My name is Braxton Manley and I am a 23-year-old living in Austin. I started Braxley Bands with my dorm-mate Grant Andrews as a class project at Texas Tech about 3 years ago.

We created an elastic Apple Watch band and started making them by hand on my Nana’s sewing machine. We have since scaled the business from an original $20 upfront for materials to $100K a month on Shopify. No other capital or investment was ever put into the business.

My name is Jack Yao, our company is Mobile Pixels Inc. We started the company when I was a graduate student at MIT. During an internship at Amazon, I urgently felt the need of using a portable monitor as I was working in a co-working space. The idea came to when I was doing some programming work, I wished that I could have had a monitor that can be expanded from the back of the main laptop display.

Our product is the Duex monitor, we did 4.3MM in sales in 2019, and are on track to do $12MM for 2020.

My name is Yun Zhang and I am the CEO of Wyze Labs, as well as one of the founding members. We founded WYZE Labs in July 2017 and launched our first product, a smart home camera – the Wyze Cam – in October of the same year.

We’re Lucas Walker and Riley Wallbank, and we are from Toronto. We make all natural dog treats with our company Treats Happen.

One of our biggest learnings is that we aren’t just an e-commerce company, we’re a brand. Many people who want to start a business look to be direct to consumer through their own website. We look to be available on as many profitable channels as possible.

I’m Lindsay Scholz, and I’m the founder of Vowed Box Co. – a line of curated, quirky gift boxes with non-traditional brides in mind.

Since the brand is still in its infancy and we’re still working through wholesale costs, my monthly income is roughly $600. For being a side business, I look at any profit as a win, but of course, the goal is to see this grow in 2019!

Photo credit: Brooke Michelle Photography

Hello, my name is Krystian Frencel, and I’m the founder of Bunch of Animals, a men’s luxury underwear brand, AKA, the Bentley of banana hammocks. I’m also the co-founder of a Toronto based design and development studio, 3magine. I don’t have previous e-commerce experience and have never been involved in creating a physical product. I have wanted to combine my experience in web design/development with creating a physical product and learning e-commerce for some time now.

Let’s start at the very beginning.

Oh My Balm was founded two years ago and we make kitchen-crafted all-natural body products. Our tagline is “Two Mom’s Making it Real.”

We promote them through our marketing, as they work on several different projects that create a life of prosperity for African women and their families. You can find more about them here. The other charity that is close to our hearts is Behind The Scenes, which provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals if they, or their immediate dependent family, are seriously ill or injured. We make a body butter, “Crew,” and we give a portion of the proceeds of every tin sold to BTS. This got us mention in several entertainment industry magazines.

I’m Colin McIntosh, Founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles, a pun-based, eco-friendly bedding brand that launched in May 2018 on Indiegogo with our first product: lyocell bed sheets made from eucalyptus trees.

In our first 6 months in business, we received over 6,000 orders and nearly half a million dollars in revenue, and in September we won first place at Denver Startup Week 2018. In October, we began shipping preorders and got about 4,500 out the door, and we’re still catching up with demand! Nearly ⅘ of our customers are women, and more than half are in their 20s and 30s.

That’s me in the middle after winning Denver Startup Week back in September.

Hi! I’m Zach Katz, and I started Framed Tweets to give people a simple way to beautifully frame their favorite tweets as art, to remember and enjoy forever.

Hello there! We are Lindsay Ann Gottschall and Courtney Joy Bleier, two sisters from Miami who started Ann + Joy. We make handmade real flower and resin jewelry and sell online and in stores around the world. We take pride in being one of the first companies to make real flower jewelry. During our first year of business, we blossomed almost immediately into a very successful Etsy shop. Etsy was constantly featuring our products on its website and in promotional emails. We are proud to say that since starting in early 2017 we have had over 5,000 sales online.

For all the readers, we are providing a 20% off coupon to our Etsy shop. Use code: STARTERSTORY at checkout!

My name is Jonathan Bradford and I grew up in a household with a father who built his own successful engineering business (my mother would have always said it was in fact always on the verge of bankruptcy fighting off the bailiffs).

As one that has always been very aware of the importance of CLEAN HANDS, I firmly believed from the outset that this concept had legs, in that if I could provide a nice looking dispenser that looked at home in all environments, hold a good number of antibacterial wipes at a reasonable cost, it had to add value to both the club, office or workspace, for it enhances the overall perception of cleanliness within the organization. It puts hand and surface wipes easily within reach of both staff and members leaving NO room for excuses - convenience improving compliance!

I am Mike Leon, mechanical engineer, an avid bike rider, service dog trainer and inventor of the 1-Running-Dog Bike Tow LeashⓇ for safe bike, trike, scooter, and wheelchair dog-rides.

I am the owner of LEON Engineering, Inc. We design, build and sell the 1-Running-Dog Bike Tow Leash® to dog owners, walkers, trainers, military and law enforcement, search and rescue and those with special needs. Having sold less than 200 BTLs prior, My on-the-side hobby turned into a true business in 2009 with the launch of our first website. We went from shipping hundreds/year to thousands/year. Now, our business allows me to work comfortably from home, making 6 figures, while caring for my wife and enriching the lives of tens of thousands of dogs and their humans.

My name is Yavor Petrov and I’m the CEO of iCard - a unique and 100% digital bank account alternative.

Since the launch in late 2017 , the iCard app got around 500,000 downloads. An increasing number of our users opt to use our accounts for getting salaries paid in because of the security tools we have embedded. Everyone has their own particular favourite feature, but spending money in a way that provides better than expected funds protection is the main conversion point and we seek any opportunity to emphasize it.

I’m Evan and I started Plain Jane with my college roommate, Duane Dennis.

We’re also continuing to innovate and create new products. Our flagship product is a low smell and ultra smooth CBD cigarette. It has the same potency of other CBD flower products but without that identifying weed smell.

