17 yrs old just sold 1 million

[StevieB]

I found this interesting that he thought of such a simple idea, then did 6 months of research before executing and now selling over 1 million in "just" custom socks.

High schooler sells $1 million in custom socks

"
Brennan Agranoff is a 17-year-old with a lot on his plate.
The high-school junior balances homework with another full-time job he's had since he was 13: He's founder and CEO of HoopSwagg, a custom socks startup.

HoopSwagg isn't just a little project on the side for this teenager. In four years, Agranoff has grown his idea to make custom-design athletic socks into a profitable online-only business with annual sales of more than $1 million."

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[AllenCrawley]

Interesting story. Good for him. I do find the story lack in details (par for the course).

It is interesting that he still plans to go to college. Makes me chuckle. The Script still embedded?

Also, this disclaimer on the bottom of the website...
"This process is not approved by Nike. Nike Swoosh and Nike name are registered trademarks of Nike, Inc. We are an independent customization website not affiliated with Nike, Inc"

I genuinely wonder if he could be issued a cease and desist by Nike.

 

[GuestUser450]

I do find the story lack in details

Like you said, to be expected - glosses over the dad who owns a marketing company, free labor from friends, what they used to acquire the "competitor" (which is kinda funny - that's like one teespring shop buying another), etc.

Super smart on their part, there's a million of these online - but now his has a grassroots/underdog/kidpreneur angle that people love to share.

I genuinely wonder if he could be issued a cease and desist by Nike.

Unlikely. The nike elite sock thing has been around for years - Nike sold it to the reseller he buys from so the disclaimer is probably all they need.

 

[AllenCrawley]

Like you said, to be expected - glosses over the dad who owns a marketing company, free labor from friends, what they used to acquire the "competitor" (which is kinda funny - that's like one teespring shop buying another), etc.

Ha. I didn't have the time to dig further but knew there would be more to the story. Got links to the additional info?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Sometimes I wonder if there is just an adult behind the scenes who puts their kid in as a prop so they can get millions in free publicity using the "16 year old has $2M business!" angle.

 

[GuestUser450]

Got links to the additional info?

Just to be clear, I wasn't trying to troll or take anything from the kid - I hope he sells millions on his own, without his parent's help.

It's just habit now to flash-search linkedin, google news, wayback and the serps past page 10 when I see these articles -

The dad's(Brian) marketing company and the hoopswagg employees are on linkedin
Google news shows little before this PR push, but there's shipstation and terapeak articles that differ in the "acquisition" story
Their site isn't listed in shopify's hosting directory (maybe they just switched) but at least 5 other nike elite sock stores are (they could all be doing well, I suppose)
Typical low quality SEO links like Prezi
Etc.

All of it together paints a different picture. Again, not trying to pull at the threads, it just bothers me when they play the kid card.

No one does it alone, but coming from nothing vs having parents that fund you is very different and I'd question that narrative in the marketing material.

 

[arfadugus]

I would imagine that he starts seeing some loot and spends it all. Making a million is worthless unless you have the big (unscripted ) picture in mind.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[amp0193]

Sometimes I wonder if there is just an adult behind the scenes who puts their kid in as a prop so they can get millions in free publicity using the "16 year old has $2M business!" angle.

This just in:

My 2 year old started an importing business. She's got a container on the way!

Child Prodigy!

 

[ZF Lee]

Sometimes I wonder if there is just an adult behind the scenes who puts their kid in as a prop so they can get millions in free publicity using the "16 year old has $2M business!" angle.

Still better than kids who have it all, but do shit with their resources (think drunk driving, pre-marital sex and drugs)
Publicity is very temporary, unless followed by a value-giving process.
I like it that the guy used what relationships he had on hand. Some folks just hide in a corner and cry for their mummy, blaming the government for taking away their riches.

The same mentality can be applied whether you have $900 bucks on hand or a dusty laptop, or $1 million in funding.

 

[luniac]

amazing how early some get started... i had no clue at that age.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.