In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Sharad Mathur, founder of LewisOffice.com, a platform aimed at simplifying the office‑furniture buying experience. Sharad opens with a childhood story about his grandmother’s finger analogy, teaching him to treat each person uniquely. He then explains the inherent complexity of the office‑furniture industry—multiple stakeholders, long lead times, and special handling—and how his venture reduces that complexity through a streamlined, customer‑first approach. Sharad shares his core business mantra: keep things simple, start with the customer, and constantly challenge the status quo. Reflecting on his younger self, he wishes he had spent more time understanding people’s motivations rather than focusing solely on products. He defines happiness as living in the moment, valuing relationships, and learning something new every day. The book that impacted him most is Thomas Friedman’s The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which he uses to illustrate the balance between technological progress and rooted cultural identity. He also cites favorite quotes from Henry Ford and Socrates about lifelong learning and the battle against ignorance. Finally, Sharad provides his contact details—LinkedIn and email—for listeners to connect.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Sharad Mathur with us. He is the founder of lewisoffice.com, a website designed to disrupt the office furniture market LewisOffice.com derives its inspiration from DIYers and millennial mindset buyers. So welcome to the show, man.
Yeah, thank you.
Of course. Grateful to have you on. So the first question we ask on this show is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So I look back into my past and I think about my grandmother, who had 4 children, including my dad. And when I was about 8 years old, as an inquisitive, you know, kid, I asked her, I said, how do you treat all your 4 kids equally so no one feels less special or that you don't give them enough love? And her answer is something that stuck to me to this date and is a foundation of all my relationships. So she showed me her hand and said, do you see that all my fingers are different in size? And not equal. I was puzzled. I looked at her and said, hmm. So she said if she treated all her kids the same, she would be unfair to all of them because every child is different and has unique needs. So I've always maintained that treat friends and colleagues and customers in their unique ways, not the same. And I feel that's something that people do less and less of, and you should You know, enjoy people and their differences.
And then what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
You know, I've been in the furniture industry for about 25 years, and when you think about buying office furniture, it's a complex business. It involves designers, dealers, manufacturers, project managers, installers, to name a few. It also, you know, when you think about furniture, it has to be handled specially, and the buying process could take 12 to 20 weeks depending on your space. So my role has always been to break down this complexity and provide a simple experience to the customer. Hence the introduction of louisoffice.com. It's always about simplicity, and if you can't get that, I don't think any business can really survive in today's world.
And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
I would always say keep it simple and start with the customer and always challenge the status quo. And I've always kept these two things in my head because if it's simple, people will get it. And if you keep challenging the status quo, you won't get lost in what we call an industrial mindset, which most of us get stuck in and keep changing with this new world.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Yeah, it would have been— when I think about that, I say I wish I had spent more time understanding what motivates and drives people versus being the person who was always trying to create the best products and solutions. I mean, don't get me wrong, products and solutions are important, but feelings and insights will always be ahead in importance. And I wish I had done I wish I had a lot more of that when I was younger.
And then in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I would say the key to happiness is live in the moment and believe every minute that is given to you is precious. Don't waste it. I mean, love and enjoy your family, work, friends, and every person you meet. And you should be privileged to spend time with people. And I would say the other piece that I would always say is Learn every day. I should not go to bed any single day when I say I did not learn something new.
Yeah, I love that. And then what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So this was about 15 years ago when I was in my MBA program. There was this book called The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman. Now this book was all about globalization, and 15 years ago it was just the start of globalization. But what it reminds you of is that in spite of all the technological advances, like, you know, think about a Lexus factory where you could eat off the floor, our roots and our sense of belonging never go away. And just like an olive tree's roots, that leads to our differences and uniqueness. And if you try to fight it, you will actually fail. So you should try to celebrate those differences and enjoy globalization. Don't fight it because it's inevitable. So I love that book. And I think it's still pretty important 15 years later.
And then what is your favorite quote and why?
So I have two quotes, and it's tough for me because the first quote was from Henry Ford, who says, anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young, and the greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. So this was something that Henry Ford said decades and decades ago, and I, I still maintain that if you stop learning, life is more or less over because there's nothing else left in life. And if you go even a millennia earlier, Socrates said that there is only one good, namely knowledge. And only one evil, namely ignorance. And what I've learned by this is that, you know, like I said earlier, if I'm learning every day before going to bed and I feel I've accomplished something, I feel good. If I feel like this day was a waste, I'm thinking one less day that I have for learning. So I think these are things that I live by and really, really believe.
Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where can our audience best find you online?
So you can get to me via LinkedIn. I mean, I'm very, very active on LinkedIn, or you can always email me at mathurs@lewisoffice.com, and those will be the best ways to get a hold of me. And I do answer my emails, and I'm pretty prompt with my communication.
Perfect. Thank you again, man.
No, thank you so much, Tyler Wagner.
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