Podcast appearances and mentions of dan demsky

Learn the tactics to start a remote business from scratch and scale it to $40 million/year while traveling the world.   _____________________________ Subscribe to The Maverick Show's Monday Minute Newsletter where I email you 3 short items of value to start each week that you can consume in 60 seconds (all personal recommendations like the latest travel gear I'm using, my favorite destinations, discounts for special events, etc.). Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram ____________________________________ In Part 2 of my interview with Dan Demsky, we pull back the curtain and do a deep dive into exactly how he built Unbound Merino from a Kickstarer to an 8-figure global brand. He breaks down the most effective digital advertising strategies and channels that are working today, as well as how to create digital ads that convert today. Dan then describes the evolution of the Unbound Merino clothing line, the launch of the women's line, and the tactics he used to scale the company to $40 million/year in revenue. He reflects on his CEO leadership style, gives tips on building company culture with a fully distributed team, and explains how he attracts and hires top talent. Dan then gives tips on managing cash flow during periods of rapid growth, approaching business problem solving during periods of high stress, and becoming business partners with personal friends. Next, He talks about how he balances his health, relationships, and digital nomad lifestyle with being productive in a high growth business environment. Finally, Dan shares his vision for the future of Unbound Merino, reflects on what travel means to him today, and offers you a 10% discount on Unbound Merino apparel. SEE FULL SHOW NOTES WITH DIRECT LINKS TO EVERYTHING DISCUSSED. ____________________________________ See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that's not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn  See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ____________________________________ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Please Leave a Rating and Review. It really helps the show and I read each one personally.  You Can Buy Me a Coffee. Espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

Lean why stillness and connection to nature are so important for a high-performance 8-figure remote business owner.    _____________________________ Subscribe to The Maverick Show's Monday Minute Newsletter where I email you 3 short items of value to start each week that you can consume in 60 seconds (all personal recommendations like the latest travel gear I'm using, my favorite destinations, discounts for special events, etc.). Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram ____________________________________ Dan Demsky joins Matt from Buenos Aires for a virtual wine night. He starts off talking about growing up in Toronto, reflects on his early entrepreneurial tendencies, and then tells stories from a life changing trip to Japan. Dan then talks about his passion for travel, his motives for traveling to places like Prague and Buenos Aires, and tells stories from a transformative hike up Cotapaxi in Ecuador. He reflects on the importance of stillness and connecting with nature for high performance entrepreneurs. Dan then takes us on his journey of finding business opportunities, learning about sales, and eventually co-founding the travel fashion brand Unbound Merino. He explains the price to value of Merino wool clothing, breaks down the unique travel-conducive properties of Merino Wool, and the distinct positioning of the Unbound Merino brand. And finally, Dan offers you 10% off Unbound Merino apparel.  FULL SHOW NOTES WITH DIRECT LINKS TO EVERYTHING DISCUSSED ARE AVAILABLE HERE.  ____________________________________ See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that's not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn  See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ____________________________________ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Please Leave a Rating and Review. It really helps the show and I read each one personally.  You Can Buy Me a Coffee. Espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

Learn about scaling a remote-first business, leveraging UGC and paid advertising, and balancing sustainability with innovation. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, this episode is packed with valuable insights and motivation.

Dan Demsky, co-founder of Unbound Merino, a revolutionary brand renowned for its travel-friendly Merino wool clothing, discusses his entrepreneurial journey from personal travel frustrations to creating sustainable, versatile clothing. We discuss the natural benefits of Merino wool, early challenges, a successful crowdfunding campaign, and the brand's expansion into men's and women's fashion. Use code NOMAD10 to get 10% off your next order!Unbound Merino WebsiteWorldwise Capital Links⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YoutubeWebsiteJoin the Telegram GroupBook a Strategy Session

What if the key to your next big business idea isn't a lightning bolt of inspiration, but a problem you've faced yourself? In this episode hosted by Kirsten Tyrrel, Dan Demsky reveals how solving a personal pain point helped him to launch Unbound Merino, a globally recognized apparel brand. Dan shares his entire journey, from a risky leap with a crowdfunding campaign to building a company that's revolutionizing the way travelers prepare for their next adventure. He also discusses the importance of taking action even when the odds are against you, how he and his team overcame obstacles, and the power of working with close friends. If you've ever doubted your readiness to start a business, this episode is packed with real-world advice, strategies, and inspiring stories that'll push you to solve real problems and create a product you believe in! What we discuss with Dan: + Opportunity in Problems: Solving a travel issue with versatile clothing + Crowdfunding Success: Raising $400,000 through strategic pre-orders + Overcoming Challenges: Addressing industry inexperience and fulfillment issues + Business With Friends: Starting ventures with a close group of friends + Taking Action: Committing to deadlines and launching despite imperfections + Consistent Branding: Staying true to the original mission + Marketing Tactics: Using personal outreach and early momentum + Scaling Up: Growing from a small storage unit to a global brand + Pivoting During COVID: Adjusting messaging during travel restrictions + Advice for Entrepreneurs: Take risks, embrace challenges, and trust your team Thank you, Dan! Get 10% off with code MILLIONAIRE10 at UnboundMerino.com. Follow Dan and Unbound Merino on Instagram. Watch the video podcast of this episode! And follow us on: Instagram Facebook Tik Tok Youtube Twitter To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors. Want to hear from more incredible entrepreneurs? Check out all of our interviews here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Finn is joined by new guest, Dan Demsky, the co-founder and CEO of Unbound Marino. Join us as we dive into the world of entrepreneurship and discover how to sell wool. We'll hear about Dan's journey and the challenges faced when starting his apparel brand for travellers. From the importance of positioning and narrowing marketing to creating a fun and collaborative work culture, we'll explore the secrets behind their success. Get ready for an inspiring and insightful conversation on building a business and finding fulfilment along the way. So, grab your headphones and let's dive in![00:00:00] Podcast episode with CEO Dan From.[00:09:00] Lost charger broke streak, gave it up.[00:11:53] Founder creates apparel brand for light packers.[00:24:55] Fun project becomes unexpectedly successful venture.[00:27:54] Entering clothing industry, focused on sourcing and branding.[00:37:54] Old UK clothing company embraces e-commerce.[00:40:33] Startup founder finds inspiration, creates wool brand.[00:47:27] Thrilled entrepreneur leads successful company with pride.[00:55:04] Constantly experimenting to crack the advertising code.[01:00:55] Narrow marketing focus, one product, dominate market.[01:10:12] Operators Slack group: Join for playbook. Sean authentic on WhatsApp, same online. Great choice. Light on fire on random new things. Bizarre online purchase?[01:11:37] Appreciate every moment, find similarities, launch.Get show alerts and playbooks by signing up on the EcomGold website: www.ecom.goldClaim an extended free trial as a show listener.EcomGold is brought to you by:‍Rewind Shopify App.Back up your Shopify store because not doing so is absolute lunacy! As a listener of the show, you can claim a no strings attached free month with this link: https://rewind.com/ecommercegold/Sendlane.Unified email, SMS, and reviews for eCommerce. Better features. Better support. Better customer experience. Send your customers exactly what they want, when they want it. (Better than Klaviyo in Finn's opinion). https://www.sendlane.com/Follow Finn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/finn_radford

To Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Welcome to DTC Podcast, I'm Eric Dyck. Today we're spinning up a conversation with Dan Demsky, founder of my personal favorite apparel brand Unbound Merino. https://unboundmerino.com (DTCFAM promo code) I've been a fan of this miraculous material for years, but no brand has nailed comfort, luxury and lifestyle like Unbound has in this market. Today's podcast goes deep on Dan's steady growth journey to 8 figures with improving profitability month over month which Dan credits to Unbound's methodical approach to growth that never sacrifices brand or authenticity even when slugging it out in the trenches of performance marketing You'll hear why Unbound's ruthless focus on travel has been critical for their growth, How ASMR travel videos shot by the founders themselves are the biggest creative needle movers, and why Unbound's sustain able growth focus is a massive benefit to his team, and his lifestyle. Stick around for a promo code offered to DTC listeners, so you can all start living the unbound life, in superfine merino... On with the show! Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 6:45 - Incorporating ASMR-inspired travel footage in marketing 22:00 - Embracing a cohesive brand identity 39:15 - Striving for a unique brand experience 52:30 - Dan shares a special promo code for DTC listeners Hashtags: #D2CPodcast #DirectToConsumer #AuthenticBrandBuilding #ASMRInspiredMarketing #CohesiveBranding Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouse Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

Episode 106 of the podcast features a conversation with Co-Founder and CEO of Unbound Merino,Dan Demsky.  An intrepid business leader, and serial entrepreneur, Dan started Unbound Merino as a way to offer travelers freedom through simplicity. In just five years, Dan has transformed the company from a small crowdfunding campaign to an international brand worn by travelers, entrepreneurs, and minimalists across the globe. With a wealth of knowledge and experience in the startup space, Dan has appeared on BNN Bloomberg and has been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Globe and Mail, VICE, and more. He is also a board member of Entrepreneurs' Organization Toronto and a regular contributor to Learn with Shopify. When he isn't traveling, Dan enjoys live music, good food, and spending time with his pug, Walter   Highlights of this episode:   Dan shares his first big trip to Japan which was a gift from his brother and had a drastic effect on him. 3:47-4:21   Dan shares a big tradition he and his best friends share when going to see their favorite band in the world Phish. No matter where they are in the world, when this happens, Dan is present to how good his life is in that moment. 9:37-12:12   Dan also shares travel advice 14:31-15:10   For more information on Dan and Unbound Merino visit ww.unboundmerino.com   This episode was sponsored UnCruise, the leading small-ship adventure company. If you're looking for a memorable and meaningful adventure in pristine nature with unique activties, gourmet meals, and so much more, visitwww.uncruise.com

