The Underdog: He Turned His Last $4,000 Into $48M
Starter Story
Sep 27, 2023
🧑💻 Build apps with AI - https://build.starterstory.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=hush&yts=true
In this video, I flew out to Toronto to get the full story of Hush Blankets. Aaron and Leor started this business while working their 9-5's, and they made one of the craziest rebounds I've ever seen from an ecommerce business - the best part, Aaron shared exactly how they did it.
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What's
your
story
I
mean
we
bootstrapped
this
thing
from
day
one
and
we
needed
to
be
profitable
We
didn't
have
any
money
to
put
in
We
couldn't
afford
to
lose
This
is
Aaron
Spivak
and
he
nearly
lost
everything
launching
a
business
At
first
he
thought
he
was
a
founder
genius
We
were
doing
30K
a
month
60K
a
month
90K
a
month
But
then
realized
it
was
just
beginner's
luck
You
know
our
first
summer
we
went
to
zero
It
was
a
moment
of
like
are
you
guys
actually
gonna
do
this
or
not
So
what
happens
when
you're
staring
in
the
face
of
failure
and
your
bank
account
is
losing
money
every
day
My
co
founder
Lior
called
me
He's
like
hey
we
gotta
shut
this
business
down
Do
you
give
up
We
need
to
prove
that
there
was
something
here
Or
do
you
jump
even
further
into
the
abyss
and
go
to
the
ends
of
the
earth
earth
just
to
find
a
way
to
make
it
work
We
broke
the
internet
We
went
viral
on
Netflix
for
doing
that
for
the
first
time
ever
In
that
moment
I
was
like
that's
why
we
storytell
This
is
the
story
of
how
two
guys
from
Toronto
turned
4
000
into
48
million
in
four
years
I'm
Pat
Walls
and
this
is
Starter
Story
Growing
up
Aaron
was
your
typical
young
entrepreneur
hustling
and
starting
just
about
everything
Lemonade
stands
party
buses
and
even
starting
his
own
juice
shop
in
Toronto
But
everything
changed
when
he
met
Lior
his
eventual
business
partner
He
realized
there
was
a
bigger
opportunity
starting
an
online
business
I
always
wanted
to
really
start
a
business
with
Lior
I
thought
he
was
just
super
smart
He
was
like
in
that
online
world
I
was
opening
up
juice
shops
and
making
smoothie
recipes
And
I
actually
wanted
to
sell
cricket
protein
like
grinded
up
crickets
And
I
brought
it
to
Lior
and
he's
like
that's
disgusting
But
have
you
seen
this
rise
in
weighted
blankets
And
then
we
went
on
Google
and
we
saw
that
there
was
300
000
people
searching
for
weighted
blankets
In
the
coming
months
with
enough
proof
of
concept
and
validation
Aaron
and
Lior
started
developing
a
sample
of
what
they
thought
to
be
the
perfect
weighted
blanket
And
the
wild
thing
is
that
they
were
doing
all
of
this
while
they
were
working
their
current
full
time
jobs
Like
I
was
opening
my
juice
shop
at
6
a
m
till
like
2
3
o
clock
And
then
I'd
probably
work
out
or
eat
dinner
Lior
was
running
a
software
company
the
same
timeframe
We'd
meet
up
every
day
at
like
7
o
clock
clock
at
his
apartment
And
then
we'd
work
till
like
1
2
a
m
After
grinding
it
out
for
months
the
plan
started
to
fall
in
place
Aaron
and
Lior
found
a
new
audience
to
market
these
weighted
blankets
to
and
started
running
ads
on
Google
So
we
literally
with
basic
images
and
one
sample
put
up
a
pre
order
site
and
then
we
bought
ads
for
the
most
expensive
keyword
which
was
weighted
blankets
First
sale
came
in
and
we
made
I
think
like
20
bucks
The
next
day
we
made
three
sales
I
remember
Lior
and
I
took
those
three
sales
extrapolated
over
the
year
And
we're
like
oh
my
God
we're
gonna
buy
Ferraris
Like
we're
rich
Like
this
is
it
We
were
doing
30K
a
month
60K
a
month
90K
a
month
With
a
little
bit
of
beginner's
luck
they
were
really
successful
out
of
the
gate
We
launched
