Method's Adam Lowry And Eric Ryan At The HIBT Summit

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: In this live How I Built This Summit interview, Method co-founders Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan explain how their unusually successful partnership worked: by combining radically different skills, respecting distinct work styles, and prioritizing trust over ego. They discuss how conflict, therapy, and friendship helped them build a durable company and stay close even after moving on to new ventures.

Main Topics: How Method got started (Priority: 5/5): The founders describe launching Method in San Francisco from a dirty apartment, seeing a large consumer category full of sameness, and creating a new kind of green cleaning brand. Complementary co-founder skill sets (Priority: 5/5): Adam brought chemical engineering, climate science, and sustainability expertise; Eric brought branding, design, and customer-facing business instincts. Their differences became the core of the partnership. Division of roles in a startup (Priority: 4/5): They explain how startup life required both of them to stretch beyond their formal backgrounds, with Eric leading sales and relationships while Adam handled technical problem-solving and product development. Managing conflict and tension (Priority: 5/5): They discuss how stress and disagreement were inevitable, but healthy conflict—rooted in trust—helped improve ideas and protect the business. Communication styles and therapy (Priority: 4/5): Eric’s openness and Adam’s tendency to internalize stress often caused misunderstanding, so they used therapy/coaching to better interpret each other’s behavior and responses. What made the partnership last (Priority: 5/5): They emphasize maturity, mutual respect, a commitment to the business over individual ego, and the importance of staying friends even after separating professionally. Lessons for founders (Priority: 4/5): Their advice to early-stage entrepreneurs is to choose a co-founder who is very different from yourself, commit for the long term, and keep the company’s interests ahead of personal pride.

Key Arguments: A successful co-founder relationship often depends on difference, not similarity; each person covered gaps the other could not. Method’s brand succeeded because the founders combined high design with deep sustainability, creating an 'eco chic' product that stood apart in a commoditized category. Healthy conflict is productive when trust exists, because it improves ideas rather than protecting authorship. Founders should put the business first; doing so reduces ego-driven conflict and strengthens decision-making. Therapy or coaching can help co-founders decode each other’s communication styles and reduce misinterpretation under stress. Long-term startup success requires a 10-year mindset and commitment to how the partnership will evolve over time.

Data Points: Founders’ age at launch: mid-20s - They started Method when they were in their mid-20s. Partnership duration: 15 years - Adam and Eric built Method together for 15 years before moving on to new companies. Startup commitment horizon: at least 10 years - Eric says starting a business is at least a 10-year commitment. Event location: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco - The live interview took place at the How I Built This Summit in San Francisco. Timing of summit: October - Skye says the bonus episode is from the summit held in October. Next episode mention: next week: John Zimmer of Lyft - The host previews the next summit bonus episode.

Pivotal Quotes: "What you need is someone who's the complete opposite of you to make a business successful." — Eric Ryan: On why the co-founders’ differences were essential to Method’s success. "Trust." — Adam Lowry: His one-word answer to what separates good tension from bad tension in a co-founder relationship. "I always encourage people to take a partner. It's one thing to let yourself down. It's really hard to let someone else down." — Eric Ryan: Advice for entrepreneurs considering whether to start with a co-founder.

Implications: For founders, the episode argues that durable companies are often built by complementary partners who trust each other enough to fight productively. For the industry, it highlights how brand, design, and sustainability can reshape a mature category.