Within 5 months of starting to sell, we’re now generating more than $20K a month in sales. We have customers in 47 states and we’re in more than 12 retail locations.

Hello, my name is Jainam Shah, and I am one of the founders of CanvasChamp. We make a variety of custom photo products for home decor and gifting purposes, most notably canvas prints, acrylic and metal prints. We have a lot many other products already launched and soon will introduce even more.

We started in March 2012, with just custom canvas prints and now have more than 60+ personalized photo gifts products with revenue of 1.5m$+/mo. We still have a long way to go with the potential of scalability and growth.

My name is Joe Nashif and I operate US-Mattress.com. We are an online mattress retailer shipping all across the US and we also have some stores in Michigan. We specialize in selling name-brand mattresses, like Sealy, Serta, Tempur-Pedic, and Beautyrest, but we also offer many other brands like Nectar and other lesser-known names. We have a great team of dedicated folks helping to take care of our customers no matter where they live.

Our business is very competitive and it would be hard to start an online mattress company today. We were fortunate to get started when nobody was selling mattresses online. Today, we have competition from online giants, big brick and mortar retailers, and newer, direct-to-consumer brands. We generate $750,000 a month now, one customer at a time.

Hello, my name is Ryan Hogan and I am the Co-founder and CEO of Hunt A Killer, an innovative entertainment company that delivers clues, items and correspondence to your doorstep each month, which immerses Members in an interactive story. We have a total of four brands: Hunt A Killer, our murder mystery for true crime fans; Empty Faces, our paranormal investigation for horror fanatics; Escape The Invasion, our science fiction thriller for those looking to survive an alien apocalypse; and Team Building Kits, our business-to-business product that brings corporate teams together and improves company culture through quarterly experiences that create a fun and challenging environment.

Hunt A Killer started with 146 subscribers in October 2016. In August 2019, we shipped our one-millionth episode and continue to see signs of massive growth in the immersive entertainment space.

Hello, my name is Dylan Jacob and I am the founder of BruMate, AKA, The Dehydration Company. We are a unique insulated drinkware brand with a sole focus on the adult beverage community.

I launched our first product line in November 2016. We did $250,000 in sales from November-December 2016, 2.1M in sales in 2017, and we are now doing over 1.1M/mo in sales, in over 1000 retailers nationwide, and are on track to do 20M this year with roughly 35-45% bottom line depending on our ad-spend.

My name is Johnathan Price, Owner of Down4soundshop.com, we distribute car audio products worldwide to fellow car audio fanatics. Mostly which consists of doing it yourself people that enjoy building their own systems with their friends.

This is my 4th year in business doing this full time and we are projecting to break 10 million dollars in sales.

My name is Ross Lohr, and I’m a co-founder of Project Repat. We make it easy and affordable for customers to turn their memorable t-shirts into a one of a kind, custom t-shirt quilt backed with cozy fleece.

We currently make 2,000 custom t-shirt quilts per week at 2 production facilities in the United States. In 2018, we will make 90,000 t-shirt quilts and do $10MM in sales per year.

Hey, we’re Chris and Nicole Parr, husband and wife and owners of PRO BIKE TOOL. PRO BIKE TOOL is a manufacturer, brand and online retailer of essential, affordable bike tools & accessories for riders of all disciplines and abilities. Our flagship products include a Mini Bike Pump with innovative in-line pressure gauge, a CO2 Inflator with a unique gas regulation lever, and a precision calibrated Torque Wrench Set.

Over four years, we’ve grown from selling one tool to selling 32 products across 10 marketplaces, with a turnover of $750K per month. It’s been quite a journey.

Hello, I am Charles Carette, CEO & Co-founder of Bambox. We developed the first monthly subscription-based ecommerce for baby essentials combined with a virtual assistant to guide new parents throughout their baby’s first 3 years. We operate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

My name is Nick Bare and I own Bare Performance Nutrition. We are a sports nutrition and health supplement company based out of central Texas, just about 20 minutes north of Austin.

I built the brand while working as an active duty Soldier, sleeping very little and working very much. Bare Performance Nutrition has always specialized in sports performance (pre-workout, pump enhancers, whey protein, BCAAs) but is now adding to the line of health supplements (greens superfoods, red superfoods, multi-vitamin, joint support) due to the increased demand and popularity from the current customers. The flight is our flagship product (pre-workout) which launched the brand in 2012 and has been one of our fastest moving products to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDLNE0ysjM

Hi I’m Paul, a 22 year old Korean American entrepreneur and founder of HUSKYBEARD, a 6-figure beard grooming brand. This was my first ever business and I’ve since sold it. I am now operating another Shopify store with a partner, on set to produce $1M by next year. I also consult and mentor eCommerce store owners on ecomswift.com.

I’ve scaled using Facebook Ads primarily, with some SEO, Amazon, Reddit, and Email Marketing on the side. I’m proud to have accomplished a 30% customer retention rate with this passionate community.

Hi! My name is Mikey Moran and I am one of the owners of Private Label Extensions. We started this company a little over 5 years ago to create another option for women looking for amazing quality hair and entrepreneurs looking to get into the hair industry.

We’ve made a lot of mistakes during our business journey but have learned from them all and have seen an increase in business. We went from selling a few thousand dollars a month to over $650,000 monthly and even had a $1,000,000 month. One of our biggest accomplishments was being ranked #278 of the fastest-growing companies by Inc Magazine for 2018.

My name is David Gomez and I’m the founder and CEO of Clean Energy Solutions, based out of Los Angeles, California. We’re a solar energy provider that provides homeowners and businesses with low-cost solar power.

Our monthly revenue is around $600,000 with big plans to keep growing. A lot of our growth in the new year will be focused on our energy-efficient affordable housing division.

Hello, my name is Michael Reznik and I am the Co-Founder and CEO of TriFold LLC, the company that invented the UpCart ® line of products. We are dedicated to revolutionizing mobility with innovative products that give people the freedom to do what they love by enhancing their mobility. When people have greater mobility, they can do more and be more productive.

