By 23 years old, most people are figuring out their careers. Dylan Jacob, on the other hand, was already running a multimillion-dollar company.
BrüMate, the company he founded in late 2016, has become one of the fastest-growing insulated drinkware brands in the U.S., now generating over $1.1 million in monthly revenue. From his first prototype to dominating the niche of adult beverage insulation, Jacob’s story is a masterclass in bootstrapping, product-market fit, and relentless iteration.
From Warm Beers to a Big Idea
BrüMate, known as “The Dehydration Company,” was born from a frustratingly common problem—lukewarm beer. One day in early 2016, Jacob realized there was no effective koozie that kept his 16oz beer cans cold. A quick Google search confirmed the gap in the market, so he got to work on designing a solution. The result: the Hopsulator TRiO, a 3-in-1 patented insulated beer koozie that fits 16oz cans, comes with a freezable adapter for 12oz cans, and doubles as a pint glass.
And this wasn’t Jacob’s first rodeo.
Before BrüMate, Jacob had already started and sold two companies. His first was a parts supply business for tech repair shops, which he launched in high school and sold after dropping out of engineering school. His second, a high-end glass tile company, gained traction through e-commerce channels like Wayfair and Houzz before he sold that business too. But it was BrüMate that combined his entrepreneurial instincts with his real passion: product design.
Building the Brand from the Ground Up
Starting BrüMate wasn’t just about creating a product—it was about creating a category. BrüMate’s drinkware is laser-focused on enhancing the drinking experience for adult beverages, making them more portable, stylish, and functional.
Jacob launched with the Winesulator, an insulated wine bottle that keeps a full 750ml of wine chilled for over 24 hours. Targeting wine lovers with Facebook pre-orders and email capture campaigns, he built a launch list of 7,000 subscribers before a single product was manufactured. Using Photoshopped renderings instead of real prototypes, he drove anticipation and early validation. When the first shipments arrived, they sold fast.
The Hopsulator, though the spark for the idea, took longer to perfect—14 prototypes and a year of development. But once it was ready, BrüMate was off to the races. From doing $250,000 in sales in its first six weeks, BrüMate grew to $2.1M in 2017 and crossed $1.1M/month in 2018, all while bootstrapped.
Product Innovation as a Growth Engine
BrüMate’s product line didn’t stop with the Hopsulator and Winesulator. Jacob created a range of patented and innovative products:
- Uncork’d XL Wine Glasses – the world’s largest triple-insulated wine glasses.
- Hopsulator Slim – designed for 12oz slim cans like White Claw and Truly.
- Hopsulator Juggernaut – a rugged option for 24oz tallboy cans.
- NOS’R – the world’s first indestructible insulated whiskey nosing glass.
Each product was meticulously developed with user experience in mind and launched with the help of aggressive pre-launch marketing, especially on Facebook and Instagram.
Marketing Strategy: Precision at Scale
Jacob bootstrapped the business, designing the original website on Shopify himself and learning Facebook ads through YouTube and trial-and-error. From early on, he leaned heavily into pre-launch marketing, using landing pages, giveaways, and paid ads to collect leads and build anticipation. It worked.
The company’s return on ad spend (ROAS) consistently ranged between 3-4x, reaching as high as 6x during peak seasons like Christmas.
Key marketing tools included:
- Spin-a-Sale: A gamified pop-up to collect emails.
- Smile.io: For ambassador and referral programs.
- Klaviyo: For email automation, nurturing a list of over 250,000 subscribers.
BrüMate also invested heavily in retargeting ads, dynamic product ads, and customer segmentation to maximize conversions from its 400,000–500,000 monthly site visitors. With an average order value (AOV) of $65–$70, every 0.1% lift in conversion added $28,000/mo in revenue.
Perhaps most impressively, BrüMate’s conversion rate was around 4%, which is significantly above the industry average for e-commerce.
A Remote-First, Scalable Operation
Jacob structured BrüMate with flexibility and scalability in mind. Despite its size, the company operated with:
- 2 full-time customer service reps
- A 3PL (ShipMonk) for order fulfillment
- A 7-person remote advertising team
- A 2-person social media & creative team
No office. No overhead. Just output.
This lean structure allowed BrüMate to adapt quickly, control costs, and focus capital on inventory and marketing rather than infrastructure.
Growth Without Investors
Unlike many startups, Jacob refused outside investment, choosing to grow BrüMate through personal savings and a home equity line of credit. It wasn’t always easy—inventory shortages plagued the business throughout 2017. At one point, BrüMate was forced to air ship $1M worth of stock at a cost of $70,000 just to avoid missing six weeks of sales due to Chinese New Year.
Still, Jacob sees this decision as crucial: “Looking back now, I’m happy with my decision to self-finance and not bring anybody else to the table.”
Retail & Wholesale Expansion
Though BrüMate began as a direct-to-consumer brand, by mid-2018, it was stocked in over 1,000 retailers across the U.S., including major names like Cabela’s and Amazon. Retail made up around 10% of revenue, but Jacob aimed to scale it to $1M+/month, hiring a rep group covering all 48 continental U.S. states.
Amazon alone accounted for $40,000+ per month in sales with zero ad spend, largely from hesitant first-time buyers who found the brand via its website.
Lessons for Aspiring Founders
Jacob’s experience underscores a few core lessons:
- Pivot Fast: BrüMate’s initial target customer was totally off, and Dylan didn’t realize it until he started testing Facebook audiences.
- Build a Product People Actually Want: Product-market fit beats branding every time.
- Cash Flow is King: Being bootstrapped forced discipline but also risked missed revenue during stockouts.
- Test Before You Build: Photoshop mockups and email pre-launches are powerful tools to validate ideas before spending money.
- Control What You Can: Managing his own ads, design, and messaging allowed Jacob to stay close to his customers and iterate faster.
What’s Next?
By mid-2018, BrüMate had plans to introduce six new products and scale retail significantly. Jacob’s ultimate goal: a $50M+ business. Given BrüMate’s trajectory, lean structure, and cult-like customer following, it wasn’t just possible—it was likely.
Today, BrüMate is widely recognized as one of the fastest-growing consumer brands in the U.S., a testament to the power of niche focus, great product design, and marketing execution.
Jacob’s story is not just about selling tumblers. It’s about building a community, iterating without ego, and proving that even in saturated markets, innovation and execution can carve out massive success.
BrüMate Quick Stats
- Founded: November 2016
- Monthly Revenue: $1.1M
- Gross Margin: 59% (pre-ad spend)
- Net Profit Margin: 30% avg
- Conversion Rate: 4%
- Average Order Value: $65–$70
- Return Customer Rate: 14–15%
- Email List Size: 250,000+
- Social Followers: 270K+ on Facebook
Key Tools
- Shopify (eCommerce)
- Klaviyo (Email marketing)
- Spin-a-Sale (Email capture)
- Smile.io (Ambassador program)
- ShipMonk (Fulfillment)
- ZenDesk (Customer support)
- Flexify (DPA Retargeting)
Whether you’re just starting your brand or looking for your next big product hit, Dylan Jacob’s journey with BrüMate is proof that great execution, grit, and a willingness to adapt can turn even something as simple as a koozie into a $20 million empire.