This episode is brought to you by Sendlane.   Dan says, “If I weren't the co-founder of this company, I would be a customer because… we make products that cater to people just like me and we try to convey through the ethos of our brand the messaging that life could be lived on your own terms.  And that makes it easy to relate to our customers and have thoughtful and effective marketing that appeals to them. I sometimes feel like when we're writing ads, we're writing them for me.”   Today, we interview Dan Demsky, Co-founder & CEO of Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino is stylish, simple Merino wool apparel that can be worn for weeks or even months without ever needing to be washed. That means you can ditch the enormous suitcase, because all you'll need is your carry-on. We've created travel essentials that will bring out the true minimalist in you.   We discussed:   * What he's grateful for * Traveling, doing the interview from Mexico * His thoughts, as CEO, on remote work and productivity * How the pandemic and lack of travel impacted the brand and what they did about it * How the pandemic made them savvier, stronger, more profitable * The best places to manufacture outside of China (why China is no longer the least expensive) * Why having investors is like having a boss (and why they don't have any) * The simplicity of e-commerce model and why it suits them * Their brand ethos: life can be lived on your own terms * Introducing a line for Women * And more…   Join Ramon Vela and Dan Demsky as we break down the inside story of Unbound Merino on The Story of a Brand.   For more on Unbound Merino, visit: https://unboundmerino.com/   Listen to his past episode where we go into more of the founding story:   Part 1 - Unbound Merino - The Everyday High-Performance Clothing https://sites.libsyn.com/119400/unbound-merino-the-everyday-high-performance-clothing   Part 2 - Unbound Merino - Do the Work. Momentum will Follow. https://sites.libsyn.com/119400/unbound-merino-do-the-work-momentum-will-follow   Subscribe and listen to the podcast on all major apps. Simply search for “The Story of a Brand” on your favorite podcast player.   *   This episode is brought to you by Sendlane.   Here's the deal: I have a gift for you from our primary sponsor — Sendlane. They're giving away their online course eCommerce Academy - Email & SMS Marketing!   This course gives you the step-by-step playbook to drive more revenue and retention with email & SMS. This is typically a $500 package, but for our listeners, it's entirely FREE when you get started with your FREE 14-day trial of Sendlane.    When you do, chat with their support team and let them know you're one of our listeners to get full access to hours of course content that will help you make email marketing your #1 growth engine.   Visit https://storybrandgift.com to get the details, sign up for a free trial and get your gift!  

I am thrilled to have Dan Demsky, CEO & Co-founder of Unbound Merino, with us here today. Unbound Merino is a versatile, high performance & sustainable clothing line for men and women made from Merino wool, “nature's miracle fabric” that holds the capabilities to insulate heat when it's cold and breathe comfortably when it's warm. Dan started Unbound Merino from a small crowdfunding campaign and has created an international brand worn by travelers, entrepreneurs and minimalists across the globe. He has taken an idea that he was passionate about and turned it into not only a reality but an exciting business. I can't wait to hear more about Dan's entrepreneurial journey and story. His story building this incredible brand is one that you won't want to miss! On this episode of #TheKaraGoldinShow. Enjoying this episode of #TheKaraGoldinShow? Let me know by clicking on the links below and sending me a quick shout-out on social. Or reach out to me at karagoldin@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/karagoldin/ https://www.instagram.com/karagoldin/ https://twitter.com/karagoldin https://www.facebook.com/KaraGoldin/ Check out our website to view this episode's show notes:  https://karagoldin.com/podcast/356 To learn more about Dan Demsky and Unbound Merino: https://www.unboundmerino.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dandemsky/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/unbound-merino/ https://www.instagram.com/unboundmerino/ https://www.instagram.com/dandemsky/ https://facebook.com/unboundmerino

Not to be fatalistic, but we've only got so much time on this gorgeous planet... why not spend some time dreaming up your next trip?! This week I'm sitting down with the founder of (incredibly packable, stylish and versatile) Unbound Merino, Dan Demsky, and daydreaming about some amazing places to add to your travel list. From Slovenia to Vermont to Tokyo and back again, Dan walks us through the amazing destinations he's visited and loved, and throws in some amazing advice for packing light, too. Bon voyage! Follow Dan on IG here and check out Unbound Merino. Follow me on IG here and check out the latest WGT blog posts here! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wegottatalkwithsonni/support

Chris Meade used Gorgias to generate over $1,000,000 in retail sales, https://www.gorgias.com/customers/crossnet (learn how he did, and you can too). Dan Demsky is a co-founder of Unbound Merino. A premium apparel company made for travel. 3:45 Getting started and positioning a premium brand online 9:35 How do customers understand about Merino and the properties. 11:35 Do customers come back or buy more. 13:25 The skills from a video production company that helped to launch an ecommerce brand with customers instead of clients. 15:20 Biggest lessons and mistakes, including hiring much faster than they could keep up with. Sign up for Chris' weekly newsletter https://chrismeade.beehiiv.com/subscribe (Cross Commerce) here, and connect with him on https://twitter.com/chrismeadej (Twitter) and https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjmeade/ (Linkedin). Chris Meade is the co-founder & CMO of CROSSNET, the world's first four-way volleyball game. Chris was honored with Forbes 30U30 for the 2021 Sports category. CROSSNET combines elements of the childhood game four square and volleyball in a competitive game to 11, win by 2. CROSSNET is now available at 3000+ retail stores such as Walmart, Target, DICKS, Academy Sports, Sam's Club and 20+ other retailers.

Launching a business is no easy task, and funding it can be even harder. That's where crowdfunding comes in: by crowdfunding your business, you can pre-sell products or services to interested investors and get the startup cash you need. But before you launch your campaign, there are a few things you need to know.  I'm excited to share guest, Dan Demsky, founder of Unbound Merino, who is sharing all his tips for how to get a product off the ground using crowdfunding and how it is possible to start a hyper successful business even if you are creative at heart. Main Topics: - How to get a product off-the-ground using crowdfunding- What it's like to start and run a company with your best friends- How to scale a direct to consumer (D2C) business, and more! Key Takeaways: - It's possible to still use crowdfunding to start, scale and gain serious traction.- It's possible to start a hyper successful business even if you are creative at heart.- It's possible to run a company with your friends without going insane.  More About Our Guest: Unbound Merino was created by three lifelong friends. We spent our high school days taking road trips across America to see our favorite bands. Every time we came home, all we could think about was saving enough money for the next big adventure. It didn't take long until we turned our sights on the rest of the world. Like many seasoned travelers, we were drawn to the incredible natural benefits of Merino wool. The fabric was perfectly suited for travel, but it was typically designed as high performance outdoor activewear, with flashy logos and unnecessary embellishments. Sure, it performed great on a hike, but we wanted something that did that and also looked great at a restaurant, in a museum, at a rock concert and out on the town. After years of researching, designing, and prototyping - we partnered with industry leaders to create the most stylish, versatile and highest performing Merino wool clothing that's made specifically for travel and everyday life. Our purpose is to create simple, high performance clothing that is versatile enough for any occasion. Today, Unbound Merino is worn by countless fellow travelers all over the world. Our clothing is designed to help pack and own less so you can focus your energy on the experiences that matter most. Our promise is freedom through simplicity.

Jon talks with Dan Demsky, Founder of Unbound Merino, about how he started building a great brand of clothing. Dan is the founder of the e-commerce brand, Unbound Merino, which is a maker of quality merino wool clothing. The company was started as a crowdfunding campaign, raising $380,000 in its first 2 months. After just 3-years in business, they are doing $4m in revenue   Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/  Website: https://jondwoskin.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/  Email: jon@jondwoskin.com  Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big!   Connect with Dan Demsky: Twitter: https://twitter.com/unboundmerino?lang=en  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unboundmerino/posts  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unboundmerino/?hl=en  Website: https://unboundmerino.com/  LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/unbound-merino  Email: talk@oscarhamilton.com 

Episode Title: How To Live Like A Minimalist Featuring Dan Demsky (Co-Founder of Unbound Merino)-The Startup Life

Dan Demsky is a Toronto-based entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Unbound Merino– the high-performance clothing brand known for sweat-wicking, wrinkle-resistant, anti-bacterial Merino wool styles that stay clean and fresh for weeks on end. Looking for a solution to minimize packing for longer adventures, he discovered the benefits of merino wool and launched Unbound Merino in 2016 with lifelong friends and fellow travelers Andrew Cariboni and Dima Zelikman. Today, Unbound Merino is available in 100+ countries and worn by countless travelers all over the world.  https://terryvirts.com/ Twitter: @AstroTerry Instagram: astro_terry

In This Episode: Dan Demsky shares about successfully building Unbound from the ground up using crowdfunding, sheer determination and persistence. We talk art, restaurants, and doing things that don't scale in order to build a company. Resources: Connect with Dan Unbound Merino Totoro Matty Matheson Cycladic Head Lumps EO Canada Unbound's Indiegogo Campaign Raising $374,390 USD by 1,988 backers --- // SUPPORT THE SHOW // Become a member Donate to the show // COURSES // Apply to join the Woman's Wisdom™ Accelerator to be in community with women living and working in flow Have Pain Free Periods with the Period Secrets™ Course Free Career Design Masterclass // LINKS // Looking for a coach? Let's work together! - 1:1 Coaching With Kalyna Buy Lead. Merch to support grassroots charities and get great loungewear // SOCIAL // Connect with Kalyna on Instagram Connect on LinkedIn Connect on Facebook Subscribe to Get Updates on New Episodes --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kalyna/support

Our guest this week Dan Demsky, discusses: -Learning Mandarin Chinese -Pivoting and coming out stronger after the pandemic decreased sales for a while. -Strategies for Saving/Investing Money, Finding Internal Peace and Getting consistent exercise -What Dan's "full on hustle" looks like. -Favorite book, food to cook, place to visit and charity to give back to.

