Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating How a Water Bottle Company Turned Into a $17M Empire
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Nov 14, 2025 
Travis Jamison, founder of Capital Pad and expert in e-commerce, dives into a fascinating $17.5 million electrolyte powder brand. The discussion reveals the brand's remarkable growth from motivational water bottles and examines its impressive 86% gross margins. However, concerns about high customer acquisition costs and dependency on Amazon sales arise. Travis emphasizes the challenges of considering Shopify expansion without jeopardizing Amazon rankings. Insights into ingredient sourcing and the sticky nature of Subscribe & Save customers add depth to this intriguing case study.
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Pivot Fueled Rapid Growth
- The brand pivoted from motivational water bottles to electrolyte powders and hit $17.5M with 65% YoY growth.
- Recurring Amazon subscriptions (20k+) and 86% gross margins drove rapid scale but concentrated risk on Amazon.
Huge Gross Margins Hide Heavy Ad Costs
- The business reports ~86% gross margins but only ~15% net margin, implying very high marketing spend.
- Bill and Travis infer the middle 70% of revenue is likely eaten by ad spend and Amazon fees.
Pivot From Water Bottles To Powders
- The founders began selling motivational water bottles and pivoted when consumables showed recurring potential.
- Travis suspects the shift may have been accidental after discovering stronger demand for electrolytes.