Key Takeaways

  • Native Deodorant's founder, Mike Moyes, started by making deodorant in his bathtub and testing formulas on his brother, validating demand via top sales on Etsy.
  • This highly unpolished, rapid iteration led to Native's acquisition by Proctor & Gamble for $100 million, growing into a multi-billion dollar product line now stocked in major retailers like Target.
  • Athletic Greens (AG1) also began with a basic, almost "janky" landing page that prioritized market feedback over polished aesthetics.
  • Shaan Puri noted that starting "a little janky" allows founders to "move fast and break things" before adapting and becoming "more and more legit over time."
  • The journey from a crude MVP to an iconic brand is less about initial perfection and more about relentless learning and evolution after launch.

The Method: From 'Janky' Start to Juggernaut

Forget the myth of the perfectly polished launch. For many iconic brands, their journey from zero to scale started with a healthy dose of "janky." This isn't about cutting corners forever; it's a strategic approach to market validation and iterative growth. Sam Parr and Shaan Puri highlighted this path through the stories of Native Deodorant and Athletic Greens (AG1).

Phase 1: Raw Validation, Not Perfection. Mike Moyes, Native's founder, didn't wait for a venture capital round or a sophisticated R&D lab. He saw natural deodorant selling well on Etsy and jumped in. “He looked at Etsy and saw that the number one selling product on there was a natural deodorant and he realized, oh wow, that's market validation,” Parr explained. Moyes then literally made deodorant in his bathtub. For testing, he’d apply two different formulas to his armpits, run around the block, then have his brother smell them to pick the better one. This was his "clinical trial" — barebones, effective, and deeply focused on user experience over lab coats.

Phase 2: Learn, Then Refine. When someone asked Moyes if he knew anything about deodorant, his reply was telling: “Today I know nothing about deodorant, but in six months I'll know everything there is to know about deodorant.” This mindset is critical. You don't need to be an expert to start; you need to commit to becoming one after you get a signal. Athletic Greens followed a similar path, beginning with what Parr described as an "internet marketing 101" landing page. It wasn't slick or beautiful, but it served its purpose: capturing initial interest and learning from early users. Both companies refined their product, brand, and marketing after proving initial market demand.

Phase 3: Embrace the Evolution. Puri summed it up: “You can absolutely start a little janky, a little move fast and break things a little little uh you know fake it till you make it and then you can adapt and you could like leg you know go go go more and more legit over time.” This isn't a license for sloppiness. It's permission to prioritize speed and learning, trusting that you can iterate your way to professionalism. Native went from a bathtub product to a $100 million acquisition by Proctor & Gamble, and is now a multi-billion dollar brand. AG1 evolved from a basic landing page to a premium health giant. Their initial crudeness was a feature, not a bug, in their journey to becoming market leaders.

Where This Breaks Down

This "janky start" method isn't a universal solvent for all ventures. It falters in highly regulated industries, like pharmaceuticals or aerospace, where initial imperfections can have catastrophic consequences. You can't "janky" a medical device. It also demands a market that tolerates imperfection and founders with an almost obsessive dedication to rapid iteration and feedback. If you don't evolve quickly from your crude beginnings, you're not building a juggernaut; you're just selling a bad product. This approach also assumes that customer expectations for "polish" are low enough at the outset to permit a less-than-perfect entry.

What to Do With This

Stop overthinking your launch. Pick one small, core problem your idea solves. This week, create the absolute simplest, most "janky" version of your solution. Think Mike Moyes in his bathtub. Can you build an MVP in 72 hours? Then, find your equivalent of "Etsy validation": sell your raw prototype to a handful of actual users, even if it's just five strangers. Don't polish anything until you've gotten undeniable feedback that someone genuinely values what you've made and is willing to pay for it.