Founded and sold Pura Vida - a DTC bracelet company - for 9-figures. Sharing wisdom on how I did it and how you can do the same. Family + Golf + Surfing
Does anyone work anymore?
Went on a walk Monday at 11:00 am and there were young people everywhere.
Working age people.
Between all these 'creator' types, remote work, quiet quitting, etc...
I honestly wonder how many people even work anymore.
Is your city like that?
Last year, I sold my DTC brand for $130M, after 12 years of hustle.
DTC is the easiest way to make your first $100K/month.
Here's the 5-step roadmap to launch your DTC brand in 30 days (bookmark for later)🧵
In 2010, my best friend and I invested $200 in an unproven side hustle and turned it into a $130M exit.
I'm super proud of the business we built while helping 600 global artisans make a living.
This is the crazy story of how we built Pura Vida 🧵
We had ZERO marketing budget for Pura Vida at the beginning.
And yet, we scaled the company to $130M.
Here's a 10-step checklist to market your D2C brand without any marketing budget 🧵
This was me 12 years ago.
Waking up early so I could be the first one in the office...
Processing credit cards by hand because we didn't have the tech to automatically charge people when their orders shipped.
Managing QuickBooks myself because we couldn't afford a bookkeeper.
Today my former company,
@puravidabrac
, let go of the first employee we hired 13 years ago.
They were bringing in $7M of sales per year, but their commissions were "too high"
Instead of reducing commissions and having a conversation with the employee.
They simply fired her and
I've built a $100M website that converts.
It all boils down to ONE thing.
Either you understand it or you don’t.
Here's your guide on how to create a $100M website (with examples) 🧵
Influencer Marketing didn't even exist in 2012.
And yet, I paid $7,500 to an influencer for a single post.
The result: $30K in sales in a single day
Since then, Influencer marketing has given more ROI than paid ads.
Here's your 2024 Influencer Marketing playbook 🧵
F.I.R.E. is a scam.
Financially Independent = Great
Retire Early = Dumb
I was bored within 72 hours of selling my company.
I’m no happier or more satisfied today than I was when I was working.
There's nothing fulfilling about indulging in leisure 24 / 7 / 365.
$18,000,000 in 4 Days - Part 2
Last year my company did $4,500,000 per DAY…
During Black Friday / Cyber Monday.
Here’s a tip for maxing out your BFCM sales:
2 - Create *Two* Killer Promos
It should go without saying you need a killer BF deal.
But you also need a reason for
Big agencies = Fresh college grads following outdated SOPs.
Micro Agencies = Technicians executing in the trenches.
My advice: Avoid big agencies like the plague.
I'll never understand people who leave California to save on taxes.
The entire point of making money is to improve your quality of life.
But if you love CA, moving away means reducing your quality of life just so you can have more money.
Stop trying to save. Just make more.
It took me 10+ years to get a $130M exit.
I could've done it sooner if I had known about a few killer tools.
Use these top 12 tools to scale your DTC startup to $100M+
(A 🧵)
I completed a 9-figure exit...
Have been sued...
And got married and became a father...
All before age 40.
If I could go back in time, here's what I would tell my younger self:
1 - Taking on extra responsibility is one of the fastest paths to growth.
Don't be afraid of it.
Don't tell the Productivity Bros, but I:
> Surf and golf
> Love watching series
> Almost never worked weekends
And still built a company to a 9-figure exit.
Here are 9 tips for building wealth without burning out:
I bootstrapped my company to a $130M exit.
Here are my top 10 commandments for scaling a DTC brand as a bootstrap entrepreneur.
Bookmark and revisit this often:
1 - Don’t give away a bunch of equity to a “guru” who says they will supercharge your business.
Odds are they
Real “wealth” is not:
❌Exotic cars
❌Rolexes
❌Flying private
Real wealth is:
✅Playing golf on a Tuesday afternoon
✅Having lunch with your spouse whenever you want
✅Working on what you love
According to Twitter I did everything wrong:
❌ Went surfing
❌ Took vacations
❌ Watched Netflix
❌ Took girls on dates
❌ Had drinks on the weekend
Still managed to sell my company for 9-figures.
Long-term time horizons > Short-term productivity hacks
You can get a masters in DTC by following experts on X.
They share incredibly useful DTC knowledge and all have built incredible companies.
If you want to kill it at DTC in 2024, follow these 10 incredible DTC entrepreneurs🧵
I think Gary Vee’s prediction around “voice” becoming huge could be the first time he’s super wrong about something big.
I don’t know anyone who uses Siri.
It’s Apple’s worst invention. Same for Alexa.
Am I wrong?
DTC Mistakes I Won't Make Twice:
❌ Hiring big name marketing agencies
❌ Going high tech when low tech works fine
❌ Chasing trends instead of chasing profit margin
❌ Trusting "consultants" who've never built something
If you don’t have kids yet, take action NOW.
