Daehee Park is a Korean-American entrepreneur and the co-founder of Boring Mattress. Previously, he was the co-founder of Tuft & Needle.
Tuft & Needle
Daehee Park co-founded Tuft & Needle in 2012 with John-Thomas Marino. The company was bootstrapped and profitable, reaching over $200 million in annual revenue within six years. Tuft & Needle is widely recognized as the first direct-to-consumer mattress company, predating competitors such as Casper, Purple, and Nectar. In 2018, Tuft & Needle merged with Serta Simmons Bedding. By 2023, the private equity firm Advent International drove the combined company into bankruptcy by overloading it with debt. The Tuft & Needle brand still exists today but as a shadow of its former self.
Boring Mattress
In January 2024, Daehee Park co-founded Boring Mattress with Tyler Marino and Corben Leo. Tyler was the first employee at Tuft & Needle and led product development for its entire suite of sleep products. Corben is a renowned ethical hacker turned creative marketer who brings an unconventional mindset to brand building and growth.
Boring launched as a direct response to what Daehee saw as the DTC mattress industry abandoning its original promise. Brands that once disrupted the market had expanded into confusing product matrices, and added superficial features like diamond-infused foam to justify higher prices. Daehee founded Boring to return to the principles that originally defined Tuft & Needle before its acquisition: simple, functional, and affordable products, emphasizing quality materials and superior performance. Boring makes a universally-comfortable mattress in a hybrid and an all-foam specification.
Industry Role and Business Philosophy
Daehee Park is considered a pioneer of the direct-to-consumer mattress model, having launched Tuft & Needle before the “mattress in a box” category became mainstream. He is an advocate for bootstrapped entrepreneurship and building businesses that remain profitable without outside funding.
His philosophy is to stay profitable from day one, never take money that demands an exit, and optimize for customers instead of investors.
Personal Life
Daehee Park lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and three children. Follow Daehee on Twitter/X or connect with him on LinkedIn.