10 Ideas that Earned $100 Million

#3 Life is Good

Master Brains: Bert and John Jacob

Bert Jacob and John Jacob started their business at the streets of Boston and at various colleges along the East Coast in 1989. They designed t-shirts and during the first days of selling they could not make any big bangs till 1994. It was then, they thought of using a cartoon character, “Jake” and the motto “Life is Good” on their t-shirts.

They didn’t do anything great; but this rather simple optimistic message got accepted and it became a hit in a local street fair. A retailer got interested in their product and offered a deal. Since that day, the Life is Good t-shirts fetch new heights.

Now we can find Jake’s face and the motto on many other products as well other than on t-shirts. We see him smiling on products from towels to coffee mugs and the motto has made the life good for the Jacob brothers. Today, their business is booming with 2011 sales closing at about $100 million.