How to Build a Product That People Obsess Over: Lessons From Oprah’s “Favorite Things” Winner
Introduction
Getting a product onto Oprah Winfrey’s legendary “Favorite Things” list is the holy grail for most entrepreneurs. Each year, her team reviews approximately 15,000 products before narrowing down the final picks. In 2024, a high-end stovetop popcorn popper called Popsmith made the cut—and the company’s cofounder Tal Moore knows exactly why.
Moore didn’t just stumble into Oprah’s good graces. He and his business partner spent years building e-commerce brands, analyzing customer behavior, and methodically crafting a product that would make people stop scrolling and start talking. Within weeks of the list’s release, Popsmith sold out of every single popper.
So how do you create a product that people not only buy but rave about? Moore breaks it down into three core pillars: aesthetics, experience, and flavor. Here’s the full playbook for any B2B or DTC founder looking to build a product that inspires obsession.
The Origin Story: From Data to Delight
Before Popsmith existed, Moore and his partner ran a portfolio of e-commerce brands selling everything from gumballs and chocolate to popcorn machines. But one category kept pulling them back: popcorn.
“Our No. 1 selling popcorn popper at that point was a stovetop popcorn popper that we were getting from another supplier,” Moore told Business Insider. “We thought, there’s a market for stovetop popcorn popping, but a more elevated experience.”
That data point was the spark. They didn’t guess—they had proof that customers were already buying stovetop poppers. The gap was in quality, design, and brand experience. So they sold off every other business and went all-in on kernels.
The Pivot Point
The decision to focus entirely on one product category wasn’t a shot in the dark. It was a calculated bet based on real demand signals. Moore and his partner wanted to create a premium stovetop popper aimed at the kind of customer who shops at Williams Sonoma or Crate & Barrel: someone who cares about hosting, values durable heirloom-quality cookware, and wants to show off something unique.
“Nobody had developed something like that in popcorn,” Moore said. “Most of the popcorn poppers in the market are very carnival kitsch.”
The Three Pillars of a Product That Sells Itself
1. Aesthetics: The “Flex” Factor
In a world shaped by Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, how a product looks is no longer optional—it’s the first impression that determines whether someone even pauses to learn more. Moore says this is especially true for people who invest heavily in their homes.
“It’s a flex for people to show off a cool, unique, innovative appliance that nobody’s ever seen,” Moore explained.
Popsmith’s popper is designed to sit on a stovetop like a piece of art. It’s not hidden away in a cabinet. It’s displayed, photographed, and shared. That kind of visual appeal creates a ripple effect: every time someone posts a picture of the popper, it becomes free marketing.
2. Experience: Making Memories, Not Just Popcorn
Moore draws a sharp contrast between Popsmith and the competition: microwave popcorn.
“Nobody is making memories in a microwave,” he said.
With a stovetop popper, the experience is sensory and theatrical. You hear the kernels start to pop, smell the steam rising, and watch the lid dance as the kernels fly. It takes under five minutes to cook a bowl, but those five minutes create a ritual.
For B2B products, the same principle applies: the experience of using your product should feel intentional, memorable, and even enjoyable. If your software or service is just a utility, you’re leaving value on the table. If it’s an experience, people will talk about it.
3. Flavor: The Ultimate Utility
No amount of design or theater matters if the end result is mediocre. Moore and his team obsessed over the science of popping. The popper’s design ensures even heat distribution, consistent popping, and better flavor retention.
The lesson? Aesthetics and experience get people through the door, but core utility keeps them coming back. In B2B terms, your product might look beautiful and feel delightful to use, but if it doesn’t solve the problem efficiently and reliably, you’ll lose customers.
The Playbook for Building a Product People Obsess Over
Based on Moore’s journey and the data behind Popsmith’s success, here’s a step-by-step framework you can apply to your own product—whether it’s a physical good, a SaaS tool, or a service.
Step 1: Start With One Outstanding Product
Moore’s advice to fellow entrepreneurs is blunt: “Start by creating one really good product, then expand.”
It’s tempting to launch with a full line of offerings, but that dilutes focus. Popsmith started with a single stovetop popper. That laser focus allowed them to perfect the design, manufacturing, and customer experience before scaling.
Action Item: Identify the single product or feature that has the highest demand signal from your existing data. Double down on that.
Step 2: Validate Demand Before You Build
Moore didn’t guess people wanted a premium stovetop popper. He knew because his existing e-commerce data showed it was the best-selling item in their portfolio. That’s a low-risk validation.
Action Item: Use your own sales data, customer surveys, or competitor analysis to find a product category that already has proven demand—then improve on it.
Step 3: Design for Shareability
Aesthetics aren’t vanity—they’re a distribution channel. If your product looks good enough to photograph, it becomes an organic marketing asset. Moore calls it a “flex,” but in B2B terms, this translates to social proof and visual differentiation.
Action Item: Invest in product design, packaging, and presentation that makes it easy for customers to share their experience on social media.
Step 4: Engineer a Memorable Experience
Think about the full customer journey: from unboxing to first use to daily rituals. Moore emphasizes that experience is what creates advocates. For B2B products, this means intuitive onboarding, delightful user interfaces, and moments of surprise or delight.
Action Item: Map out every touchpoint in your customer journey. Identify at least one moment where you can create a sensory or emotional connection.
Step 5: Obsess Over Core Utility
Flavor was non-negotiable for Popsmith. For your product, the core utility is the non-negotiable. If it doesn’t work flawlessly, nothing else matters.
Action Item: Prioritize quality assurance, testing, and iterative improvement on the core function of your product before adding new features.
Why Popsmith’s Model Works for B2B Too
While Popsmith is a consumer product, the principles Moore lays out translate directly to B2B:
- Aesthetics: Even enterprise software benefits from clean, modern UI design. It signals professionalism and reduces friction.
- Experience: Tools that are pleasant to use reduce churn and increase adoption. Nobody wants to use clunky software.
- Flavor: In B2B, “flavor” equals reliability and performance. If your SaaS tool is unstable, no amount of slick design will save you.
And most importantly: start with one hero product. Salesforce started with CRM. Slack started with internal chat. Zoom started with video conferencing. Each one became the gold standard before expanding.
The Bigger Lesson: Obsession Is Earned, Not Manufactured
Tal Moore and Popsmith didn’t hack their way onto Oprah’s list. They built a product that was genuinely better across three dimensions: how it looks, how it feels to use, and how well it performs. When those three things align, you don’t have to force people to talk about your product. They do it naturally.
“We thought, there’s a market for stovetop popcorn popping, but a more elevated experience,” Moore said. That one insight—combined with obsessive execution—took them from e-commerce also-rans to Oprah’s Favorite Things.
For any founder reading this, the takeaway is clear: don’t try to be everything to everyone. Be exceptional at one thing that people already want. Then let the product speak for itself.
Final Thought: Your Next Move
If you’re building a product right now, ask yourself these three questions:
- Aesthetics: Does your product look like something people would proudly display or share?
- Experience: Does using your product feel like a ritual or a chore?
- Flavor: Does your product deliver on its core promise better than anything else on the market?
If you can answer yes to all three, you might just end up on someone’s “Favorite Things” list—whether it’s Oprah’s or your most valuable customers’.