Write that book.
Build that business.
Take that European summer vacation.
It’s only after you have kids you realize how much free time you actually had.
There are ~4.7M millionaire entrepreneurs in the US.
It’s statistically impossible all 4,700,000 of them were smarter, better connected, or had more funding than you when they started.
They just started and kept going.
You got this.
In terms of what you'll earn when you exit:
eCom alone = $$
eCom + Wholesale = $$$$
eCom + Wholesale + Retail = $$$$$
Diversity = Safety. And buyers like safety.
Cash Back > Points
If you're running ads, you should be doing Cash Back.
Ideally with a card that offers 2%.
That's an automatic 2% revenue boost.
Almost offsets the ~2.9% merchant fees.
Forget miles and points.
@lifeofbi
Any DTC that raised VC failed miserably.
Bootstrap, prove the concept and continue to reinvest in the business.
Stop trying to get rich quick... Build for a decade
While it’s true I worked very hard...
It’s also true I got lucky Facebook Ads were so cheap back in the day.
Launching and scaling Pura Vida in today’s environment would be much more difficult.
Not even sure how I would approach it today.
If you’re in DTC forget about building a “Personal Brand”
It's a waste of time.
This isn’t like selling courses or consulting where people buy into you as a person.
Focus on your product and brand, scale to 8+ figures and exit.
From there the ‘Personal Brand’ happens
Wholesale More Profitable Than eCom?!
Most people think wholesale = razor thin margins.
Yet at PV, wholesale was more profitable for us than eCom.
Here's what DTC founders don't get:
A Player Salary: $7,000 / month
B Player Salary: $5,000 / month
A Player Value Contribution: $50,000 / month
B Player Value Contribution: $15,000 / month
Yes, hiring A Players "costs" more.
But that investment will pay you back in spades.
There are ~4.7M millionaire business owners in the US.
It’s statistically impossible all 4,700,000 of them were smarter, better connected, or had more funding than you when they started.
They just started and kept going.
You got this.
My company skyrocketed when we stopped hiring any random person and started hiring A Players.
Have heard the same from many successful entrepreneurs.
If you haven’t gone this route yet, try it.
Total game changer.
I used to think flexing was:
💰 A supercar
💰 Flying private
💰 Living in a mansion
Now I realize the real flex is:
✅ Hanging w/my wife and daughter when most people are working.
If you’re thinking about having kids: Ignore the hate.
Yes, you’ll have sleepless nights, less free time, babies throwing up on you...
Guess what?
These are minor inconveniences compared to the joy and fulfillment you'll experience.
100x worth it, without a doubt.
Consultants who’ve never built or operated anything are like teenagers who play race car games but have never driven a car.
All theory, no experience.
And dangerous in real-life situations.
Best decision I ever made in business?
Enjoying the process.
Post-Exit life has it’s up and it’s downs.
Some days are incredible and some days are just boring.
If I’d spent 12 years building something I dreaded to arrive where I’m at today, I would regret it in a deep way.
What to Expect After You Exit
Everyone talks about scaling and exits, but nobody talks about what life is like AFTER the fact.
So, here's what to expect if you cash out:
@darrenmarble
I don't think this is the case... You can bootstrap a business, leverage credit cards and banking relationships to scale.
I would argue this is actually a harder way to grow a business and shows the CEO is scrappy and resourceful.
Never raised and built a $120M buinsess
I turned 9 pieces of string into a 9-figure bracelet company.
The only limits that exist are the ones in your mind.
Think bigger. Take action.
You’ve got this.
I turned 9 pieces of string into a 9-figure bracelet company.
The only limits that exist are the ones in your mind.
Think bigger. Take action.
You’ve got this.
Knowing what I know now…
I would never touch an eCom product that’s:
❌ Bulky (hard to ship)
❌ Holiday focused (too seasonal)
❌ Has high return rates (kills margins)
❌ Ultra Luxury (hard to convey value online)
Lots of DTC founders out there who turned down big offers only to end up regretting it.
On the flip side, I don't know anyone who "regrets" cashing out for life changing money.
If you get a fair offer, take it.
The game will always be there if you want to keep playing.
I never would’ve built Pura Vida if it hadn’t been for my trip to Costa Rica in 2010.
Traveling opens your eyes to new perspectives. It sparks your creativity.
A must for entrepreneurs in my opinion.
9-figure eCom founder on
@useintro
:
$500 for a 30 minute, 1-on-1 consult.
eCom guru who's done $1M in top line dropshipping:
$5,000 for a 6 week course with 1x group call / week and zero 1-on-1 access.
Careful who you're getting advice from.
