Inc. Magazine 09.2019

(Amelia) #1

29 ● INC. ● SEPTEMBER 2019 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY HEAMI LEE


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Three-year growth 1,458.1% | 2018 revenue $5.3M
Fontana, California | Founded in 2014

Benson Liu
TOSSWARE

Glass Act


The most affection ever
given to a disposable
cup was likely at the end
of a beer-pong table. But,
Benson Liu wondered, why
couldn’t the lowly drinking
receptacle get a high-class
makeover, something more
akin to a wineglass? Having
spent decades in food-
container manufacturing,
he took a year to figure it
out. In addition to develop-
ing a new blow-molding
process, Liu embraced 3-D
printing, allowing customers
to personalize glasses with
a slew of printed designs.
If Liu and his co-founder,
Michael Fun, had the
chance to do it over? “We’d
raise more capital and go
big!” says Liu. “We were
a little conservative in the
beginning. If we’d gone
big sooner, we’d have 30
designs by now.” Next up:
the Reserve line—reusable
and virtually indestructible—
is slated to launch this fall.
—KATE ROCKWOOD
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