Dell Computers

Plunge is a hardware company that manufactures and sells at-home cold plunge devices. Founded in 2020 by Ryan Duey and Michael after their brick-and-mortar float therapy and sauna businesses were impacted by COVID, the company grew from $270k in first-year revenue to $120M+ ARR in four years. Their success is driven by influencer gifting, organic word-of-mouth, and highly efficient paid advertising (7-10x ROAS on Facebook and Google).

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.

Vertigris is a Silicon Valley-based IoT hardware and SaaS company founded by Mark Chung and two co-founders that helps commercial buildings monitor and optimize electricity usage. They install magnetic sensor clamps on electrical panels paired with an iPhone-like gateway device, then provide recurring software services for energy management and predictive analytics. With 300 customers generating approximately $260k MRR ($3.12M ARR) and a goal to reach $5M revenue in 2017 (4x growth from $1.2M in 2016), they've raised $16M in venture capital and leverage Verizon's 900-person sales team as their primary growth channel.

Forever Labs is a Y Combinator-backed longevity company that stores patients' stem cells via a 15-minute outpatient bone marrow aspiration procedure for $2,500 upfront plus $250/year in storage fees (or $7,000 lifetime). Founded in 2015 by Steven Klausenitzer and Dr. Mark Katakowski, the company has nearly 200 paying customers across nine states with credentialed physicians from top universities (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc.), generating ~$45k/month in recurring revenue from storage fees and referrals.

Bohemian Guitars manufactures functional electric guitars from reclaimed and recycled materials, selling at $250 retail (33% below market average) with a $55 production cost. Founded in 2012 by Adam Lee and his brother, the company grew from $16,000 first-year revenue to over $1 million in 2015 with 5,000+ units shipped, leveraging crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo to validate products and raise capital. The company now has 100+ SKUs, operates in 50 countries with rockstars like Hozier using their guitars, and generates $5,000/month from a string subscription service.