How I Made Over $220M In Sales Creating Scrub Daddy | The Ground Up

On store shelves, customers might only see a bright yellow smile waiting to add some shine to the kitchen. But, behind the iconic ridges and gleaming eye holes are years of sweat and machine grime for Aaron Krause, 54, Scrub Daddy’s Founder and CEO. Aaron’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was just a kid living in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. At 10 years old, he created his first invention: A rope and pulley system to turn his bedroom light on and off from his bed so he didn’t have to get up and do it. From there, Aaron kept his innovative side going by washing cars in the neighborhood. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1992 with a psychology degree, he told his family that he was going to open his own car washing business. His family was shocked and upset with his career path, to say the least. But Aaron knew he could make it work. Not only by washing cars but to start inventing new products. In 1994, he invented his first big product, which was a buffing pad for polishing cars. In 1995, Aaron sold his car washing business and turned his focus to a new venture: Dedication To Detail, a buffing pad manufacturer. A few years after creating his business, he received polyester urethane foam from German manufacturer FoamPartner, which became a key part of Scrub Daddy’s material now known as FlexTexture. However, the buffing pads he was selling with this foam at this time did not sell well and he was forced to stop selling it due to low sales in the market. On September 3, 2008, Dedication To Detail was bought out by multi-national manufacturer 3M. Aaron’s sponges ended up sitting at the back of the Detail factory for five years until March 2011 when they found a new life. That foam became the material of the sponge for the Scrub Daddy, which he pitched on Shark Tank in October 2012. As soon as the episode aired, Aaron’s life changed forever. Since then, the company moved its headquarters to Pennsauken, New Jersey in 2021. Their newest facility features a television studio, a warehouse, a koi pond, and a store for customers to buy their products. Today, Scrub Daddy has made over $220 million in sales for 2023. But, Aaron said his sponge empire is just getting started.