Investor: Robert Herjavec | Shark Tank Appearance: Feb. 24, 2017 | Offer: $200,000 for 15% stake | Results: Sales increased from $1.6 million to $2.7 million in four months.
For three millennials and best friends, the journey to launching a multi-million-dollar beach lifestyle business began at a San Diego call center selling life insurance. In 2013, college roommates Steven Ford and Brandon Leibel met fellow salesperson Bruno Aschidamini.
Four years later, the trio appeared on ABC's Shark Tank and secured offers from Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, and Robert Herjavec for their Sand Cloud beach towel business. Today, with Herjavec as investor and mentor, they're on track for $7 million in revenue by year-end.
Leibel shares insights on how they grew the business.
Related: 5 ways to make your business better than the competition.
They went all-in.
In 2014, they quit their jobs to build Sand Cloud full-time. To cut costs, Aschidamini gave up his apartment and slept on the floor of Ford and Leibel's two-bedroom loft. They lived on rice and beans for a year, sold most furniture and cars (Leibel kept his for Uber gigs), borrowed from family, and maxed out credit cards. “We never thought about failure,” says Leibel. “We operated on blind faith, young enough to take the risk.”
They persisted.
Call center experience taught them rejection resilience—making 300-500 calls daily with 95% hang-ups. Pitching towels on beaches, blank stares didn't faze them.
They held onto hope.
For two years, they ignored low sales, focusing on social growth: 100 subscribers daily via contests, influencer gifts, business cards, and Uber pitches.
Related: 9 entrepreneurial lessons you never learned in school.
They pivoted smartly.
Their pillow towel flopped at Surf Expo 2015, but a hidden mandala-pattern sample drew raves—Quiksilver ordered 400. They shifted to stylish, patterned towels.
They had a mission.
Inspired by TOMS, Sand Cloud donates 10% of profits to marine conservation like the Marine Conservation Institute and Surfrider Foundation. “We've always admired TOMS,” Leibel says. “Protecting oceans changed us—we pick up beach trash everywhere.”
They test rigorously.
Every product and design gets customer feedback via social polls—like yoga towels, validated by thousands of upvotes.
Sticking to e-commerce (95% sales online, despite 100 stores), they followed Herjavec's advice: “The web is our future.”
Related: 5 tips for entrepreneurial success.
This article originally appeared in the October 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
