Staying in the fight

05 Sep, 2025

Twitter Post

If there’s anyone that represents the moto of “staying in the fight”, it’s @marshal

Marshall Haas sold his company for $52M.

But that win took 20 years.

20 or more projects.

TONS of failures.

Even losing $700K on one deal.

Here’s the full story of what it really takes to stay in the game

🧵

📌 Ps, I did this research for me because I want to understand how successful people “did it”. But this was valuable enough to share with you.

At 15, he tried drop shipping car parts.

• Failed, but learned.

Next: a rendering firm for architects.

• Hired a team overseas.

Then: poured savings into iPhone app ideas.

• Raised $100K, dropped out of college, even moved to South America to keep costs low.

He tried everything:

• Oil paintings from China with your face on them

• A “never make your bed again” bedding startup

• Project management software

• Productivity tools

• Short term rentals

• Even a media site of affiliate links

Some made a little money. Most didn’t.

One small win saved him:

Halloween 2014, he made emoji masks.

They went viral. Tons of press.

In 60 days: $50K revenue.

That cash saved his bedding company from going under.

*phew 😮‍💨

The next big hit was Peel.

This was the original super thin iPhone case.

They ran it for 10 years, added wireless chargers, wallets, notebooks, and more.

From there:

• Tried 40Hosts (dead)

• Bought an ecom biz (lost $700K 😬)

• Built a VA startup before AI (shut down)

Finally, win #20: Shepherd.

A service helping small businesses hire amazing remote staff from the Philippines, Latin America, and South Africa.

In 4 years:

• 150+ employees

• Highly profitable

• Sold majority stake at a $52M valuation 😳

Entrepreneurship is NOT:

One idea, one shot, one exit.

It’s:

• 20 years of experiments

• Dozens of failures

• leveraging every tiny win into the next… and then the next

The game only pays off if you stay in the fight.

=Marshall’s story is proof=:

Success isn’t about being right once.

It’s about REFUSING to quit long enough for one of your ideas to break through.

Stay in the game.

Your $52M idea may be around the corner.