Marketing Strategies Revealed in this Episode: What is crowdfunding and how does it work? How to get a product off-the-ground using crowdfunding How to plan a crowdfunding campaign strategy Examples of organizations/businesses that have been successful with crowdfunding

Building an effective SEO strategy to promote your brand and online retail space can often be a frustrating uphill task. According to Unbound Merino co-founder Dan Demsky, it‘s a game of patient investment, faith in your long term strategy and trusting the right people to get the job done. Rather than rushing for some quick come-and-go clicks, follow these simple but effective steps to get your company, product and brand out to be seen.  Don't try to handle it yourself. SEO optimization is incredibly complex and requires a commitment of time that you simply don't have while managing your brand and team. Hire experts who are up to date with the latest strategies. Shop around until you find an SEO expert who understands your brand, gets your company mission and shares your vision for its future. The better the relationship between you and your hire, the better the optimization outcome. Spend the money and take the time. A proper SEO campaign isn't a battle, it's a war, and can take years to fully come to fruition. Make the investment, and be patient while it grows. Trust your experts. It may seem at first that you're getting very little bang for your buck, but don't let frustration lead to an early cancellation of the optimization campaign. Believe in the process, trust in the expertise and you will see results. If done properly, a successful longterm SEO campaign will not only improve your sales and visibility, but will compound the reach of every following campaign, whether related or not, ever expanding the scope of brand awareness. Our Sponsors https://www.omnisend.com/rolledup/ (Omnisend) - https://getshogun.com/ (Shogun) - https://www.shipbob.com/rolledup (ShipBob) - https://gorgias.grsm.io/pitstop (Gorgias)

While luxury wool-wear is his business, Dan Demsky of Unbound Merino understands that modern consumers often seek a level of involvement beyond simply clothing themselves. They want to be part of dynamic brands and exciting communities, and nothing drives that sensation of inclusion and exclusion like the fear of missing out (FOMO).  If a company finds themselves in the possession of a limited-quantity product, or at the end-of-life of a popular item, then they have an incredible opportunity to crank their customer relationship up to 11, ever so briefly, in a fit of popular-scarcity that could sustain them through word of mouth into the next season. Here's how: Be open, clear and honest with your customers about new, unexpected stock as well as retiring stock. A new item is exciting, but many customers become comfortable and reliant on mainstays, and if given fair warning that an item may soon disappear, will rush to grab as many as they can If the item is a limited time offer, make it very clear to the consumer how many are left, and how much time is left on the clock for them to make a decision. Often the very idea that someone else may have something special or unique is enough to drive others to desire it Let your customers in on the trade secrets and internal knowledge of your product line for any limited time offers, such as where the mystery item came from or why you're phasing a product out. Allowing your customers to share a sense of identity and pride in your flash sale will lead to them promoting you, free of charge Trust that customers who took advantage of one special buy-now-before-its-too-late event will eagerly hang around and wait for the next, confident that they have some secret knowledge of how to score the really good deals from their favourite brand Our Sponsors https://www.omnisend.com/rolledup/ (Omnisend) - https://getshogun.com/ (Shogun) - https://www.shipbob.com/rolledup (ShipBob) - https://gorgias.grsm.io/pitstop (Gorgias)

When international and domestic travel ground to a halt a year ago, Toronto entrepreneur Dan Demsky's Unbound Merino found themselves facing a unique situation; the lifestyle they sold had ceased to exist; there's no need for high quality wool clothes for travel when there no one is traveling, be it for business or pleasure. His brand was, in normal times, on point, his product high quality, and his supply line strong, but Demsky faced disaster if Unbound Merino couldn't effectively pivot away from its core message, and reinvent themselves for a COVID 19 world. While sales tanked for March and April, by May 2020 Unbound Merino was back on track, thanks to a fearless top-to-bottom reorganization of their brand that any struggling company can reproduce. Know what your business is, not your sales pitch. "comfortable travel" may be out, but Unbound Merino's products are still high quality, and supply has not been disrupted, so the only thing that needed change was the message the customer received Trust and rely on the customers who got you where you are. They haven't gone away, the consumer information you gathered from them is still valid, so tailor your efforts towards making their relationship with your brand even stronger, and they will continue to support you, financially with sales and dynamically with feedback Recognize that you're not the only company facing difficulties, and capitalize on the disruption to others. Suppliers may now find themselves with inventory that otherwise would be sold to a competitor, but you may be able to pick up at a discount. See where you can expand your business, purely based on unanticipated availability and sudden absences in the market Embrace the excitement of scarcity. While a reliable stock is your backbone, unexpected inventory can allow you to surprise your customers with limited special offers and exclusive products. With everyone stuck at home, craving some excitement, even an unexpected, "while quantities last" t-shirt can become an event that gets your consumer base talking, and buying Don't abuse your customer's trust with panic-messaging. If you have a normal pace for seasonal sales, don't disrupt that, you customers look forward to them and rely on them for solid deals. Sending them a barrage of messages about sudden, unannounced sales only weakens that relationship, annoys your customer, and makes your company seem unsure and unstable. Keep a steady hand on the promotional wheel. Trust in your product, have faith in your customers, and your brand can weather than storm and survive any global disaster Our Sponsors https://www.omnisend.com/rolledup/ (Omnisend) - https://getshogun.com/ (Shogun) - https://www.shipbob.com/rolledup (ShipBob) - https://gorgias.grsm.io/pitstop (Gorgias)

In today’s episode of The Story of a Brand, we sit back down with Dan Demsky, co-founder of Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino is a high-performance appeal brand that utilizes premium merino wool material. In the previous episode, we talked about the pros of wearing merino wool; lightweight regulates your temperature and never wrinkles. In this episode, we delve into Dan’s journey into building the brand and creating Unbound Merino. Not only do we hear about his inspiration leading him to the idea, but we get an insight into what it took to keep the dream live. As Dan recalls, “it made sense to me... I need these people to support me. I need this momentum. So what else would I be doing? … I could have played video games, read comic books, I could have got a 12 pack of beer, ate some pizza, and watched Netflix. No, I wanted to make this thing work. So you do the work.” Listen in as Ramon Vela, and Dan Demsky discuss what it means to keep up that entrepreneurial momentum on The Story of a Brand. In part 1, Dan discusses Unbound Merino’s marketing strategy; The upsides of crowdfunding; Reaching out to everyone you know to build momentum; Creating the perfect campaign; COVID Impacts on a travel apparel brand; Delving into the different products; and much more. For more on Unbound Merino, visit: https://unboundmerino.com/   *   OUR PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ATTN Agency. ATTN Agency is a full-funnel growth and performance digital marketing agency with proven strategies to scale and optimize direct to consumer brands through tactical media buying, data-driven analysis, and unrivaled creative services. If you are looking back on this year wondering what went wrong or what could have gone better, or if you're starting to put together your game plan for 2021, I have one piece of advice: you need to talk to ATTN Agency. I’ve interviewed several of their clients, and I can say that they are the best in the business. ATTN represents some of the fastest-growing direct to consumer brands, delivering month over month results. Go to https://www.attnagency.com/storyofabrand/ for a comprehensive, no-obligation, 14 point audit of your social, search, shopping, email, and SMS channels. * This episode is brought to you by TryNow. Do your shoppers love your products once they've had a chance to try them? Is it hard for you to convey the quality of your product digitally? Well, there is a secret strategy that many of the fastest-growing Shopify brands use to get their products in more shoppers' homes. They use TryNow to automate a Try At Home program. With TryNow, 1) shoppers can check out with a zero dollar cart, 2) get items shipped right to their home, and 3) only pay for what they keep. DTC brands like Hammit, Myles Apparel, Solid + Striped, Tamara Mellon, Universal Standard, and Girlfriend Collective... use TryNow to increase conversion rates and average order values. If you want to say to your shoppers, don't trust us, trust our products, then go to https://www.trynow.io/ to learn if a TryNow program is right for you.

In the first part of this Feature, we interview Dan Demsky, co-Founder of Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino is a versatile, high performance & sustainable clothing line for men and women made from Merino wool. Merino wool comes from the merino sheep in Australia. The secret in “nature’s miracle fabric” is that it holds the capabilities to insulate heat when it’s cold and breathe comfortably when it’s warm. It’s also naturally antibacterial and moisture-wicking, which means less washing with clothes that stay dry, clean, and fresh. This makes it the perfect material to bring in your carry on to maximize your travel wardrobe or wear for everyday use. Listen in as we talk to co-founder Dan Demsky, as he tells us how he turned merino wool into a travel apparel brand. In part 1, Dan discusses Dan’s mentor experience; The Hundred-Foot Overview of Unbound Merino; Nature’s miracle fabric; How merino wool works; Crowdfunding your project; Utilizing the next travel hack; and much more. Join Ramon Vela and Dan as they discuss Unbound Merino on The Story of a Brand. For more on Unbound Merino, visit: https://unboundmerino.com/ * OUR PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ATTN Agency. ATTN Agency is a full-funnel growth and performance digital marketing agency with proven strategies to scale and optimize direct to consumer brands through tactical media buying, data-driven analysis, and unrivaled creative services. If you are looking back on this year wondering what went wrong or what could have gone better, or if you're starting to put together your game plan for 2021, I have one piece of advice: you need to talk to ATTN Agency. I’ve interviewed several of their clients, and I can say that they are the best in the business. ATTN represents some of the fastest-growing direct to consumer brands, delivering month over month results. Go to https://www.attnagency.com/storyofabrand/ for a comprehensive, no-obligation, 14 point audit of your social, search, shopping, email, and SMS channels. * This episode is brought to you by TryNow. Do your shoppers love your products once they've had a chance to try them? Is it hard for you to convey the quality of your product digitally? Well, there is a secret strategy that many of the fastest-growing Shopify brands use to get their products in more shoppers' homes. They use TryNow to automate a Try At Home program. With TryNow, 1) shoppers can check out with a zero dollar cart, 2) get items shipped right to their home, and 3) only pay for what they keep. DTC brands like Hammit, Myles Apparel, Solid + Striped, Tamara Mellon, Universal Standard, and Girlfriend Collective... use TryNow to increase conversion rates and average order values. If you want to say to your shoppers, don't trust us, trust our products, then go to https://www.trynow.io/ to learn if a TryNow program is right for you.

