BrüMate pre-sold a launch list, then scaled on Facebook.
A Denver drinkware brand that built a 7,000-person list before its first product shipped, sold $250K in three weeks, then grew to $36M in 2019 on Facebook ads and an email list worth a fifth of revenue.
BLOOM10X did not work with BrüMate. This breakdown uses public sources only, linked below.
- Nov 2016Launches to a 7,000-person list; $250K in three weeks
- 2017Wine glasses sell to women at lower ad costs; $2.1M year
- Jun 2018$1.1M month online; email is about 20% of revenue
- 2019$36M in sales, still 100% founder-owned
- 2020Wholesale and Amazon push monthly sales past $12M
- Nov 2026About 220 active Meta ads; retailers run their own
A list first, ads second.
Five plays behind the growth.
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Sell it before it ships
Founder Dylan Jacob ran Facebook ads with rendered product images to a page where people asked to be told at launch, the day after Black Friday, pitched as a holiday gift. About 7,000 signed up before stock arrived, and launch sales hit $250,000 in three weeks (Starter Story, Jul 2018).
Copy this: collect launch signups from ads two to four weeks before stock lands, and give the list a date and a reason to buy.
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Let the factory terms fund the order
Jacob paid his manufacturer 10% up front and 90% before shipping, then sold pre-orders during the 60-day production run to pay the balance. The first prototype mold cost $3,000 (Shopify Masters, Jun 2019).
Copy this: ask suppliers for deposit terms and line up pre-orders to cover the balance before it is due.
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Follow the cheapest buyer
BrüMate started as beer gear for men. When the wine products launched, Jacob saw women “were much, much cheaper to advertise to” and more invested in the brand, and moved the whole brand toward them over about a year (Shopify Masters).
Copy this: split cost per purchase by audience every month and move budget and creative to the cheapest buyer.
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Make email a fifth of revenue
A spin-the-wheel popup collected emails. By 2018 about 250,000 subscribers drove roughly 20% of monthly revenue, with about 70% of emails giving value and 30% selling (Starter Story).
Copy this: set a goal for the share of revenue from email and send helpful content most weeks, not only discounts.
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Add retail and Amazon once DTC works
In 2018 Amazon brought $40,000+ a month with no ad spend. By 2020, wholesale, Amazon and DTC together lifted sales from $1.1M to over $12M a month (Starter Story, Aug 2020). In November 2026, the retailer Scheels ran its own Era Flip ads.
Copy this: list your best seller on Amazon early, then pitch stores with your ad data and offer to share ad costs.
From a list to $36M in three years.
Yearly sales
The 2016 launch
“I am sure you have heard it over and over again, but email marketing is SO important.”
A launch ad in the customer’s voice.
BrüMate started 14 versions of this Era Flip ad on Nov 10, 2026. Tap a number to see what each part does.
- 1Fresh, and in bulkLive for six hours when we saw it. 14 ads with the headline “NEW! ERA FLIP” started that day.
- 2Written like a fan“BrüMate listened to us! The 40oz Era Flip upgrade is HERE.” The brand page posts it, in a customer’s words.
- 3Short demoAn 18-second vertical video of the tumbler in use.
- 4New, then the product“NEW! ERA FLIP,” linking to the Era Flip 40oz collection: 26 colors from $47.99, lifetime warranty, free US shipping over $90.
New colors, creators and retailers.
About 220 active US ads. They mix launch ads, limited-color drops, creator partnership ads, review quotes and cart reminders like “You were this close.” Some send buyers to Amazon. Pick one to see it.
“Ruby & Jade Just Dropped.”
Two holiday colors sold as “New drop. Limited edition.” The homepage calls it Capsule Collection Drop 3.
Limited colors cost $3 more than core colors on the Era Flip 40oz.
“Their gift, covered.”
The retailer Scheels runs this Era Flip ad from its own page. The link’s campaign tag includes “brumate_eraflip” and “coop,” the usual label for ads a brand and a store pay for together.
“The 40oz Era Flip upgrade is HERE.”
An upgraded 40oz Era Flip, seven months after the first Era Flip launch video. Taken apart above.
Screenshots of active US ads in the Meta Ad Library, taken Nov 10, 2026. Click an image to enlarge.
Where the ads land.
Three pages on a phone, Nov 10, 2026. Click to enlarge.
Three product launches.
Read it with three caveats.
- These are 2016–2018 ad accounts. The $20–$30 tests and 3–4x return on ad spend are Jacob’s results then, not a benchmark for today.
- The margin paid for it. BrüMate reported 59% gross margin before ads in 2018. A brand at 35% can’t fund the same discounts and ad spend.
- Most numbers are the founder’s. The monthly figures come from Jacob. Sources also differ on 2018 sales ($20M in Forbes, $21M on Shopify Masters). We found no verified figure after 2020.
- What we’d change: Jacob says a Kickstarter failed and paid signups worked. We’d still seed a few creators before launch, the partnership ads BrüMate runs today, so launch day has proof as well as a list.
Six moves for a $1M–$10M brand.
- Run ads to a launch waitlist before stock lands, with a date and a reason to buy. Meta ads
- Split cost per purchase by audience and move budget to the cheapest buyer. CAC calculator
- Know your break-even return on ad spend before you scale. ROAS calculator
- Set a target for email’s share of revenue and send value most weeks. Retention
- Release limited colors on a schedule and price them a little higher. Creative
- Seed creators before launch and run their posts as partnership ads. Creator seeding
Where every number comes from.
- Dylan Jacob, “I Grew A Drinkware Brand To $1.1M/Month At 23 Years Old,” Starter Story, Jul 16, 2018. starterstory.com
- Dylan Jacob, “How We Increased Our Sales From $1M To $12M/Month,” Starter Story, Aug 27, 2020. starterstory.com
- Daniel D’Ambrosio, “Dylan Jacob Built A Better Beer Cozy Into A $36 Million Business,” Forbes, Mar 29, 2020. forbes.com
- Felix Thea, “Brumate Founder: Dylan Jacob’s $21M Pivot,” Shopify Masters, Jun 18, 2019. shopify.com
- BrüMate, homepage, Era Flip 40oz collection and quiz pages (mobile), viewed Nov 10, 2026. brumate.com
- BrüMate, official YouTube channel, videos dated Mar 5, 2021, Jun 25, 2024 and Mar 30, 2026. youtube.com
- Meta Ad Library, active US ads for the BrüMate page, viewed Nov 10, 2026. facebook.com/ads/library
- Meta Ad Library, Scheels ad for the Era Flip, started Nov 9, 2026. facebook.com/ads/library
