Thread by @iamjakeschmidt

I discovered a guy making $4,800,000 selling bedsheets online with 6 employees.

That's a wake-up call!

Here's his story:

Colin Mcintosh had a rough start in his career.

He was fired from his first job at the world's largest hedge fund after just 5 months, then laid off from his next two jobs all in the span of 2 years.

Why was he fired?

Because he was consistently told by his manager that he was “too empathetic to work here.” and “failed to adjust his behavior.”

Talk about a bad culture fit…

Eventually, Colin had a friend who got him a full time role working as a founder at a Techstars backed startup for a summer.

This was Colin’s introduction to startups which was the spark in his future bedsheet startup, Sheets and Giggles.

Here’s the steps Colin took to build his $4.8M company:

1/ Build the model first

Most founders create a product to solve a problem which may or may not be a viable business.

Colin reversed the strategy: built the business model, then designed a product that plugged into it.

This was the model Colin was searching for:

- Huge commodities market with room to differentiate
- No clear market leader
- No brand loyalty or affinity
- Traditionally physical retail that could work online as DTC
- Low-complexity supply chain (no electronics or software)

2/ Identify the differentiators

- The bed sheet industry was boring.
- Cotton is hard on the environment.
- There’s no innovation in the industry
- Very few companies doing great DTC marketing

Colin started looking to capitalize in this old “tired” industry.

While researching sustainable bedding alternatives, Colin discovered that eucalyptus:

- uses 96% less water to produce than cotton
- requires no pesticides to grow and harvest
- can be sourced from reclaimed wood, not living trees

3/ Make it memorable

Colin was transforming a commodity product into a fun DTC company.

He didn’t just want to throw some ads up on Facebook, he wanted to build a lasting brand with a raving fan base.

He did this by creating an incredible unboxing experience that made the product feel as premium as possible.

Outside: fun, whimsical, illustrative, colorful box with logo.

Inside:
- funny puns
- social call-to-action
- free surprises: knapsack that wraps the sheets + eye mask
- donation bag for customers' old cotton sheets (sheets & blankets are the #2 most-requested item at shelters)

4/ Validated market

Colin launched an Indiegogo campaign raising $284,000 in 2018 and nearly $2M in venture capital.

Sheets and Giggles used punny copy and humorous photos in their email campaigns.

They collected over 11,000 emails from potential customers in just 8 weeks AND 46% of people shared their emails.

Most DTC brands are lucky to get a 46% open rate.

5/ Presales

Colin started advertising on FB 10 weeks before launch.

He also implemented a social sharing competition to build his email list and asked customers to fill out surveys so he could predict the most wanted colors and sizes.

Result: $45,000 on Day 1 from 400 backers.

6/ Fanatical customer care

- S&G answers all Facebook comments and messages within minutes. Single best action that drives conversion

- Colin's cell used to be on the Contact page! Got ~10 calls/day

- Social media followers can win Amazon gift cards + free pizza + free sheets

7/ Dominate Black Friday before it happens

Sheets and Giggles does Purple Friday: offering a 40% off sale the Friday before Black Friday.

This elevates their brand above Black Friday and Cyber Monday noise, advertising to customers before most other companies are.

8/ Key takeaways

- Model before you build
- Be contrary if it makes sense
- Choose a niche with no-to-low competition
- and lots of growth potential
- Put customers first, last, and always
- Get the jump in a crowded field with on-brand deals, social, SEO, referral programs

If you enjoyed this thread and want to see more entrepreneurial stories and marketing insights, give me a follow @iamjakeschmidt