New Book '100' Reveals How Scarcity, Persistence, and an Impossible Idea Built a $100 Million Audio Startup

Mattias Scheek’s “100” reveals how scarcity, persistence, and iteration helped turn an ambitious audio idea into a $100 million startup exit.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Entrepreneur, inventor, and former Mayht CEO Mattias Scheek shares the unfiltered story of building breakthrough technology from almost nothing in his new book, “100: The Audio Startup That Turned the Volume All the Way Up.” Published by SXSW Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster, is now available through national and independent book retailers.

Drawing on the six-year journey that took Scheek and his brother Timothy from building speakers with limited resources in Amsterdam to the $100 million acquisition of their company, Mayht, by Sonos, 100 offers founders and ambitious builders a grounded look at what it takes to keep moving when money, certainty, and external validation are in short supply.

In “100,” Scheek takes readers behind the polished version of startup success and into the years of failed prototypes, financial pressure, investor negotiations, late-night experimentation, rejection, and difficult decisions that came before the breakthrough. Rather than presenting entrepreneurship as a predictable path, the book explores how progress is often built through iteration, composure, creativity, and the willingness to take the next step before the outcome is clear.

“The constraints holding you back are the forces propelling you forward,” Scheek writes of the philosophy at the heart of the book. His story shows how limitations can become catalysts for invention, an idea rooted in lessons he learned growing up in Amsterdam and carried into creating Mayht’s Heartmotion speaker technology.

Scheek and his brother began experimenting with speakers as children, eventually turning that fascination into an effort to rethink how powerful sound could be produced from dramatically smaller hardware. With no established industry network and limited capital, they built, tested, broke, and rebuilt prototypes while working to convince investors and some of the world’s largest technology companies that their idea was possible. In 2022, Sonos acquired Mayht for $100 million in cash.

But “100” is less about the acquisition than the years before it. Scheek examines what founders can do when the path forward is uncertain: turn scarcity into creativity, protect an idea while building trust, negotiate without obvious leverage, learn through repeated experimentation, and create enough momentum to reach the next milestone. The book is intended not only for startup founders, but for innovators and builders pursuing ambitious ideas without ideal conditions.

“You always have enough to take the next step” is one of the central ideas behind Scheek’s broader founder philosophy. Instead of offering a formula for guaranteed success, he encourages builders to focus on continued movement — learning, adapting, and doing what is necessary to reach the next stage while keeping the larger ambition in sight.

Blending founder memoir, technology story, and practical lessons from the front lines of entrepreneurship, “100” challenges the mythology that breakthrough companies begin with perfect plans, abundant resources, or certainty. Scheek’s journey offers another possibility: difficult ideas can move forward one experiment, one decision, and one step at a time.

About Mattias Scheek
Mattias Scheek is an entrepreneur, industrial designer, inventor, and builder. As cofounder and CEO of Mayht, he helped lead the development of Heartmotion, breakthrough speaker technology designed to deliver powerful sound from dramatically smaller form factors. Sonos acquired Mayht in 2022 for $100 million in an all-cash transaction. Scheek subsequently served as Director of Hardware Development Engineering at Sonos until 2026 and today supports startups and scaleups through board, advisory, and operational roles. Raised in Amsterdam by parents of Surinamese descent, Scheek holds a BSc in Industrial Design Engineering from Delft University of Technology and is focused on helping the next generation of founders and builders turn constraints into advantages.

About SXSW Books
SXSW Books is an Advantage | The Authority Company imprint, launched in partnership with South by Southwest^® (SXSW^®). Known globally for its convergence of technology, film, television, music, education, and culture, SXSW is expanding its influence into book publishing to amplify the voices of innovators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders. SXSW Books connects ideamakers with audiences, enabling authors to share their stories, drive meaningful change, and build authority within their fields.

Madeline Shave
Advantage | The Authority Company