How Fidgetly Scaled $1M with Fidget Spinners

Introduction

In mid-2016, Jake Schmidt noticed a viral wave in “oddly satisfying” videos—think slime, knives slicing objects, and smooth rotations. Instead of chasing meme account traffic with mismatched offers, he pivoted to fidget spinners, a toy that perfectly fit this format. What started as a low-cost test on Instagram quickly mushroomed into a seven-figure e-commerce story.

Background and Opportunity

Jake had spent years studying underpriced attention channels—gaming YouTubers, meme pages, Instagram. After a mixed hoverboard experiment that lost $30K, he returned to his roots. A Kickstarter project called the “fidget cube” had pulled in $6M, so Jake printed a DIY spinner from Thingiverse. Then he saw a brand-new Etsy shop selling its own 3D-printed spinners by the hundreds. The timing was perfect.

Product Development

Instead of sticking with hobbyist-level prints, Jake went to Alibaba and secured a factory partnership. This became the first mass-produced spinner on the market. He ordered samples, tested quality, and confirmed spin times. Small size meant low shipping costs—units fit in envelopes, no freight headaches like his hoverboards.

Marketing Strategy

Jake created edutainment ads—videos showing spinners in slow-motion, satisfying spins, plus quick facts about stress relief. He launched a simple Shopify store and reached out to “LMAO,” an Instagram meme account he’d worked with before. He dropped $300 on a post and watched $3,500 roll in during the first hour. That 12X ROI fueled a rapid ad budget scale.

Scaling and Partnerships

Within two months, Fidgetly hit $1M in revenue. Over the next year, they sold over 500K units and secured retail shelf space at Best Buy, Target, and Brookstone. At just 20 years old, Jake and co-founder Nick Shackleford had built one of the toy industry’s fastest-growing brands.

Results and Impact

Fidgetly’s success highlights a simple formula: spot an emerging trend, test low-cost, then scale ads that both engage and educate. The nippy turnaround from first test to major retail listings illustrates how smart marketing plus strategic manufacturing can outpace bigger players. This case proves big budgets aren’t mandatory—agility and data truly win.