From 0 to €60 Million in 4 Years: Holy's D2C Playbook - with Mathias Horsch, Holy

About this episode

In just four years, Holy has written an impressive success story: What started as a niche idea for energy drinks in the gaming sector has become one of Germany's most successful Direct-to-Consumer brands. With over 800,000 customers, annual revenue of approximately €60 million, and only 50 employees, the company demonstrates what efficient growth looks like.

The Rocky Road to Success

Co-founder Mathias Horsch provides honest insights into the early days, including "what went wrong" with Holy's go-to-market strategy. This transparency shows that even successful companies don't get everything right from the start. The three founders began with energy drinks for the gaming community before strategically expanding their product range to include iced tea and hydration variants.

Community Building as Growth Driver

A central success factor for Holy was clever community building. Instead of relying on traditional advertising, the founders built a genuine community and strategically used influencer marketing for their target audience. This strategy enabled them to grow organically from zero to over 800,000 customers.

Brand building was authentic and target-group oriented. Holy understood how to create an emotional connection with their customers and retain them long-term.

Unit Economics: The Foundation of Profitable Growth

What's particularly remarkable is that Holy has grown profitably. The importance of healthy unit economics and controlled Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) cannot be overstated. Horsch shares concrete insights on how to build a profitable D2C business while scaling simultaneously.

Healthy retention rates are another critical factor. A D2C company thrives on customers returning and ordering regularly. Holy has clearly found the right balance here.

From Online Business to Brick-and-Mortar Retail

One of the biggest challenges for D2C companies is expanding into retail. Holy has successfully mastered this step, showing how to expand from pure online business into brick-and-mortar retail without jeopardizing the margin structure.

Retail challenges are manifold: different margin structures, more complex logistics, and the need to make the brand tangible offline as well.

Scaling: From Niche to Mass Market

Holy's journey from a gaming niche to the mass market is a textbook example of successful scaling. The company understood how to strategically expand a brand without losing its original identity.

Team Building and Value Creation

Running a €60+ million company with just 55 employees requires smart decisions in team building and value creation. The question "in-house team vs. external service providers" is central here. Holy has clearly found the right balance.

Particularly interesting are the different phases of team building: pre-launch requires different skills and structures than post-launch when it's about scaling.

Maintaining Momentum: The Greatest Challenge

One of the most difficult tasks for rapidly growing companies is maintaining momentum. Holy has developed various channels for acquisition and customer retention, learning how to continuously reach relevant target groups.

Concrete Tips for Founders

Concrete actionable recommendations can be derived from Holy's success story:

• –Focus on authentic community building instead of pure advertising
• –Keep unit economics in sight from the beginning
• –Retention rates as the most important metric for D2C success
• –Plan strategic expansion, don't rush it
• –Keep the team lean and optimize value creation

Holy shows that even in saturated markets like soft drinks, there's still room for new brands – if you apply the right strategies and consistently focus on profitability and customer orientation.