We deliver significantly more impactful gift experiences. Guaranteed.

What We Do

We use strategic gifting to help you strengthen your relationship with your daughter, your employees, your partners, your spouse, your Warriors basketball fan association, your friends who you wish you could see more often, and all of the other important relationships in your life.

We go above and beyond to research and deliver gift experiences that are just right for your relationships and goals. Not the most expensive, not the most surprising, not the most complex, not the easiest. Just right. Like the best gifts you ever got. No two gift experiences are designed alike.

“I’m a gift card.”

“I’m a generic gift basket…”

(in unison) “We check a box…” (coughs)

“…and I’m a Folk Theorem gift.”

“…I build real relationships!

I’m not off the shelf. I was designed to be just right, based on your precise relationship, your goals, and the most cutting edge marriage of design and gift science.”

All the most consistently successful people know one thing.

It’s all about relationships.

A young woman smiling broadly, wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat at the beach, with a happy expression and sun-kissed skin.

Relationships are everything.

A group of six diverse adults celebrating outdoors with champagne, smiling and clinking glasses, with a large house and trees in the background.

But despite our best efforts, life can make it hard to show just how much we care for and value others, so relationships stagnate or fade. Sound familiar?

A large group of diverse smiling people gathered together indoors, posing for a group photo. Some are standing and some are sitting or kneeling in the front, with one person in the center holding a camera and another with arms raised in celebration.

Gifting can cut through the noise.

A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but the right gift is worth 1,000,000.

Gifts are

Signals of devotion.

Connection.

Recognition.

Gifts are

Retention.

Care.

Essential.

Gifts are

Long-term investments.

Appreciation & understanding.

Gifts are Signals of devotion. Connection. Recognition. Gifts are Retention. Care. Essential. Gifts are Long-term investments. Appreciation & understanding.

Our Process

A woman having a virtual meeting on her laptop, with a man smiling on the screen, in a room with a clock and potted plants.

Initial Interviews & Research

We work with you to imagine and deliver more strategic, better-received gifts than you could on your own.

We want your gifts to be appropriate and resonant, so we work with you to learn about you and your gift recipients to assess intentions, deadlines, shared histories, tastes and more. What we can’t find out from you and your contacts, we find out via tactful research methods and interviews as is necessary.

Our goal is to silently gain the insight of a close friend or loved one, so your gifts feel thoughtful, considered, and reflect the current stage and the goals of your relationship, whether it’s distant or a new one you wish was closer, or even one between highly connected lifelong partners.

Our clients are busy individuals, small startups, major corporations, associations, professional sports teams, families, and everything in between.

And we only do good work. If we think we can’t help, if your goals are highly improbable even with help, or if we think a gift strategy will cross ethical lines, we will help you to change the approach or let you know we are not a fit.

Three women and a dog celebrating a gift exchange at a table, with a large wrapped present. The woman on the left is signing or drawing, the woman on the right is holding a pen, and the woman in the middle is smiling and pointing upward. There are framed pictures of sports helmets, jerseys, and planes on the wall in the background.

Ideation and Procurement

We generate 3-5 big ideas and work with you to refine them until they’re just right for you and your recipients. Our network of artists, shoppers, and vendors then makes or gathers the components of the gift experience, and packages them to be as memorable and meaningful as is needed and appropriate.

Delivery Time: Expedited one-offs in 1-3 days; otherwise 1 week to several months, depending on the scope of your gifting needs

A woman and a man are wrapping a dog in a blue blanket for a gift, with the dog wearing a red bow. On the table, there are toys including a red toy car, scissors, tape, a camera, and decorative letters spelling 'S'.

Preparation & Delivery

We help you deliver the gift strategically, in a way meant to match your intentions. Whether it’s beautiful framing, a heartwarming note, a Taylor Swift accompaniment at a company-wide event, or just making sure your item arrives in the mail safe and sound, we ensure your gifts get to the right people at the right time in the right context.

A person wearing a tshirt that says Folk Theorem is handing a wrapped gift to two happy people, with a dog nearby. The scene includes various objects such as a camera, a model car, a helmet, a book titled "LIENA," bottles, and framed artwork in the background. The setting appears to be a cluttered room filled with hobbies and collectibles.

Review & Guarantee

Afterwards, we check in to make sure the gift was well received. We’ll always do whatever we can to make it right.

Our Story

Our obsession with gifting began nearly 10 years ago, when our founder, Nate Schmiedehaus, opened up a New York City candle shop at 23 for his emerging candle brand Homesick Candles. Customers were drawn to the nostalgic hometown-theme of the candle line and loved to share stories of their childhoods and of their loved ones who they hadn’t seen in some time. Some would buy dozens on the spot as gifts for all of their friends and family, or for their coworkers.

One day, Nate had a three hour conversation with a customer, an executive assistant making a large 50 candle personal purchase on behalf of his company’s CEO. It turns out, the executive assistant’s job had slowly become almost exclusively a gift buying one. Why would someone hire someone else just to buy gifts?, Nate wondered.

Homesick Candles became one of the most popular home decor direct-to-consumer gifts that year, but what was even more fascinating than building a growing candle business was how many of these candles were being purchased as gifts and how many customers were hired just to buy gifts for others. Curiosity set Nate off on a journey of discovery.

Through nearly 10 years of study into anthropology, game theory, economics, and cognitive science, and applying those lessons to various businesses, it became clear that gifting is one of humanity’s most essential activities, central to creating and preserving cooperation across all cultures, groups, businesses, and relationships, yet there wasn’t a great solution to help people strategize and deliver great gifts. Gift cards, generic gift boxes, and pick-it-yourself catalogues are a major missed opportunity and often defeat the purpose if the goal is a thriving long-term relationship.

Thus, the need for a team focused exclusively on helping people perform this key activity of great gifting was born, with a vision for making the world a more cooperative place.

Backed by science.

Folk Theorem 

n. /foʊk ˈθɪərəm/

In game theory: 

The principle that if players interact indefinitely and care sufficiently about future outcomes, then virtually any pattern of cooperation will outperform any non-cooperative strategy.

In the real world: 

Not gift cards, not gift baskets, nothing generic or tasteless. Differentiated, strategic investments in cooperation with your people.

Economists were long confused about gifting. “It’s inefficient,” the theoreticians long said. But studies across fields reveal that throughout human history, all sustained cooperation, cultures, and strong enduring relationships have been supported by giving.

The science is clear: gifts are the best means to strengthen long-term bonds.

Contact Us

Interested in improving your relationships with better gifting? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!