AMDP Investment Proposal - FINAL

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To: Clark Hansen, AMDP CEO

From: Angelica Johnson, AMDP R&D Analyst

Date: 11 March 2022

Subject: (URGENT) Sand Cloud - Investment Proposal Results

After thoroughly researching various companies to determine which would be a good fit for our portfolio, I am pleased to announce my highest recommendation to invest in Sand Cloud. Primarily a towel company, Sand Cloud is focused on saving marine life, and they have an ultimate goal of using their proceeds to #savethefishies. Within this memo, I will explain in detail how Sand Cloud’s core values closely align with the standards we have at AMDP.


AMDP Standards

Here at Anima Mundi Development Partners, we consistently search for companies and partners that match our vision for a more sustainable future. Specifically, we have standards that potential partners must meet if they would like us to invest in them. They are defined and described below.


Triple Bottom Line

The Triple Bottom Line is one of the more well-known business concepts that measures three dimensions of performance–people, planet, and profit. 

  • Profit - “The flow of money,” and how its growth will bring in money to the company over time. This can include revenue, job growth, and personal income (Slaper & Hall, 2011).

  • People - “The social dimensions of a community/region,” which can include education, equity, accessibility, health, and more.

  • Planet - “Measurements of natural resources,” including “air and water quality, energy consumption, natural resources, and other environmental variables.


Corporate Social Responsibility

At its core, “businesses that practice corporate social responsibility aim to improve communities, the economy, or the environment” (Schooley, 2021). Corporations have a responsibility to keep in mind who they are affecting through their business practices, and in what ways they are affecting them. 


Social Enterprise

A social enterprise is a type of business that creates sustainable change in social ways. Instead of personal company gains, a social enterprise puts people first. They will use their profits to impact others as well as the planet in positive ways.


Carbon Footprint

A company’s carbon footprint is defined by how many greenhouse gasses they emit through their business practices and operations. Carbon is the most common greenhouse gas that is used, and the less that is emitted into the atmosphere, the better for the environment altogether.


Sand Cloud: Complete Overview


History

Steven Ford and Brandon Leibel were college roommates at San Diego State University, and the pair eventually graduated together in 2013. Together, they landed jobs at a life insurance company that would help them stay in the area. However, they knew that they did not want to stay in the corporate world. They had an idea to create “a towel that would help people take better naps on the beach,” but didn’t know how to start (Clifford, 2017). However, they eventually found their third co-founder, Bruno Aschidamini, and the three got started on creating the perfect towel.


At first, the trio sewed pillows to beach towels to achieve their product. However, this idea failed, and they almost gave up on their dreams. But after a rebrand and officially creating the company in 2014, the co-founders felt energized to try again. This time, they focused on pillow-less beach towels that were much more decorated than their previous product. They also began to make their towels using 100% Turkish cotton, which is what they are known for most today. This led to extreme success, with them doing “$430,000 in sales” in just one year alone. The rest is history.


Today

Due to their appearance on the popular television show, Shark Tank, Sand Cloud is more successful than ever. To this day, they have done more than “$20 million in sales,” and are extremely popular within the towel industry, especially amongst youth. In addition to beach towels, they are now starting to expand to other parts of the towel industry including bathroom towels and kitchen towels too.


Positive Impact on Marine Life 

Although many people are drawn to their towels, those same people are just as drawn to Sand Cloud’s mission. The owners themselves believe that “if [they] educate people about the severity of ocean pollution in an artistically tangible way, people will choose to be apart of a community that is making a difference” (The Faces Behind..., 2018). That being said, Sand Cloud constantly donates 10% of their profits back to nonprofits that preserve ocean life. And to this day, “Sand Cloud has donated $100,000 to nonprofit organizations, including The Marine Conservation Institute and The Pacific Marine Mammal Center.” This highly connects with our focus areas including people, the planet, and social enterprise.


Expert Opinions

There are not many critical expert reviews of Sand Cloud and their practices. However, well-known business website, Business Insider, was able to give a thorough examination of their products and the company itself. Also, Robert Herjavec, one of North America’s prominent business leaders (and the shark from Shark Tank that invested in them), explained in depth why he chose them as well.


Connie Chen is one of Business Insider’s senior reporters, and in her review, she explains how even though the beach towels are a bit on the expensive side, “they’re also an easy purchase to justify if you’re looking for additional ways to support marine conservation causes” (Chen, 2019). She then goes on further to explain how “because Sand Cloud works with multiple partners, each product sold contributes to local beach cleanups, marine mammal rehabilitation, improves access to environmental education in coastal communities, and other initiatives.” It seems as though Chen analyzed this company in depth, and she is happy to see that Sand Cloud is more focused on protecting marine life than gaining profits. 


Robert Herjavec has similar positive views of Sand Cloud, and in his appraisal, he explained how their mission and products impressed him from the start:

“My first impression of Brandon, Steven, and Bruno was, ‘Wow what a passionate bunch!’ These guys definitely live up to that. They impressed me right from the start – they have a great business model, good numbers, and an awesome product. What’s more – it’s clear they love marine life and started their business to help make a difference in the world. It’s great to see entrepreneurs take a strong stance behind a social cause” (Herjavec, 2018).

Not only is Herjavec happy with Sand Cloud’s numbers, but he’s happy with the company’s practices as well.


Final Recommendation

Thanks to Sand Cloud, consumers have a towel that can not only quickly dry them off and repel sand, but they also have a towel that they know is helping do good for the world. That being said, I fully recommend AMDP to invest in this SoCal-founded towel company. Sand Cloud hits all of our company’s standards, and their mission fits exactly what we are looking for. They understand that they have a corporate social responsibility, and have a small carbon footprint because of that. They meet the Triple Bottom Line as well because although they have high profits, they still use that money in order to take care of the planet and the people on it. Sand Cloud is absolutely an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss out on.


References

Chen, C. (June 27, 2019). This beach towel company has done $20 million in sales after an 

appearance on 'Shark Tank' — and donates 10% of profits to help save marine life. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/sand-cloud-beach-towel-review.

Clifford, C. (May 31, 2017). How 3 Guys Went from Call Center Cubicles to ‘Shark Tank’ and 

Millions of Dollars in Sales in 3 Years. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/how-sand-cloud-got-on-shark-tank-and-made-millions.html#:~:text=Living%20in%20California%20had%20given,called%20their%20product%20Cloud%20Nine. 

Herjavec, R. (February 5, 2018). Create Your Stories: Sand Cloud. Robert Herjavec. 

https://robertherjavec.com/create-success-stories-sand-cloud/.

Slaper, T. & Hall, T. (2011). The Triple Bottom Line: What Is It and How Does It Work? 

Indiana Business Review. https://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html.

Schooley, S. (December 16, 2021). What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Business 

News Daily. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html.

The Faces Behind Sand Cloud’s Success. (March 29, 2018). Sand Cloud. 

https://www.sandcloud.com/blogs/news/this-is-our-story.

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