Browse Case Studies

QOR360, founded by 71-year-old Turner Osler (a former trauma surgeon and epidemiologist), designs and manufactures active chairs that encourage movement while sitting to prevent back pain and other health issues caused by passive sitting. The company grew from $100K to $1M in revenue over two years, primarily through earned media coverage (notably a Wall Street Journal article and mentions at Google) and word-of-mouth marketing, while maintaining an affordability-focused pricing strategy.

Shirley Tan, an experienced e-commerce entrepreneur, created Posture Keeper after her own debilitating back pain led her to experiment with backpack straps attached to her chair, which resolved her symptoms in two weeks. Encouraged by Shark Tank's Kevin Harrington, she spent 10 months perfecting the product design through two iterations and extensive factory collaboration before planning a Kickstarter launch. The hardware startup represents Shirley's return to the physical product space after years in digital e-commerce, leveraging her network and research into crowdfunding best practices.

ONAK is a hardware startup that created a high-performance, foldable origami canoe that can be assembled in 15 minutes and fits in a car or airplane. After 4 years of development, the team launched on Kickstarter in July 2016 and raised €235,000 (157% of goal) through viral media coverage including features in Business Insider Design and Time Magazine. The founders—an engineer, designer, and experienced outdoor sales manager—have grown the business through direct-to-consumer sales on their website plus retail partnerships and an ambassador program.

Mongoose Cricket launched a radically new cricket bat design in 2009 with a glitzy PR campaign at Lord's that generated massive media coverage across British newspapers and TV. The company spent over $130,000 sponsoring professional cricketers like Matthew Hayden in the Indian Premier League, betting heavily that the innovative product would disrupt a tradition-bound sport. Despite early revenue success (£130,000 in the 2011 season), the business ultimately failed due to the conservative cricket market, fragmented Indian distribution challenges, and unsustainable player sponsorship costs that far exceeded sales.

KOLOS was an iPad racing wheel hardware product that burned through $50,000 over 3 years without achieving product-market fit. Founder Ivaylo Kalburdzhiev built the product without validating customer demand first, relying on expensive industrial designers and prototyping instead of lean MVP testing. The Kickstarter campaign in early 2015 raised only $4,000 from 48 backers, leading to shutdown—but Ivo learned from the failure to become a successful crowdfunding consultant.

Emit is a productivity-focused smartwatch founded by Stephen Titus and Thushaan that displays countdowns of important tasks and goals rather than traditional time, leveraging the psychology of scarcity to change user behavior. The founders launched on Kickstarter in 2018 and exceeded their goal by 330%, raising $17,000 from 180 backers, validating strong market interest in their novel approach to time management. They grew through community building on social media and Reddit while navigating the complex challenges of hardware manufacturing and competing against both traditional watches and feature-rich smartwatches.

CROSSNET is a four-way volleyball net company founded by Chris Meade and two childhood friends that grew from a late-night brainstorming session to a $300k/month business in less than two years. The team built the product by prototyping with Walmart nets, iterating with manufacturers for a year, and strategically distributing units to influencers who created engaging content. Their growth came from repurposing influencer videos into Facebook and Instagram ads while continuously optimizing their Shopify store with conversion tools like Privy, Klaviyo, Hotjar, and Carthook.