Partnerships Playbook

Pixie is an image optimization SaaS platform launched in 2014 by Holly Cardew that helps e-commerce merchants automatically edit and optimize product photos for multiple platforms within 24 hours. The company is self-funded with $150k in angel investment, operates with a distributed team of 16 (plus 100+ freelance designers), and is processing hundreds of thousands of images with over 7,000 customers. Holly grew the company to breakeven by 2015 and found the most explosive growth through an affiliate program that generated 1,000 signups and 70 paying customers in just three weeks.

BrewPublic is a craft beer curation and delivery service founded in 2014 by 26-year-old Charlie Mulligan. The company uses an algorithm to match customers with personalized beer selections from 3,000+ craft beers, serving both offices and consumers across Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, and San Francisco. In 2015, BrewPublic generated $275,000 in revenue with 35% net margins, and projects $1-2 million in 2016 after raising $500,000.

Haz Design is a product design agency founded by Tracy Hazard and her husband Tom that has co-designed over 250 consumer products generating over $1 billion in retail sales. Their flagship product, an office chair launched in Costco around 2010, has sold over 1 million units and generated approximately $1 million in combined fees and royalties. The business operates on a retainer-plus-royalty model, with monthly fees ($10,000-$20,000) covering costs and 2-3% royalties on product sales, achieving an 86% success rate for products launched in the last 10 years.

Michael Slavin built US Emerald Energy, an oil and gas exploration company that brings investors into drilling partnerships, after recovering from bankruptcy post-military service. Starting with $203,000 raised from four people (including a stranger met at a gas station) in his first week and a half, he grew the company to $1 million in profit within 3.5 years. The company has operated for over 23 years, maintaining an 85-90% success rate on wells by focusing on PUD (Proved Undeveloped) reserves with 3D seismic data, and profiting from both investor management fees (20%) and direct well ownership stakes.

Ray Edwards is a bestselling author and communication strategist who transitioned from freelance copywriting to building a scalable online education business. His 2015 revenue reached $678,000, with a single course launch generating $400,000 in one month through his email list and affiliate partnerships. He commands $150,000+ fees for copywriting projects and is launching a new book with a free+shipping model to drive course sales.

iMoji is a sticker platform that enables users to create and share custom emojis across messaging apps. Founded by Daniel Gruselowski and Jason Stein with four other co-founders, the company raised $2M in seed funding and grew to over 1 billion impressions per month by December 2015. They monetize through partnerships with messaging apps and plan native advertising as their primary revenue model.

Cellbreaker was a venture-backed startup co-founded by Jules Hill, who joined the company as COO after graduating from a top-5 business school. The company raised approximately $50K initially and was accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program in California, which brought an additional $100K investment. Jules eventually left the company after 2 years due to slowed growth caused by legal negotiations with cell phone carriers and potential acquisition talks, though he retains about 1% equity on a vesting schedule.

Ben Uyeda is an architect and designer who founded Zero Energy Design in 2006 and has built a real estate development practice by combining creative design with financial engineering. His flagship Boston project involved acquiring a $100k empty lot zoned for two units, negotiating a zoning variance with the city to build three units through sustainable design proposals, and creating innovative one-bedroom loft-style apartments tailored to Boston's young professional demographic—resulting in units selling for around $500k.

Spark Labs Global Ventures is a multi-location early-stage venture capital firm founded by Frank Meehan after his successful tenure at Horizon Ventures, where he served on boards including Spotify. The firm raised a $30 million fund in 2014 and has deployed approximately half of it across 52 portfolio companies, with an average deal size of $250-500K, while also operating the largest accelerator in Korea with 2,500+ attendees at demo days.

Mark Gunye is a serial entrepreneur who operates two businesses: Gunye Tumie Inc., a family-run electronics components sales organization processing $2-4 million monthly in transaction volume with 2-5% margins, and Bridge Equity Group, a real estate fix-and-flip and multi-family acquisition business in Northern California. He generates approximately $100-200K+ profit per real estate deal (averaging 6 deals annually) by identifying undervalued properties through MLS listings, agents, and wholesalers, then adding value through renovations and strategic improvements before resale.