Our first product, the UpCart Original, became available in August 2015 and promptly sold out of stock within 10 days of going viral on Facebook after Thanksgiving. We did $385,000 in sales from August – December 2015. Revenue continued to grow with $3.2M in 2016, $5.4M in 2017, and we are on track to exceed $7M in sales this year. We are excited to note that UpCart ® products are for sale in Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Lowe’s and other major retailers.

My name is Sully, and I am the proud founder of BombTech Golf. My team and I sell premium golf clubs direct-to-consumer.

• I currently work 2-4 hours a week on BombTech Golf and have successfully been able to get myself out of working "in" the business and now work “on” the business.

Hello Readers, I am Junaid Ansari, and with Amin Memon, I have co-founded Draftss.com which is a productized graphic design & frontend code service on subscription starting from just $89/week.

In 2019, we made $66,000 ARR serving 54 clients for whom we created 8000+ designs & coding 100+ pages. In 2020, we have kept our focus on automation as our primary objective toward Draftss. Last month in July 2020, we hit a $9.6k MRR.

My name is Nick Bare and I own Bare Performance Nutrition. We are a sports nutrition and health supplement company based out of central Texas, just about 20 minutes north of Austin.

I built the brand while working as an active duty Soldier, sleeping very little and working very much. Bare Performance Nutrition has always specialized in sports performance (pre-workout, pump enhancers, whey protein, BCAAs) but is now adding to the line of health supplements (greens superfoods, red superfoods, multi-vitamin, joint support) due to the increased demand and popularity from the current customers. The flight is our flagship product (pre-workout) which launched the brand in 2012 and has been one of our fastest moving products to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDLNE0ysjM

I am Nikolay Piriankov, the Founder and CEO of Taylor & Hart. We are an award-winning, disruptive e-tailer of custom-designed, ethical engagement rings, wedding rings, and fine jewellery, that capture your story. Our online platform, processes, and brand democratises bespoke jewellery, allowing us to offer this service at scale. Taylor & Hart's vision is to reconnect customers with the original purpose of jewellery - a personalised product that tells a unique story.

Recently we closed a seed round of £1M. The London based Garage Soho, an early stage investor and brand builder also supported us in the last round.

London showroom

Hey, my name is Lachlan Sonter and I’m the owner, designer and everything guy for the Australian Lux Streetwear brand, Deal with Devil. This business started, in 2017, out of a necessity for my own well-being, and has been working creatively through the brand ever since.

Customers are always so grateful for the service we provide always trying to reach a luxurious standard whilst at an affordable price for many people. And people are always so connected to the story about dealing with our demons and what that impact is on all our lives. Having that feedback from customers is what makes me want to continue this story and push for more collections and reach more audiences, because we all have these negative moments in our lives, and we can all relate to them. I think that’s what makes the brand so special.

Hi, my name is TJ and I am the co-founder and CEO of Healthy Chew.

When we first started, we sold around 200 bowls each week. We currently sell around 10,000 bowls each month. Most companies like this start the same way, cooking from their primary residence for family and friends. We were no exception. But as we continued to grow, we spent time and money to work out of rentable commercial kitchens until we were able to afford our own.

I am Kartik Gurmule, Founder at KASA, and Co-Founder at Dropshyp. KASA is an online luxury shoe and accessory boutique with over 270 luxury shoes in the collection.

We specialize in brogue designed footwear. All of our products are designed in the United Kingdom and made in Milan, Italy, by our partnered manufacturer. All of the KASA collection is hand-painted and handmade using Blake-stitching techniques. With insoles and outsoles entirely in leather, our shoes are ever long-lasting. Each shoe showcases the brand’s signature style and bears witness to the luxury lifestyle. We are actively marketing our products to our potential customers in the USA, the UK, Australia, and other parts of Europe using a variety of marketing techniques.

We launched our first collection in November 2018.

I’m Andy, co-founder of Dock & Bay which is an awesome new lifestyle brand selling travel apparel, fitness, and beach accessories for those who love exploring this awesome world.

In our first full year of business, we had a turnover of $92K and this year we’ll be turning over $5.4m.

Hello, my name is Justin Pflanz and my brother Casey and I own and operate TAB Performance. TAB Performance is a manufacturer and retailer of high performance motorcycle exhaust and accessories. Our passion is helping our customers customize their bikes to fit their own personal styles, and truly enjoy the freedom of the ride.

Since the introduction of the Zombie baffle, we’ve been roughly doubling our annual sales, year over year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayj8cEGRJEU

My name is Craig Rabin, from an early age I spent his time dreaming up inventions. These are now a source of inspiration as I make sketches from my childhood a reality, thanks to 3D printing. My entrepreneurial spirit and passion started early and led me to start my first business when I was 16 years old. Since then, I’ve moved from Chicago and have gone on to create eleven companies... woo!

Since launch, we’ve shipped to every state in the U.S. and have a presence in 73 countries around the world! Plus, The Airhook has been featured in over 100 publications and was the first product in history to win Steve Harvey’s Funderdome on ABC in 2017 and won Travel Product of The Year in 2019.

Hi everyone, my name is Gia, and I am the owner of Boutique Rye. We are a women’s clothing and accessories boutique that is all online!

We have anywhere from clothes that are appropriate for work or clothes that will make you turn heads on a night out on the town. I try and buy clothes with many different styles in mind. I'd like to think that we are a one-stop shop for a diverse group of women!

My name is Red. Agent Red.

At least that’s solely how most people in the wine trade know me, even after 13 years of working together.

I founded The Wine Spies in 2007, to showcase and sell incredible wines - from hidden gem wineries and big-name wineries alike. We sell a different wine every 24 hours at winespies.com, and we only sell wines that we absolutely love. We go ‘above & beyond’ with customer service, and our loyal fans (we call our customers our ‘Operatives’) around the country have stayed with us for much longer than most customers stay with other wine companies.