Before we start, a few non-negotiables:
• Business has to be fun for you
• High margins (70%+ gross margin to scale via ads)
• Easy to market, explain, and use (not creating a new market here)
• Easy to scale - a product line extendable under the same brand
Let's go:
I’ve hired people that turned around entire departments in a matter of weeks / months.
For example, I could never figure out how to incentivize and manage our wholesale reps.
So I hired a guy who had years of experience and boom:
Wholesale revenue went from $7M to $35M quick.
Wow, didn't expect this to get a reply from Elon.
But his response drives home the fact start-up founders just think different.
We expect people to be in the office working 9-5 (and in many cases after hours).
That's how startups have worked for decades.
High intensity.
Does anyone work anymore?
Went on a walk Monday at 11:00 am and there were young people everywhere.
Working age people.
Between all these 'creator' types, remote work, quiet quitting, etc...
I honestly wonder how many people even work anymore.
Is your city like that?
Anytime we hired a tiny agency with 2-3 guys who spent 99% of their time in the trenches...
The results were outstanding.
This is arguably some of the best advice I could give to DTC founders:
Stay away from big agencies. Hire scrappy ones that execute like mad.
Things you should not be doing as a founder:
❌ Random HR work
❌ Packing and shipping orders
❌ Handling customer service tickets
❌ Trying to manage inventory using Excel
❌ Admin involved in keeping your office running
Focus on revenue generation.
What’s Next
The
#1
question people have asked me since exiting Pura Vida is "Paul, what's next?"
Here's what I've got on my mind:
Basically, I've realized building a business the second time around is a totally different ballgame.
Because this time around...
...my back isn't
Why Dumb People Get Rich
There's a quote on Twitter about how:
"There are people dumber than you, making more than you, because they took action."
In my experience, this is 100% true.
I don't see myself as abnormally smart or talented.
I worked as a valet when I started Pura
What are founders doing for traffic these days to launch a brand?
We were blessed FB ads were cheap during the early days of PV.
With today's situation I'm honestly not sure which traffic platform I'd focus on first to get something off the ground while bootstrapping.
The problem with Work From Home is there's no accountability.
No boss around = Have to hold yourself accountable.
Which, given human's tendencies toward the Path of Least Resistance...
Means most people doing WFH do the bare minimum.
Lot of controversy around this.
My take: If you're paying a % of revenue, you're getting fleeced.
So many other factors that go into the sale besides the email. Product design, quality of traffic, ad-spend, traffic source, etc etc.
Email should be a flat monthly fee.
That's
we got our emails on lockdown with a KILLER agency handling everything.
and no - they don’t take any email revenue % unlike these money twitter idiots. 🙅♂️
my agency is affordable and top notch- dm me if u need a connect 🤝
Successful entrepreneurs don’t delegate what they don’t understand.
If you hire someone before you understand their role, your operations will forever be at that person’s mercy.
My biggest mistake as CEO…
A mistake that shaved a YEAR off our progress...
And could have wiped us out completely.
Story time + Important business lesson:
Real entrepreneurs can’t stand people who talk about doing the thing…
But never actually do the thing.
Talking about it gives you a dopamine drip.
Actually doing it will get you results.
What's more productive...
You putting in 16 hour days?
Or a team of A Players working on a shared brand vision and goals?
You win through leverage. Not hours worked.
Four years is enough to build a company to a $1M exit…
Yet the education system is set up to encourage 18 year olds to take on $50K+ in debt with no guarantee they’ll make a single $ from their degree.
Her boxes kept showing up on my doorstep...
So I did some digging, and this is crazy:
Turns out the founder of a company my wife adores went from receptionist to building a $22,000,000+ per year DTC brand.
Here's her wild story + 5 scaling lessons 👇
I learned to start a business, focus on completing the small tasks in front of you each day. Thinking about all the steps to reach your end goal is daunting and a reason most people never begin in the first place.
Best eCom / DTC Niches for 2024
After scaling a DTC brand to 9-figures...
Here’s how I define the “perfect” eCom product:
1 - Low Cost of Goods Sold
Low COGS makes everything easier.
Especially when it comes to ordering / scaling inventory.
As every DTC found experiences,
If your company achieves any level of success, expect to come into contact with hordes of people who want to help you grow even more.
Life tip: Most of them have no idea what they're talking about.
Be ruthless about who you take advice from.
Moving away from California to save money on taxes is peak Low IQ
The entire point of making money is to improve your quality of life.
But if you love CA, moving away means reducing your quality of life just so you can have more money.
Stop trying to save. Just make more.
The Key to Hiring Good Agencies?
Find the scrappy ones that:
✅ Love executing
✅ Have a track record
✅ Do NOT have a big shiny office with 100 employees
Then hire them and get out of their way.
5 - Being decisive is the ultimate productivity hack.
Decide
Take action
Assess your results
Adjust your strategy
Repeat
Anything besides deciding and acting is mental masturbation.