Key Takeaways
- Satterlee used 3D printers to start his first business, shoe accessories brand Solefully, when he was in high school.
- The young founder came up with another business to use his extra printers: Cruise Cup, which offers a viral, patent-pending beer koozie with a twist.
- Here’s what any aspiring business owner can learn from Satterlee’s success story.
This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Michael Satterlee, 18, of Clifton Park, New York. As a full-time high school student last year, Satterlee ran Solefully, a six-figure business that designs and 3D prints unique accessories for Crocs. He’s since graduated and is focusing his efforts on a new business: Cruise Cup, the company behind the viral Beerzooka, a patent-pending product that has taken off on social media and in sales — generating more than $300,000 in November 2025 alone. This piece has been edited for length and clarity.
I had a bunch of 3D printers from my time working on Solefully, and I wasn’t using all of them. I didn’t have that much demand at the time. So I thought, Why don’t I just make a different ecommerce store so I can utilize all these 3D printers? I started brainstorming ideas. Beer koozies, those insulating sleeves that go over a can to keep it cold, caught my eye. I wondered how I could make the product better. And, more importantly, how I could make it go viral.
How I came up with my business idea
That first thing that popped into my mind was, How can I make this easier to use? Why doesn’t everyone use a koozie? Then I came up with the idea to make it open on both the top and bottom; that way you can easily slide the cans in. But I still had to figure out how to make this product go viral. So I started testing ideas. I found that if you heighten the cap a little bit, the can will eject out when you load a new can, like a shell reloading mechanism.
It took some experimentation, a couple of printed variations, but I have a lot of experience with CAD (computer-aided design), so the first prototype turned out pretty well. I had a working product within a day.
I took a lot of valuable lessons from my first business into this new venture: how to structure a product on social media, how to go viral, how to build a Shopify store. I applied all of those ecommerce principles to Cruise Cup. When I posted the Beerzooka on social media, it went absolutely crazy: 50 million views. I knew I had a good idea, so I built from there.
Why I hired employees to grow my business
I run Cruise Cup out of a 1,500-square-foot warehouse. The business is entirely self-funded. All of the funding comes from the revenue and sales. Every dollar Cruise Cup makes goes right back into the business. I have two full-time employees, whom I connected with on the hiring platform Indeed. Fresh products off the printer have a lot of supports to remove, so my employees take those supports off, print the labels, package the orders and ship them out.
You can only get so far running your company entirely by yourself.
Hiring employees has been one of the most challenging aspects of this business. Finding someone at an affordable rate, especially during the holiday season, was super hard. But you can only get so far running your company entirely by yourself. Packing orders at the sales peak would take me all day. The way I see it, there are two types of people: Those who work on the business and those who work in the business. As a founder, I have to work on the business to grow the business.
My favorite 3D printer is under $300
I’ve found the Bambu Lab A1 printer to be the best for my purposes. It’s pretty inexpensive too, under $300. I have a couple of higher-end and lower-end ones, but the majority of them are the A1. I load the build plate up with three Beerzookas, and that takes 15 hours to print, so five hours per cup. That’s why I have to have so many printers. If a video goes viral, and you only have a couple of 3D printers, it will take you months to fulfill all of those orders. I’ve seen an organic video with no paid ad spend go viral and result in an order for 500 cups.
My social media growth strategy focuses on building community. I like to take product feature recommendations I get in the comments and then build from there. I also try different series based on what comes from those comments. Because that interaction is what makes someone want to follow you — no one wants to just follow a company. They want a story. So I try to build my company like I’m an influencer. That’s what makes people want to stay and engage.
How I test my social media strategy and make sales
I test all of my concepts, all of my UGC (user-generated content) on TikTok and Instagram. If it works on those platforms, 90% of the time, it’s going to work on Facebook ads. So you put the spend behind it on Facebook and just scale it up.
When I launched Cruise Cup in August of last year, we did about $100,000 in sales in that first month. But that was before I discovered Facebook ads. By September, I’d started using Facebook ads, but my organic views weren’t as strong, so the business dipped to about $55,000 in sales that month.
I was selling so much and needed to fulfill all of the orders before Christmas that I cut the ad spend off completely.
I really ramped up my paid ads in October and brought sales back to $100,000. Then, in November, we did $315,000. By December, I was selling so much and needed to fulfill all of the orders before Christmas that I cut the ad spend off completely.
Now, in January, sales have slowed because people aren’t buying holiday presents, and it’s winter, so not the ideal time to purchase a koozie. My cost per acquisition on Facebook has been terrible, so ad spend remains off. Cruise Cup has seen about $25,000 in sales to date this month.
