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 direct-to-consumer 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 direct-to-consumer 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 direct-to-consumer 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 direct-to-consumer 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 direct-to-consumer 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 direct-to-consumer 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 direct-to-consumer operation.
2020: Quadrant Private Equity takes a stake to professionalise operations.
2024: Acquired by Sweden-based Thule Group in one of Australia's largest direct-to-consumer 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.