in
January
We
went
from
one
three
five
sales
20
sales
a
day
day
But
they
were
not
ready
for
what
was
about
to
happen
And
our
first
July
in
Toronto
was
30
degrees
outside
which
is
the
hottest
month
of
the
year
We
went
from
all
those
sales
to
literally
zero
sales
most
days
And
some
days
one
our
best
day
of
the
month
we
maybe
had
two
sales
Aaron
and
Lior
had
made
a
huge
mistake
They
didn't
forecast
their
inventory
for
the
summer
months
And
this
was
threatening
their
entire
business
They
were
running
out
of
cash
cash
and
sitting
on
hundreds
of
unsellable
inventory
Lior
even
came
to
Aaron
to
shut
the
business
down
You
know
our
first
summer
we
went
to
zero
My
co
founder
Lior
called
me
He's
like
hey
we
gotta
shut
this
business
down
because
I'm
not
interested
in
a
seasonal
business
We
have
a
seasonal
product
We're
stuck
with
all
this
inventory
Let's
get
rid
of
it
as
fast
as
possible
And
you
know
you've
got
juice
shops
You
have
a
software
business
Let's
move
on
In
those
moments
it
was
like
looking
yourself
in
the
mirror
and
mirror
and
being
like
am
I
actually
the
real
deal
Do
I
wait
do
I
actually
know
what
the
hell
I'm
doing
Like
do
people
actually
like
my
shit
Like
was
this
all
an
accident
The
fast
success
started
to
collapse
for
Aaron
and
Lior
And
the
dark
thoughts
came
pouring
in
as
their
bank
accounts
came
closer
to
zero
So
because
we
were
broke
it
was
one
of
the
most
challenging
years
of
our
lives
And
there
was
doubt
and
there
was
uncertainty
I
mean
we
bootstrapped
this
thing
from
day
one
and
we
needed
to
be
profitable
We
didn't
have
any
money
to
put
in
We
couldn't
afford
to
lose
It
was
a
moment
of
like
are
you
guys
actually
gonna
do
this
or
not
Even
though
things
were
tough
the
boys
were
determined
to
figure
it
out
But
with
money
running
out
they
had
to
do
something
quickly
And
this
is
when
Aaron
had
a
brilliant
idea
We
needed
to
prove
that
there
was
something
here
that
someone
wanted
to
buy
this
product
And
once
they
got
the
product
that
they
were
happy
with
it
We
weren't
just
good
marketers
with
shitty
product
They
got
to
the
point
where
I
was
like
why
don't
we
just
call
everyone
Because
clearly
they
were
buying
it
They're
not
buying
it
now
Why
are
they
not
buying
We'll
just
ask
And
that's
exactly
what
they
do
In
August
of
2018
they
sent
out
an
email
to
all
of
their
customers
with
a
Calendly
link
Their
goal
to
talk
to
every
single
one
of
their
customers
and
ask
them
why
they
stopped
buying
the
blankets
Every
single
person
said
the
exact
same
thing
Aaron
we
love
the
blanket
It's
so
amazing
It's
incredible
But
I'm
sweating
in
places
I've
never
sweat
before
It's
disgusting
So
I'm
putting
it
in
my
closet
closet
and
in
the
winter
I'll
pull
it
back
out
And
this
is
when
Aaron
and
Lior
have
the
biggest
breakthrough
in
their
journey
Instead
of
launching
a
product
and
hoping
for
the
best
they
realized
the
secret
to
building
a
business
business
is
talking
to
customers
And
it
was
like
a
light
bulb
moment
where
we're
like
wait
a
second
why
don't
we
just
make
a
cooling
weighted
blanket
Because
if
it
was
cooling
you
would
use
it
all
year
round
They're
like
of
course
we
would
Of
course
we
would
So
we
spent
all
of
September
flying
around
talking
to
suppliers
and
sourcing
the
coolest
fabric
ever
We
ended
up
having
to
create
our
own
fabric
which
is
called
the
Ice
Fabric
which
is
the
coolest
fabric
in
the
world
It
literally
keeps
you
cold
without
any
water
fans
going
through
your
bed
but
it
was
so
expensive
It
was
100
000
to
get
the
first
roll
of
that
fabric
and
we
couldn't
afford
it
Aaron
and
Lior
are
faced
with
their
biggest
challenge
yet
They
need
a
boatload
of
cash
to
make
more
blankets
but
they're