Hello there! We are Lindsay Ann Gottschall and Courtney Joy Bleier, two sisters from Miami who started Ann + Joy. We make handmade real flower and resin jewelry and sell online and in stores around the world. We take pride in being one of the first companies to make real flower jewelry. During our first year of business, we blossomed almost immediately into a very successful Etsy shop. Etsy was constantly featuring our products on its website and in promotional emails. We are proud to say that since starting in early 2017 we have had over 5,000 sales online.

For all the readers, we are providing a 20% off coupon to our Etsy shop. Use code: STARTERSTORY at checkout!

I’m Parker Garlitz, one of the Co-Founders of True Leaf Market. We are an independent seed company offering heirloom, non-GMO and organic seeds. We also offer growing supplies and starter kits. We sell to home gardeners up to professional growers. We offer traditional vegetable garden, flower and herb seeds as well as specialty seeds like microgreens, sprouts, and wheatgrass. The other Co-Founders are Lance Heaton, Kaitlin Jones & Robb Baumann.

Hello! My name is Dan Watkins, and I am the founder and CEO of GloFX. Our brand develops innovative eyewear and LED flow props, ranging from glasses with kaleidoscope lenses to fiber optic flow toys. If it augments your vision or you can dance with it at a music festival, odds are we make it or are looking into making it.

To learn more about GloFX, here is a link to our About page.

Oh My Balm was founded two years ago and we make kitchen-crafted all-natural body products. Our tagline is “Two Mom’s Making it Real.”

We promote them through our marketing, as they work on several different projects that create a life of prosperity for African women and their families. You can find more about them here. The other charity that is close to our hearts is Behind The Scenes, which provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals if they, or their immediate dependent family, are seriously ill or injured. We make a body butter, “Crew,” and we give a portion of the proceeds of every tin sold to BTS. This got us mention in several entertainment industry magazines.

I’m Anton Willis of Oru Kayak. We make origami kayaks that fold up into a portable box. Our revenues are around $5 million per year.

I am Nikolay Piriankov, the Founder and CEO of Taylor & Hart. We are an award-winning, disruptive e-tailer of custom-designed, ethical engagement rings, wedding rings, and fine jewellery, that capture your story. Our online platform, processes, and brand democratises bespoke jewellery, allowing us to offer this service at scale. Taylor & Hart's vision is to reconnect customers with the original purpose of jewellery - a personalised product that tells a unique story.

Recently we closed a seed round of £1M. The London based Garage Soho, an early stage investor and brand builder also supported us in the last round.

London showroom

Hi, I’m Bill Spohn, President, CEO, and majority owner of TruTech Tools, LTD. Eric Preston is my trusted business partner. Our business continues to grow as we complement each other's personalities so well. TruTech is one of the largest online stores in the niche market of tools and test instruments for Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC/R) Technicians. We are also the major supplier to a smaller market of technicians that do energy audits and assess building performance, including indoor air quality. We serve customers in the US and Canada.

I founded the company with Jim Bergmann, Jr, and his dad, Jim Sr. (who passed in 2016). The business was intended as a retirement “hobby” for Jim Sr. as both his son and I had full-time jobs. After I bought them out (with Eric noted above) in 2014, we have continued to have a great relationship with Jim Jr. and have continued to build each others’ businesses. The interesting thing is, I have always worked remotely (100 miles away) from the majority of the staff at the offices/warehouse.

My name is Matt Griffin, and I'm the CEO of Combat Flip Flops--a team of people that believe we can bring sustainable, peaceful solution to armed conflict with education and economics.

As the CEO, I manage the corporate team to help drive messaging, social media, and sales. Alongside me is Andy Sewrey, President, and Donald Lee, CMO.

I am Sumit Bansal from India and I have a website (TrumpExcel.com) where I teach people how to use Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets efficiently. On this site, I create written tutorials and videos and also sell online courses.

I started this site in 2013 and it gets more than 1 million pageviews every month. As of last month, my average monthly revenue was ~$10,000.

My name is Peter Thorpe and I started FireAvert. We sell a few different products that prevent fires, but our main product is one that plugs into your oven and prevents the #1 cause of fires, unattended cooking.

We mostly sell to multi-family property owners and senior living properties. We do have an e-commerce presence, but the B2B side is where we do 95% of our business. We did over $2 million in revenue in 2018 and should double that in 2019.

Hi, I’m Fred Perrotta, the co-founder, and CEO of Tortuga.

Over the past nine years, we’ve bootstrapped our way to seven figures in revenue.

Team Tortuga on a retreat in Montreal

My name is Valentin Ozich. I'm the Founder and Creative Director of the men's premium streetwear brand; I Love Ugly.

Despite a few setbacks along the way and despite my lack of skills when I first started out, I believe we are back on the path to hit that goal and are proof that with a bold dream, ambition and hard work anybody has the potential to turn an idea that began out of your bedroom into a multi-million dollar business.

I'm Dean Salakas Chief Party Dude at The Party People. Our goal is to help people have the parties of their dreams. We are Australia’s largest party store selling balloons, decorations, costumes, novelties, confectionary, theme partyware, and anything else you could possibly want for a party.

The business has over 30 staff and a multimillion-dollar turnover.

My name is Roy Kirchner, an entrepreneur from Odessa, Florida. After years spent in the automobile and marketing and advertising industries, I decided in 2014 to form a new company solely focused on emerging new technology, 3D printing.

I started my company with an initial, out-of-pocket investment of $65,000, and today we are averaging monthly gross sales of $330,000.

Hi guys! I’m Scott McInnes, founder of TapSnap, a photo booth company with franchised locations in most major cities in the United States and Canada as well as Sydney, Australia. Our flagship product is our TS-42, an open-air photo booth that features a giant 42-inch touch screen and a high quality DSLR camera for fantastic image quality.

