How he validated Kettle and Fire with just $50 (Now a $100M Company)

April 7, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

In 2014, Justin Mayers was sitting at his desk at Rackspace, a 24-year-old wanting to start his own company. He had heard about bone broth from friends at CrossFit and was reading about its benefits for skin, gut, and joint health. At the time, almost no one was talking about bone broth commercially, and you could not find it online. Mayers wanted the product himself, but he had no idea if enough other people wanted it badly enough to pay a premium price. So he ran a validation test that cost him roughly $50 in ads and a $10 domain name. That test eventually became Kettle and Fire, now a nine-figure annual business.

The two questions that matter before building anything

Mayers started with two questions. First: how many people actually want this product? Second: will they pay enough to make it a meaningful business? He was not trying to build a hundred-million-dollar company. He was 24, and his goal was a business that paid him and his brother $10,000 a month each. That required roughly a couple thousand customers spending a couple hundred dollars a year.

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of The Startup Ideas Podcast

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (01:10) **Episode Goal & Day-Zero Validation Framework** - Justin Mayers explains the episode will cover the day-zero steps he took to start Kettle and Fire, now a nine-figure business.
2 (01:24) **The Origin: Bone Broth as a Personal Need** - Justin describes being at Rackspace in 2014, wanting bone broth for health reasons (skin, gut, joints) and noticing no one was selling it online.
3 (02:10) **Step 1: Validating Demand via Community Engagement** - He checked forums like Mark's Daily Apple, Paleo Hacks, and Reddit to see if people were actively discussing bone broth.
4 (03:37) **Setting a Modest Goal** - At 24, Justin wasn't aiming for a nine-figure business; he wanted a $200k/year business paying him and his brother $10k/month each.
5 (04:04) **The "Fix Your Own Problem" Principle** - Justin confirms he was solving his own problem (he wanted bone broth), but used Google Trends to validate it could be a real business, not just a hobby.
6 (06:03) **Step 2: The $50 Validation Test (Bing Ads + Janky Landing Page)** - He bought a cheap domain ($9.99), a Fiverr logo ($5), and built a landing page on Unbounce.
7 (08:18) **The "Scammy" Checkout Flow** - The "Order Now" button sent customers to his personal PayPal to send money directly.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Join me as I chat with Justin Mares, Founder of Kettle and Fire, as he explains his methodical approach to validating Kettle and Fire before fully launching it in 2014-2015. He created a basic landing page with a PayPal checkout to test if people would pay $29.99 for bone broth, achieving a 30% conversion rate despite having no actual product. The conversation highlights how modern AI tools have dramatically lowered barriers to entry for entrepreneurs testing new business ideas

Timestamps:
• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:05 - The Scale of Kettle and Fire
• 01:20 - The Initial Idea and Inspiration
• 02:16 - Validating Market Demand
• 04:03 - Addressing Skepticism on Market Research
• 06:00 - Testing Pricing and Demand
• 08:48 - Bing Ads and Early Revenue
• 12:22 - Leveraging AI for Business Today
• 13:42 - Finding Passion-Driven Problems
• 15:28 - Identifying Trends and Tools
• 20:15 - ChatGPT 4o for Initial Product Design

Key Points

• Justin shares how he validated and launched Kettle and Fire, now a nine-figure bone broth business
• He used a minimal landing page, Fiverr logo, and Bing ads to test market demand before creating the product
• The validation process focused on identifying if enough people wanted the product and if they would pay enough

1) The "Day Zero" validation strategy that worked:

Justin wanted bone broth for his own health but couldn't find it online. Before creating anything, he asked two critical questions:

• How many people actually want this?
• Will they pay enough to make it a viable business?

Smart validation = less risk.

2) Finding your TRUE market size:

Justin didn't rely on gut feeling. He went where his potential customers hung out:

• Paleo forums
• CrossFit communities
• Reddit threads
• Mark's Daily Apple

He found FANATIC engagement around bone broth recipes, sourcing, and benefits

3) The Google Trends hack

Justin checked macro trends to confirm his micro observations.

He wasn't looking to build a 9-figure business at 24 - just wanted to make $10K/month with his brother.

Simple math: A few thousand customers spending a few hundred dollars a year = viable business.

4) The $15 MVP that ACTUALLY validated demand:

• $9.99 domain ([bonebroths.com](http://bonebroths.com/))
• $5 logo from Fiverr
• Basic landing page on Unbounce

No product. No fancy design. Just a simple page highlighting benefits that his target audience cared about:

- Healing leaky gut
- Convenience
- Organic ingredients

5) The GENIUS pricing strategy:

Justin priced at $29.99 for 16oz - 6X MORE than grocery store broth!

His thinking: "If people will pay this much for a product they've never tasted from a sketchy landing page, they REALLY want it."

High price = strong signal of demand.

6) The checkout flow was HILARIOUSLY janky:

"Order Now" button → Ju