MMy First Million
← All episodes
Patrick Campbell07 July 2022

Patrick Campbell: The Billion $ Quilting Industry And Using Spy Secrets To Gain A Competitive Edge

4Frameworks
9Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Marketing5 steps

Sell Simple Things to Simple People

Target underserved mainstream buyers, not cool coastal early-adopters, for higher loyalty and lower churn.

Read →
Finance4 steps

Start High, Then Come Down

For bootstrappers, launch at a premium price and lower later — it's far easier than raising a cheap price.

Read →
Strategy7 steps

The Competitive Intelligence Program

Build a rolling profile of every competitor from moles and shadow surveys, then feed it to marketing.

Read →
Entrepreneurship5 steps

Trend Stacking for Durable Businesses

Pick a boring market where several independently-strong forces stack, then change just one thing.

Read →

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 1

Myth Buster16:30

Older, Mainstream Customers Churn the Least

Contrary to the Silicon Valley instinct to build for young millennials and Gen Z, Campbell says businesses selling to women in middle America aged 30-60 have the highest loyalty and lowest churn. Older consumers are harder to convert but stick once they've decided.

  • Older/mainstream consumers retain at a higher rate than young coastal buyers.
  • They're harder to convert but far less finicky once committed.
  • Premium and niche positioning independently improves churn.

“Businesses that sell stuff to women in middle America between the ages of 30 and 60 hands down have the highest loyalty and engagement and…”

Sam Parr · 16:30
#retention#targeting#consumer

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take47:30

Money Amplifies the Best and Worst in You

After selling ProfitWell for over $200M, Campbell echoes advice from Alex Hormozi: money doesn't change you, it amplifies you. He expected wealth to make him healthier; instead it just made it easier to indulge. You're the same person with the volume turned up.

  • Wealth amplifies existing traits rather than transforming you.
  • Campbell had expected money to improve his habits; it didn't automatically.
  • He plans to reinvest almost everything rather than buy status goods.

“It amplifies the worst in you and the best in you. You're just the same person.”

Patrick Campbell · 47:30
#wealth#mindset#founder-psychology

Explainer· 1

Explainer07:30

Quilting Is a Secret $4.5 Billion Industry

Using ProfitWell's subscription database, Campbell explains that quilting and crafts is a ~$4.5B/year industry where the average quilter spends $8-9k a year, much of it through local quilt shops. Block-of-the-month clubs, quilt retreats, and highly-engaged Facebook groups drive nine-figure subscription players hiding in plain sight.

  • Quilting is about a $4.5B/year industry; the average quilter spends $8-9k/year.
  • Block-of-the-month clubs and quilt retreats create recurring community revenue.
  • The community lives in engaged Facebook groups, not Instagram — an opening.
  • Missouri Star Quilt Company revitalized a whole town via YouTube tutorials.

“The average quilter spends about eight to nine thousand dollars per year on quilting supplies.”

Patrick Campbell · 07:30
#hidden-industries#subscription#crafts#niche-markets

Story· 3

Story25:00

The 'Kids of Old People' and Death-Care Markets

Campbell flags aging-population plays: products that prey on baby-boomer-kid guilt (like Nanagrams, which mails postcards to your grandparents), rising multiples on hospice and elder-care, and the funeral/death-care industry where four or five companies own everything in the literal last mile of life.

  • Nanagrams turns an Instagram post into a mailed postcard to a grandparent.
  • Multiples on old-folks homes and hospice care are rising as the population ages.
  • 4-5 companies own nearly all of coffins, funeral homes, and death-care.
  • An attempt to build a 'memories via Alexa' product ran into that oligopoly.

“There are four or maybe five companies that basically own everything in the literal last mile of your life.”

Patrick Campbell · 26:00
#aging-population#hidden-industries#roll-ups
Story53:00

The 'Hostile Takeover' of a Publicly-Traded Person

Mike Merrill (KmikeM) sold shares in himself in 2008 and lets shareholders vote on his life decisions. Campbell bought ~1,930 shares in an auction for ~$13k to control roughly 10% of the vote and staged a public 'hostile takeover' — mostly to learn, fast, what such a process feels like.

  • Mike Merrill became the first publicly-traded person in 2008.
  • Shareholders vote on his decisions, from glasses to moving in with a partner.
  • Campbell bought ~2,000 shares (~10%) for ~$13k to stage a takeover.
  • His stated motive: the quickest path to learning.

“Quickest path to learning. That's really important for entrepreneurs, executives in general.”

Patrick Campbell · 53:00
#experiments#learning#curiosities
Story00:30

Bootstrapping ProfitWell to a $200M+ Exit

Campbell bootstrapped ProfitWell (formerly Price Intelligently) to a sale to Paddle at a headline of over $200M, owning 100% of the company between him and his co-founder. The deal created 13 millionaires and gave 30-35 people six-figure-plus payouts across roughly 120 people.

  • Bootstrapped and 100% owned by the founders at exit.
  • Sold to Paddle for a headline over $200M.
  • 13 millionaires created; ~120 people received consideration.
  • The company grew by making SaaS metrics free after 30 competitors emerged.

“We were bootstrapped, so we owned 100% of it... we had 13 millionaires.”

Patrick Campbell · 00:30
#bootstrapping#exit#saas

Tool· 1

Tool35:30

Red Team Docs: Pre-Writing Your Crisis Responses

Campbell keeps 'red team docs' capturing every thought about what could kill or hurt the company — an accusation, a viral tweet, a competitor move. Each doc pre-plans the steps to take, so when the threat hits, the hardest part of the thinking is already done.

  • Every existential-threat thought goes into a doc.
  • Each doc lists the response steps in advance.
  • Gives a head start on the critical thinking during a real crisis.

“Every single thought that I've had that could kill us or hurt us goes into a doc... at minimum it has the steps that we're…”

Patrick Campbell · 35:30
#risk#operations#playbooks

Takeaway· 2

Takeaway24:30

Why Trades Roll-Ups Work

Plumbing, HVAC, and electrician companies are ripe for roll-ups: skilled enough to have a moat and a niche, but not so skilled they can't be consolidated. Many owners are simply looking for a way to retire, and the businesses stick around for decades.

  • Trades have a moat from skill but are consolidatable.
  • Owners often want a retirement exit, creating supply.
  • Unlike machine shops, they're not too specialized to roll up.
#roll-ups#trades#smb
Takeaway51:00

Debaters, Gamers, and Poker Players Win in Business

The hosts note a recurring pattern: people great at debate, gaming, or poker tend to do well in business. Campbell, a national-champion debater, credits 40 hours a week for four years of synthesizing information and structuring arguments to root cause — the same skills he uses running a company.

  • Debate, competitive gaming, and poker correlate with business success.
  • Debate trains fast synthesis and argument-to-root-cause structuring.
  • Campbell's early marketing edge was writing deep blog posts quickly.

“For 40 hours a week, 4 years, I was synthesizing information and structuring arguments and getting to root cause.”

Patrick Campbell · 52:00
#skills#background#talent