We launched TapSnap in 2012, and within a few years grew to over 100 franchised locations in North America. Our photo booths are used at over 10,000 events every year, for everything from a wedding for a few hours to a multi-day conference, or a 40 city movie premiere.

Hello, I’m Marcia Wiggins and the founder of Cape Whoopies. We are small batch whoopie pie bakers who love creativity in the kitchen. Our mission is to share the most delicious Maine whoopie pies made with the highest quality ingredients with people all over the country.

We share a 5,300 square foot space with a coffee shop. Partnering with Rwanda Bean Coffee Company has scaled our total sales up by 40%, at this point of the year. One can only wonder where we will be by the end of the year since the fourth quarter is our busiest season.

Hey there! My name is Ryan Chen and I am the co-founder of Neuro, a functional gum, and a mint company that delivers energy, clarity, and focus in a minty and refreshing way.

Back in October 2015, one of my best friends from college (Kent Yoshimura) and I began developing the idea for Neuro when we realized there was a lack of portable, healthy, or effective alternatives to energy drinks or supplements. Both Kent and I trained in athletics at a national level and to find products that would help us balance life and school was nearly impossible.

I’m William Scott Forshaw and I am the founder and CEO of Maxwell-Scott. Maxwell-Scott is a British-born luxury leather goods company for the refined professional seeking timeless design and high-quality craftsmanship. As a brand, our ethos is to support slow fashion by creating impeccably-made leather pieces for our customers to cherish and pass on through the generations.

Plus, last year we were nominated for Drapers’ Accessory Brand Of The Year which was a true reason to celebrate. I am so immensely proud of the progress that the team and I have made and know that there is so much more potential for growth.

Saracens Players With Maxwell-Scott X Saracens Giovane Canvas Holdall

My name is Sasha Weekes and I’m the 25 years old owner of Timber Grove Studios. Our home-based woodshop is nestled in the hills of PEI’s countryside, and we specialize in decorative shelving and home decor with a focus on minimalist design and simplicity. Each piece is made to order with 20+ color options, meaning it will be the perfect fit for each customer's space. We ship Canada and U.S. wide.

Etsy has been the main platform since starting up, although I finally have a standalone website up and running as well which I hope to grow in order to diversify sales channels. I have no current employees, although I have a wonderful subcontractor who works from home to cut and stain wood for me. She’s paid by the piece so it’s a great system for both of us. My partner Mario works full time but has recently joined me on the side and we’ve released a new line of steel table bases together which has been a ton of fun - he is an awesome welder.

After launching in 2017 and being skeptical about making sales of large items online, I was absolutely proved wrong! The business outgrew our small condo basement within 7 months and outgrew the garage/basement of our next rental home in 7 months as well. We’re now happily settled with a detached shop and garage, meaning there’s some room to grow (for now!) and space to begin stocking up on items for the Christmas rush before summer ends.

Moving twice in two years has definitely caused organizational, financial and opportunity hiccups, but the business has grown steadily regardless so we’re very excited about where 2020 will take us. We’ve learned what to focus on during which months, as revenue can range anywhere from $2000 during slow months to $10,000 during high months. Net profit has run anywhere between 20-50% throughout the life of the business and varies month to month. It’s closer to 20% right now as we’ve been spending all we can on new tools and materials for our new larger products and our Christmas stock.

I’m Colin McIntosh, Founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles, a pun-based, eco-friendly bedding brand that launched in May 2018 on Indiegogo with our first product: lyocell bed sheets made from eucalyptus trees.

In our first 6 months in business, we received over 6,000 orders and nearly half a million dollars in revenue, and in September we won first place at Denver Startup Week 2018. In October, we began shipping preorders and got about 4,500 out the door, and we’re still catching up with demand! Nearly ⅘ of our customers are women, and more than half are in their 20s and 30s.

That’s me in the middle after winning Denver Startup Week back in September.

My name is Nick Bare and I own Bare Performance Nutrition. We are a sports nutrition and health supplement company based out of central Texas, just about 20 minutes north of Austin.

I built the brand while working as an active duty Soldier, sleeping very little and working very much. Bare Performance Nutrition has always specialized in sports performance (pre-workout, pump enhancers, whey protein, BCAAs) but is now adding to the line of health supplements (greens superfoods, red superfoods, multi-vitamin, joint support) due to the increased demand and popularity from the current customers. The flight is our flagship product (pre-workout) which launched the brand in 2012 and has been one of our fastest moving products to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDLNE0ysjM

I am Nikolay Piriankov, the Founder and CEO of Taylor & Hart. We are an award-winning, disruptive e-tailer of custom-designed, ethical engagement rings, wedding rings, and fine jewellery, that capture your story. Our online platform, processes, and brand democratises bespoke jewellery, allowing us to offer this service at scale. Taylor & Hart's vision is to reconnect customers with the original purpose of jewellery - a personalised product that tells a unique story.

Recently we closed a seed round of £1M. The London based Garage Soho, an early stage investor and brand builder also supported us in the last round.

London showroom

Hey guys, my name is Ronnie Teja and I am the Founder and CEO of Branzio Watches.

We are doing about $25k/mo in sales right now, which is poised to double in the next 6 months at least as we open and explore new markets.

I’m Evan and I started Plain Jane with my college roommate, Duane Dennis.

We’re also continuing to innovate and create new products. Our flagship product is a low smell and ultra smooth CBD cigarette. It has the same potency of other CBD flower products but without that identifying weed smell.

Within 5 months of starting to sell, we’re now generating more than $20K a month in sales. We have customers in 47 states and we’re in more than 12 retail locations.

Ciao! We are Alessandro Pepe (Italian) and Lindsay Gabbard (American), founders of the Roscoli Wine Club, and partners in every sense - love included. We, along with 2 other partners, manage Rimessa Roscioli, a wine-focused restaurant of the Roscioli group in the heart of Rome, which is arguably the best wine bar in Rome, if not the world (Lindsay moved here because of it, even if she says it was me).