Jay Bean founded FreshLine in 2014 after leaving his Chief Strategy Officer role at Deluxe Corporation. FreshLine helps local service-based businesses attribute marketing spend to actual transactions and automatically re-engage past customers. With a couple hundred direct customers paying $150-400/month, FreshLine is projected to hit $250K in the first full year, with plans to scale to $4-5M through partner relationships.

Grom (formerly U-Creat 3D) is a 3D printing company founded in 2012 that delivers customizable 3D printed accessories through major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Overstock. Co-founded by Vincent Vandepel with a 50-50 equity split, the company generated $85K in revenue in 2015 and projected $1.2M for 2016, fueled by large retail partnerships and a unique hybrid manufacturing model combining Asian production with US on-demand 3D printing. Having raised $180K on a convertible note, the founders aimed to raise $750K in seed funding at a $6M valuation to reach $2-2.2M revenue within 18 months.

Morgan James Publishing is a hybrid traditional/self-publishing house founded by David Hancock that focuses on entrepreneurial authors. The company publishes approximately 135 titles per year from over 5,000 submissions, with a business model that pays authors 20-30% on physical book sales and 50-50 splits on ebooks. Notable authors published include Jeff Walker (Launch), Joel Combs (The AdSense Code), and Brendan Burchard (The Millionaire Messenger).

Noah Rasheta built iStabilizer, a smartphone and tablet accessories company, after struggling to film his young son at the park with his iPhone 3GS. Starting with a universal smartphone tripod adapter costing $1 to make and retailing for $19.95, he grew the business from $60-70K in first-year revenue to $400-500K after landing a Walmart deal. Today the company has 15 SKUs and generates significant revenue from major retailers like AT&T Wireless ($600K annually) and Walmart ($400K annually), with 75% of revenue from retail partnerships and 25% from online sales.

The Sales Whisperer, founded by Wes Schaefer in 2006, is a sales and marketing agency that generates approximately $500k annually by helping entrepreneurs implement CRM systems and sales strategies. Wes has built a recurring revenue business through Infusionsoft affiliate partnerships, earning $30k-$40k monthly in passive commissions from 300+ active customers, while diversifying into HubSpot, Active Campaign, and done-for-you support services.

Rob Burke founded MindTalk Technology to create communication devices built into mouth guards that let users hear through vibrations transmitted via their jawbone and teeth. The company has soft commitments for 5,000 units and is working with professional teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Stars. Rob is raising $1.7 million on a convertible note with 6% interest, having already secured $100,000 in soft commitments.

Joe Pulizzi built Content Marketing Institute into a dominant player in content marketing education through a multi-revenue model centered on large-scale events. Content Marketing World, their flagship conference, generates approximately 70% of revenue through paid registrations ($1,100 average yield per person) and sponsorships, with the 2016 event projected to bring in $9.25-$9.5M in total revenue and $2.5M in profit.

Thrive Digital is a performance marketing agency founded by Jonathan Becker that has grown from a 10-person Vancouver-based consultancy to 130 employees managing approximately $500 million in annual ad spend. The company got its breakthrough when Becker transparently disclosed an arbitrage exploit he had discovered in Uber's referral program at a TED conference afterparty, which led to Uber hiring them to fix the vulnerability and then employing them for 10 years. Today, Thrive works with major brands like Asana, Square, Masterclass, and Tempurpedic, focusing on sophisticated creative testing, attribution modeling, and channel diversification as core growth levers.

Tiny is Andrew Wilkinson's investment holding company that acquires and operates profitable businesses. Starting with $4-5 million in seed capital from his design agency MetaLab's profits in 2013, the company has grown to manage over $300 million in revenue across 30 businesses, with $65 million in ARR and $40+ million in EBITDA. The company went public via reverse merger in 2021 and now manages a $200 million fund alongside its core operations.

Moonbug Entertainment, founded by Renee (formerly of Maker Studios and Disney), acquired undermonetized children's YouTube channels including Cocomelon, Blippi, and Little Baby Bum. The company scaled from ~$20M ARR in 2019 to $230M+ with $100M EBITDA in 4 years, then exited to Blackstone-backed Candle for $3 billion in 2023, demonstrating the massive value in aggregating and monetizing organic YouTube IP.