From $10K to $60M: Kelcey Lehrich on Building Holdco's & Buying Ecom Brands | Scaling Podcast Ep 17

Aaron Harper sits down with Kelcey Lehrich, co-founder of 365 Holdings, to unpack how he and his partner built a portfolio of consumer brands doing $60M+ in revenue—without raising outside capital. From buying a business with a $10K down payment to navigating a near financial meltdown in 2023, this episode is packed with hard-earned wisdom on e-commerce, partnerships, and founder resilience.

⏱️ Timestamps & Topics: 00:01 – Making friends in your 30s through business, skiing, and Twitter 01:09 – Kelcey's first ecommerce business and how 365 Holdings began 02:53 – Scaling from $2M to $60M in revenue 04:30 – How many brands are in the portfolio (and how many flopped) 05:51 – The original thesis vs. today's strategy 06:45 – Why the e-commerce aggregator model failed (Thrasio, etc.) 09:00 – Starbucks vs. "duct-taped" coffee shops analogy 10:30 – Kelcey's favorite type of business: own supply AND demand 11:20 – Cuddle Clones: the artisan product business they scaled 12:40 – Community, connection, and why Kelcey joined YPO 14:50 – The jump from $45M to $60M: acquisition + turnaround 16:40 – Buying a distressed jewelry brand (Brian Anthony's) 17:44 – Tariffs, China, and global supply chain strategy 20:14 – Kelcey's role: M&A, external relationships, and deal flow 21:19 – Ideal acquisition pace: 1 every 9 months 22:22 – "SEAL Team" for turnarounds + special situations 23:08 – Why they love distressed deals over premium growth buys 24:21 – What's happening in capital markets & Holdco land 25:52 – No outside capital: how they bootstrapped from $10K 27:17 – 2023 financial crisis: the CFO lied, debt stacked up 30:00 – Daily cash flow, layoffs, workouts… and recovery 32:39 – How Kelcey's wife handled the meltdown at home 34:56 – Faith, identity, and separating self-worth from business 37:30 – Aaron's personal story: baby on the way, stepping back, hiring a CEO 40:24 – "I'm not my business" → writing it all down → reset 41:43 – Growth curve pressure: why some team members can't keep up 43:00 – Making space for others to rise as the founder steps back 45:43 – Ironman idea: Aaron's next personal growth & content move 46:14 – Kelcey gave up his office to make room for the CFO 47:38 – Holding company evolution: ops vs. strategic layer 50:12 – Kelcey on content: "not a focus, but I'll show up if it's meaningful" 52:59 – Why he shares: paying it forward to the next entrepreneur 54:45 – How Aaron's Twitter & podcast directly drove revenue and talent 56:25 – Kelcey's soapbox: "There is no such thing as an e-commerce business" 59:00 – The danger of launching too many brands in a holdco 01:00:54 – "Your worst asset is always for sale" – capital allocation logic 01:02:14 – Why Aaron isn't opening trucks—his CEO is on a listening tour 01:04:01 – What comes next as Rolling Suds scales