Unbound Merino took a painful hit to their sales and growth when the pandemic hit in March of 2020. The brand’s travel-centric messaging stopped working and paid traffic was no longer a profitable growth engine. But Dan saw an opportunity to evolve the messaging and pivoted to a new channel to regain that lost momentum. Maximizing customer LTV became the new focus as Dan saw the incredible unrealized opportunity within the brand’s email list. Since then, momentum has returned to the brand as they have achieved a 50% returning customer rate. In today’s episode, Dan shares his journey into e-commerce and his incredible adventure of pivoting and adapting in uncertain times. Enjoy!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE EPISODEKnow thyself. If you don’t feel good about your situation, make a change.Create tests to prove product market fit early.Get creative with your referral programs. Then make sure your customers know about them!Use email to maximize your profitability and protect your business.TODAY'S GUESTDan Demsky is the Co-Founder of Unbound Merino, the stylish and sustainable apparel brand for men launched in December 2016. Dan used to run a video production agency that scaled to employing 20 staff and working with brands like Coca-Cola and Mastercard. After experiencing burnout in the world of client work, Dan decided to shift to ecommerce. Today, Unbound Merino is sold in 100 countries worldwide.Check out Unbound Merino at https://unboundmerino.com/ Connect with Dan on LinkedIn. If you want to learn more about the eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand click here:https://mindfulmarketing.co/products/full-growth-planIf you've been paying attention and your brand is ready to GROW, apply now to be the one new brand we take on this month!https://mindfulmarketing.co/applyWant to join a network of founders and executives who know your unique challenges in scaling your E-com brand from 7 to 8 figures? Apply to join our Ecom Executives Mastermind here: https://Mindfulmarketing.co/mastermind

In this episode we talk, Dan Demsky (Co-Founder Of Unbound Merino) as we discuss his clothing brand, why working with his best friend is not a bad thing, and more.  Follow The Startup Life Podcast Facebook Page Want gear from The Startup Life? Check out our gear! Check out other great podcasts from The Binge Podcast Network. Written by: Dominic Lawson  Executive Producers: Dominic Lawson and Kenda Lawson Music Credits: **Show Theme**  Behind Closed Doors - Otis McDonald  **Break Theme** Cielo - Huma-Huma   

Unbound Merino was created by three lifelong friends who were drawn to the incredible natural benefits of Merino wool. The fabric was perfectly suited for travel, but it was typically designed as high performance outdoor activewear, with flashy logos and unnecessary embellishments. They wanted something that did that and also looked great at a restaurant, in a museum, at a rock concert and out on the town. And thus, Unbound Merino was born. Dan Demsky, co-founder, joins Justin to discuss launching the initial crowdfunding campaign and fueling the fast-growing business.

