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May 12, 2024 · 15m · starter-story

I Make $1M/Month From Bed

Colin McIntosh · 10m spoken Pat Walls · 3m spoken
0:00 / 0:00
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this Starter Story interview, Pat Walls sits down with Sheets and Giggles founder Colin, who turned multiple corporate career setbacks into a one-million-dollar-per-month direct-to-consumer bedding brand using structured pre-launch validation and unconventional marketing.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Pat holds 23.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Pat as informed peer 2.2 Guest teaching 5.0 Guest disagreement 1.2 Pat pushing back 0.4
05100:0010:001:11–3:31 · Pat as informed peer 1/10 Business Overview and Growth Milestones of Sheets and Giggles Pat acts as a supportive interviewer prompting Colin for his background and metrics. Colin freely shares his transition from being fired to reaching a 1.2 million dollar month in DTC bedding.3:31–6:32 · Pat as informed peer 5/10 Ideation Framework and Finding Founder-Market Fit Pat actively contributes his own framework around 'founder-market fit' and promotes his own workshop. Colin educates on his three-part validation process including brand identity maps and email pre-sales.6:33–9:07 · Pat as informed peer 1/10 Crowdfunding Launch Mechanics and Founder Engagement Pat steps back to ask broad scaling questions while Colin provides an in-depth breakdown of crowdfunding conversion math and personalized customer engagement.9:07–12:07 · Pat as informed peer 3/10 Brand Differentiation in the Crowded Bedding Market Colin outlines his four rules for brand naming and shares his specific tech stack. Pat demonstrates peer domain knowledge by noting that the founder of SiteGPT is part of his own community.12:07–13:38 · Pat as informed peer 1/10 Team Structure and Socially Impactful Operations Pat guides the closing conversation on team logistics and daily habits, while Colin shares how he integrates socially impactful labor partners and works remotely from rivers.1:11–3:31 · Guest teaching 4/10 Business Overview and Growth Milestones of Sheets and Giggles Pat acts as a supportive interviewer prompting Colin for his background and metrics. Colin freely shares his transition from being fired to reaching a 1.2 million dollar month in DTC bedding.3:31–6:32 · Guest teaching 6/10 Ideation Framework and Finding Founder-Market Fit Pat actively contributes his own framework around 'founder-market fit' and promotes his own workshop. Colin educates on his three-part validation process including brand identity maps and email pre-sales.6:33–9:07 · Guest teaching 7/10 Crowdfunding Launch Mechanics and Founder Engagement Pat steps back to ask broad scaling questions while Colin provides an in-depth breakdown of crowdfunding conversion math and personalized customer engagement.9:07–12:07 · Guest teaching 5/10 Brand Differentiation in the Crowded Bedding Market Colin outlines his four rules for brand naming and shares his specific tech stack. Pat demonstrates peer domain knowledge by noting that the founder of SiteGPT is part of his own community.12:07–13:38 · Guest teaching 3/10 Team Structure and Socially Impactful Operations Pat guides the closing conversation on team logistics and daily habits, while Colin shares how he integrates socially impactful labor partners and works remotely from rivers.1:11–3:31 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Business Overview and Growth Milestones of Sheets and Giggles Pat acts as a supportive interviewer prompting Colin for his background and metrics. Colin freely shares his transition from being fired to reaching a 1.2 million dollar month in DTC bedding.3:31–6:32 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Ideation Framework and Finding Founder-Market Fit Pat actively contributes his own framework around 'founder-market fit' and promotes his own workshop. Colin educates on his three-part validation process including brand identity maps and email pre-sales.6:33–9:07 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Crowdfunding Launch Mechanics and Founder Engagement Pat steps back to ask broad scaling questions while Colin provides an in-depth breakdown of crowdfunding conversion math and personalized customer engagement.9:07–12:07 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Brand Differentiation in the Crowded Bedding Market Colin outlines his four rules for brand naming and shares his specific tech stack. Pat demonstrates peer domain knowledge by noting that the founder of SiteGPT is part of his own community.12:07–13:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Structure and Socially Impactful Operations Pat guides the closing conversation on team logistics and daily habits, while Colin shares how he integrates socially impactful labor partners and works remotely from rivers.1:11–3:31 · Pat pushing back 0/10 Business Overview and Growth Milestones of Sheets and Giggles Pat acts as a supportive interviewer prompting Colin for his background and metrics. Colin freely shares his transition from being fired to reaching a 1.2 million dollar month in DTC bedding.3:31–6:32 · Pat pushing back 1/10 Ideation Framework and Finding Founder-Market Fit Pat actively contributes his own framework around 'founder-market fit' and promotes his own workshop. Colin educates on his three-part validation process including brand identity maps and email pre-sales.6:33–9:07 · Pat pushing back 0/10 Crowdfunding Launch Mechanics and Founder Engagement Pat steps back to ask broad scaling questions while Colin provides an in-depth breakdown of crowdfunding conversion math and personalized customer engagement.9:07–12:07 · Pat pushing back 1/10 Brand Differentiation in the Crowded Bedding Market Colin outlines his four rules for brand naming and shares his specific tech stack. Pat demonstrates peer domain knowledge by noting that the founder of SiteGPT is part of his own community.12:07–13:38 · Pat pushing back 0/10 Team Structure and Socially Impactful Operations Pat guides the closing conversation on team logistics and daily habits, while Colin shares how he integrates socially impactful labor partners and works remotely from rivers.

