Former Nike Executive Launches Teststrip as Brands Face Tougher Product Decisions

DENVER, COLORADO | October 27, 2026 - For consumer brands, deciding which products to bring to market has never been more consequential.

Rising costs, tighter margins, shifting consumer expectations, and increased competition are putting greater pressure on decisions involving new products, features, packaging, and creative direction.

The financial consequences of getting those decisions wrong can extend across development, inventory, markdowns, and lost opportunities. Yet one of the most valuable things a company has, the knowledge behind those decisions, is often lost along the way.

Andrew Estey, a former Nike executive with more than 20 years of experience in product design, development, and merchandising, has launched Teststrip, a Denver-based platform designed to help companies make more informed decisions and preserve the thinking behind them.

"I've spent my career making product decisions, first inside large companies and later running my own businesses," said Estey. "At Nike, I saw the scale of those decisions. Running my own companies, I felt the cost. When you commit real money to a product, you need to understand why you're making that call."

Estey's career includes leadership roles at Nike, Converse, and Chaco, along with founding and operating his own footwear companies. Those experiences shaped his understanding of a challenge that extends across the consumer products industry.

More Choices. Greater Consequences.

Brands have more ways than ever to explore new ideas, develop products, and gather feedback. But more information doesn't necessarily make choosing the right direction any easier.

Behind every product decision are people with different experiences and perspectives. Designers, merchants, product developers, sales teams, retailers, and leadership each bring knowledge that can influence the outcome.

Teststrip brings those perspectives together, helping teams evaluate product concepts, features, packaging, and creative directions before committing valuable resources.

The platform helps decision-makers understand where opinions align, where they differ, and what concerns deserve attention.

The final decision remains with the people responsible for the outcome.

"Getting feedback is important, but feedback alone doesn't make the decision," Estey said. "Experience, judgment, and understanding what a brand stands for all matter. Sometimes the right call isn't the most popular one."

The Cost of Forgetting

While most feedback processes focus on reaching a decision, Teststrip also focuses on what happens afterward.

The platform preserves the thinking behind important choices, helping organizations carry knowledge from one product, season, or project into the next.

Teststrip calls this Decision Memory.

"Companies spend years building knowledge about their products, customers, and markets," Estey said. "That knowledge is incredibly valuable, and too much of it disappears when people move on or the next season begins. Getting a decision wrong is expensive. Making the same mistake because you've forgotten what you learned is something we should be able to change."

Teststrip is designed for product, brand, merchandising, marketing, and creative teams across consumer goods, footwear, apparel, and related industries.

The platform is now available at www.teststrip.io.

Media Contact
Andrew Estey
Founder, Teststrip
www.teststrip.io
hello@teststrip.io
3181 W 36th Ave
Denver, CO 80211

About Teststrip
Teststrip is a Denver-based platform built to help product, brand, marketing, and creative teams make better decisions and preserve the thinking behind them. Founded by Andrew Estey, Teststrip brings stakeholder feedback, human judgment, and decision history together, helping organizations build knowledge they can carry from one decision to the next.

This release was published on openPR.