My Garage-to-$200M Story: What Really Matters in Building a DTC Company

7 years ago, I began building what would eventually turn into a 9-figure direct-to-consumer brand from a one-car garage and a $35 scrap of leather.

And today we have:

Built the largest leather bag manufacturing company in North America

Made over $500,000,000 in sales

Launched our own app

Opened up retail stores across the country

How the heck did that happen??

Well… it was not luck!!

Maybe just a little.

I still remember our first Black Friday… we made ONE SALE.

The next year…. one sale EVERY THREE SECONDS.

And while every founder’s journey looks different, I want to share the things that actually moved our rocket ship forward.

This ain’t some post about ad spend, funnels or some AI automation hack!! This is what I truly believe got us here… need you to keep an open mind.

“Curtis, you are so lucky!”

I sure am!! But that is not the point.

People have always said, “Curtis is so lucky! Things just work out for that guy!”

And hey, they are not totally wrong. But this is the perspective they miss:

You attract who you are.

Every major leap in my company came because of the people around me. They are the ones that have challenged me, believed in me, and refused to let me shrink!

Hey this is also NOT one of those “cut toxic people out of your life” motivational post either!!

When you grow, the people who are not aligned with that version of you, simply fade out. And one day you look around and start to think:

Holy crap!! These are my people!

That is when the magic starts.

My role as the CEO

I am not the CEO of Portland Leather because I am the smartest.

I am the CEO because I am charming and handsome!

Also because I have gotten really good at pattern recognition… and most founders are not because they are afraid of messing up.

But business is a game.

You have to make the wrong choices sometimes to figure out the right ones and you have to fail to understand what patterns will lead you to winning!

Your business cannot grow if you are not growing.

So stop living in fear!! Stop trying to avoid mistakes!!

What really matters

The only thing that matters right now, is the decision in front of you.

Screw the 9-figure goal! Most people overestimate what they can get done in a year and underestimate what they can get done in 10. So they pick the safe choice so they can be right and avoid embarrassment.

Let me just say that it is WAY better to understand why you messed up than to not understand why you won.

Read that again because that was awesome!!

When you remove the fear of messing up, business becomes fun again.

It becomes a giant game of growth, experiments, exploration, and levels.

The part that everyone forgets

At the end of the day, the thing that mattered the most was not the revenue. It was:

- Am I creating a company where people actually want to be?

- Am I kind?

- Am I curious?

- Am I someone my team is excited to build with?

Business is not built on spreadsheets or ad spend!! It is built on people who believe in the mission, in each other and in YOU.

And if you become the person people want to be around, you will build something way bigger and even more special than just a business.

Curtis Matsko - CEO & Founder of Portland Leather Goods