💰 $26,000 to $250,000,000

G'day Sellouts!

Can you believe it?

2024 feels like it started yesterday, and here we are, staring down New Year’s week.

While most people are reflecting on the year gone by and setting resolutions for the next, over here at Sellout HQ, we’re in full steam ahead mode.

There’s so much in the works for 2025, and I can’t wait to share it all with you.

This week, we’re diving into a brand that started with a $3,000 experiment and skyrocketed to $250M in revenue: True Classic.

True Classic’s story is one of bold marketing, massive wins, and a few hard lessons that shaped their journey.

At the end, you’ll see how Direct-to-Customer (DTC) success has three prerequisites:

1. You need a customer gap. Find people whose needs are being ignored.

2. Speak authentically to that consumer. Don’t try to be everything to everyone.

3. Scale with purpose. Build a strong foundation first, so growth pulls you forward instead of forcing you to push uphill.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, True Classic is taking their brand voice to a whole new level. Picture WWE star Otis in an ad campaign so over-the-top it’s impossible to not watch.

Let’s explore 3 lessons on how True Classic got here and the mistake that almost kept Otis’ pants on.

1. Filling the Gap: Shirts Men Actually Want to Wear

When Ryan Bartlett and his co-founders launched True Classic in 2019, they had a simple mission: create shirts men wanted to wear.

Mainstream brands were ignoring their customer, Bartlett explained, and True Classic filled that gap with punchy, funny ads tailored to real men, especially those with “dad bods.”

Their early prototypes sold like wildfire. Bartlett recalls, “I would spend $100 and make $300… as long as I wasn’t spending $100 and making $50, I had a business.”

True Classic’s marketing was authentic, engaging, and unapologetically fun, building a foundation they continue to replicate, even now as they bring their brand to the WWE stage.

2. Staying Lean, Growing Smart

While many startups chase growth at all costs, True Classic took a different route.

They prioritized profitability over vanity metrics, learning some tough lessons along the way.

One of their biggest missteps? Overestimating demand and ordering $40M of inventory.

When the business couldn’t bring in enough customers, it cost millions in interest and back payments.

Bartlett admits this was the hardest mistake of his career, but it taught him to grow with due diligence.

While many DTC brands rush to scale their team with revenue, True Classic has maintained a lean operation of just around 60 employees, even while approaching $250 million in revenue.

"Staying super lean keeps us profitable," Bartlett explains. "Most comparable companies have a couple hundred employees and we have sixty something. We're not into overstaffing and creating bloat for the company. Building a real, profitable business is always the way to go."

Bartlett has since learned from the mistake, and True Classic bases its growth projections on due diligence, investing for their growth rather than just their ambitions.

The key lesson? When scaling an ecomm brand, growth should be driven by action demand, not blind ambition. Stay lean, focus on cash-flow, and build a business that thrives on profitability, not just growth potential.

3. Deprioritize SEO In The Beginning

In the first few years, True Classic focused entirely on paid Facebook marketing. 

Even though Bartlett's last job was with a search engine optimization (SEO) consulting firm, True Classic spent none of their resources on building organic traffic. 

Bartlett has said, "SEO was going to take forever. Like, I'm not scaling this company to $100 million in two years on SEO, it's just impossible. SEO would be like a lifetime of work to really make a dent."

Today, True Classic is the top organic result for "comfortable tshirt" on every major search engine, but it wasn’t that way to start.

The lesson here? SEO should not be your priority when first starting.

Nearly every DTC success story was built on digital marketing, not on organic discovery.

You do not need to be spending thousands or more on SEO experts from the beginning of your business.

If you can learn just a little about SEO and execute the basics, your rankings will improve as your business grows.

Key Takeaways for Your Brand

1. Focus on Profitability First

   • Start small and reinvest consistently

   • Stay lean even as you grow

   • Avoid bloat from overstaffing, over-ordering and diversifying product range

2. Double Down on What Works

   • Don't feel pressured to be on every platform

   • Master one channel before expanding

   • Let organic growth happen naturally

3. Keep It Simple

   • Solve a real problem for a specific audience

   • Focus on product quality over fancy features

   • Leverage humor to increase engagement of ads rather than pure product benefits.

Until next time, have a great New Year and may your 2025 be the best one yet.

Luke

P.S. did you know you are 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down? Feel free to reply to this email with your business goal for 2025 – I read and respond to every message that comes through.

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