The $75 Million Content-to-Commerce Blueprint

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on. 

Ever thought, “I should have gone with my gut?” 

A fitness YouTuber did just that to build a brand around his candy obsession…and then sold it to Hershey for $75.5 million.

No outside funding. No traditional sales team. No breakthrough IP.

Just one guy, Maxx Chewning. He built authentic content around something he genuinely loved, and turned that into a brand a mega-incumbent couldn’t ignore.

Today, we’re sharing our favorite lessons from our discussion with Maxx and why we think Sour Strips might be the clearest case study of content-to-commerce done right.

🍽️ On the Menu:

• The Passion Documentation Strategy

• Ignore the Experts

• "Pull, Don't Push" Into Retail

• Why Hershey Paid $75.5M

You can skip to the 40-minute mark to catch Maxx’s story here… 

Or listen to our full conversation:

• YouTube

• Spotify

• Apple

Zero bogus fees. Zero minimums. Zero reasons to do your banking anywhere else.

While other brands pay $3,000+ annually in “bonus” banking fees, you could be paying absolutely nothing. 

At Obvi, Mercury gives us unlimited USD wires, bill pay, debit/credit cards, and accounting integrations for the same price as a unicorn: zero dollars. 🦄

But unlike a unicorn, Mercury's banking (with no fees required) isn't a myth… 

• Wire $50K in USD to your overseas manufacturer: $0. 

• Issue 20 cards to your team: $0. 

• Pay 100 bills this month: $0. 

• Maintain multiple accounts with six-figure balances: $0.

Welcome to a business banking provider that actually makes sense.

Find out how Mercury can make ZERO your new favorite number and earn up to $500 in rewards → 

Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®.

🤳 The "Passion Documentation" Strategy

Maxx didn’t try to manufacture a brand persona. He just filmed what he loved: training, energy drinks, and sour candy.

Long before Sour Strips existed, his followers knew 2 things:

• He was obsessed with sour candy

• He had strong opinions on flavor, texture, and packaging

When he finally launched in 2019, it wasn’t a cold start. It was a natural extension of everything he’d been sharing for years.

“It wasn’t this grand plan. I just really love sour candy, and one day I was like, I think I can make a better one.”

20,000 units sold within an hour of launch.

Instead of building a product and hoping an audience would show up, Maxx built an audience first and let them help shape the product.

Every piece of content became market research:

• What flavors got fans excited

• What packaging popped on shelves and on social

• How to stand out without racing to the bottom on price

Maxx turned years of online candy commentary into a product people wanted.

💡 Operator takeaway: Don’t chase virality. Document what you already care about and build for the people who already trust your taste.

📊 Ignore the Experts

"You need to compete on price. This is a crowded category."

That’s what the industry experts told Maxx. 

But he didn’t want to sell cheap candy. He wanted to sell better candy.

• Bolder flavors

• Better texture

• Premium shelf presence

• Tagline: “Sour Candy That Doesn’t Suck.”

Instead of trying to beat legacy brands like Trolli or Airheads at their own game, Maxx reframed the category around quality, taste, and self-aware branding.

This created a premium tier in a space that had long been a race to the bottom.

It also meant he didn’t need to discount to grow. From day one, Sour Strips had healthy margins and a clearly differentiated position.

🧠 Operator takeaway: Price is only a race if you let it be. Don’t compete on “low cost” if you can compete on quality, identity, or experience.

Looking to scale smarter in 2025?

Check out our upcoming virtual event 🚀 Scaling Success: Technology Innovation for Next-Gen Brand Growth (Aug 5–6). It’s your shortcut to discovering tech that's moving the needle for eCom brands.

Over 2 days, meet 1:1 with vetted solution providers across AI, retention, marketing, ops, and more.

Instead of clicking through endless websites and reviews, you’ll meet directly with proven tool providers to help find the right solution for you.

👉 Claim your spot (it’s free for brands).

🏪 Pull, Don't Push Into Retail

Maxx didn’t pitch his way into Walmart, HEB, or Target.

He built real consumer demand first and let the retailers come to him.

Sour Strips launched regionally in 5 HEB Texas locations. They sold so fast that HEB buyers started calling. 

Within weeks, Maxx was getting 10–15 inquiries per day.

That led to conversations with Target. Then Walmart. Each successful placement created sales data that fueled the next one.

“When a product is moving, and you’ve got the data, you don’t have to beg. You just send the numbers.”

His approach was the opposite of traditional sales:

• No cold outreach

• No pitch decks

• No expensive sales team

Just pull-based growth, driven by performance and bottom-up demand.

📈 Operator takeaway: Find ways to build momentum and let that be your pitch. A great product with real demand turns retailers into inbound leads.

🏋️️ Why Hershey Paid $75.5M

Hershey dominates chocolate. But their sour candy lineup was weak. Mostly line extensions from legacy brands.

But Sour Strips didn’t just plug a hole in their catalog. It gave them something they couldn’t build internally:

• A Gen Z, social-native brand

• 400K+ highly engaged followers

• Shelf visibility and recognition

• A founder who was the audience

It wasn’t just the brand they wanted to bring on. It was Maxx himself.

And the deal closed in just 60 days.

He had built a clean, lean, and founder-owned business from the start with no debt, no outside capital. Sour Strips was also profitable from day one and kept contracts simple. 

That made due diligence fast, and the acquisition even faster.

Maxx stayed on post-acquisition to lead brand and innovation. And yes, he’s got upside via earnouts tied to future performance.

“They weren’t buying just what I’d built. They were buying what I knew how to keep building.”

🤑 Operator takeaway: Big exits aren’t just about products anymore. Strategic acquirers buy what they can’t replicate: culture, trust, audience, and speed of execution.

🧰 Operator Toolbox

Scale Smarter by meeting with vetted growth tool and platform providers. Free 2-day event for brands looking for the right tool at the right time →

Mercury - The next-gen banking solution for DTC we use at Obvi. Get rid of bogus banking fees and get up to $500 in rewards if you sign up now → 

Intelligems - Knowing what is profitable and what isn’t is the difference between scaling and going broke. We use Intelligems to evaluate our CRO, offers, flows, and bundles right down to profit per visitor. Find out what is driving your bottom line → 

🚨Reminder: We have $250,000 in free AppLovin Credits! We’re handing out more and more of these credits every day. Fill out this quick form to get yours before they’re gone → 🚨

⭐️ Agency & Vendor Recommendations! We’re introducing brands to our top vendors and partners. Just fill out the linked form and let us know what you’re looking for. Quick connect →

Some of these are referral partners. We only share what we actually use or would recommend to a friend.