Meet United States’s 101 Top Founders in the Consumer Goods Space

Mark Rosenzweig

Founder of SharkNinja

Mark Rosenzweig is the founder of SharkNinja, a position he has held since 1994. SharkNinja is a pioneer in innovative cleaning solutions and small household appliances. Mark was born in Montreal, Canada, to a family that has been in business for a hundred years. This third-generation businessman turned out to be a natural-born tinkerer. He became an innovator, a disruptor, an inventor, a creator, and an entrepreneur. In 1991 Mark graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School. Following graduation, Mark moved to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment industry including positions at Sony International Television and UTA. In 1994 Mark returned home and joined his Canadian family’s sewing business, Jolson Corp, as a sales manager. Jolson Corp. was founded in 1954 in Montreal by Mark’s grandfather and grandmother, Benjamin and Miriam Jolson, who sold domestic sewing machines through a Canadian dealer network. In the late 1970s, Mark’s mother and father expanded that household sewing machine business to include industrial sewing machines that they sold to the Canadian apparel manufacturing industry. Mark had a passion for innovative small appliances and was looking for opportunities to create his own entrepreneurial venture that could manufacture and sell products throughout Canada and the United States under his own new brand name that he could control and build loyalty for. Mark kept tinkering with appliances, inventing revolutionary appliances at home which were designed to replace the same cheap sweepers and steamers that really hadn’t changed much since they were invented. He wanted to actually disinfect with cleansing steam instead of relying on toxic chemicals. Mark’s thoughts were that after a proper cleaning, a baby should safely be able to play on the kitchen floor, free from toxins. This belief drove him to create revolutionary solutions that were both extremely effective and built to last. With help from his parents, Max and Aviva, he founded Euro-Pro, a company whose goal was to create innovative and exciting products consumers would love and talk about. The first products sold were under the Euro-Pro brand and included domestic ironing systems made in Italy and then quickly followed by steam presses, domestic sewing machines, and food processors. Sales for the first full fiscal year of Euro-Pro (1996) reached almost $1 million dollars. Euro-Pro North America then expanded to include vacuum cleaners sold under the “Shark” brand as well as heated kitchen appliances using unique high-performance blending blades under the Euro-Pro and Bravetti brands. Euro-Pro’s products developed a large audience and acceptance through a powerful media and infomercial strategy Mark innovated. High-quality products were sold to retail partners at the same time they appeared on national television infomercials and shopping networks. Mark was the host telling the brand and product stories. By fiscal 2000, sales reached $100 million dollars and then $250 million by fiscal 2003. Between 2003 and 2006, Mark’s brother, Stanley Rosenzweig, Harvard MBA, 1991, who had significant experience with larger multinational companies that marketed and manufactured small appliances under proprietary brand names, joined him at Euro-Pro with the goal of helping Mark move the business from Montreal to Boston and to assist restructuring and bringing it to the next level of success. In 2007, with his father Max’s help, the very successful line of Shark steam mops was developed as well as a “no loss of suction” vacuum technology, propelling Euro-Pro gross sales to reach over $400 million US dollars by the end of fiscal 2009. Mark’s good friend, and new partner, Mark Barrocas, a very successful veteran executive at private equity-backed companies, joined Euro-Pro in fiscal 2009 as President. Together, “Mark and Mark” successfully focused on innovative product development and high-quality manufacturing, adding Ninja kitchen appliances and a full line of vacuum cleaners, eventually reaching gross sales of over half a billion US dollars in the fiscal year 2010 and $1 billion in the fiscal year 2013. By the end of 2017, SharkNinja employed over 1,000 associates, added robotic vacuums and heated ninja appliances, and reached sales of almost $2 billion. Outside of his professional work , Mark enjoys supporting various philanthropic organizations and is specifically interested in assisting new medical research at Mass General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and with the American Heart Association. Mark stays active with biking, skiing, tennis, and currently resides in the Boston area and loves to spend time with family.

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About SharkNinja: SharkNinja provides consumer goods.

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