I Built a $10K/Month Clothing Apparel Company
Who are you and what business did you start?
My name is Ivan Hadzhiev, and I'm the founder of Merchpath. We are the curated swag platform for startups and growing teams. Unlike other swag platforms, we curate every product to ensure quality and style standards are met. Along with this, we're working on an AI-curation engine, which takes a company's brand guidelines, budget, team size, use case, etc., into account to create fully custom merch collections that match their brand. Today, we do between 5k and 10k per month.
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How do you come up with the idea for Merchpath?
Every time I bought branded products for a company I worked at, the experience was the same: thousands of generic options, no guidance on what was actually worth the money, and platforms that felt completely outdated. I kept thinking someone had to fix this, and my background definitely fit the bill.
I founded a luxury streetwear brand before this, so I understood product, supply chain, and design. Alongside this, my work in the startup world as an operator and investor taught me what I needed to know about building a tech platform and growing it like a high-growth startup.
I validated it through 53 customer discovery interviews with startup founders and marketing managers before rebuilding the platform from scratch.
How did you build the initial version of Merchpath?
The founder of Merchpath, Ivan Hadzhiev, built the platform by first validating the idea through 53 customer discovery interviews. He then rebuilt the platform from scratch, focusing on a curated swag platform for startups and growing teams. The initial launch involved a five-day LinkedIn series, Product Hunt postings, personal email outreach, and engagement with startup communities. The platform's growth strategy included leveraging personal networks, word of mouth, LinkedIn outreach, press, and SEO. Trigger-based outreach was also implemented for events like funding rounds, event participation, and hiring surges to meet customers' needs at the right time. The biggest lessons learned were to focus on the product first and to not be afraid of making mistakes, but rather to learn from them and adjust course as needed.
How did you launch Merchpath and get initial traction?
The launch was a five-day LinkedIn series documenting the story behind Merchpath, the problem, the build, and the proof points. Simultaneously, I posted on Product Hunt, emailed a personal list of about 50 people, and posted in several startup Slack communities.
The numbers were honest: 240 site visitors against a target of 1,000, with our first order coming in that same week. Although we immediately saw revenue, the initial launch traffic spike seized up after week one, and we had to continue to iterate.
More than anything, this taught me that a launch isn't just a single event. It's more of an ongoing chain of actions that you take to continually create visibility and top-of-funnel. We will likely launch again several more times.
What was the growth strategy for Merchpath and how did you scale?
So far, the go-to channels have been personal network, word of mouth, LinkedIn outreach, press, and SEO. Due to its B2B focus, LinkedIn has been the most powerful network for posting, direct outreach, and engaging with potential customers. Also, in our AI-native age, SEO is always changing, but still a powerful channel if you understand what your target market is searching for. The last thing to touch on is my build-in-public videos on Instagram (@ivanxbuilds), which show the true, authentic background of what I do and why we're doing it.
A very strong growth strategy we are currently utilizing is trigger-based outreach. Early on, I realized that startups buy swag when they need it, not when someone reaches out and offers. This insight allowed me to develop triggers for certain events, such as funding rounds, event participation, and hiring surges. The learning here is to meet your customers where they're at, not push your solution when the time isn't right.
My recommendation for growth would be to strip everything down to the most fundamental building blocks and truly understand the problem you're solving and for whom. This type of customer validation is how all great startups were able to find product-market fit. In the NXTUS Customer Traction Cohort that I just graduated from, we followed this type of validation process to better understand our target market and build the solution that those customers need by seeking validation.
The best tip I have for validating a solution is a quote from Brian Armstrong: "Action produces information". If you continue to test and do things, you will get instant feedback from the market about what solution it needs.
What were the biggest lessons learned from building Merchpath?
I have made many mistakes in the past 14 months, all of which have been necessary to get to where Merchpath is at right now. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, be afraid of making them and not using them to change your course.
When I started Merchpath, I was convinced that distribution matters more than product. Now, I'm the opposite, solely because I've validated the problem in my industry and am creating an undifferentiated product that stands out in a sea of mediocrity.
I also believe every idea can work and be successful; you just have to see it through. In an age full of distractions, focus is the antidote. Find something you enjoy and the world needs, and the money and success will come with enough trial and error.
Lastly, if you're reading this, this is the best time in history to start a business. If you have even the slightest idea of what you'd like to start, take action by immediately validating the idea through conversations and data. After that, the world is yours!
Merchpath Acquisition: How much did Merchpath sell for and what was the acquisition price?
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More about Merchpath:
Who is the owner of Merchpath?
Ivan Hadzhiev is the founder of Merchpath.
When did Ivan Hadzhiev start Merchpath?
2025
How much money has Ivan Hadzhiev made from Merchpath?
Ivan Hadzhiev started the business in 2025, and currently makes an average of $120K/year.
