How 4 Friends Made $130M Selling Dad Shorts 👖

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The $130M Shorts Story You Didn’t Know You Needed

👋 Hey Deal Lifters,

You ever borrow a piece of clothing from your dad, think “wait… this kinda slaps”, and turn it into a $130 MILLION business?

Yeah. These guys did exactly that.

Meet Kyle, Rainer, Preston, and Tom — four college buddies who loved rocking old-school short-shorts they snagged from thrift stores and their dads’ closets. 🕺💥

Back in 2011, these guys turned their summer nostalgia into a bold business bet. The plan?
Make short-shorts cool again.

And spoiler alert: it worked. Big time.

🚨 Step 1: Test the Vibes

They pulled up to Lake Tahoe’s July 4th party with a handful of self-made shorts.

Some people laughed. Some cringed.
Others? Started throwing cash at them. 💸

That’s when they knew… the people were ready.

🛍️ Step 2: Launch the Brand

They went home, fired up Shopify, whipped up a few hundred pairs — and boom:
Chubbies was born.

Their shorts weren’t just clothes — they were a weekend lifestyle. Think:

🍻 Beer
🌊 Lake trips
🏈 Tailgates
😎 Absolute chaos

They weren’t selling fashion. They were selling freedom from pants.

📈 Step 3: Go Big or Go (Shorts) Home

By 2012, they raised their first round from Rothenberg Ventures.
By 2014, a $4M Series A helped scale inventory and ops.

They branched out from shorts to polos, swim trunks, outerwear — and started flirting with retail stores too.

Revenue?
🚀 $1M+ early on
📈 ~$50M by 2021

From frat houses to frat dads — everyone was rocking Chubbies.

💰 Step 4: The Big Payday

In September 2021, Solo Brands came knocking — and handed over a cool $130 million for the whole operation.

That’s legacy-level stuff. 🏆

💡 What You Can Learn from Chubbies

Some people hated their shorts. But others LOVED them. And that’s the point.

In a world where most brands try to please everyone and end up standing for nothing — Chubbies did the opposite:
They went all-in on one loud, fun, unapologetic idea. 🎯

And the market rewarded them.

✨ Lift Takeaway:

Controversy converts. Apathy kills.
Don’t build a brand everyone kinda likes. Build one some people freaking love.

🎯 Be bold.
💬 Be weird.
📦 And maybe… bring back the shorts.

Want more stories of wild ideas turning into 💰?
Subscribe to Deal Lift — where business meets boldness.

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