Mar 6, 2016 · 22m · top-founders
He Made $750k in November, 2015 From Tee Shirt Quilts in Episode 189 with Nathan Rothstein
0:00 / 0:00
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Host Nathan Latka interviews Project Repat co-founder Nathan Rothstein about scaling a bootstrapped, eco-friendly t-shirt quilt company to $750,000 in monthly revenue through domestic production and targeted digital marketing.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 36.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 2.3 Guest teaching 1.5 Guest disagreement 0.0 Nathan pushing back 1.0
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:39 Dismissing traditional quilt market competitors
In an overall non-combative episode, Rothstein firmly rejects traditional quilting business models for failing to scale or advertise effectively, positioning his brand as a superior alternative.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:27 Latka pushes on margin deductionsLatka presses Rothstein on whether his stated profit figures account for heavy Facebook ad spend or represent pre-marketing margins.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 1:51 Explaining the recycled fleece processRothstein educates Latka on how post-consumer plastic bottles are processed into yarn by Repreve to create Polartec fleece.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 6:00 Latka deduces monthly net profitLatka quickly translates Rothstein's production numbers and margin percentages into an exact monthly bottom-line profit calculation.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Science of Recycled Fleece Manufacturing | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Latka opens with basic curiosity about the physical manufacturing of fleece from plastic bottles. Rothstein educates him on the supply chain process and the company's origin story in Nairobi. | |
| Business Model, Pricing, and Production Margins | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Latka drills into unit pricing, gross margins, and performs quick mental math to estimate monthly net profits. Rothstein clarifies the specific margin percentages and cost components. | |
| Revenue Peaks and 2016 Financial Targets | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Latka explores revenue benchmarks and business operations, asking about the social mission and lean team structure. The exchange is highly collaborative and informational. | |
| The Breakthrough Groupon Campaign and Operational Growing Pains | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Latka probes into personal financial runway and operational hurdles during early scaling. Rothstein candidly recounts the Groupon breakthrough and early production mishaps. | |
| Transitioning to Facebook Ads for Customer Acquisition | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Latka presses on customer acquisition metrics, asking if marketing costs are factored into profit margins and probing conversion rates. Rothstein explains his Facebook advertising strategy and Klaviyo exit pop-up funnel. | |
| Nathan Rothstein's Contact Information | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The segment consists of promotional announcements followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five format. The tone remains friendly and lighthearted. |
Statements from this episode (16)
Project Repat uses the same Polartec fleece as The North Face
“It's the same, it's, we use the same brand that
North Face uses.
It's called Polar Tech Fleece.”
Project Repat produces quilts from customer t-shirts and recycled fleece
“We can make a hundred percent recycled product, so it's with all of your t-shirts, and then the fleece that we're using is, is a hundred percent recycled as well.”
Project Repat pivoted to t-shirt quilts after tote bags failed
“No one was really buying anything else we were selling, and so we figured out a way to make an affordable t-shirt quilt, and apparently that's what the market wanted.”
Project Repat earns a 35% to 45% profit margin per quilt
“Sure, so we, so the cost is, I mean, basically each, for each quilt we're making between 35 and 45%.”
Project Repat produced roughly 4,000 quilts in December 2015
“So we made about a thousand quilts a week. And so about 4000 quilts.”
Project Repat grew revenue 2.5x year-over-year since mid-2012
“We've been growing about two and a half X every, every year since we started, which was mid-two 1012.”
Project Repat generated $750,000 in revenue during November 2015
“Our biggest month was November. We did about 750,000 in revenue.”
Project Repat targeted $7.5 million in total revenue for 2016
“Our goal is about seven and a half million.”
Project Repat operates with two founders and one part-time employee
“My business partner and I run the business with one part-time employee, and then we work with textile manufacturers on a daily basis, but we contract out the work. And so we don't pay for production until after the product ships.”
Project Repat raised $25,000 in 2012 and bootstrapped operations thereafter
“We were in a in a social good accelerator in San Francisco called Better Ventures in 2012, and we got basically raised about 25,000 dollars, but from that, ever since then, it's been bootstrapped.”
Project Repat faced San Francisco investor rejection and dwindling runway
“No investors wanted to give two guys who were making t-shirt quilts any investment money, and so I was back in Boston sleeping in our office, and, you know, there was about 8000 dollars left in our bank account, probably just a couple more weeks of runway”
A zero-fee Groupon feature generated $100,000 in a week for Project Repat
“So beginning of August, 2012 with little money left, we were able to get Groupon to feature us and to push us national and not take a percentage because we were a social good business, and so and then we sold 2000 quilts in, in a week, and so that put a 100,00…”
Project Repat spent $750,000 on Facebook advertising in 2015
“So, so last year in, in total we spent about 750,000 dollars on Facebook.”
Project Repat planned to double its Facebook advertising spend in 2016
“And we plan to probably double that this year.”