Episode 216: Crowdfunding, Entrepreneurship & Travel with Dan Demsky

Learn more about Unbound MerinoSupport the show-------->Fabian Geyrhalter:Welcome to the show, Dan.Dan Demsky:Hey, how are you?Fabian Geyrhalter:Very good. Very good. Good to have you here. I love your backstory. I listened to another podcast interview, mainly because it actually resembles my story a little bit as I grew my design agency organically to a point of, under parenthesis, great success, at least to the outside world, but I myself just felt really stuck. So I flipped the switch and I started over, and it seems like you were doing something very similar with a video production company. Tell us a little bit about your journey and then your big epiphany to switch from the service industry to the product industry, which is always a very smart move.Dan Demsky:Yeah. Well, I had a really, really good experience and a good journey doing what I was doing, but I never originally intended to start a company. I was doing freelance video production with my best friend and business partner. And we started getting really busy, and before we knew it, we had a company. It wasn't like we thought, "Let's start a company," we were just doing little projects. But being so busy, we started having to hire people to help, and then our client roster grew. And then we had a small downtown studio in downtown Toronto, and then a big office. And then we had 20 employees, and we're like, "How did this happen?" It just happened. And it felt really good. It was really cool. And we were in our early 20s, we felt we were so smart and so savvy.We were dumb and young, but we felt smart and savvy at the time. And it went on for years, but somewhere along the way, the business just, it didn't call me like at once did, it didn't excite me like it once did. And a lot of the realities of having a company and then the journey of entrepreneurship really blew up in my face. I love the journey, I love the ups, I love the downs. I love it all. But I felt at one point I'm just in the wrong place. And just for years, I was trying to think, "Well, is this what I'm going to do for the rest of my life or am I going to figure out something else?" And what I realized is the people around me who had e-commerce product businesses, they had a different level of scalability to their companies. They had a different level of freedom.There's something different about what they were doing in their business model that just drew me. So I knew I need to create a product business and that product is going to be sold online. But that's as far as I was really able to wrap my head around where I wanted to go. So that's not a lot of information to give yourself of what you want to do. It's not an idea, that's just like, "I think I want to have a business that has this business model at a high level."Fabian Geyrhalter:Which is really unusual, Dan. Because usually, people on my show, they're like, "I was sitting around and suddenly I'm like, 'I need to fix this,' and that's how the... Or I had this huge passion, and out of this passion suddenly grew a business," like with your first business. And so it's very unusual, but it also makes it a lot of sense. I can 100% relate to that, where at some point, you just look at the lifestyle of other people around you and they're not working their butt off like you are, and they don't have payroll like you do. They didn't do like production work which started with cool design and strategy, and suddenly it ends up just churning hours in payroll.But really, just thinking about, "Okay, how am I going to flip this around and what am I going to do next?" So you must've gone through months or years of just thinking about what could that be.Dan Demsky:Yeah. And first of all, there's nothing wrong with a service business, but what matters in a service business is that, I think, you have to be passionate about what the service is. Because when I was really into the video production, when we were into what we were doing, every day, the challenge, all the work we were putting in was exciting and fun, but once I lost the passion for it and it was no longer calling me, that's when I figured out I needed to get out. So yeah, on a simple level, I was just thinking of the business model, but what I started doing was we started ticking on a chalkboard or a whiteboard or on a piece of paper.Every couple of weeks we'd meet up and we would think, what is a potential business idea that could be a product? And we would just throw ideas at the wall. And so many of them were terrible. They were just bad ideas. But what we did that was right was we just were thinking, I was framing my head around, "We can do this. We can create a new business that's going to be a product business." And that opened up the lens for me to look at the world and, even on an unconscious level, try to think, "Well, what is that thing going to be?" And you do need that moment. Like you just said before, a lot of entrepreneurs, they say, "Oh, I need to solve this problem, or I have this thing I'm obsessed with," and then that idea comes into fruition and they go and they chase after it and they make it happen.I didn't have that, but what I did have was the hunger to find that. And if you're not looking, you're not going to find it. So it wasn't until I had that moment where I have identified a problem, I identified the moment where I'm like, "I could create this product that I wish existed." Then it was like, click, boom, there it is. I'm going to go do it now. But it took years. You said, did it take weeks, months, years? It took years. We were tinkering with ideas for probably two to three years before we laid the groundwork to start moving forward on a specific idea.Some of them we ideated with a little bit more, moved a little bit down road, thought, "This is a good idea, but maybe in not good timing. This one is a bad idea." We'd just go through them. But it took, I'd say two to three years until we move forward saying, "This is the idea that we want to go out on."Fabian Geyrhalter:And so when you say, we, was it you and your significant other, or you and a potential business partner? Who was it?Dan Demsky:My two best friends.Fabian Geyrhalter:Oh, that's great.Dan Demsky:Yeah. We didn't have a business idea and I found some strategic partners, so it was me hanging out with my buddies. So we'd go, we'd sit at a lunch, like on the lunch break or on a Friday night and we'd have some beers and we'd just throw some ideas at the wall. So it was kind of a social experience, we were just having fun. But the intent was like, "Let's figure out a product business because that's what we want. That's the life that we want to live. We want to start a new business, but we want one that has the scalability of a product business. Let's just figure it out, and let's have beers and that fun while we're doing it."Fabian Geyrhalter:Yeah. And it's really interesting because suddenly it's two other people that need to be excited about the same idea, which is double as hard, three times as hard suddenly, to actually find that idea where all three say, "You know what? This could be it. This is it. We all feel like this could be a great product."Dan Demsky:Well, this is the way I always look at it. I feel like you can have friends who are just there for you, to support you emotionally, whatever. And then you can have friends that have utility and function in your life that they have skills that you could work with. And I don't look at that as a negative or a sour way of looking at what a friendship could be, I think utility is a good thing. I can go out for beers on a Friday night with any group of friends, but why not go out with the ones who have that zest for wanting to do things with you, to create things with you. There's that old adage, "You're the average of the five people closest to you." That to me is the most important way to live your life.If there are people that are close to you and they're not ambitious and they don't care to take more out of life, that doesn't mean they're bad people. They could be great people, but may you can have people a little closer to you that do have that, because if they do have that zest to want to do more in life, to build things, to create things, and those are the people that you spend your most of the time with, that becomes the bar in which you want to live your life. And that's just the people I surround myself with. Now, having said that, I'm very lucky because these are the people I grew up with, these are my lifelong best friends. We just happened to be this way.And maybe sometimes we all push each other. Maybe I'm the most ambitious one day, and that makes them want to roll up their sleeves a little bit more, but in times when I'm not my most productive and I'm not my most ambitious, one of my business partners, Andrew, for example, or Dima, they're firing on all cylinders, and I feel, "Ah, man, I got to work harder. I want to do better." So I work really hard to make sure that I'm surrounding myself with great people. And I'm lucky to have great people in my life. And once you have that, going out for beers on a Friday night is more than just telling inside jokes and taking a whiskey shots and drinking beers. It becomes like a pen and paper on the table and you start to think of bigger ideas and you start to create together.It's still just going out for beers at the end of the day, but the results of it are a lot more palpable.Fabian Geyrhalter:Couldn't agree more. Couldn't agree more. And the actual idea was born, Dan, I believe, on your honeymoon, right? Or when you were traveling with your wife?Dan Demsky:That's correct. You want me to tell the story of that? I discovered Merino wool as a way to solve the problem for my previous trip with her, which was when we had way too much luggage, all of which was hers, none of it which was actually needed or worn, and I had to haul stuff up hills for her and it was very frustrating. And on our honeymoon, we decided to travel with just a carry on. And the way to do that, I was Googling, "How do you travel overseas with just to carry on?" And I discovered Merino wool on a Reddit post where this guy said, "I pack Merino wool t-shirts because they're antimicrobial, antibacterial, odor resistant." Now, if you wear these multiple days in a row, even if you sweat through them, they'll never smell and they'll be just as fresh as the first day you put it on."I thought, "Perfect, I got to find this Merino wool." And I went out looking for Merino wool stuff, but everything I found looked like active wear, as it was. Now, Merino wool, we didn't invent this material, it was already being used in stuff for outdoors, stuff you can do a trip with, stuff you can run a triathlon with, stuff like that. And because it was made for this purpose, it really had that aesthetic. So I bought some Merino wool stuff and it performed as promised, it performed brilliantly. But when I look back at the pictures from the honeymoon, I'd be at a cocktail bar and I'd be wearing this t-shirt that had a reflective logo on it, and a cut that seemed a little bit more athletic wear.I look at a place, and I remember feeling out of place. And I thought, "Why can't I find more simple, stylish, timeless, classic type of?" I'm talking about a plain black v-neck t-shirt or crew neck t-shirt, but something that fits a little bit nicer, that doesn't have those reflective embellishments, doesn't look like I'm supposed to be going out for a run, maybe something that I can put on a nice pair of pants on and a watch and go out to a cocktail bar and I feel like I was in the right place. And it was very hard to find. So after years of searching, I was like, "Aha, I want that product for me, and I can't find it. So maybe I should go create it."So I went to these two guys and I said, "This is the idea. This is what I think." We were all looking for something. And I pitched them why it made sense. Andrew was the first person who went and he got some Merino wool clothing, he was like, "Wow, this is the best stuff ever." But he felt the same way about what was available. We had to figure out how to manufacture clothing, and let's do a crowdfunding campaign to see if the market actually is interested in this angle for Merino clothing that we haven't seen out there. But that was our start.Fabian Geyrhalter:That's really great. And so what you actually did is you then took the story and you changed it around a little bit for your website where it talks about the three co-founders traveling together to see live bands, that's how the idea was born, but you did that spin on the story ever so slightly, because you started to understand your target audience at that point, right?Dan Demsky:No, no. This is who we are. I've been going to see this band, Fish, with my two business partners since we were in high school. We have traveled all over the world. We don't come from money, we were just hobbling together little ventures in order to be able to pay for all these adventures that would go on together. And that's just who we are. The idea was born out of the aha moment I had when traveling on the honeymoon. But when I brought it to them, we were just thinking about how well this fits into like the way we live. And we're not really fashion people, it's is not about clothing, it's about living simply. This thinking translates far beyond the clothing, it's about having less things in your life, but better things. Living simply.That's why it was so easy to get the enthusiasm in them. I came up with this idea for my own traveling without them, but I came to them and it's like, "It fits perfectly. This fits perfectly to who we are." And that's what makes it so easy for the marketing side of things, because this idea is so authentically us that all of the talking points about the product and the brand, it just falls into place naturally, because this is us. If this brand existed before we created it, we would just be customers.Fabian Geyrhalter:Yeah. Because the target audience is you. I mean, it's your pain point, it's how you like to travel. And quite frankly, my life was very different 15 years ago when I didn't travel just with a carry on, and now all I do... I mean, Europe for three weeks, carry on, it doesn't matter. Like even skiing vacation, it doesn't matter, it's all carry on. But it takes a lot to actually get to that epiphany, and then it takes really good product to take with you. So that it's very versatile.Dan Demsky:That takes preparation and thinking, and then we just make a little part of that a little simpler, and that was our whole thinking. We said, "What products could we make that would reduce the largest amount of load in someone's backpack or carry on suitcase?" So that was when we started with just t-shirts, underwear and socks, because we were thinking those are things that you need to bring lots and lots of. So what if you could bring less, how much packing is reduced?Fabian Geyrhalter:In your Indiegogo video, you talked about wearing a single one of your shirts for, I don't know, like a month in a row or something outrageous.Dan Demsky:46 days.Fabian Geyrhalter:Yeah. Yeah. And my first thought is, "Wow, that's disgusting." No stink is great, but no washing is just gross. So to me, that falls into that just because you can do it doesn't mean you should category, but the underlying idea must've resonated with your presumably 20 to 40-year-old meal traveler type audience. I see people on Instagram talking about how they're wearing your shirt traveling through Thailand for 18 days straight without washing it. So that was the proof point. The idea that, "Listen, that's how you can... " That doesn't mean you're going to actually wear it for 18 days like the guy in Thailand.Dan Demsky:Here's the thing, do you want to wear it 46 days in a row? Probably not. Can you? Yes. And the whole thing that we were doing there, and we were making this campaign thinking people are going to say that's disgusting. But the truth is this, it's just a sensational claim, that's true. We can, and I actually did it. I actually put this to the test. And if you watch our video in our original Indiegogo video, you'll see, I worked out in this thing, I saunas I would make it sweaty as it could possibly be, and then I would just air it out. Now, when you put on a pair of jeans, if you walk out on a hot summer day, even if you sweat a little bit, you're not washing the jeans after everywhere.People wash their jeans for two reasons, one, they get them actually dirty, like they spill something on their jeans or they get a muddy or something, or two, they just feel it's about type, like, "I haven't watched these jeans in a while. I'm going to wash them." Or maybe they've gotten a little baggy, they want to tighten them up a little bit, so they fit a little more fitted or whatever. But people don't think it's gross to wear jeans multiple days in a row because the material is in the same way that Merino wool is, it's not going to smell and it's not going to carry the bacteria.In fact, jeans carry no more bacteria after multiple wears than they do when they're brand new, so people are used to this and they're comfortable. But the paradigm shift of having that to your t-shirt is a lot for people to grasp, because they go, "You have sweaty armpits." [crosstalk 00:18:07] and they're just conditioned to it. At one point, you get conditioned to realizing that you just wash your shirts whenever you want. So the real thing is this, as you go on a trip with these shirts, and if you are staying in an Airbnb that has a laundry machine and you want to wash it, you've only worn it once or maybe worn it three times or four times, you wash it. Why not? You just totally wash it.But if you can't wash it, it's not going to smell, and it's not unsanitary. It's completely, completely, okay to wear. So we were sensationalizing by doing the whole thing for 46 days in a row because that's what made us stand out. So that was a complete marketing thing.Fabian Geyrhalter:Totally. Totally. And that's why I bring it in.Dan Demsky:But practically it's true.Fabian Geyrhalter:Yeah, and that's why I bring it up too, because you got around $400,000 of crowdfunding with your campaign. And so if you do the math, that's like close to 2,000 people, I guess, buying $200 worth of clothes from an unknown, unproven company, no reviews, no actual products at the time. That's amazing. And that's how you did it. You just knew that there's a very small target audience, that is actually really large, but it seems like a micro target audience of guys in their 20s, 30s, that like to travel, like to travel really lightly. And they're okay wearing a t-shirt or two for a good number of days, and this is their solution.Dan Demsky:Right. And let me tell you something. When we were creating this campaign, I had a few friends that have created crowdfunding campaigns before successfully, and then I contacted people who I didn't know who had done it. I did a lot of research to learn, how do I do this? I really want this thing to work. It was very important to me, because I told you I was unhappy with my other business. And a lot of the advice I'd get is, "Don't position this as a travel product because you're narrowing yourself so much, it could be so much bigger." But for whatever reason, we decided to focus on that niche. And I'm really, really happy we did because when you look at crowdfunding campaigns, what a lot of them really do is they're a very, very direct problem-solving product.It solves a specific product and the campaigns almost feel like infomercials in which they beat you over the head with, what is it that this product is doing that is a benefit to you. So for us, we narrowed our niche by making it a travel product so that we could specify all of the messaging around solving a problem for travel. We didn't really focus as much, or did talk about how it doesn't smell, but really if you watch the campaign, you look through what we're talking about the most, it's about all of the ways in which traveling gets better when you have a product like this. You'll breeze through the airport, you won't have to wait at the luggage carousel, you don't have any risk of your things getting lost.You're not going to look like a big tourist schlepping a huge heavy suitcase through a tourist area to be a target to scammers or people who are trying to sell you things. You just blend in and you can focus on the experience, and your vacations are better. So all of a sudden, anyone who's traveling, they can now have an idea of this solution that can help them travel better. And that could be because they just care to have more of an experience-based travel style, or they could be older and it's a pain to have to carry all those heavy luggage, so it solves that problem. But we really, really focused on the travel thing specifically to narrow our messaging down so that all of our marketing and everything could be all about one thing and not trying to blanket everything and appeal to nobody.Fabian Geyrhalter:It is so smart on so many levels. That is something that anyone can learn from that is launching any company, because, A, first you start narrow so you know exactly who to talk to and what to say to them. And then you can always broaden up over time, which you have. I mean, now you go into women's clothes, now you go into underwear, socks.Dan Demsky:Well, I'll tell you one thing that's changed for us that we weren't expecting.Fabian Geyrhalter:What's that?Dan Demsky:We never expected that the entire planet would stop traveling at once.Fabian Geyrhalter:Yeah. Let's talk about that a little bitDan Demsky:So our travel messaging, which worked really well for us, and we were fine with Facebook ads or messaging over the course of about three years where we would A-B-C test ads so we would know that this word in capital letters would work better than if it wasn't. So refined for traveling, and all of a sudden, none of it mattered anymore, so we had to go basically take all of our best performing ads, our Holy Grails of ads went garbage, complete garbage. And we had to change everything from our website, it was no longer about travel. And we thought, "You know what, one day we wanted to get to this point where we broadened outside of travel. Well, now we've got a chance, we have no choice." So we slowly changed everything and we broadened out. Now, travel is a point of our messaging, but it's not the entire messaging anymore.And we can sit on the backs of tens of thousands of customers who love our product, who come back for more. We've always known this, the people who want to refine their traveling in the way that we were positioning it, they're very conscious about how they're traveling. They tend to be intelligent people who are trying to get something different out of traveling, it's not just about photography and outfits, not that there's anything wrong with that, but they're looking more for the experience and tracking their travel to being more optimized.And we knew that when these people buy our product for travel, they were going to see the benefits that this clothing could have outside of travel. It can reduce the amount of stuff they have in general, the amount of closet space they need. Then it could be more environmental because they don't need to run their laundry machine as much. There's a million reasons why this has beneficial outside of travel. Now, we have the use cases for them and customers are adapting to that, and we could focus a little bit more of our energy on how there is a broader appeal.But I always felt very, very grateful that we decided early to focus just on travel, and I think there is a good lesson, as you said on that, that it's easier to focus on one narrow thing and one narrow demographic of people because then you can really, really hone in on your messaging and really, really speak specifically to a certain group of people. And from there, you just start to expand. The expansion becomes very natural.Fabian Geyrhalter:Well, I was giving a speech last year when they were still speeches in an actual conference room. It was actually a Vegas speech, which was really exciting, and one of the people afterwards in the Q&A said, "Hey, if you niche so much into an audience, don't you run out of things to say? Don't you run out of content?" And I was like, "No, it's exactly the opposite." If you know your audience, you can go so deep into it because teachers keep giving you content. They just keep telling you what they want, how they feel, what they like. And you just keep going and going, and going and go deeper, and deeper, and deeper. So it's actually the opposite. The more you niche-Dan Demsky:Exactly for something like travel. There's a million ways of traveling, a million places to travel, a million styles of travel, travelers have so many interests. And even in the marketing, it's not just about the messaging and the content, it could also be just about refining how you say the same thing, like I told you. Sometimes it's just about, do you want to yell things? Do you want to write things in capital letters, like this word? That could be the difference, but if you're focusing narrowly, you can tinker with the smallest things and see what works better. And it's just a much, much better approach because you can go endlessly deep.Fabian Geyrhalter:Well, and another thing that you said prior that you're doing with your approach is something that a lot of people, especially when they go with crowdfunding campaigns, they forget about this, is the idea that it's not about the products, it's about the experience. And very often, what you do with a product on Indiegogo, you just go into the details because guess what, the product doesn't exist in that shape, so all you want to do is talk about the product. But what you do is you talk about the experience with the product, which is really what people buy into, because they want to be you, in your shoes, and you just happen to wear this product that gets you to this enhanced experience.And that's something that... You made it sound very easy like that's just how it is, but it's not, it takes a lot of thinking to actually end up there.Dan Demsky:It does. It takes a lot of thinking, but I'll tell you what the most important thing, and I don't think it gets talked about as much as it should. It really has to do with timing. We did all the work, so let's just go under the assumption that if you're going to launch a new product, you do all the work, you can't be lazy. I read everything I could find on how to launch a crowdfunding campaign. I worked really, really hard to make sure that the pro... We went through so many different iterations of the prototypes to make sure the shirt fit the way we wanted and the quality was the way we wanted, and it drapes the way we wanted.We worked on our messaging, our photography, all of that stuff. So just assume that you did a great job and you left no stone left unturned on that. If I were to release this product today, it probably wouldn't work because the reason why I really think it did work is because I had that aha moment where like, no one's doing it this way. And people, when they think of Merino, when they think of wool, they think, "Oh, is that going to be like a scarf?Fabian Geyrhalter:Or scratchy.Dan Demsky:It could be scratchy and bulky, it can't be a comfortable t-shirt. So for people who are involved in this world of active wear and outdoors wear that know Merino well, they already know and love it, but we're not going to speak to those people. They already have Merino Wolford there, use case. We're going to speak to new people, people like me that just discovered that Merino wool could be a super fine material that's a comfortable t-shirt and we're going to speak to the urban traveler, it's not for the people who are with the canoe, it's for the people with the cocktail that are maybe doing a business meeting, and they don't know this thing exists.There was the whole timing element because I felt like no one is doing this the way I wanted, that was the single crux of why I thought this thing could work. It's like, we're not just another fish in a sea of companies doing this, we're going to do this our way, and we're going to speak about this our way, and no one's doing it this way. That was the exciting part to me.Fabian Geyrhalter:Well, and it's interesting because in a way you are a little bit of anti-brand. It's super basic stuff, and you're trying to have people actually buy less clothing in their lifetime. So you actually want people to own les, of course, you want them to own your stuff, but on the flip side, your product could be seen as a commodity. We noticed there's tons of t-shirts using the same fabric, it's basics made out of a very specific material, which is not the honorable. So in the way, brand in the end of the story is really everything for you. I mean, from the get-go, that is it.Dan Demsky:Everything. Brand is everything and our customers. For our customers... And you know what it is? If we're going to talk about... Brand is so much more than just how cool your website looks and your logo looks. Brand is everything that the customer feels when interacting with you, and just boils down to trust. I'm not scared that we are in a red ocean industry of t-shirts. It doesn't scare me because we have... As soon we're going to have 100,000 customers that the large majority of them, they just trust us, they know the way that our shirt fits, they know that we're very, very radically focused on quality of the product and the experience that they have.If there's any issues, we'll deal with them, we make sure to ship as fast as we possibly can. They know the product quality they're getting, they don't need to look elsewhere. So other players would come in and they could undercut us, but if we take care of the problem, giving you the t-shirt that works for you, that fits the way you want it, that it's performed as promised, we deliver it on time, our customer service is good, you can trust the experience, they don't need to go elsewhere.And these are people that are looking for simplicity, they're not looking at, 'Well, I'm going to go and find a way to save five bucks on the shirt. I'm going to go and find... " I don't need to solve that problem. I'll give you an example. Right now, we use Zendesk is how we handle our customer service inquiries for our business. And there's this other company that keeps contacting us saying you should switch off Zendesk. They're very persistent, but I tried to tell them as clearly as possible, I'm like, "Look, I admire your hustle and your sales efforts, but you have zero chance. You have zero chance of us switching on Zendesk because Zendesk is working as promised. And the hassle of changing for me is not worth whatever it is that you're pitching."It's cheaper, has a little bit more fun... I don't need any more functionality. This part of my business is working well. So Zendesk as a brand owns me right now. And that's the way our customers are, we solve that problem for them. If they want the best black t-shirt, our black t-shirt is the one that they buy. They don't need to go to Gap or H&M or find some other Merino wool company that's springing up. But you know what, a lot of companies have sprung up after that have pretty much copied or what our messaging is. It doesn't bother me at all, I feel flattered.And it's ultimately all we need to focus on is make sure that we care so much about our product care, so much about our brand experience, and care so much about our marketing. That's the brand because that's the way that people find out about us for the first time and then the way that they interact with us throughout the whole experience. And then ultimately, what matters the most is product. And if that's what a brand is, the brand is, what do we make? Do they trust us? And how do we make the customer feel when they interact with us? And we focus all our energy on there, and that's the most important thing we have.Fabian Geyrhalter:And that most probably also safety over the last couple of months, because we've travel being gone suddenly as you already said, it must've been a huge shock to the system. First, you have to change the entire messaging, you have to really rethink that, but this is at a point where you already have, I guess, you said up to 100,000 customers at this point, these people are repeat customers and they make referrals. And then suddenly, it's a machine just keeps on working even though travel is down, but it must've still impacted you, right?Dan Demsky:Yeah, it did. It did, but it forced us to become more mature of a company to be honest, because we grew fast and to be perfectly blunt, it made us a little lazy, and that was a big life lesson for us. We were growing without trying at one point, and maybe after 10 years of entrepreneurship and going through ups and downs, I think I needed a breather. So I wasn't working as hard leading up to COVID, and that wasn't something that I consciously did, I just in hindsight noticed. I let myself get a little bit more tired and lazy, and I had a great growth business and things are good, but then we got scared, man.When COVID came around and the travel industry was grinded completely to a halt, our sales, they declined drastically in that first month. And we were used to 100% growth month over month. So any month compared to the year before, at least 100% growth. And then in the first month, our sales were down 50%. We've never even just stayed the same let alone down. So we thought, "Oh my God, this is really, really bad." We almost went into like the war room to figure out what are all the things we can be doing to get our revenue back up.And everything we did, there were things that we could have been doing all along, but we weren't. And I think that the world changed, a little bit of normalcy has crept back in since then. So I think organically, things have gone back up, but we have done a lot more to get our business back to growth, back into growth mode, and what's where we are again. And the lesson I got from that was never, and this is not just about the fact that a pandemic can come in and dismantle everything you've worked so hard for, that's an extreme.But what happened was the little bit of success we had, bred a little bit of laziness, and all that laziness, this is the lesson, all that laziness did to me was stop me from achieving what my own greatness was, "Now, do I need to make more money?" It's not about money, it's not about I need this company to grow, but why would I not want to continue to challenge myself to do the best I can, to grow in the best way as I can? And the laziness I had, and I'm not that lazy, I'm a productive person, but by my own standards, compared to who I've been when I started this company or when I started my first business or when I'm in my optimal hustle modes, it's like, that's me challenging myself to be the greatest version of myself and to take the most from life in this short period of time in which I'm so lucky to be alive.So it felt like the little bits of laziest I had, was denying myself of being what my potential is. And that's the lesson at the core of what I learned, it's like, it took a pandemic to scare me a little bit, but it's like never, ever get comfortable, because when you get comfortable, you get lazy. And if you get lazy, you just become mediocre. And I think I had a tiptoe towards thatFabian Geyrhalter:And I think on that note, it's also important that one doesn't have to go in 110% all the time, too. Consistent laziness is one thing but I think that the pandemic teaches a lot of entrepreneurs that actually suddenly taking time out for a week or two and not being on 110%, it's actually quite healthy, but I know exactly what you're talking about. And I think it happens with a lot of us, when business is going really, really, really well, even though we have to work hard, we work hard in processes we're used to, everything is going swimmingly, but then once things are one things slow down, we freak out.So instead of using the time when things are great to keep R&D, to keep innovating, to keep thinking about processes and looking at new client options and strategic positioning changes, whatever. So I think it's a really, really good lesson to learn. Looking back, what was one big brand fail, where you felt like you launched this product, or you were doing the Indiegogo campaign, and then the product was there, was there some point where you felt like, "Holy smokes, we totally went into the wrong direction," with either the messaging or like a video or something that you do with the production, or was this something where you just felt, "Oh my God, we totally screwed that up." Something that people can learn from?Dan Demsky:Honestly, the failures feel, some of them feel glaring to me all the time, but they might be... Sometimes I look at our packaging or our product page and think, "Oh my God, this is such trash." And then I read every day a review coming in and saying, "This is the best packaging ever." I'm always harsh on myself, so I don't even know where to begin.Fabian Geyrhalter:But there wasn't one big thing where you were like, you know you totally-Dan Demsky:I hate to bring up the exact same thing we just talked about, but the big failure that I had was not continuing, and it's something that I'll continue to try to drill deep on, but to get lazy is the failure, because there were so many opportunities. We could have grown a lot more and you have to constantly....Always, always live with thinking about this, you're lucky to be where you're at and it could all end soon, and fight against the tide. And I agreed, not at the expense of your health or the relationships you have with your loved ones or anything like that.That could be a real big detriment, but that I think was the failure because I think we could have been so much further along, and it's all just the little moments of laziness we had, which we're not there anymore right now, which is great.Fabian Geyrhalter:No, absolutely. Last big question. If you would take the entire Unbound brand and you would distill it into one word, maybe the experience or a feeling, if you think about the Everlane, you think about transparency. If you think about Coke, they want you to believe happiness. What could be one word, I call it your brand DNA, what could be one word that you could put to describe Unbound, unless it's unbound, which of course, it shouldn't be.Dan Demsky:We have three words, but the first one is the one that I think encapsulates the most of who we are, and that's simplicity. It's simplicity in the design, it's simplicity in the market we choose to tackle, it's simplicity in the life in which it help with travel. It's about reducing the brand ethos. Our number one core value that we live by in our company is less, but better. And that's the way that we think about how to run our company strategically, it's how we think to live our lives, it's how we think of about our product line.That's why we don't follow any trends, this is what clothing that's in style. We only focus on stuff that's timeless and classic, something that you could have worn... If you saw a picture of yourself wearing our t-shirt 15 years ago, that's going to look completely normal and good. And it looks good today, and it's going to look good in 15 years. We don't have seasonality, we don't have spring, summer or fall, winter lines, we just have our core products. And that's who we are, from the inside-out, we're all about simplicityFabian Geyrhalter:And simplicity is what everyone aches for, and simplicity is also the toughest thing to accomplish as a company, as we see with all Fortune 100 and 500 struggling as to innovate how it's simplicity. Someone who knows simplicity quite well is your pug who's been lying next to you, snoring away during the entire interview. And I think we heard him or her, so you got to at least give a little introduction.Dan Demsky:Yeah. This is my pug, Walter, he's laying right next to me. I'll be honest, sometimes I'll do a podcast interview or I'm on an important meeting, and he knows that he could get under my skin, so he'll jump on the ground and start barking and just ruining everything. Although you hear him snoring, this is-Fabian Geyrhalter:He is good.Dan Demsky:Yeah. He's not distracting and barking, the reason he does that is because he knows that what I'll do is I'll stuff a little thing with peanut butter and he can eat it. And he's been conditioned to know the more... I'm getting better at, and this sounds weird, but there's a tone in my voice when I get serious about something that he's able to identify, so I've tried to-Fabian Geyrhalter:Oh, I'm sure. Yeah.Dan Demsky:So he's constrained me to be more natural to who I am and not be so serious, because if I'm serious, this is a serious podcast or a serious phone call or whatever, he's going to clue in and ruin it all.Fabian Geyrhalter:Walter, the mascot of simplicity.Dan Demsky:Yeah. It's the snoring, we should be lucky, that's all we got.Fabian Geyrhalter:We are. We are. Listen, as we come to a close here, where can people learn more about Unbound? Where should they be heading?Dan Demsky:You just type in Unbound Merino. Unbound, U-N-B-O-U-N-D, Merino is M-E-R-I-N-O. We're on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, if you Google us, whatever, that's where you'll find us.Fabian Geyrhalter:Awesome.Dan Demsky:And the website, of course, unboundmerino.com.Fabian Geyrhalter:Of course. Of course. Thank you, Dan, for having been on the show, really appreciate it, great insights. Good luck with the next couple of months and years of your company. And I can't wait to try out some of those shirts myself, hopefully, for a future international travel at some point in my life. Until then, I guess, I'll take it camping.Dan Demsky:Yes. Thank you so much. It was great to be on your show.Fabian Geyrhalter:Absolutely. My pleasure.

