$12M/yr selling kid suitcases, $368K WhatsApp plugin + COVID businesses are still surging

Hey starters - happy Thursday!

This week, we're featuring 4 inspiring stories + 50 ways to make money on the side.

Starter Quote of The Week:

 Perfect is the enemy of progress. In order to succeed, you need to get started and stop trying to come up with the perfect business plan or perfect idea.

- Patrick Curtis, founder of Wall Street Oasis ($140k/month)

(tweet this)

#1: Rob makes $12M/year selling suitcases for kids:

Rob Law launched Trunki - the first-ever ride-on suitcase for kids.

After getting completely humiliated on Dragon's Den, Rob thought it was game over for his business. 

Instead, the episode went viral and resulted in a complete sell-out overnight - they've now sold over 4 million suitcases in 100+ countries. 

His secret? Amazon Ads - they've gained over 10,000 5-star reviews which has been the biggest source of ROI for their business.

Check out Rob's story here.

EDITORS NOTE: Interested in learning about how to rank better on Amazon? Founder, Cory Stout gives us all his tips here.

#2: Two friends built a $368K/year Whatsapp plugin for Shopify:

Last week, we caught up with Preetam and Sankalp with SuperLemon - a simple plugin for Shopify stores to chat with customers via WhatsApp.

In just two weeks, they built an MVP and validated their product with 10 paying users overnight

  • $368K/year with zero employees
  • Gross margin: 70%
  • 20K merchants and 1700+ paying customers
  • 100% of customers come organically from the app store

Check out their full interview here - you won't want to miss this one!

EDITORS NOTE: Want to learn more on designing and building an MVP? We wrote a step by step guide for you here.

#2: COVID grew Kent's RV business to $1.5M/year

Kent Wilson launched Origen - a profitable, family-run RV accessories business.

Due to the massive surge in the RV industry (caused by COVID), they're entering a phase of hyper-growth and expect to 10x their revenue within the next 24 months.

His secret? Youtube micro-influencers he's partnered with dozens of passionate RV'ers which has led to major insights about their true audience and industry.

Read Kent's full story here.

 

#4: This two-man team launched a $100K/year customizable bong:

Gordon launched Vitaeglass, a modular smoking accessories company. 

In one year, they've built a global brand to $100K/year with zero employees. 

Their secret? SEO - through blogging and word of mouth, they average 7,000-8,000 monthly visitors with 100% of their sales coming from their website.

 

Be sure to check out Gordon's full story here!

EDITORS NOTE: Want to learn more about how to grow your business through SEO? We put a guide together here.

 

#5: 50 lucrative ways to make money on the side:

Looking to start a business, but not quite ready to go all-in?

We've put together a list of 50 lucrative side hustle ideas to help get the wheels turning for you.

Check out the full guide here.

 

#6: Are you ready to boost your revenue?

I want to give a shoutout to our long-time sponsor Klaviyo.

Using Klaviyo will open up a massive, untapped sales channel and bring you closer to your customers!

I'm a huge fan of the product (I use it for Starter Story and love the segmentation/drip features). I've also been able to collect so many emails using their website form integration - my list growing over 3k/month now 😲

Here are just some of the impressive businesses we've interviewed that use Klaviyo for email marketing and are raving about the product - all great interviews you should check out as well!

Level up your email marketing with 👉 Klaviyo!

(And thank you for your support 🙏)

--

Thanks for reading! See you next week.

- Pat Walls, Founder @ Starter Story

feedback? please hit reply on this email :)

No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe.
Starter Story 316 W. 19th St. New York, NY 10011

Older messages

$960K coffee bean business, 15-year-old builds $360k/year website, Zoomwear is trending?

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Hey starters - happy August! This week, we're featuring 4 inspiring stories + a business idea that's taking off: #1: Cassy's making $480K/year selling "fat"-focused skin products:

$2.4M selling illegal catnip, $6M boozy fruit punch, and $420k selling SFX for filmmakers.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Hey starters - happy Thursday! This week, we're featuring 4 amazing case studies + tips on how to grow your email list! #1: Chris made $2.4M selling pre-rolled joints filled with catnip: Chris

$5M marriage proposals business, $400k baby plates, and a simple business that grew 1,600%

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Hey starters - happy Thursday! This week, we're featuring 3 amazing case studies + some new business ideas that are taking off: #1: Michele has made $5M by helping people plan marriage proposals:

Here are 35 Profitable Business Ideas To Start In Canada

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Hey! Pat here, founder of Starter Story! I'm glad to see you're enjoying our case studies. In case you're interested, here are 35 profitable business ideas to start in Canada. We also

Making $50K with online coworking, $215K liquid soaps brand, & 100 successful solo founders

Friday, July 17, 2020

Hey, Happy Thursday, Starters. We're halfway through July! This week, we're featuring 4 amazing stories + a trending business idea that's taking off: #1: Bosco made $50K with an online-only

You Might Also Like

🚀 Ready to scale? Apply now for the TinySeed SaaS Accelerator

Friday, February 14, 2025

What could $120K+ in funding do for your business? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

📂 How to find a technical cofounder

Friday, February 14, 2025

​ ​ ​ ​ If you're a marketer looking to become a founder, this newsletter is for you. Starting a startup alone is hard. Very hard. Even as someone who learned to code, I still believe that the

AI Impact Curves

Friday, February 14, 2025

Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here.​ ​AI Impact Curves​ What is the impact of AI across different

15 Silicon Valley Startups Raised $302 Million - Week of February 10, 2025

Friday, February 14, 2025

💕 AI's Power Couple 💰 How Stablecoins Could Drive the Dollar 🚚 USPS Halts China Inbound Packages for 12 Hours 💲 No One Knows How to Price AI Tools 💰 Blackrock & G42 on Financing AI

The Rewrite and Hybrid Favoritism 🤫

Friday, February 14, 2025

Dogs, Yay. Humans, Nay͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

🦄 AI product creation marketplace

Friday, February 14, 2025

Arcade is an AI-powered platform and marketplace that lets you design and create custom products, like jewelry. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Crazy week

Friday, February 14, 2025

Crazy week. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

join me: 6 trends shaping the AI landscape in 2025

Friday, February 14, 2025

this is tomorrow Hi there, Isabelle here, Senior Editor & Analyst at CB Insights. Tomorrow, I'll be breaking down the biggest shifts in AI – from the M&A surge to the deals fueling the

Six Startups to Watch

Friday, February 14, 2025

AI wrappers, DNA sequencing, fintech super-apps, and more. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

How Will AI-Native Games Work? Well, Now We Know.

Friday, February 14, 2025

A Deep Dive Into Simcluster ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