A Lamborghini Dream & a Hat Website
Robert Hamm - software engineer, car guy, hat lover - wanted a Lamborghini Gallardo. His plan: build a side hustle. No good hat site existed for car people, so he built LidLaunch.com.
100 Hats. First Week.
He listed his first products and sold 100 hats in 7 days. A friend's mom ran the embroidery out of her St. Louis shop - Robert drove out, picked them up, and hauled hundreds of packages to USPS himself.
Bringing Production In-House
To improve margins and turnaround times, Robert bought his first embroidery machine. Working from home, he mastered the craft - and local business owners started knocking.
One 100-Hat Order Changes Everything
A single bulk order revealed the real opportunity: stop making one hat for hundreds of people - start making hundreds of hats for small businesses. He bought a multi-head machine and moved to the garage.
New Machine. New Baby. Same Week.
Robert's first child arrived the same week the multi-head machine was delivered. He had to figure out how the machine worked… and how babies work too 🙂 Business kept rolling through word of mouth while he held down his day job.
Remote Work = 2 Extra Hours a Day
COVID moved Robert fully remote, reclaiming nearly 2 hours of daily commuting. His wife started helping with orders - and he immediately saw what having help could unlock. Time to scale.
Out of the Garage. Into the Real World.
A small commercial space opened nearby. Robert signed a 1-year lease, moved out of home, and hired his first part-time employees. With help on production he could focus on writing automation code - a key turning point.
Monster Agency Turns the Ads On 🚀
Robert brought in his friend Andrew Molz at Monster Agency to run paid social. When the ads launched - orders poured in. The current space was immediately too small. Within months they found a much larger property and moved again.
Mom Mary Joins the Team 👩
Robert's mom Mary stepped away from the family restaurant to run hat shop operations. She brought years of management experience - set schedules, strict quality control, and one rule: nothing gets past Mom.
June 2021: Robert Quits His Day Job
After years of nights, weekends, and early mornings - Robert officially leaves his software engineering career to run HatLaunch full time.
The Business Buys Its First Property 🏗️
Late 2021: HatLaunch purchases its first commercial property and fully renovates it into a dedicated production facility. No more leases.
ShirtLaunch Is Born 👕
HatLaunch acquires a local screen printing business, adding high-quality custom apparel to the lineup. The brand family grows: ShirtLaunch launches.
The Lamborghini Gallardo
A dream that snowballed into a thriving business with 50+ employees and tens of thousands of customers. In late 2022, Robert finally bought the car that started it all.
The Business Doubles Overnight 📈
Custom software accelerates to keep pace with order volume. Every process gets streamlined. Key executive hires bring leadership structure to the growing team.
6 HatLaunch Babies - Including Twins!
Love is in the air at the hat shop. Six team members welcome new babies in 2023. For many it's their first - and someone had twins.
64,000 Square Feet 🏬
At the end of 2023, HatLaunch purchases a 64,000 sq ft warehouse to renovate into its new production facility. Current operations are maxed out - and the new space is the platform for the next chapter.
Real numbers, updated in real time. From a single basement embroidery machine to one of the largest custom hat producers in America.