Hello Stater Story readers! My name is Dmitriy Peregudov, I am a founder of GiftBasketsOverseas.com, a company offering global gift delivery in 200+ countries Worldwide.

Our company’s purpose is to help people build personal and business relationships Worldwide, one gift at a time and since the launch, we had a pleasure to connect more than 2 million people Internationally in more than 200 countries.

Hello, my name is Dylan Jacob and I am the founder of BruMate, AKA, The Dehydration Company. We are a unique insulated drinkware brand with a sole focus on the adult beverage community.

I launched our first product line in November 2016. We did $250,000 in sales from November-December 2016, 2.1M in sales in 2017, and we are now doing over 1.1M/mo in sales, in over 1000 retailers nationwide, and are on track to do 20M this year with roughly 35-45% bottom line depending on our ad-spend.

I’m Cory Stout, Captain of Woodies. I started a wood sunglasses brand when I was 28 years old.

In 2018, I topped 3.5 million in revenue and somehow ended the year with less money than when I started! I bought a Bentley to celebrate…

Hello! My name is Stephan Aarstol. I'm the CEO of Tower Electric Bikes.

In October of 2019, Tower was named one of the "Top 20 Shark Tank Products of All Time" in USA Today. We've done over $36 million in sales since getting a $150,000 investment from Mark Cuban in 2012.

My name is Umberto Luchini, and I am the founder and proprietor of Wolf Spirit Distillery, which crafts Blood x Sweat x Tears vodka, and imports Tom of Finland Organic Vodka. Our distillery is based in Eugene, OR (in a former laundromat).

We created Blood x Sweat x Tears for misfits: people who are pursuing their own dreams. I am one of those people: I walked away from a very comfortable CMO job with a multi-national liquor company to found Wolf Spirit, which is named in honor of that kind of independence. I had become a misfit in the corporate world and needed to follow my own path. The first two years were -- I assure you -- almost all blood, sweat, and tears; but now, in our third year, we are off to the races: in the first six months of the year our vodkas became available in 23 states, and by the end of the year we should be in 40, and in important chain stores such as Total Wine and WalMart. Just to put that into context, that type of growth usually takes 4 years.

Hi, my name is Kamil Banc and I’m the co-founder of Fragrance One. We help our customers navigate through the jungle of fragrances by focusing on one thing: To create the perfect scents for specific situations.

Today we are selling about $200k/mo B2C at a 70-80% margin depending on promotions and time of the year.

My name is Mehdi Farsi, I'm the co-founder of State Bicycle Co. in Tempe Arizona. We specialize in great-looking, great riding bicycles, parts, and accessories that are both attractive and affordable.

We sell our own brand of bikes, clothing, and accessories, as well as a handful of curated complimentary products directly on our website and through over 400 bike shops worldwide. The business has grown to over $50m+ in annual sales and we’ve produced over 100,000 bikes.

I am Kofi, a young aspiring philanthropist interested in the art industry and fascinated

Currently, the site generates $100 a week with an organic marketing strategy. Not a lot, but the main goal here is to build a sustainable brand, allowing people who want to dip their toes into the world of design by providing little design elements that will add quality artsy atmosphere into their space.

As a designer and an innovator, my image thrives on self-improvement and creating the best version of myself. I aspire to reach the heights that I set for myself because I believe that I compete with myself. I’ve also focused a lot on self-discovery in terms of finding ways to realize my full potential and what I could do with it. As such, this translates into the image of my business; always pushing to create and present the best versions of my work, and to relay who I am through my work.

My name is Mehdi Farsi, I'm the co-founder of State Bicycle Co. in Tempe Arizona. We specialize in great-looking, great riding bicycles, parts, and accessories that are both attractive and affordable.

We sell our own brand of bikes, clothing, and accessories, as well as a handful of curated complimentary products directly on our website and through over 400 bike shops worldwide. The business has grown to over $50m+ in annual sales and we’ve produced over 100,000 bikes.

Baloo Living is asleep and wellness company launched from Bali in 2018. Our signature product is a weighted blanket, an incredible tool for calming the nervous system with gentle pressure, similar to the way being hugged or held makes us feel naturally comforted. These blankets have been used for decades by therapists and are only now going mainstream as people discover just how powerful they can be for improving sleep and soothing anxiety--without the use of medication.

It’s exciting to be bringing a product to market that does so much good and only beginning to reach critical mass. The market for weighted blankets is exploding - currently, on Amazon, there are millions of dollars in sales monthly, and we know that e-commerce generally represents 10% of retail sales in the US. We reached six figures in our third month, and seven figures after our first holiday season before even a year has passed! Baloo took off like crazy, partly because we stand for the highest product quality, customer service, and thoughtful design.

My name is Jonathan Bradford and I grew up in a household with a father who built his own successful engineering business (my mother would have always said it was in fact always on the verge of bankruptcy fighting off the bailiffs).

As one that has always been very aware of the importance of CLEAN HANDS, I firmly believed from the outset that this concept had legs, in that if I could provide a nice looking dispenser that looked at home in all environments, hold a good number of antibacterial wipes at a reasonable cost, it had to add value to both the club, office or workspace, for it enhances the overall perception of cleanliness within the organization. It puts hand and surface wipes easily within reach of both staff and members leaving NO room for excuses - convenience improving compliance!

My name is Braxton Manley and I am a 23-year-old living in Austin. I started Braxley Bands with my dorm-mate Grant Andrews as a class project at Texas Tech about 3 years ago.

We created an elastic Apple Watch band and started making them by hand on my Nana’s sewing machine. We have since scaled the business from an original $20 upfront for materials to $100K a month on Shopify. No other capital or investment was ever put into the business.

I’m Colin McIntosh, Founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles, a pun-based, eco-friendly bedding brand that launched in May 2018 on Indiegogo with our first product: lyocell bed sheets made from eucalyptus trees.

