Teema Towels: a vacation from venture capital

This week, in honor of Labor Day and the end of summer, we’re going to be taking a look at a truly seasonal company, Teema Towels. And because I’m writing this before I myself go to the beach…we may be taking our promise of  “1,000 words or less” to the extreme. 

But there’s also some interesting lessons here about all the ways you can build a great successful business… without venture capital funding.

Teema: The Instagram Towel

If you’ve heard of this week’s company, it’s probably because you’ve seen their ads on Instagram. Maybe the algorithm just thinks I really need to chill out and go to the beach, but I see these ads constantly. They’re very Instagrammy, very Millennial feel-good with lots of talk about how this is a sustainably-made, locally-sourced lifestyle product. 

The ads also prominently feature the claim that Teema Towels “naturally repel sand”.

Hmmm.

I’ll be honest. 80% of why I wanted to write about this company is because I didn’t believe their (dubious) claims that some magic towel could repel sand. 

However some quick review-scanning reveals that…apparently it really does do a pretty good job repelling sand. Although there were some criticisms about its lack of absorbency. Oh well.

So with Teema’s most eye-catching claim settled… what else is there to discuss?

“Won’t somebody please think of the venture capitalists?”

When I decide to research a company for a one-pager, most times, the first place I start is with Crunchbase. I want to get a sense for when the company was founded. How much money it’s raised. Who their investors are. All of that good stuff.

With Teema, I didn’t get any of that.

In fact, they aren’t even on Crunchbase. Because as far as I can tell they aren’t actually venture funded (gasp!)

I know what you’re thinking: “But Luke, if they don’t have venture funding, how did they build a successful business?”

And I understand your confusion. 

Here on the Weekly One Pager, we’ve tended to focus mostly on venture backed companies. That’s partially because of our experience in the venture space. And partially because the entrepreneurship ecosystem in general tends to give lots of kudos, prestige, and credibility to venture backed companies. We make it seem like taking lots of money from investors early on is the only way to be successful.

 It’s not.

A Genuinely Great Founding Story

So when Cruchbase failed me, I turned to the next most reliable resource in every venture capital diligence process. Google.

Which is where I found this great interview with Teema’s Founder and CEO, Nick Stobie.

From that interview and some information on their site, here’s what I can piece together. 

• Nick Strobie worked at an ad tech company.

• The company failed and he got fired

• Took some time to live the Millennial dream of traveling South Asia

• Found an awesome towel there that he loved

• Started a Kickstarter

• Got $15k from backers

• Designed some towels

• Made a bunch of Instagram ads

• Sold a bunch of towels

• Now owns and operates a successful kickass business

I know I started this thing off joking about Teema’s ads and their extremely granola branding. But if that founding story doesn’t get you hyped up. I’m sorry, but you are not into entrepreneurship. 

Get fired. Use your experience and knowledge of digital advertising to build your own business and financial freedom? That is the dream. And I love it.

So…what can we all learn from Teema?

I promised to myself (and my girlfriend who is currently waiting for me to finish writing this so that we can go to the beach) that I would keep this short. So I’ll be brief.

I think the main takeaway is: If you build a good business, you can be successful.

That might sound overly simple. And in a world of flashy new technology and crazy venture extrapolations of the future, we sometimes think you have to do something amazing and groundbreakingly new to make money. But sometimes we forget that business can be simple. 

My Mom (actually) has a saying that “Business is when you work with someone else, and you both benefit.”

Sometimes that’s a complex financial services transaction. And sometimes it’s just a towel that people really like.

So if you manage to get a bit of money together, leverage your previous experience, use margins to bootstrap growth, build a brand, and keep giving people something they love…you can build a successful business. That’s it

All right. Time to lay out a towel and go to the beach.

Enjoy your Labor Day!

Until next time. This has been,

The Weekly One Pager