Not everyone can say they turned the best part of their lives — college partying — into a lucrative career. But that’s exactly what Perry Nelson and Matt Weichel set out to do when they launched Red Cup Nation two years back. What began as a website targeted at college trends developed into an entertainment company that has toured the nation’s top party schools, profiting from packed events and merchandising.
With a FedEx truck converted into a party store and DJ booth, Red Cup Nation is booked as talent at colleges, where they rent out convention centers or appear on campus grounds and feature DJs and other artists. After paying back initial investors, they've reached $125,000 in profits and plan to hit $375,000 by the year's end with earnings from their fall tour that starts tomorrow. How did the small company achieve such rapid success? A mutual passion for music and red cups between two college grads and full confidence in themselves and the brand.
Matt Weichel and Perry Nelson quit their day jobs to go back to college partying, and it turned out... [+]
Cofounders Nelson, 29, and Weichel, 27, had met during college in Florida. Weichel attended Full Sail University in Orlando for film, and Nelson studied business at Florida International University in Miami, but they were brought together by friends who realized their shared home state, Pennsylvania, and passion for DJing. In college, the duo hosted parties together, and when it came time for graduation, they devoted themselves to other careers. Nelson worked for a radio station, and Weichel pursued photography and helped with music videos. But gradually they grew tired of their day-to-day and decided to act on it.
“We thought, ‘What was the best part of our lives? College,’” Nelson said. No, they didn’t mean going back to college and studying. It was the culture, and it was there that they saw opportunity — a website for college trends and fun. Sure, there were social networks and news sites geared to millennials, but they had less of a focus on parties. And so, RedCupNation.com was born in September 2012.
The site drew 20,000 hits within the first two months, drawing faith to the concept for them, but they wanted it to grow bigger and attract more schools, fast. They drove traffic with social media and by word-of-mouth, but the turning point came when Nelson proposed purchasing a truck to promote the brand. The idea came to him while he was in New York City and witnessed the food truck craze. Nelson said he figured Weichel would think the concept was crazy, but his partner let him roll with it.
For the next three weeks, they scoured Florida dealerships until they found an old FedEx truck. They spent $15,000 on the truck and then another $6,000 to retrofit it with LED lights, speakers, and flat screens tvs. For a promotional and energy efficient spin, they added solar panels to power the DJ booth. With all these expenses and the expected growth, the two decided to quit their jobs to work on the project full time and drafted a business plan to look for investors. Despite some convincing offers, they turned each of them down and chose to rely on family, friends, and their own savings for funding.
“The investors saw it as a party company. We saw it more as a Fortune 500 company,” Nelson said.
They began touring, first taking the truck to
“They were like, ‘No we don’t want you guys. No one’s heard of you guys,’” Nelson said.
So, they offered the shows for free, and the promotion paid off with nearly to capacity shows. In fall 2013, they held their own Sunglasses at Night tour that stopped at 18 campuses and the Best Time of My Life tour last spring hit 20 schools. Tomorrow, they kick off their Go Hard x Go Home tour at Arizona State University with 32 stops.
While touring, they’re keeping up the website with content from five college interns, and they’re looking to further recruit. But Red Cup Nation is not looking for investors or official sponsors, yet. Despite many calls from notable liquor companies, Weichel said they’ve declined every offer.
“A red cup already signifies as drinking. We don’t want to promote that even more,” Nelson said.
They plan to expand their reach by increasing their merchandising and working more on their own music. They’re shooting their first video and releasing their first EP and have also been building a DJ network. Nelson said they also have high hopes for spreading the brand even internationally where red cups are somewhat of a myth.
What can we learn from Red Cup Nation?
- Stay true to your brand. Sometimes you don’t need big investors or sponsors.
- Go all the way. Red Cup mascot, Red Cup cheerleaders, Red Cup shirts, Red Cup truck.
- Partying can be profitable. But not without some hard work and cold nights inside a FedEx truck.