In our first 6 months in business, we received over 6,000 orders and nearly half a million dollars in revenue, and in September we won first place at Denver Startup Week 2018. In October, we began shipping preorders and got about 4,500 out the door, and we’re still catching up with demand! Nearly ⅘ of our customers are women, and more than half are in their 20s and 30s.

That’s me in the middle after winning Denver Startup Week back in September.

My name is Nick Bare and I own Bare Performance Nutrition. We are a sports nutrition and health supplement company based out of central Texas, just about 20 minutes north of Austin.

I built the brand while working as an active duty Soldier, sleeping very little and working very much. Bare Performance Nutrition has always specialized in sports performance (pre-workout, pump enhancers, whey protein, BCAAs) but is now adding to the line of health supplements (greens superfoods, red superfoods, multi-vitamin, joint support) due to the increased demand and popularity from the current customers. The flight is our flagship product (pre-workout) which launched the brand in 2012 and has been one of our fastest moving products to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDLNE0ysjM

At this point, I realized I wanted to formalize my work experience. I earned a master’s degree in environmental management and sustainability at Harvard. I also spent four years working in waste minimization at Los Alamos National Laboratory. But government work doesn’t suit a mermaid. So, I traded in the government credentials and began working on my passion project — FinalStraw.

In the last year, we’ve sold 300,000 straws, preventing approximately 27,000,000 single-use straws from entering the environment.

Hi everyone, my name is Gia, and I am the owner of Boutique Rye. We are a women’s clothing and accessories boutique that is all online!

We have anywhere from clothes that are appropriate for work or clothes that will make you turn heads on a night out on the town. I try and buy clothes with many different styles in mind. I'd like to think that we are a one-stop shop for a diverse group of women!

My name is Mat Hofma, and I created Mini Materials. We sell miniature masonry and woodworking supplies like cinder blocks, red bricks, pallets, lumber, and even molds to pour your own cinder blocks.

Since then we've expanded to different styles of mini masonry and even kits to build models.

My name is Nick Bare and I own Bare Performance Nutrition. We are a sports nutrition and health supplement company based out of central Texas, just about 20 minutes north of Austin.

I built the brand while working as an active duty Soldier, sleeping very little and working very much. Bare Performance Nutrition has always specialized in sports performance (pre-workout, pump enhancers, whey protein, BCAAs) but is now adding to the line of health supplements (greens superfoods, red superfoods, multi-vitamin, joint support) due to the increased demand and popularity from the current customers. The flight is our flagship product (pre-workout) which launched the brand in 2012 and has been one of our fastest moving products to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDLNE0ysjM

My name is Michael “Medium Rare” O’Donnell and I’m the owner of Cave Tools and Grill Master University.

In 2017, we were ranked as the 3rd fastest growing company in Philadelphia and in 2018 we were ranked as the #453 fastest growing company on the Inc. 5000 list.

My name is Jay Vasantharajah and I am the co-founder of PureFilters.

We are most proud about our obsession in building systems to maximize customer experience and as a result we have built quite the fan base among homeowners in Canada.

What’s up Y’all! My name is Brian Wysong and I am the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of a Texas-inspired apparel brand called Tumbleweed TexStyles.

We also hire teachers to help us out with art, events and sales. We love to support students and teachers in any way we can.

Hi, my name is Anastasia Andreani. I grew up in the Midwest, in a small town outside Chicago. From a very young age, I was drawn to the world of beauty and art. Growing up wasn’t easy. My parents got divorced when I was very young, which led me to start working and hustling to make money at a young age. I have always been a free-willed spirit with the intention of paving my own way in life.

Vizio Makeup Academy has enrolled over 3,300 students and generated $2.4M in revenue this year. We have been contributing a lot of energy and time into our growth strategies, so we aim to double and triple our earnings in the years to come.

Hey guys! I’m Eddie and I’m the founder of Flyby. We’re a health & wellness startup focused on building supplements that’ll allow people to be the best versions of him or herself.

We launched in March 2017 and in approximately 10 months, hit $1M in sales. We are now doing close to $200K/mo in sales, in some of the top retail stores (Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, American Eagle) and are on track to do $2.5M this year. And since the release of our new formulation, we’ve consistently generated over 40 percent in repeat purchase revenue.

I am Mikael Soderlind, I started Knife Aid in January 2019. Knife Aid is a mail-in knife sharpening service, modernizing an antique service by giving anyone who mails in their cutlery access to a master knife smith using the highest quality in techniques and materials to revive your knives.

As of January 2020, we are currently trading at $250,000 per month and have seen a steady increase month over month and continue to see the same in this coming year. Some of the main reasons for our success are that we are a service that pretty much every American home is in need of. Creating a business that speaks to the masses ultimately leads to great success. We have also had tremendous PR just this past year including top national publications and TV shows including Shark Tank and The View.

Hello, my name is Chris Meade, and I’m the co-founder of CROSSNET, the world’s first four-way volleyball game. We have created a revolutionary four-way volleyball net where four players compete in a hybrid version of foursquare and volleyball in a competitive game to 11, win by 2.

We began working on our first prototype of CROSSNET during the summer of 2017 when I and our co-founders Greg Meade and Mike Delpapa moved to Miami to start our business. In 2018 we did $74,000 in revenue and just one year later we 30x’d our business in 2019 to $2,250,000 in sales.

My name is Lisa Will and I am the founder of Stonz, a baby and children vegan footwear and accessories brand. I live in and love Vancouver, BC. I am called a Mompreneur but really I was a person always wanting my own business but having a child kickstarted my entrepreneurial journey for me. I’m good at just being an entrepreneur!.

My story is one that considers these three finite factors everyday and trying to be as successful as I could within them. My judgment for myself is my kids, my relationships, and my mental and physical health. So far I’m winning overall but it’s a long game. Play it knowing it’s a marathon.