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Dan Demsky, Co-Founder of Unbound Merino, the clothing company making hassle-free travel and adventure a reality. After co-founding BizMedia, a full-service digital video agency, and founding Hitsu Socks, Dan created an option for minimalist travelers who want Merino wool apparel that can be worn for weeks or months without needing to be washed. Learn what strategies Dan applies to his companies whether they be media or socks. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

Dan Demsky is the co-founder of Unbound Merino - a clothing brand that has its nailed positioning around product quality, and lifestyle. In this EP we discuss Unbound's success with Facebook ad buys, why top entrepreneurs wear a "uniform", whether Amazon is going to move fast into luxury goods, and more.  EP Sponsor: RBC Call your RBC Advisor or contact the RBC Advice Centre at 1-800-ROYAL20    EP Sponsor: Bruush https://bruush.com/  - use the code  E215 for a 15% discount.

This week's guest is Dan Demsky. Dan, along with his two best friends, founded Unbound Merino. The company offers the highest quality merino wool clothing. Pack light, save money & enjoy the comfort of our merino wool t-shirts, socks & underwear. It's a great story on how to start a business, use crowdfunding to get launched and constantly build your brand and the connection with your customers. Dan's concept of manufacturing your own momentum is a wonderful take-a-way for all entrepreneurs. You can check out Unbound Merino here: https://unboundmerino.com/ We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com - we will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bela-musits/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bela-musits/support

Dan Demskey is the Co-Founder of Unbound Merino. Dan has taken not one, not two, but four companies to 6, 7, & 8 figures over the last decade. From starting a digital video agency in his mom’s basement to selling funky socks, this entrepreneur has consistently seen the heights of success and the lows of trying to keep the lights on in the business. Even though his digital agency had reached 7 figures working with brands such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, General Motors, & GE he was tired of chasing the next contract in order to get paid. Deciding to scratch his own itch & seeing an industry that could be done better, Dan set his sights on creating stylish, simple Merino wool apparel that can be worn for weeks or even months - without ever needing to be washed. His best friends and him decided to trade in their Friday nights to start grinding away on the idea and launch a crowdfunding campaign, raising $380,000 in its first 2 months. After just 3-years in business, they are now doing $4m in revenue selling to over 100 countries around the world.This life long entrepreneur and his industry leading company has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, USA Today, Travel & Leisure, & Lonely planet. Additionally he shared his wisdom with hundreds of entrepreneurs as mentorship director of the Entrepreneur Organization’s Canadian Chapters.Find all the shownotes at https://www.evolvethe.world/