down
to
their
last
4
000
000
Because
they
wanted
to
stay
bootstrapped
and
keep
100
of
the
business
investors
were
off
the
table
So
they
decide
to
throw
a
Hail
Mary
and
try
raising
a
few
thousand
bucks
on
Kickstarter
They
set
a
very
low
goal
of
25
000
in
hopes
it
will
be
enough
to
keep
the
business
alive
and
make
their
next
order
When
the
Kickstarter
goes
live
something
amazing
happens
The
boys
raise
over
1
million
in
the
first
30
days
So
in
2019
we
launched
the
1
0
Hush
Ice
the
world's
coolest
weighted
blanket
was
a
top
10
Canadian
Kickstarter
of
all
time
And
when
people
ask
us
like
what
was
the
hack
How
did
you
reverse
engineer
Kickstarter
Like
what
was
it
a
specific
agency
or
a
video
style
And
it's
like
no
I
mean
I
had
3000
people
that
literally
told
me
on
the
phone
that
they
would
buy
it
if
I
made
it
Aaron
and
Lior
realized
they
need
to
take
the
momentum
momentum
from
their
Kickstarter
and
push
it
into
something
even
bigger
They
sit
down
and
ask
themselves
this
question
how
can
we
get
these
weighted
blankets
in
front
of
a
massive
audience
They
come
up
with
a
plan
They're
gonna
weasel
their
way
into
one
of
the
biggest
shows
on
television
That
year
we
then
went
on
a
Canadian
hit
TV
show
Dragon's
Den
and
we
went
on
the
show
told
our
story
and
had
in
14
seasons
so
14
years
of
the
show
there's
never
been
a
pitch
that
came
on
and
increased
their
valuation
on
live
TV
through
debate
amongst
the
dragons
And
we
were
the
first
We
broke
the
internet
We
went
viral
on
Netflix
for
doing
that
for
the
first
time
ever
It
catapulted
the
brand
As
2020
comes
around
the
boys
continue
to
double
down
on
their
success
reinvesting
every
dollar
they
earn
They
pick
up
the
phone
again
and
continue
talking
to
customers
And
this
gives
them
a
new
idea
to
create
a
new
product
a
pillow
They
call
thousands
of
customers
and
get
feedback
on
what
would
make
the
perfect
pillow
Then
they
launch
it
on
their
email
list
and
sell
3
000
pillows
in
72
hours
And
I
remember
I
posted
about
it
on
LinkedIn
I'm
like
hey
we
just
sold
3
000
pillows
in
72
hours
And
everyone's
initial
reaction
is
like
what
was
the
marketing
What
was
the
email
What
was
the
hype
What
was
the
flow
And
it's
like
well
no
actually
retired
last
year
We
were
talking
to
our
customers
literally
asking
them
what
pillow
you
want
Let
me
build
it
for
you
They
realize
they
have
a
formula
talk
to
customers
understand
their
problems
and
then
create
more
products
to
sell
them
So
they
do
the
same
thing
and
launch
the
Hush
Ice
Blanket
2
0
and
then
do
the
same
thing
again
and
launch
the
Hush
Ice
Bedsheets
That
year
they
do
20
million
in
sales
We
over
doubled
the
business
again
heading
into
21
where
we
just
said
it's
time
to
shine
We
had
big
goals
We
wanted
to
do
40
million
bucks
We
really
wanted
to
sell
the
business
at
that
time
With
big
plans
to
sell
the
business
Aaron
and
Lior
need
to
find
a
final
product
to
create
that
will
increase
their
valuation
So
they
decide
to
do
something
that
nobody
expects
in
an
industry
where
it's
nearly
impossible
to
make
a
profit
We
had
the
stupidest
idea
in
the
world
which
was
to
launch
a
mattress
in
a
box
No
one
makes
money
selling
mattresses
in
a
box
but
for
whatever
reason
we
thought
we
could
And
we
spent
three
months
calling
customers
because
we
were
so
nervous
so
expensive
The
inventory
was
so
expensive
So
for
the
next
few
months
they
of
course
spend
all
of
their
time
calling
up
their
customers
and
asking
them
what
would
make
the
perfect
mattress
And
to
their
surprise
the
biggest
pain
point
was
that
their
current
mattresses
were
super
uncomfortable
when
it
came
to
making
love
So
we
went
out
and
we
create
a
specific
zone
technology
that