Hi, my name is TJ and I am the co-founder and CEO of Healthy Chew.

When we first started, we sold around 200 bowls each week. We currently sell around 10,000 bowls each month. Most companies like this start the same way, cooking from their primary residence for family and friends. We were no exception. But as we continued to grow, we spent time and money to work out of rentable commercial kitchens until we were able to afford our own.

Hey everyone! My name is Mitchel Matthews and I am a 22-year-old entrepreneur. I am the owner/founder of Adrenaline Offroad which is an eCommerce store for aftermarket vehicle accessories! We mainly focus our expertise in the realm of automotive LED lighting accessories. Our products are built for a person who will endure hardcore offroading situations with their vehicle all the way to people who attend multiple shows per month in their show trucks! Some of our most popular products being our RGB+W underglow/rock light & LED wheel ring lights. In just over a year of quitting my job to pursue my passion for truck mods full time, I am so beyond proud & excited to be making 5x the amount of money that I used to make per month!

Pictured above is our most popular bundle kit called “The UFO GLOW Bundle Kit”

Hi, my name is Thomas Bertrand, I’m from France and I've been living in Japan since 2003. I started my online store Bento&Co in November of 2008.

In 2016, I also started a new business, a SaaS for online sellers in Japan to manage shipments, called Ship&Co.

Hi everyone! My name is Alastair Kennett and I’m one of the two founders of OptiMale. My brother David and I founded OptiMale just over 2 years ago. OptiMale is a testosterone replacement and men’s health clinic which provides effective treatment to men across the UK who suffer from low testosterone and fertility issues.

We have seen a growth of over 850% since our first year with both a massive increase in our number of monthly subscriptions and blood test sales.

My name is Roy Kirchner, an entrepreneur from Odessa, Florida. After years spent in the automobile and marketing and advertising industries, I decided in 2014 to form a new company solely focused on emerging new technology, 3D printing.

I started my company with an initial, out-of-pocket investment of $65,000, and today we are averaging monthly gross sales of $330,000.

I am Sunny Choudhary, a 24-year-old co-founder of PortraitFlip with a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai.

We make sure to choose the best artists across the world so that there are no doubts in the hearts of our customers.

We are Christian and Rasmus Mikkelsen, also known as the Mikkelsen Twins online. We run an online education company where we help people to build an online book publishing business. The reason why we teach what seems like a random/kinda weird online business model is because it’s what changed our lives almost 3 years ago and freed us from the life path we were heading down (were in the middle of a business degree in community college and there was absolutely no hope for a truly happy and fulfilled life if we had continued to take that path in life).

Fast forward to today, our company is making over 6-figures in profit every month which is almost unbelievable for two 24-year-old (ambitious) idiots with just a laptop, wifi connection and a small team.

Hi everyone, my name is Gia, and I am the owner of Boutique Rye. We are a women’s clothing and accessories boutique that is all online!

We have anywhere from clothes that are appropriate for work or clothes that will make you turn heads on a night out on the town. I try and buy clothes with many different styles in mind. I'd like to think that we are a one-stop shop for a diverse group of women!

Oh My Balm was founded two years ago and we make kitchen-crafted all-natural body products. Our tagline is “Two Mom’s Making it Real.”

We promote them through our marketing, as they work on several different projects that create a life of prosperity for African women and their families. You can find more about them here. The other charity that is close to our hearts is Behind The Scenes, which provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals if they, or their immediate dependent family, are seriously ill or injured. We make a body butter, “Crew,” and we give a portion of the proceeds of every tin sold to BTS. This got us mention in several entertainment industry magazines.

My name is Chris Crawford and I am the founder of RinseKit. We design, manufacture, and sell the RinseKit- a portable pressurized shower that’s like having a hose to go. It doesn’t require pumping or batteries, fills from a hose spigot or sink in 30 seconds, can maintain pressure for up to a month, and is entirely portable. We started the business back about 5 years ago and have since grown to average over $1.5 M in sales each year.

Hi, my name is David Krippendorf and I am the founder and inventor of the Kitchen Safe.

I invented the Kitchen Safe for snacking on food. What we’ve found is more than half of our customers use it for other items: cell phones, cigarettes, alcohol, cash & credit cards, etc.

Hey, I’m Samantha, one of the three founders of DessertBoxes.com.au - an online Dessert Gift Giving store which is here to innovate and disrupt the gift giving industry! We ship these gift boxes all around Sydney & Melbourne. Everything is made fresh every morning and delivered to the recipient by 3pm that day.

The story starts where three siblings came together to create Dessert boxes and Donut Bouquets as our way of waging a war against boring gifts!

We launched just last Valentines Day, and in our first year, have turned over more than one million in sales and now have a presence in Sydney & Melbourne.

Hey guys, my name is Ronnie Teja and I am the Founder and CEO of Branzio Watches.

We are doing about $25k/mo in sales right now, which is poised to double in the next 6 months at least as we open and explore new markets.

I am the founder and President of Marshal Group LLC, a licensed Illinois dealer specializing in exporting vehicles from the U.S. and Canada to destinations abroad.

Our first full year, 2008, we had $26MM in gross sales, working from the bedroom of my house with myself and my mom as the only two employees. Sales slowed in 2009 with the recession but from 2010 to 2015 we grew each year peaking at $50MM in sales and 650 vehicles sold.

My name is Tyler Robertson, and I’m the founder and CEO of Diesel Laptops.

In three short years, it went from me in my dining room table and garage to a 21,000 square foot facility with over 90 employees.

My name is Nate Lipton and I’m one of the founders of a group of related companies in the cannabis and hemp industries.

We now have made it to the point where GrowersHouse.com is the largest e-commerce store in our niche, with one of the most popular YouTube series about cannabis cultivation. The cannabis and hemp industries are taking off, and I can’t think of a more interesting industry to be in on the ground floor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4FflVtzlE0