Press & media kit

A quick-reference kit for journalists, podcast hosts, newsletter writers and event organisers. Copy anything you need. For anything else, reach Rob via the links below.

At a glance

• Who: Rob Ward, Co-Founder of Quad Lock.
• The story: bootstrapped a phone-mount Kickstarter into a global ecommerce brand at $50M+ in revenue with no outside capital in the early years, scaled it to $200M in revenue, then a $500M exit.
• Reach: millions of units sold in more than 100 countries.
• Now: investing in and advising DTC founders, operators and startups more broadly; created The DTC Playbook, a free operating guide, tools library and DTC Health Check.
• Based: Melbourne, Australia.

The DTC Playbook

The DTC Playbook is a free operating guide for ecommerce founders, created by Rob in 2025. Most founders are not short on advice - they are drowning in it, with no way to tell what matters for their stage. The Playbook is the single source of truth that fixes that: a free DTC Health Check diagnoses a brand and prioritises what to fix first, then the sections, 472 checklist items, downloadable tools and decision calculators show exactly how - across product, marketing, brand, retention, operations, finance and the exit.

It is genuinely free - no course, no subscription, no upsell. Everything in it was earned building, scaling and selling Quad Lock from $0 to a $500M exit, not theorised from the outside.

Short bio (60 words)

Rob Ward is the Co-Founder of Quad Lock, the phone-mounting brand he and Chris Peters bootstrapped from a Kickstarter into a global ecommerce business selling millions of units in more than 100 countries, culminating in a $500M exit. He now invests in and advises DTC and startup founders, and created The DTC Playbook, a free operating guide for DTC brands.

Extended bio (150 words)

Rob Ward co-founded Quad Lock in 2011 with Chris Peters. Starting with a single performance phone mount for cyclists, they bootstrapped the business from personal savings, forgoing salaries in the early years, and grew it into a global ecommerce brand selling millions of units in more than 100 countries. Along the way Rob and Chris built the team, took products from prototype tooling to mass production, and built a performance-marketing engine across Meta, YouTube and Google on a global ecommerce operation. In 2020 Quad Lock sold a stake to Quadrant Private Equity; in 2024 the business was acquired by Sweden-based Thule Group in one of Australia's largest ecommerce exits, with Rob completing his exit in late 2025. Today he invests in and advises DTC and startup founders and operators, and created The DTC Playbook, a free guide, tools library and DTC Health Check covering product, marketing, operations, finance and the exit.

Quad Lock timeline

• 2011: Rob Ward and Chris Peters found Quad Lock.
• 2012: Public launch as a performance phone mount for cyclists (via Kickstarter). Founders leave their jobs, forgo salaries, and bootstrap from personal savings.
• 2012-2019: Scaled to a global brand: team, mass production, and a performance-marketing engine across Meta, YouTube and Google on a global ecommerce operation.
• 2020: Quadrant Private Equity takes a stake to professionalise operations.
• 2024: Acquired by Sweden-based Thule Group in one of Australia's largest ecommerce exits.
• 2025: Rob completes his exit and creates The DTC Playbook - free.

Interview topics

• From a Kickstarter to a $500M exit - the full Quad Lock story
• Bootstrapping vs raising: building without early outside capital
• The DTC numbers that actually matter (unit economics, payback, MER)
• How to build a brand with an exit in mind
• Product range and merchandising discipline as you scale
• What I would do differently starting a DTC brand today

Key links

• The DTC Playbook - The free operating guide (homepage).
• Free DTC tools - P&L, unit economics, cash flow, valuation and more.
• DTC Health Check - Free DTC diagnostic.
• About Rob Ward - Full founder story.

Assets & contact

Photos (free to use): Quad Lock (branded) · headshot · portrait · lifestyle · wide banner. Each ~2000px. Need print-resolution originals? Reach Rob via LinkedIn or X.