Colin built a pre-launch email list by creating a brand identity, building a financial model, then setting up an email capture page offering early-bird pricing ($69 instead of $100) to anyone who signed up before launch. He promoted this signup page and collected 11,000 emails with a 46% email capture rate. He then sent highly personalized, distinctive email content — copy he wrote himself — that felt totally unlike standard brand emails. On launch day (via an Indiegogo/crowdfunding-style campaign), his 11,000-person list converted at 4.5% (vs. an expected 3%), generating 450 customers at a ~$100 AOV for $45,000 on day one alone. That momentum snowballed into a $284,000 campaign in the first 30 days, giving him his first ~450+ customers. Colin personally responded to every social media comment, every customer care email, and wrote every word of copy himself during this period to build deep 1-on-1 connections at scale.
Sheets & Giggles
Direct-to-consumer eucalyptus bed sheets and bedding brand
8 moves, in order
- Pre launch (2018)Email capture landing page
Built a brand identity map and financial model, then launched a pre-launch signup page offering early-bird pricing ($69 vs. $100 retail) to capture emails. Ran surveys to involve subscribers in color/pricing decisions, making them emotionally invested.
11,000 emails captured at 46% email capture rate - Launch Day (October 2018)Email list crowdfunding campaign
Sent a highly personalized, distinctively written launch email to the 11,000-person list, applying crowdfunding math (targeting 30% of goal on day one). List converted at 4.5% vs. expected 3%, generating 450 customers at ~$100 AOV.
$45,000 in sales on day oneUsers 450 users - Month 1 (October 2018)Email crowdfunding campaign
Sustained the crowdfunding campaign momentum through continued email follow-ups and word-of-mouth from emotionally invested early subscribers sharing the brand.
$284,000 in first 30 days - Early growth (2018–2020)Founder direct community engagement
Colin personally answered every social media comment, responded to every customer care email, and wrote all website copy himself for years to build deep 1-on-1 relationships with customers at scale.
High brand loyalty and word-of-mouth; laid foundation for scaling - Scaling to $1M/month (2018–2020)Facebook instagram google amazon ads
Ran paid performance marketing across Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Amazon. Described as consistently effective channels for the DTC bedding brand.
Contributed to revenue growth toward $1M/month - Scaling to $1M/month (2018–2020)Podcast and youtube sponsorships
Sponsored podcasts and YouTube channels that Colin himself personally loved and watched. Strategy: founders whose personality matches the audience of a channel they love can write authentic copy, inside jokes, and brand-voice landing pages, dramatically lifting conversion rates vs. generic ad pages.
Conversion rates on sponsor-specific landing pages were significantly higher than all other pages on the site; cited as a surprising breakout channel - Milestone (November 2020)Multi channel
Combined all channels — email, paid social, podcast/YouTube sponsorships, Amazon — reached first $1M revenue month approximately 25 months after first shipment.
$1.2M in sales in November 2020MRR $1.2M - Ongoing / Post $1M monthAi chatbot onsite
Deployed a GPT-based chatbot trained on their website (SiteGPT) to handle customer care. Bot offers a 10% discount code ('AI') after good conversations. Cut customer care tickets by ~30% and became one of their top-performing discount channels.
-30% customer care tickets; chatbot became a top discount code driver at ~$50/month cost
Prior hands-on experience running a Kickstarter/crowdfunding launch for a friend's wearable tech product, which taught him the exact math and mechanics of email-list-driven crowdfunding campaigns. Also had mentorship from experienced founders he cultivated deliberately. Strong copywriting instinct and brand voice that differentiated his content from day one.
podcast_and_youtube_sponsorships
Nothing explicitly called out as a failed channel. Colin noted that standard DTC channels (Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon ads) all worked but were not the surprising or differentiating factor.
I Make $1M/Month From Bed
Neuro
Functional energy gum and mints for focus and performance
Van Man
Natural animal-based hygiene products (toothpaste, balms, deodorant) sold online
Alia
E-commerce pop-up tool for email capture and on-site offers