The $250K camper van business

Hey, it’s Guy & Farzan.

Watched three men with chainsaws on my street turn an 80-year-old pine tree into woodchips this morning. Decades of shade and bird song gone in hours. Strange what progress looks like sometimes. Let's talk founders.

Reading time: 8.5 mins

In the mail today. 3 founder stories, 1 AI agent story, 1 tweet

 Founder story 1 

Here's how two roommates turned their credit cards into a $250,000/month camper van empire...

A thread on how David Sodemann and Brett Ellenson built Boho Camper Vans in Phoenix, Arizona:

- Started with a $10K credit card loan
- Built first van working nights and weekends
- Listed it for rent before it was even finished
- Now: 25,000 sq ft facility, 20 employees, 400+ vans built

But the brilliant part wasn't the idea - it was how they validated it:

1. Zero-risk validation:
- Found no camper van rentals in Phoenix
- Listed unfinished van on Outdoorsy .com
- Used example photos with clear disclaimers
- Got bookings immediately
- Reached 80% occupancy in first months

2. Smart scaling strategy:
- Kept day jobs for 2 years
- Reinvested all profits
-Added second van in 4 months
-Didn't take salaries until year 2

3. The numbers that made it work:
- $200-250 per night rental rate
- $2,000-5,000 monthly revenue per premium van
- Fleet of 8-14 rental vehicles at any time
- Building 4 custom vans per month ($65-70K each)
- 50-80% profit margins for single operators

🔑 Key insight about entrepreneurship:
Most people wait for perfect conditions.
The best entrepreneurs find clever ways to validate demand before going all-in.

The results:
- 6-month customer waitlist
- 25,000 sq ft facility
- 20 employees
- Over 400 vans built
- Built entirely through organic growth:
- $0 spent on paid advertising
- Driven by customer content creation
- Strategic industry show presence
- Focus on PR and word-of-mouth

Fun fact:
When they appeared on Shark Tank in 2020, they landed a deal with Barbara Corcoran ($150K investment + $150K loan) - but never ended up using the loan portion.

The bigger lesson:
Sometimes the best opportunities are hiding in plain sight - you just have to be willing to validate them before everyone else catches on.

Founder story 2

From Rock Bottom to $100M: The Neuro Gum Story

At 19, Ryan Chen shattered his spine in a snowboarding accident, becoming instantly paralyzed. Today, he runs Neuro, a $100M company that sells performance-enhancing gum and mints.

The Journey:
- Started experimenting with performance supplements in college with best friend Kent
- Had their "aha moment" during a scuba diving trip: making supplements more accessible through gum
- Both kept day jobs (Ryan at Hulu, Kent at Sony Music) while developing the product
- Launched on Indiegogo, raising $30k in 4 days
- Initially operated from Kent's apartment, shipping 4,000 lbs of gum themselves
- Went years without salary, living off credit card points
- Appeared on Shark Tank but walked away without a deal
- Nearly lost everything to a trademark lawsuit until Daniel Lubetzky (Kind Bar founder) stepped in
- Now doing almost $10M/month in revenue

Key Success Factors:
- Strong partnership with best friend Kent
- Organic celebrity endorsements (Joe Rogan, Ashley Graham, Steve Aoki)
- Viral social media presence (top 10 TikTok shop brand)
- 96% employee satisfaction rate
- Focus on quality and genuine customer value

Ryan's father told him:
"Success is defined by how high you bounce back from rock bottom." Ryan's story embodies this perfectly, transforming personal tragedy into entrepreneurial triumph.

"I feel like I'm happier now than I was as an angsty teenager when I was 18-19... whenever there's a door that closes, I think there's like two more that open." - Ryan Chen

Founder story 3

Too old for content? 
Mike started YouTube at 45. 
Made $250,000 last year.

Most people think you need to be young to build a personal brand.

Michael Zuber started at 45.

Made $250,000 last year by accident.

No marketing team.
No fancy equipment.
Just an iPhone and Apple earbuds.

Here's the thing, Mike was already financially free.
- Had enough passive income
- Could travel anywhere
- Eat at any restaurant
- Never work again

But something was missing.
Depression hit hard.
Even had suicidal thoughts.

The problem?
- Wasn't contributing anymore
- Had no purpose
- Needed something bigger than money

So he picked up his phone.
Started recording daily videos about real estate.
First 1,000 videos? Zero money. Barely any views.
Most would quit.
Michael didn't care about views.

His strategy was different:
- Show up every day at 7:30 AM
- Share genuine knowledge
- Focus on helping others
- Never chase viral moments
- Build trust slowly

The results after 7 years:
- 60,000 YouTube subscribers
- 18 million video views
- 10 million podcast listeners
- $1,500/month from books
- Quarter-million yearly revenue
- 95% profit margins

Mike's secret weapon? Age.

While others pretend to be experts:
- He had real experience
- Weathered actual storms
- Collected genuine wisdom
- Built authentic trust

The formula is simple:
Pick what you've loved for 10+ years
Show up daily
Focus on impact over income
Let your community guide you

Mike's mission?
"Create something that outlives my physical body by 50 years."
 
The best time to start isn't 20 years ago. It's when you have something real to share.

 A thought on AI agent’s

SaaS isn’t dying, it’s evolving

The end of SaaS as we know it.

The way we work is about to change. Again.

I watched an interview with Satya Nadella the CEO of Microsoft. I liked it so I'm summarising what he said below.

What Satya sees coming:

- Agents will cross boundaries
- They'll work across multiple apps
- They'll orchestrate your work
- They'll bypass the login screens

Think about this:

When was the last time you logged into your CRM?
But your AI assistant queries it daily.

The future isn't about apps. It's about agents.
In 2 years, we won't say: "Here's my tech stack"

We'll say: "Here's my agent collection"
Like how we used to share docs and spreadsheets, We'll share our agents.

The truth is:

- SaaS isn't dying
- It's evolving
- The interface is changing
- The value is shifting

The winners won't be those with the best features.
But those who play well with agents.

 A tweet we loved

All done for today

Quick reminder - If you like our newsletter, please do “add to address book” or reply. These are “positive signals” that help our newsletter land in your inbox. If you hate it, please unsubscribe (the unsubscribe link is in the footer).

See you soon.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo