Beyond A Million

223: Turning a Luggage Problem Into a $32M Apparel Brand with Dan Demsky

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Episode notes

Today I'm talking to Dan Demsky, who turned the frustration of trying to pack light while traveling into an 8-figure e-commerce business.

He discovered that merino wool clothing lets you pack far fewer items for a trip. The problem was, most of the brands were focused on outdoor gear—not something everyday travelers would actually wear.

So Dan and his buddies built Unbound Merino, a fully remote apparel brand doing $32M a year.

In this episode, you'll hear how they used crowdfunding to validate product-market fit and scale without investors, how tariffs nearly wiped out their business overnight, and what it actually takes to run a fully remote team.

Key Takeaways with Dan Demsky

(00:00) Starting an Apparel Brand

(04:23) Crowdfunding as Product-Market Validation

(05:27) Ecommerce's Hardest Problem

(06:52) When Tariffs Nearly Killed their Business

(13:09) 30% Repeat Buyers in 30 Days

(15:29) Using Crowdfunding as a Growth Engine

(28:20) Running a Fully Remote Team

(39:41) Should You Do Business with Best Friends?

(51:17) Advice to New Entrepreneurs

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