Why I want to manufacture my product
I’m currently working on getting the Beerzooka manufactured in metal. I’ll source it and buy a set quantity. Once I secure that, I can easily scale up the ads because I don’t have to worry about keeping up with production with the printers. It’s difficult when printers fail or break. Even with 150 machines, if we’re pumping out a max of 400 cups per day and a video goes viral on social media for thousands of dollars in sales, we have a backlog. With manufacturing, I can just order 10,000 units upfront. It might take 30 days to ship overseas, but at least we can handle the demand.
The Cruise Cup line includes other products too, but they don’t have the same level of demand as the Beerzooka, so I likely won’t manufacture them in metal. I’m really focused on the Beerzooka and its intellectual property. I have patents and trademarks filed. I’m really excited about these stainless steel products because not only is it going to be easier to order them in, but they’re also going to be of much higher quality. They’re going to keep the drinks cold for 12-plus hours. They feel a lot better in the hand and, in my opinion, look a lot cooler.
Why you should test as many business ideas as possible
It costs a lot of money to develop a product that doesn’t already exist on the market. But social media and 3D printing are a free playground to test ads and products: If you can sell the 3D-printed version, you can sell the manufactured version.
I’d tell any young aspiring entrepreneur to test as many ideas as possible. Just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Because you never know what is going to stick, and even if an idea sounds stupid in your head, it doesn’t hurt to try it.
This article is part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.
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要点总结
- Satterlee 高中时就利用 3D 打印机创办了他的第一家企业——鞋履配饰品牌 Solefully。
- 这位年轻的创始人想出了另一个利用多余打印机的生意：Cruise Cup，它提供了一种病毒式传播的、正在申请专利的、别具一格的啤酒保温套。
- 以下是任何有抱负的企业家都能从萨特利的成功故事中学到的东西。
这篇口述故事取材于与来自纽约州克利夫顿帕克的18岁青年迈克尔·萨特利的对话。去年，萨特利还是一名全日制高中生，同时运营着一家名为Solefully的公司，该公司年收入达六位数，专门设计并3D打印Crocs鞋的独特配件。如今他已高中毕业，并将精力投入到一项新事业：Cruise Cup 。这家公司推出了爆款产品Beerzooka，这是一款正在申请专利的产品，在社交媒体和销售方面都取得了巨大成功——仅在2025年11月就创造了超过30万美元的销售额。本文已进行编辑，以保证篇幅精简和表达清晰。
我在Solefully工作时攒了一堆3D打印机，但一直没用上。当时需求量也不大。所以我就想，为什么不干脆再开一家电商网站，把这些3D打印机都用上呢？我开始集思广益。啤酒保温套，就是那种套在易拉罐上保冷的隔热套，一下子吸引了我的目光。我琢磨着怎么才能把产品做得更好，更重要的是，怎么才能让它爆红。
