People Officer of Southwest Airlines over a cup of coffee, and why an introvert had to learn to over-communicate when hundreds of families were counting on him. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Links: Vari - https://www.vari.com/ Jason on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-mccann-vari/ Support our Sponsors Collateral Partners: https://collateral.com/fort Ramp: https://ramp.com/powers Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro(00:03:29) - How Vari was started(00:08:42) - How entrepreneurs should think about product development(00:11:24) - How Jason approaches AI(00:24:07) - Developing the standing desk(00:36:53) - Jason’s approach to manufacturing(00:47:16) - How Vari develops new products and services(00:56:59) - Bringing on the head of people of Southwest Airlines(01:04:31) - How Vari thinks about innovation vs. leaving products alone(01:14:55) - The future of work in 2026(01:19:50) - The reindustrialization of America(01:23:36) - Jason’s unique leadership style(01:28:47) - Why Jason only wears black(01:31:52)…","meta_description":"Today I sit down with Jason McCann, Co-Founder and CEO of Vari - a company that started when his business partner stood at a cardboard box complaining of…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":6546,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/powers-1144811/episodes/409-jason-mccann-ceo-vari-how-a-simple-product-became-a-global-brand/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/powers-1144811/409-jason-mccann-ceo-vari-how-a-simple-product-became-a-global-brand.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}