Story
LifeAid grew by giving CrossFit gyms a free mini-fridge and a case
Shaan's friend grew the LifeAid/FitAid drink brand by giving CrossFit gyms a free $79 mini-fridge plus a free case of FitAid, since gyms had no fridge or vending machine and couldn't sell candy. Gyms made a little income and reordered, seeding distribution through the CrossFit network.
“And he got his break by giving— he basically went to CrossFit gyms and he said, hey, CrossFit, you don't have a mini fridge. I will give you a free mini fridge and a case of FitAid. Here you go. You know, here's a $79 mini fridge and a case of FitAid.”
Steal thisSeed distribution by giving channel partners the free hardware that unlocks selling your product.
Tactic
The 'free fridge with 10 cases' direct-mail playbook copied from Red Bull
LifeAID grew by mailing CrossFit gym owners 4 free cans with a sales letter, then offering a free refrigerator if they bought 10 cases — replicating Red Bull's tactic of putting branded fridges in bars, but aimed at gyms that often had no fridge at all.
“Inside of it, it had a copy that, that we wrote that just said, hey, drink this ice cold after your next workout. Here's why it's so great. Here's why it's so good for you. And by the way, if you buy 10 cases from us, we'll give you a free refrigerator. Right? Okay. And this is back in the day when CrossFit gyms maybe had water and they didn't even have a refrigerator. So it was a very appealing offer. It was basically doing what Red Bull did in bars, but we doing the CrossFit gyms, right?”
Steal thisFind the channel a category leader owns (Red Bull in bars) and re-run their playbook in an adjacent, neglected channel where you have community credibility.
Take
Pick one target market or burn out trying to serve all of them
Running three products (GolfAid, FitAid, PartyAid) each with separate sites, social, and events left the team in chaos. An advisor told Hinde to choose a single target market; they killed the larger GolfAid to go all-in on FitAid because CrossFit showed faster adoption and better sell-through.
“And he's like, you got to choose a single target market or else you're going to burn yourself out, you're gonna run out of all your cash and get nowhere, no traction with any of the community. So even though Golfraid was bringing in about $700 grand at the time, we looked at the trajectory, the sell-in and the sell-through of FitAid in the CrossFit market and said, you know what, they're doing better volumes, we're getting, you know, greater adoption, quicker adoption. So we went all in on the smaller one.”
Steal thisKill the bigger-but-slower product and concentrate everything on the smaller line with faster adoption velocity.
Take
Pick one target market or burn out trying to serve all of them
Running three products (GolfAid, FitAid, PartyAid) each with separate sites, social, and events left the team in chaos. An advisor told Hinde to choose a single target market; they killed the larger GolfAid to go all-in on FitAid because CrossFit showed faster adoption and better sell-through.
“And he's like, you got to choose a single target market or else you're going to burn yourself out, you're gonna run out of all your cash and get nowhere, no traction with any of the community. So even though Golfraid was bringing in about $700 grand at the time, we looked at the trajectory, the sell-in and the sell-through of FitAid in the CrossFit market and said, you know what, they're doing better volumes, we're getting, you know, greater adoption, quicker adoption. So we went all in on the smaller one.”
Steal thisKill the bigger-but-slower product and concentrate everything on the smaller line with faster adoption velocity.
Number
Each CrossFit gym was worth ~$2,500/year, and signups hit 200/month
LifeAID's direct-mail gym acquisition compounded fast: 12 new gyms the first month, then 30, 50, and eventually 200 a month — with each gym generating roughly $2,500 a year in revenue.
$3K
Annual revenue per CrossFit gym account · USD/year
“The next month we got 30, then we got 50, then we were hitting like 200 a month. Wow. And these things are each like $2,500 a year in revenue, right? Right. So it starts adding up quick.”