Philip Krim is reinventing an industry. 

A 2006 graduate of the McCombs School of Business, Krim is the co-founder and CEO of Casper, an e-commerce company that takes a Silicon Valley approach to a relatively low-tech product: mattresses.

Casper has disrupted the monotonous mattress buying and selling game in two significant ways. There is only a single style of Casper mattress, and it can be shipped to your doorstep in a box the size of a golf bag. 

“We think of this as an industry that has had too much choice for too long. There’s no reason you need 70 different mattresses at a store,” Krim told CNN in 2016. “You really can design one mattress for everyone’s comfort.”

Krim began his entrepreneurial career in the e-commerce industry as a marketing sophomore at UT, when he founded his first company, The Merrick Group. Among the several different products he sold were mattresses.

“While I don’t recommend this, I was able to skip a lot of classes and still graduate — giving me not only real-world experience, but also a degree,” Krim said in an email about his experience running a business as a full-time student.

While Krim said McCombs provided him with the tools to succeed as a business executive, he attributes much of Casper’s creative brand identity to his time living in the city of Austin.

“Austin is one of the most unique cities in the United States,” Krim said. “While at UT, I learned that a unique charm and identity are one of the most important things a city, or a business, can have to truly resonate.”

Casper is based in New York City, where Krim has lived since before the company was founded in 2013. There, he was introduced to fellow McCombs alumnus Charles Tate, chairman and founder of the private equity firm Capital Royalty L.P.

Tate, who was inducted into the McCombs Hall of Fame in 2003, has been a mentor to Krim throughout Casper’s rise from ambitious start-up to serious player in the bedding industry.

“Philip has a level of maturity far beyond his chronological age,” Tate said. “I feel I learn as much from him as he may feel he learns from me.”

Nathanial Lurie recently completed his master’s in economics at UT and has owned two Casper mattresses.

“I definitely came at it from an ‘I like what they’re doing’ perspective,” Lurie said. “It was a consumer product that was one-size-fits-all and had really good internet marketing, so I thought it was cool for that reason.”

Since the company launched in April 2014, Casper has earned more than $300 million in total revenue. With growth like that, one can imagine Philip Krim sleeps well at night.

“My biggest piece of advice is to take the leap,” Krim said. “No matter what kind of success you see, you will learn more along the way than you ever thought possible. The resources and network that UT provides is the reason why I am here today — never forget to take advantage of that.”

Correction: The original post stated that "After just two years, Casper’s sales hit $100 million." It should read Since the company launched in April 2014, Casper has earned more than $300 million in total revenue." The Texan regrets this error.