Building a brand on a shoestring: lessons from five consumer startups

Packaging, word of mouth and one great product beat a big advertising budget.

The numbers tell part of the story. Revenue has roughly doubled in each of the past three years, and the business says it has been cash-flow positive since its second year — a claim two of its customers, speaking on background, said matched what they had seen.

The rest of the story is about people. Managers describe a culture that rewards saying no, a hiring process that takes months rather than weeks, and owners who would rather grow slowly than borrow at punishing rates.

Not everyone is convinced the model travels. Rivals point out that what works in one city often breaks in the next, where suppliers, regulators and customers behave differently. For now, the results have silenced most of the doubters — and attracted a queue of imitators.