Today we’d like to introduce you to Logan LaMance.
Hi Logan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In the Spring of 2017, we were assigned a college class project to create an idea that solved a problem we faced. That problem? Warm beer!
We all had expensive coolers that could keep our drinks cold for 3 weeks, but we never used them to keep our drinks cold for 3 hours! They were too bulky to carry, and getting ice each time was a hassle. So, we would just grab a cold case from the store and just drink it as it got warm.
That’s when it hit us: if we’re already getting a cold case from the store, why not just keep it cold for the entire time we’re actually going to enjoy it? The concept behind the Kase Mate was born: a soft cooler that slides around a cold case of beer, and keeps it cold for up to 7 hours without the need for ice!
Since then, we aired on Shark Tank & launched our business to the world. We’ve seen strong growth year over year, launched many new products to expand our offerings, have grown our team to 15 employees, thousands of retail locations including thousands of ACE Hardware locations, and have ultimately sold over 400k coolers to the world. We recently were featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 and are just getting started!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has most certainly not been a smooth road. I think the challenges changed depending on what stage of business we were in, but the hardest struggle of all was the early questions of “is this going to work?” and “am I wasting my time?”. Our problems are larger now, and our struggles more consequential, but nothing is more difficult mentally than hoping but not knowing that what we were doing & the building was going to work.
Building a business truly is like riding a roller coaster. There are always periods of great success & optimism, and there are also periods of failure and pessimism. We’ve done a lot of things wrong- we’ve had bad product produced that we caught too late, we’ve gotten into retailers way too soon and fallen flat on our face, we’ve had issues with systems and orders and the list goes on, and on, and on. But at the end of the day, we’ve found that a commitment to continuous improvement is a much more worthwhile pursuit than a commitment to perfection… and that quitting simply isn’t an option.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Kanga Coolers?
We created the first & only Iceless Cooler for a case of beer. Our flagship product, the Kase Mate, keeps a cold case cold for up to 7 hours without the need for ice. We believe that life is meant to be enjoyed, and that our purpose is to bring fun to any environment we are in.
What makes us different is that we portray and fun and youthful brand image and design convenient coolers specifically for the beer/seltzer drinkers. We feel that our minimalist design and straightforward communication style allow for an enhanced experience and connection with our customers.
We want people to associate Kanga with fun, and we want to become the beer drinker’s favorite cooler brand.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has definitely played a part, but no greater part than preparation and great execution. We have found both good luck and bad luck many times- it could be a big order coming through, a connection made in an odd place, or even a rare but serious problem that was unfortunate to have happened to us. We just take the hand we’re dealt and maximize it to the fullest no matter if it’s a good one or a bad one, knowing that it’ll all work out somehow in the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: kangacoolers.com
- Instagram: @kangacoolers
- Facebook: @kangacoolers
- Twitter: @kangacoolers
- Youtube: @kangacoolers