speaking balance: gold is Pat, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Pat 33.7% · guest 66.3%0:00 · Pat 33.7% · guest 66.3%3:00 · Pat 20.9% · guest 79.1%3:00 · Pat 20.9% · guest 79.1%6:00 · Pat 9.4% · guest 90.6%6:00 · Pat 9.4% · guest 90.6%9:00 · Pat 12.5% · guest 87.5%9:00 · Pat 12.5% · guest 87.5%12:00 · Pat 36.6% · guest 63.4%12:00 · Pat 36.6% · guest 63.4%15:00 · Pat 100% · guest 0%15:00 · Pat 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:26 Intentionally Polarizing Brand Philosophy

Colin asserts an unconventional contrarian rule that if a brand is not actively annoying at least 20 percent of people, it is doing things wrong.

 Hardest push from Pat ▶ 10:34 Hesitation Over In-Bed Interview Framing

Pat momentarily hesitates and questions the unconventional framing when Colin unexpectedly asks him to get into bed for the rest of the interview.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:44 Deconstructing Crowdfunding Launch Math

Colin delivers a masterclass breaking down specific formulas on day-one goal percentages, email list sizes, and target conversion ratios needed for a successful campaign.

 Pat holds their own ▶ 4:16 Founder-Market Fit Reframe

Pat demonstrates his own entrepreneurial authority by reframing Colin's ideation process into his own proprietary concept of founder-market fit.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicPat as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementPat pushing backWhy
Business Overview and Growth Milestones of Sheets and Giggles 1410 Pat acts as a supportive interviewer prompting Colin for his background and metrics. Colin freely shares his transition from being fired to reaching a 1.2 million dollar month in DTC bedding.
Ideation Framework and Finding Founder-Market Fit 5611 Pat actively contributes his own framework around 'founder-market fit' and promotes his own workshop. Colin educates on his three-part validation process including brand identity maps and email pre-sales.
Crowdfunding Launch Mechanics and Founder Engagement 1710 Pat steps back to ask broad scaling questions while Colin provides an in-depth breakdown of crowdfunding conversion math and personalized customer engagement.
Brand Differentiation in the Crowded Bedding Market 3521 Colin outlines his four rules for brand naming and shares his specific tech stack. Pat demonstrates peer domain knowledge by noting that the founder of SiteGPT is part of his own community.
Team Structure and Socially Impactful Operations 1310 Pat guides the closing conversation on team logistics and daily habits, while Colin shares how he integrates socially impactful labor partners and works remotely from rivers.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
McIntosh: Sheets & Giggles reached $1.2M in monthly sales by November 2020
“I incorporated the company in October, 2017, shipped our first box in October, 2018, and then about 25 months later, in November, 20 20, we had our first million dollar month at about 1.2 million dollars in sales.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 1:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McIntosh: Sheets & Giggles generates 80% to 90% of sales on Shopify
“We do about 90 10 or 80 20 Shopify versus Amazon in terms of sales.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 1:56
Insight
McIntosh: Founders should design their business model before the product
“I think business model first Product second, or at least tweak your product to make sure it fits really well into the business model.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 4:10
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheets & Giggles captured 11,000 pre-launch emails at a 46% conversion rate
“For us, we were selling a set for a hundred dollars, but if they signed up first, they get them for 69 bucks. And we ended up capturing 11,000 emails. 46% email capture.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 6:01
Insight
McIntosh: Crowdfunding campaigns require 30% of their funding goal on day one
“If you want to do a 100,000 dollar campaign, for example, you need 30% of your total that you want, your goal, on day one. That's how the crowdfunding math works.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 6:45
Assertion Supported
Sheets & Giggles generated $284,000 in total crowdfunding revenue
“What ended up happening is our email list converted at four and a half percent, we got 450 customers at a hundred dollar AOV, did 45,000 dollars on day one, and that snowballed into a 284,000 dollar campaign.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 7:26
Insight
McIntosh: Founders should sponsor media and creators they personally consume
“If you are the founder of your company, and you love something, you love a radio station, you love a podcast, you love a YouTuber, odds are the people who also like them are like you. They're gonna resonate with your personality, and a lot of your personality …”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 8:32
Insight
McIntosh: Brands should offend at least 20% of people
“If you're not pissing like at least 20% of people off, You're probably not doing it right.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 9:37
Disclosure
McIntosh: Sheets & Giggles has an operational rule to never iron sheets
“One rule we have is we never iron the sheets.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 9:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McIntosh: American consumers will not buy from non-.com domains
“And rule number four is that if you're going to sell to Americans, you got to have a .com because Americans don't buy from anything that's not a .com.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 10:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McIntosh: SiteGPT reduced Sheets and Giggles customer care tickets by 30%
“It's like 50 bucks a month, and it cut down our customer care tickets by like 30%.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 11:28
Disclosure
McIntosh works from a river three days a week during the summer
“I sit right in the water up to my chest, and I put my laptop on a rock. I set up hotspot, and I just work from the river. And I do that probably like three days a week in the summer.”
Colin McIntosh May 12, 2024 ▶ 13:03
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