has
specific
springs
and
specific
areas
that
keep
you
flat
no
matter
how
you're
positioned
positioned
or
how
you're
leaning
up
against
something
We
did
a
million
and
a
half
dollars
on
launch
which
nobody
believed
that
we
can
do
Then
in
October
of
2021
the
biggest
sleep
company
in
Canada
gives
them
a
call
They
want
to
acquire
Hush
Blankets
We
sold
the
business
to
the
largest
sleep
company
in
the
country
We
went
from
zero
to
48
million
in
48
months
and
it's
been
a
really
fun
ride
Along
their
journey
Aaron
and
Lior
learned
hundreds
of
lessons
but
there's
one
lesson
that
stands
out
and
it's
something
they
didn't
realize
until
they
sat
down
and
really
looked
back
All
of
these
phone
calls
and
customer
conversations
created
a
community
of
super
fans
fans
customers
that
would
buy
from
them
forever
And
it's
actually
what
makes
Hush
stand
out
from
the
thousands
of
other
companies
selling
the
same
products
We
opened
our
first
pop
up
store
the
highest
grossing
mall
in
the
country
fourth
in
all
of
North
America
And
Aloe
also
decided
to
come
to
Canada
and
open
the
same
time
as
us
And
they
had
700
people
come
through
their
door
on
opening
day
we
had
1500
And
who
came
Our
people
There's
a
blanket
behind
you
Someone
had
a
sign
in
their
blanket
blanket
and
they
gave
it
back
to
us
as
a
souvenir
souvenir
One
of
the
executives
from
the
company
that
purchased
us
was
there
watched
it
happen
in
real
time
and
came
up
to
me
after
and
he's
like
I've
never
in
my
25
years
in
this
industry
would
think
that
someone
would
ask
a
guy
that
sells
blankets
to
sign
the
blanket
In
that
moment
I
was
like
that's
why
we
storytell
Today
customers
care
more
about
the
people
behind
a
brand
brand
than
they
do
about
the
product
itself
Aaron
and
Lior
documented
their
journey
and
got
customers
involved
from
the
start
They
weren't
just
selling
blankets
and
pillows
They
were
bringing
their
customers
along
for
the
ride
being
vulnerable
and
sharing
all
the
ups
and
the
downs
I
think
storytelling
is
the
most
important
thing
you
can
have
when
you're
marketing
a
brand
And
storytelling
is
the
emotions
and
it's
the
magic
that
people
want
to
feel
before
they
go
out
and
purchase
something
Like
if
you
think
about
Abercrombie
walking
into
a
mall
there's
two
shirtless
teenagers
with
six
pack
abs
and
cologne
that's
like
oozing
out
And
we're
all
like
yeah
that's
us
you
know
And
like
now
that
story
doesn't
resonate
but
that's
who
we
wanted
to
be
We
wanted
to
be
the
guys
with
the
cool
hair
and
the
six
pack
abs
that
the
girl
loves
and
that
we
smell
good
And
we
walked
into
the
store
we
bought
those
jeans
and
we
put
them
on
and
we
felt
like
those
guys
That
essence
that
emotion
that
magic
is
everything
when
building
a
brand
People
can
have
that
feeling
with
small
brands
and
small
businesses
And
I
don't
know
why
founders
are
not
leaning
into
that
Perhaps
they
think
it's
beneath
them
but
that's
how
you
build
community
From
4
000
in
the
bank
to
48
million
Aaron
and
Leora
have
proved
that
thanks
to
the
internet
anyone
can
build
something
huge
As
long
as
you're
willing
to
pick
up
the
phone
and
tell
your
story
anything
is
possible
What
the
internet
afforded
us
was
guys
like
me
are
able
to
go
and
compete
with
the
big
guys
because
of
the
internet
Previously
you
needed
to
go
and
knock
doors
of
these
retailers
and
beg
for
them
to
take
your
product
They'd
put
you
in
a
shitty
corner
No
one
would
try
it
You'd
have
no
sales
and
you'd
have
returns
The
barrier
to
entry
was
so
big
but
now
there's
a
story
for
the
underdog
There's
a
story
for
the
guy
shooting
on
their
cell
phone
that
gets
to
be
that
way
I
think
that's
me
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