On this episode we chat with Dan Demsky (Co-Founder of Unbound Merino) about his leaving a successful business to start something new, manufacturing a clothing item with no previous experience and loving/hating what you do. We Now Join The Program Already In Progress is an interview podcast with a catch. Just because the mic’s are hot doesn’t mean it will make it on the air. Our show starts cold when the host Saul Colt and the guest get into a nice groove. Sometimes that is immediately  and sometimes that can be 30 mins in. The result is you get an interesting conversation between Saul Colt and people he loves and admires without the awkward time at the beginning waiting for people to get comfortable. Reach out and say hi at www.theideaintegration.com or @saulcolt on Twitter #joininprogress Our show is now supported by Audible. Grab your free download and 30 day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/saulcolt

Dan Demsky is the founder of Unbound Merino. They started in 2016 by raising $380k via crowdfunding, and now have annual sales in excess of $4m. They sell on Shopify and launched with Crowdfunding, and Facebook Ads - lots of great insight into growth mindsets and focus. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Dan Demsky is the Co-founder of Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino sources nature's ultimate performance fiber, Australian Merino wool, to create apparel that can be worn for weeks or even months, without ever needing to be washed.    On this podcast we talk about the impact of great business books when starting out, the benefits of starting a business through crowdfunding, how they broke the belief that businesses ruin friendships, and so much more.   To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co   Resources: Dan’s LinkedIn page linkedin.com/in/dandemsky Unbound Merino’s website unboundmerino.com The Third Door book’s official website thirddoorbook.com The Small Giants book’s official website smallgiantsbook.com An article derived from the Good to Great book’s research on Jim Collins’ official website jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html#articletop Grin.co for affiliate marketing Visit gorgias.link/honest to get your 2nd month with Gorgias free! Visit klaviyo.com to schedule a demo! Visit postscript.io/install for a free 30-day trial! To get updates on our new episodes and exclusive deals from our partners, text HONESTVIP to 72599 and join our VIP texting list!

Years ago, Dan Demsky wanted to buy a merino wool t-shirt for travel to lighten his load... and he couldn't find one. It haunted him. He knew this product should exist, and after a business coach told him he shouldn't do it, he spent 18 months on research and development that resulted in a crowdfunding campaign that raised $380K USD.That brand was Unbound Merino, purveyors of quality merino wool clothing. Today, Unbound Merino is a multi-million dollar global brand selling in over 100 countries.Its not all puppies and roses: they had positioned the brand as a travel accessory, impacting their sales in a pandemic world.Key Takeaways:The grassroots campaign strategy that drove their initial successThe difference between publishing and launching your storeHow the pandemic has created a new mentality for their businessLinks MentionedUnboundMerinoIndieGogo: Unbound Merino - The ultimate travel hack SponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code PODCAST20 at checkoutImprove your shop's search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

#101 - Dan Demsky is the founder of e-commerce brand, Unbound Merino, which is a maker of quality merino wool clothing. The company was started as a crowdfunding campaign, raising $380,000 in its first 2 months. After just 3-years in business, they are now doing $4m in revenue. Founders365 is hosted by Steven Haggerty where he shares 365 insights from 365 founders during 2020.

Dan Demsky is co-founder of DTC apparel brand Unbound Merino. They've successfully used crowdfunding to get the brand started, and still use it to this day as a growth strategy. In this episode we talk about storytelling in marketing, dive deep into Dan's strategy for launching through crowdfunding, some actionable tricks for a successful campaign, and how million-dollar brands can still use crowdfunding as a marketing channel.

In this episode of Art of the Kickstart, we interviewed Dan Demsky, co-founder of Unbound Merino, maker of high-quality and stylish wool clothing. Perfect for travel, Unbound Merino’s ultra-chic apparel is made from sustainable merino wool, a fast-drying, odor-resistant anti-wrinkle, breathable yet insulating fabric. Listen in and learn about the inspiration behind the brand, the process from idea to crowdfunding campaign launch and where Unbound Merino is today. Topics Discussed and Key Crowdfunding Takeaways What lead Dan Demsky to create Unbound Merino The challenges that came with designing, sourcing and manufacturing the products Why they launched a crowdfunding campaign and how they positioned themselves for Indiegogo success The ways they continue to understand who their customers are, why they use the products and what features are important to them How the COVID-19 pandemic is effecting Unbound Merino and what they plan to do about it Links Unbound Merino Unbound Merino on Indiegogo Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't by Verne Harnish Sponsors Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code ATOKK16 for 20% off! Transcript

Dan is the founder of e-commerce brand, Unbound Merino, which is a maker of quality merino wool clothing. The company was started as a crowdfunding campaign, raising $380,000 in its first 2 months. After just 3-years in business, they are now doing $4m in revenue. 

SHOW NOTES (www.mikejamesreid.com) Dan Demsky is a lifelong entrepreneur and Co-Founder of travel apparel brand Unbound Merino. Dan first grew BizMedia, a digital video agency, from the ground up before he found inspiration for Unbound Merino. Dan came up with the idea for Unbound Merino while on his honeymoon, lamenting the need to check luggage and schlep overstuffed bags everywhere he went. The desire to find a way to pack lighter led him to merino wool, a material known for its ability to wick moisture, regulate body temperature and resist both wrinkles and odour. Dan ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to launch Unbound Merino, raising $350,000 more than his original goal. In this episode, Dan talks about the journey of launching his travel apparel brand and the strategies he used to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. Dan also talks about the dichotomy of stillness versus productivity, and why he is motivated by fun rather than money. Enjoy! Highlights: The dichotomy of finding stillness versus being productive constantly How Dan grew a successful video production business from the ground up How meditation has improved Dan’s productivity The challenges of navigating through chaos versus order How Dan got started with his travel apparel brand Unbound Merino The story behind Dan’s successful crowdfunding campaign, raising $350,000 more than his target Dan’s philosophy for living a good life Dan’s childhood and the effect it had on his relationship with money Being productive versus succumbing to procrastination and distraction Resources: UnboundMerino.comDan’s Facebook Dan’s Instagram Dan’s LinkedIn Emily Fletcher’s Meditation Course Waking Up with Sam Harris   Before you go...If you liked this episode, please subscribe and leave a review! > It helps the Podcast spread and reach more ears, so your support is greatly appreciated! Dent Global is launching in Toronto in 2019. Visit www.mikejamesreid.com to learn more and grab a copy of the Revised Edition of the book, Key Person of Influence by Mike Reid & Daniel Priestley.

In this episode, Dan Demsky gives a masterclass on how built Unbound Merino into a million-dollar brand. Dives in deep on his strategies of crowdfunding, timing the markets, focusing on a niche and why he doesn't use Amazon.   Guest  Dan Demsky  https://unboundmerino.com/ Dan Demsky has been a founder/partner in 3 businesses, all of which were bootstrapped without any outside investor funding, and all 3 surpassed $1MIL in revenue. His current business, Unbound Merino was started as a crowdfunding campaign and raised $380,000 in its first 2 months. It continues to grow today and in its 3rd year will do over $4MIL in revenue and sells in over 110 countries worldwide. He enjoys cheeseburgers and the band Phish. He has seen Phish live over 50 times.   Listen on Itunes http://tiny.cc/fwtvcz Sticher http://tiny.cc/so9mcz Google Podcast http://tiny.cc/dekncz Spotify http://tiny.cc/fxtvcz

Dan Demsky is the Co-founder of Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino sources nature's ultimate performance fiber, Australian Merino wool, to create apparel that can be worn for weeks or even months, without ever needing to be washed. Dan started this company alongside his two best friends, with the goal of minimizing the burdens of travel, so that you can maximize the experience of your trip. Dan had previously founded a digital media agency, and another clothing business prior to Unbound, so we see how those experiences shaped his decisions. Unbound Merino has been doubling revenue year over year and is set to do $4M+ in its 3rd year in business. We talk about how to get a product off-the-ground using crowdfunding, what it’s like to start and run a company with your best friends, how to scale a direct to consumer (D2C) business, and more!

Dan Demsky, is a co-founder at Unbound Merino - one of the fastest growing direct to customer apparel brands on the web. In a world dominated by fast-fashion, Unbound is slowing things down by producing timeless, versatile pieces that are designed to last. In this episode, we discuss the company's amazing start on Indiegogo, what it took to create that first pitch video, Dan's system for selecting the right manufacturer overseas, business with best friends, and more.  EP sponsor: www.nextcanada.com   

The minute you meet Dan you realize he's full of passion and full of entrepreneurial spirit, which is amazing!! On this episode of The Your Life! Your Terms! Show Dan Demsky shares his business building journey and specifically how he raised over $400K crowdfunding his new T-Shirt business on IndieGoGo. Dan was running other businesses that were driving him crazy and used IndieGoGo to prove there was demand for his next venture. And the rest is history! Dan co-founded Unbound Merino, the ultimate travel hack, a t-shirt made of merino wool that is odour resistant and travels like a champ ... you literally don't need to wash it for weeks! Listen in as Dan shares his journey, there are tons of lessons in here. You can check them out at: www.UnboundMerino.com

In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn from Dan Demsky, an entrepreneur who knows how to execute. He’s launched 4 businesses in the last 10 years and teaches us how to go beyond the ideation phase and get in to the mode of doing.

Dan Demsky is currently the co-founder of Unbound Merino, the ultimate travel hacking clothing brand and one of my favorite companies on the planet. But before we find out more about Unbound Merino and how they raised $360,000 in their crowd funding campaign, we get an entertaining inside scoop into Dan's entrepreneurial business journey. From…

Dan Demsky is a former intern and producer at Toronto’s CFRB 101 radio station. He is also the co-founder of two successful startups: Biz Media + Hitsu Socks. We both share a love of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.