other Startups

Flying Mag is a high-end aviation media publication acquired by Craig Fuller (founder of freight data company FreightWaves) that pivoted to content-to-commerce by launching a presale for an aviation-focused real estate community in Atlanta. The community features homes around a landing strip (country club model with private aviation). The publication leveraged its wealthy, niche audience of aviation enthusiasts to presell residential plots, generating at least $25 million in pre-sales, demonstrating successful monetization of engaged media audiences.

Missouri Star Quilting Company is a bootstrapped, family-owned e-commerce business co-founded by Al Doad and his mom Jenny that generates nine figures in annual revenue. The company started when Al's mom discovered a six-month waitlist for machine quilting services, leading Al to buy a machine and launch a service business. Growth accelerated dramatically when they launched a YouTube channel featuring Jenny teaching quilting (now nearly 1M subscribers) and implemented a daily deal strategy inspired by Woot.com, combined with turning their manufacturing facilities into a tourist destination called the "Disneyland for quilters" that attracts 100,000+ visitors annually.

Maitab is a 29-year-old independent sponsor who acquires distressed D2C e-commerce brands and turnarounds them using operational excellence and rapid cash recovery strategies. Starting from a health issue at 17, he built several seven-figure e-commerce businesses in guitars and pedals before pivoting to private equity-style investing. His current portfolio includes three majority-owned platform companies (SoloWood Flowers, a succulent company, and an apparel brand) worth mid-eight figures in revenue, plus minority stakes in 8-10 other companies.

Ramit Sethi built 'I Will Teach You to Be Rich' over 20 years, starting with failed in-person college classes before pivoting to a blog. His brand has evolved into a comprehensive personal finance platform including a bestselling book, podcast (currently #12 on Apple Podcasts), and a newly launched Netflix show that debuted at #9 and #6 respectively, generating massive engagement with thousands of daily messages and widespread social media traction.

Audie Attar founded Paradigm Sports Management in 2009 to revolutionize MMA fighter representation by creating IP, media, and business ventures rather than just securing sponsorship deals. He signed early fighters like Michael Bisping and discovered Conor McGregor in the regional Cage Warriors promotion, building one of the most successful sports management platforms. The company expanded beyond representation to creating ventures like Proper 12 Irish whiskey, which sold for approximately $600 million in 2024, demonstrating Attar's execution on his vision of building multi-hundred-million-dollar businesses around athlete clients.

Mr. Ballin Studios is a content media company founded by Navy SEAL veteran John Allen that creates mysterious and dark storytelling content. After a viral TikTok video about Dyatlov Pass garnered 5 million views in hours, Allen pivoted to content creation full-time, growing to 7 million TikTok subscribers and scaling to a 50+ person company with multiple shows, billions of views across platforms, and a podcast generating eight figures in monthly downloads.

Zuru is a toy manufacturing and consumer goods company founded by Nick Mowbray and his brother Matt, growing from a bootstrapped operation sleeping in bushes in China to a $2B+ revenue private company. The founders used relentless cold outreach, persistence through repeated rejection, and a focus on manufacturing excellence and automation to disrupt the toy industry and expand into FMCG categories. Today Zuru runs at ~40% net profit margins and operates globally with sophisticated automated production lines.

Formidable Fellowship is a nonprofit founded by Anand (and friend Raj) that provides $1,000 grants to middle and high school entrepreneurs who have proven revenue. Launched with $500K in funding, they received a few hundred applications in their first round, accepted 23 grantees, and have attracted contributions from notable entrepreneurs like Mesh from HubSpot and Sean Griffey from IndustryDive. The program serves as an MVP for Anand's larger vision of building a national network of schools of entrepreneurship.

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.

Ulysses is a robotics company building autonomous underwater vehicles to restore seagrass ecosystems at scale. Founded by Will O'Brien and a five-person team based in San Francisco, the company generated $1 million in revenue in its first year after raising $2 million in funding. They've secured government contracts in Western Australia, Florida, and Virginia for compliance-driven seagrass restoration, and are positioning their platform for broader maritime operations including infrastructure inspection and defense applications.

