
Our idea of success was probably much more modest than it is now. So even though we started off in that space, we always thought it had potential beyond this. We obviously knew we had a chance to be successful, but we didn’t know it was going to look like what it looks like today. When we started, we had a dream and a vision for Rifle being beyond a stationery brand. What plans and goals did you have for your launch and that original website project with Aeolidia? Sam’s questions are bold, Nathan’s replies follow. Sam on our team spoke to Nathan Bond recently about the decisions he and Anna made at the start of their timeline, and how we were able to help them.

The Orlando Business Journal, How This Young Man and His Wife Turned $10,000 into $12.5 million, Photo courtesy of and © Rifle Paper Co. “We really believed we had something appealing to a lot of people that didn’t exist in the marketplace,” said Bond. This is Rifle Paper Co., which generated $12.5 million in sales in 2014 by selling more than 2.6 million greeting cards.

His wife already was a prominent local artist/designer, and they found that a lot of people were interested in wedding stationery, so they went for it, building the company around her artwork. Anna’s artwork can be found illustrating books, on wallpaper, as fabric, on clothing, handbags, and temporary tattoos.īond and his wife, Anna - the creative director who designs Rifle Paper’s collection and oversees marketing, business strategy and product development - started the company in 2009 from their garage apartment for less than $10,000. Rifle now partners with other brands, such as Garance Doré, Hygge & West, Paperless Post, and more, and has clients such as Anthropologie, Penguin Books, and Paper Source.
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Liz Welch in Starting a Company? Here’s How to Think Big From the Very Beginning, Dec 2014 “Once we established the look, we pushed the parameters,” Nathan says. When they felt the market was eager for their designs on other items, they made their move into new product categories, like iPhone covers, launched in 2013. But rather than immediately putting the illustrations on a wide variety of products, they focused their energy and time on establishing a strong visual brand identity and building consumer loyalty with a small collection of 50 mostly paper products, sold online. The Bonds always knew these whimsical designs could work well beyond paper. “I love purposeful imperfection,” Anna says, describing the look that has become Rifle’s signature style. In 2014, Rifle was listed as one of Inc 500’s fastest-growing companies, and in 2015, Nathan was named to Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 list.Īnna’s bold, colorful illustrations are at the center of Rifle Paper’s business. By December 2013, 4 years after launching their business, they had 93 employees. In January of the next year, they hired their first employee, and in May 2010, they debuted at the National Stationery Show, with their products arriving in many stores across the nation that summer. We launched that site with them in November of 2009, and Anna and Nathan did not waste any time. How did Rifle Paper Co start out, then grow and expand? Photo of Anna and Nathan Bond courtesy of and © Rifle Paper Co. They had big dreams and solid plans, and rather than start with Etsy or a DIY site, they hired Aeolidia to create something custom for them, and they have since grown from being a small stationery business to being an international lifestyle brand. We created a website for Rifle right when Anna and Nathan launched their business.

We aim to meet the businesses we work with when they hit that tipping point where their homegrown business can become something so much more, and we feel so good at where we met Anna and Nathan Bond. While we have helped transform many successful and fast growing businesses, one of our standout stories is the trajectory of Rifle Paper Co.
