Robert Kusyk of OESH Shoes was invited by Professor Richard Crawford to present the ongoing story of OESH Shoes to a group of second and third year law students at the powerful University of Virginia School of Law, in the course Finance of Small Enterprises – Law 7606

1. Robert A. Kusyk
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
www.OESHshoes.com
University of Virginia School of Law
Finance of Small Enterprise—Richard D. Crawford
October 20, 2015

2. Start Me Up…
1. MUST synthesize a Differentiating Benefit unique to your
product
2. Product must compare favorably—Value AND Price—vs
The World of Substitutes (usually gigantic brands) to
create each and every discrete transaction
3. Know your satisfied customers better than anyone—their
interpretation of #1 is your Brand Image
4. Innovate carefully—don’t lose your mojo to an itchy finger
5. Listen to complaints to improve the product & minimize
returns
6. 0/day to 1/day is the toughest hurdle to clear—1 to 2, 2 to
4, etc. gets easier and easier IF you stay TRUE TO #1
7. 100 customers are good, but need 1,000 customers to
have a viable business…and grow
8. 1,000 repeat customers—a sophisticated amplification of
Brand potency—is a transformative achievement for a
Start Up.
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Developed by Dr. Kerrigan
OESH shoes are the brainchild of Dr.
Casey Kerrigan, a Harvard M.D. who
spent over twenty years studying the
effect of shoes on human motion and
forces during walking and running. In
designing OESH Dr. Kerrigan didn’t
start with tradition. Rather, OESH
started with an entirely new platform,
founded upon the medical research
world’s most sophisticated laboratory
observations.
Driven by a devotion to women’s
health, wearing OESH is different
than wearing typical shoes–and so
are the results.

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11. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
High Heels Barefoot
% Gait Cycle
Coronal Knee Torque
ValgusVarus
N-m/kg-m
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17. Effect of Running Shoes on Knee Varus Torque
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19. Plantar Fasciitis
Anterior Tibial
Stress Fracture
Medial Knee
Osteoarthritis
Metatarsalgia
Illiotibial Band
Syndrome
Shin Splints
Gluteus Medius
Tendinopathy
Trochanteric
Bursitis
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An Entirely New Paradigm for
Footwear
 Protect the foot
 Minimize stress and strain at the foot level
 Eliminate shock absorption at heel strike
 Allow the foot to appropriately pronate into
midstance
 Do not increase the coronal joint torques
 Provide true compliance when and only when it is
needed at the active peak

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Targeted Compliance
 OESH Shoes minimize stress and strain
throughout the lower extremity by providing
targeted compliance exactly where it is
needed--in the coronal plane—and exactly
when it is needed—at the peaks of the ground
reaction force--when virtually all overuse
injuries occur

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Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (03-14) The Race to
Build a Better Shoe

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Autodesk Line/Shape/Space innovation blog (08-15) How to Become a Product
Designer: A Medical
Doctor Shifts Career From
Academia to Shoe Design

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31. If I wanted to Counsel a Start Up…
1. MUST completely understand Differentiating Benefit of
your client’s product. It’s right there where you learn the
most
2. When the client discusses strategy with you, be
especially mindful of & Counsel toward the long term.
Be clear if something strikes you as stupid
3. Especially while the company develops sea legs, stay in
your lane—e.g., if an IP expert, stick to IP
4. Best counsel is to be supportive, an advocate, and
provide peace of mind. Anything you do regularly that is
technical in nature—mundane (but timely) filings,
insurance suggestions, and the like—is value-added to
the client
5. Value-added becomes invaluable in but a few years.
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