我的创业灵感是如何产生的
我脑海里第一个念头就是：怎样才能让它更容易使用？为什么不是每个人都用保温套？然后我想到把它设计成上下两面都开口，这样就能轻松地把罐子滑进去。但我还得想想怎么才能让这款产品爆红。于是我开始尝试各种方法。我发现，如果把盖子稍微抬高一点，装新罐子的时候，旧罐子就会像弹壳自动弹出一样弹出来。
虽然经过一些试验，打印了好几个版本，但我拥有丰富的CAD（计算机辅助设计）经验，所以第一个原型效果相当不错。一天之内我就做出了一个可用的产品。
我从第一次创业中汲取了很多宝贵的经验，并运用到这次新的创业项目中：如何在社交媒体上推广产品，如何实现病毒式传播，以及如何搭建 Shopify 网店。我把所有这些电商原则都应用到了Cruise Cup上。当我把 Beerzooka 的照片发布到社交媒体上时，它瞬间爆红：浏览量达到了 5000 万。我知道我的想法很棒，于是就以此为基础继续发展。
我为什么雇佣员工来发展我的业务
我的 Cruise Cup 是在一个 1500 平方英尺的仓库里运营的。公司完全自筹资金，所有资金都来自收入和销售额。Cruise Cup 赚的每一分钱都重新投入到公司运营中。我有两名全职员工，都是我在招聘平台 Indeed 上找到的。刚从打印机出来的产品有很多支撑需要移除，所以我的员工负责移除这些支撑，打印标签，包装订单并发货。
单靠自己经营公司，你只能走到这一步。
招聘员工一直是这项业务中最具挑战性的环节之一。尤其是在节假日期间，找到薪资合适的员工更是难上加难。但单靠自己经营公司终究是走不远的。销售高峰期，光是打包订单就得花掉我一整天的时间。在我看来，人可以分为两种：一种是为公司做规划的人，另一种是为公司打工的人。作为创始人，我必须参与到公司的规划和运营中，才能推动公司发展壮大。
我最喜欢的3D打印机售价不到300美元。
我发现 Bambu Lab A1 打印机最适合我的用途。它价格也很实惠，不到 300 美元。我还有几台高端和低端的打印机，但大部分都是 A1。我一次打印三个啤酒杯，需要 15 个小时，也就是每个杯子 5 个小时。这就是为什么我需要这么多打印机的原因。如果一个视频爆红，而你只有几台 3D 打印机，那你需要几个月才能完成所有订单。我见过一个完全靠自然流量传播、没有花钱做广告的视频爆红，最终带来了 500 个杯子的订单。
我的社交媒体增长策略侧重于社群建设。我喜欢采纳评论区收到的产品功能建议，并以此为基础进行开发。我还会根据评论内容尝试不同的系列。因为互动才是吸引人们关注的关键——没有人只想关注一家公司，他们想要的是一个故事。所以我努力像打造网红一样经营我的公司。这才是吸引人们留下来并参与互动的秘诀。
我如何测试我的社交媒体策略并实现销售
我会在TikTok和Instagram上测试所有创意和用户生成内容（ UGC）。如果这些内容在这两个平台上效果不错，那么90%的情况下，它在Facebook广告上也会有效—（-利用短视频平台来测试产品是否有吸引力，这是一个有用的策略）所以，你只需在Facebook上投入资金，然后逐步扩大规模即可。
去年八月我推出 Cruise Cup 时，第一个月销售额就达到了 10 万美元左右。但那是在我发现Facebook 广告之前。到了九月，我开始使用 Facebook 广告，但自然流量并不理想，所以当月销售额下滑到了 5.5 万美元左右。
由于销量巨大，而且需要在圣诞节前完成所有订单，所以我完全停止了广告支出。
10月份我加大了付费广告投入，销售额回升至10万美元。11月份，销售额达到31.5万美元。到了12月份，销量激增，需要在圣诞节前完成所有订单，所以我完全停止了广告支出。
现在，一月份销量放缓，因为人们不再购买节日礼物，而且正值冬季，并非购买保温套的理想时机。我在Facebook上的获客成本非常高，因此广告支出仍然有限。Cruise Cup本月迄今为止的销售额约为25,000美元。
我为什么想生产我的产品
我目前正在努力用金属材料生产啤酒炮。我会找到供应商并订购一定数量。一旦确定了供货，我就可以轻松扩大广告投放规模，因为不必再担心打印机的产能问题。打印机一旦出现故障或损坏，就会造成很大的麻烦。即使我们有150台机器，每天最多只能生产400个杯子，但如果某个视频在社交媒体上爆红，带来数千美元的销售额，我们仍然会面临订单积压。而如果采用金属制造，我可以一次性订购1万个。虽然可能需要30天才能运到海外，但至少我们可以满足需求。
Cruise Cup系列产品线也包括其他产品，但它们的需求量不如Beerzooka，所以我可能不会用金属材质生产它们。我目前专注于Beerzooka及其知识产权。我已经申请了专利和商标。我对这些不锈钢产品感到非常兴奋，因为它们不仅更容易订购，而且质量也更高。它们能让饮料保温12小时以上。握感也更好，而且在我看来，外观也更酷。
为什么你应该尽可能多地测试商业想法
开发一款市面上尚不存在的产品需要投入大量资金 。但社交媒体和3D打印技术为测试广告和产品提供了一个免费的平台：如果3D打印版本能够畅销，那么最终的成品也同样能够畅销。
我会告诉所有有抱负的年轻创业者，尽可能多地尝试各种想法。把所有想法都抛出来，看看哪些行得通。因为你永远不知道哪些想法会成功，即使某个想法在你看来很愚蠢，尝试一下也无妨。
本文是我们正在推出的“青年企业家®”系列文章的一部分，重点介绍年轻企业主的经历、挑战和成功故事。
他的第一个产品是通过短视频爆火来持续下去的，而它的推广也是主要依靠短视频平台，后期主要依靠互联网广告。因为他的产品本身很奇特。奇怪的东西如果排成视频可能会爆火，要不然我也试试。