Hold Your Hunches
In 2010, Aaron Bickley and Jenny Greer were walking and realized their bodies didn't look as cute as the younger women they passed. Rather than commit to a running regimen they knew wouldn't happen, they decided to engineer a fashion solution. They noticed shapewear was already a hot market—why not integrate it into leggings? Two mothers of three each with University of Georgia degrees (one with a business background, one from fashion), they were armed with the right combination of need and know-how.
The year 2010 was spent on the unglamorous but critical work: patent searching, fabric sourcing, and creating prototypes. By the end of 2010, they moved into manufacturing. By 2011, they launched direct-to-consumer online sales. For nearly three years, they bootstrapped and grew quietly, building their brand through their own website and modeling the products themselves.
They sold close to $300,000 in their first two years (2011-2013) entirely through online direct-to-consumer channels. Their margins were strong and their customer relationships direct—no middleman eating into their profits. But they knew they needed a bigger platform to break through to the next level.
Shark Tank changed everything. In September 2013, they pitched for $75K for 20% equity (publicly negotiated to $125K line of credit plus $75K for 40% with both Lori Greiner and Barbara Corcoran). After the deal was renegotiated off-air, they kept far more equity and paid less cash—a smart negotiation. The publicity was worth far more than the capital.
When their episode aired in 2014, they sold everything they had in inventory. Within three days of the live airing, they did approximately $500K in sales. For the full year 2014, they hit $1.5M in revenue—a 10x jump. They also grew their email list from 800 to 16,000 subscribers overnight from Shark Tank exposure. By April 2014, they launched a private label store on Amazon, which immediately contributed 15% of their $1.5M in revenue. Their average order value hovered around $200 (typically two items: leggings plus a layering top). Email marketing to their growing subscriber base became their most effective ongoing channel for driving sales and promotions, with Valentine's sales performing exceptionally well.
- •The founders solved a genuine personal pain point they deeply understood, which gave them authentic credibility and intuition for product-market fit that resonated with their target demographic.
- •They combined complementary skill sets (business and fashion expertise) with relevant educational backgrounds, enabling them to navigate both the technical manufacturing challenges and brand-building requirements without external dependency.
- •By bootstrapping with direct-to-consumer sales for three years before seeking capital, they validated demand, built a loyal customer base, and maintained equity control—positioning themselves to negotiate favorable terms when pursuing growth.
- •A single high-visibility platform appearance (Shark Tank) provided exponential distribution that unlocked 10x revenue growth, suggesting their product and positioning were already proven and primed for scale.
- •Subscription pricing combined with high average order value ($200) and strong email list growth created recurring revenue momentum and owned-channel communication that reduced dependence on any single sales platform.
- 1.Identify a specific problem you or someone close to you actively experiences and cannot easily solve with existing products, then validate that frustration is shared by a large enough cohort willing to pay.
- 2.Assemble a founding team where each member brings a distinct, non-overlapping skill set (e.g., operations + design, or technical + marketing) that directly addresses the core competencies required to build and sell your product.
- 3.Launch direct-to-consumer sales through your own owned channel (website, email) before pursuing retail partnerships or capital, so you can gather customer feedback, prove unit economics, and maintain negotiating leverage.
- 4.Target high-profile media appearances or partnerships (industry awards, popular shows, influencer features) that offer exponential reach rather than incremental growth, and ensure your supply chain can handle a 10x demand spike.
- 5.Build an email subscriber list from day one and segment it by purchase behavior and season, then use it as your primary channel for promotions, new products, and customer retention to reduce acquisition cost over time.
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