Internet Pipes is a content platform and community created by Seth Smith that teaches people how to find and discover interesting data, trends, and resources online. Starting as a Notion-based book with videos and text, it has evolved into a community platform with databases like the Digits database (100+ generation-defining statistics). The product has grown to eight-figure revenue by providing tools, resources, and insights on leveraging existing platforms to uncover trends.

Touchland transformed hand sanitizer from a commodity product into a luxury item by applying premium design, fragrance, and limited collaborations (Hello Kitty, Disney). The founder raised $67,000 on Kickstarter, achieved $1M in first-year revenue, and experienced explosive growth during COVID-19. Recently acquired for $880M with projected $130M annual revenue.

Chris Amon is a serial entrepreneur running 6+ profitable side hustles simultaneously, generating approximately $8,000 per day in cash flow. His portfolio includes the Beaver Snacks e-commerce business (reselling Bucky's merchandise), pet cremation logistics, Bitcoin mining hosting on Facebook Marketplace, and concept-stage ideas like floating golf hole-in-one challenges and repurposing tourist trap businesses. He operates with a bias toward rapid validation, focusing on low-competition market segments with high-ticket pricing and strong margins.

Tommy is a solo distressed investing operator who specializes in buying bankruptcy claims—particularly in cryptocurrency—at steep discounts and waiting for payouts. Starting with a small hedge fund buying Mt. Gox claims in 2014 for ~$80 per Bitcoin and eventually realizing 40x+ returns, he's built a lifestyle business operating from low-cost jurisdictions, partnering with institutional firms on larger deals while personally compounding capital at 30-50% annually through claims work and selective deep-value positions.

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.

John Morgan built Morgan and Morgan into one of the largest personal injury law firms in the country by pioneering advertising in the legal industry when it was taboo. Starting from a personal mission to help injured people, he scaled the firm to ~$2B in revenue through innovative marketing, brand building ("for the people"), and creating a network of referral partners. Beyond law, he's built a portfolio of entertainment attractions including Wonderworks, Alcatraz East, and now Flavor Town, generating significant cash flow.

Irrational Labs is a behavioral science consulting firm founded by Kristen Berman and Dan Ariely in 2013 that helps companies like Google, TikTok, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and PayPal improve product engagement and user behavior through applied behavioral economics. The company works with hundreds of clients using their proprietary "Three B's" framework—identifying specific behaviors to change, reducing barriers (logistical and cognitive), and highlighting immediate benefits—achieving measurable results like 24% reduction in misinformation sharing on TikTok and 20% increase in appointment bookings for One Medical.

Duarte Incorporated, founded by Nancy Duarte, has become the world's leading presentation design and storytelling agency, having crafted over 250,000 presentations for iconic brands including Apple, Google, TED, the World Bank, and Al Gore's groundbreaking 'An Inconvenient Truth.' The company pioneered modern presentation design in the early Macintosh era and continues to help Fortune 500 companies and world leaders master the art of persuasive communication through story structure, empathy-driven design, and visual clarity.

Open Door is a digital platform for buying and selling real estate that offers all-cash offers to sellers seeking simplicity and certainty. Led by Brian Tolkin (Head of Product and Design), the company operates with a vertically integrated model combining product, operations, pricing, and capital markets expertise. Open Door has pivoted during challenges like COVID-19 to virtualize home-buying processes and now partners with platforms like Zillow to expand reach.

Bob Mesta, co-creator of the Jobs to be Done framework, launched The Rewired Group and wrote 'Job Moves,' a tactical guide for finding jobs aligned with personal energy drivers and career goals. Over 15 years, he interviewed over 1,000 people and coached nearly 1,000 more, identifying four distinct job-search quests (get out, take the next step, regain control, realign) and distinguishing between job features (salary, title) and job experiences (energy drivers/drains). The book aims to help the ~1 billion people annually who switch jobs make better decisions by understanding their motivations and prototyping potential roles before committing.