He Turned $500 Into $10M | Starter Story

September 19, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Karthik, a co-founder of multiple apparel brands including Greek House, College Thread, Threadly, and Athletes Thread, started with $500 in his fraternity house in 2013. By the time of this interview, he had built a business doing millions in sales across custom and licensed merchandise, all while holding a full-time job at Amazon and later at Salesforce for over two years. The conversation covers how he navigated licensing hurdles, built a supply chain from scratch, and turned a near-disaster with a $40,000 royalty bill into a long-term lesson.

The $500 Start and the Grind

Karthik and his co-founder Luke began by selling custom apparel to fraternities and sororities on their campus. They had no capital and no tech advantage—just a willingness to hustle. "We usually just go out and start texting our friends and in different sororities and fraternities, trying to figure out who's making the decision to buy t-shirts," he says. They attended student organization meetings, pitched in person, and refined their sales pitch over time. The first year they did $50,000; the second year, $100,000.

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What you'll learn

1 Timestamped Outline
2 (01:15) **Introduction: From $500 to $10M** - The host introduces Karthik, who turned $500 into millions across multiple apparel businesses while working a full-time job
3 (02:19) **Business Breakdown: Four Brands Under One Roof** - Karthik explains his portfolio of apparel businesses serving different niches
4 (04:32) **The College Hustle Origins** - Karthik and his fraternity brother started multiple businesses simultaneously in college
5 (05:39) **The Grind: Working Two Jobs for 2.5 Years** - Karthik describes his brutal schedule working Amazon night shifts and building his business during the day
6 (06:32) **What Drove the Hustle: Immigrant Family and Entrepreneurial Roots** - Karthik explains his motivation came from his family's sacrifices and entrepreneurial tradition
7 (09:06) **Starting Greek House: $500 and a Sales Hustle** - Karthik describes how they launched the apparel business from their fraternity house

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

He Turned $500 Into $10M

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In this episode I went into Karthik Shanadi's New York City apartment to get his story and strategies for building a $10M clothing empire. He's an absolute hustler and has built 4 ecommerce companies in the apparel industry, and he shares his advice on marketing, growing an online apparel company, and how to start a business today. Hope you guys enjoy!

0:00 - Intro 1:00 - All his businesses 3:10 - Finding the idea 4:20 - Building the business with a full time job 5:13 - How he stays motivated 6:35 - How he started the business (early days) 8:00 - Scariest moments 9:47 - Fulfillment and logistics 11:23 - How to build in saturated markets 12:11 - How to build a brand 13:17 - Marketing strategies 15:30 - 3 required skills for entrepreneurship 17:26 - How to start a business

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-------------- Keywords: tech business, entrepreneur podcast, app monetization, startup advice

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