key takeaways
- Coyne wondered why there was no thermal container on the market that could keep large dishes warm.
- He and his brother-in-law Colin Duff launched their second venture, Host Modern, to bring the product to life.
- Coyne says some important lessons learned from building his previous DTC golf brand, Stix, helped along the way.
As the father of four boys of different ages attending different schools, Gabe Coyne faced a common problem in the morning: It was difficult to keep breakfast hot for everyone during the 90-minute departure period.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Host Modern. Gabe Coyne.
Coyne recalls, “I had the option of making breakfast once, and only the first child got the hot meal, or making breakfast three separate times.” “Right now, I have my Yeti thermal coffee tumbler that keeps my coffee hot until lunch. I was like, Why don’t I take it to eat?,
Coyne was already adept at brand building. He ran a creative studio in Seattle, Washington for nearly a decade before one of his clients hired him as a technical co-founder at their startup. He then joined a venture studio where he focused on digital products. Then, in 2019, he and co-founder Colin Duff launched the direct-to-consumer golf brand sticks golf,
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Coyne’s breakfast dilemma will lead him and Duff to partner on another venture in 2024: a cookware and serveware brand. host modCoin is the company’s CEO and Duff, who is also Coin’s brother-in-law, is the COO,
Image Credit: Courtesy of Host Modern
Coyne’s initial research for Host Modern showed that double-walled, vacuum-sealed containers were the best thermal option on the market, yet no one had applied the technology to larger products.
A deeper dive into some Reddit boards explains why: The containers will be heavier and not as durable as a typical cooler taken camping – a dent or puncture will compromise the thermal layer.
“Never believe that if you build it, they will come.”
So Coyne opted to do less. One of his early concepts was a bento-box-like design: the stackable circle.
However, as someone who prefers validation, testing, and iteration before moving forward, Coyne asked for feedback — and got the same response from almost every person: “Can I put my casserole dish in there?” Of course, because of the circular model, the answer was no.
Coyne didn’t want to launch a product without demand, and unlike some entrepreneurs who can’t let go of their initial vision, he wasn’t averse to a pivot.
“So many people get so obsessed with their idea, or they think they have such a great idea and they immediately start building it as if it’s going to be magic,” Coyne says. “Never believe that if you build it, they will come. Make sure someone wants that thing.”
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Eventually, the co-founders figured out how to create a casserole-shaped dish, admitting that it was “more complicated” — but also a potential safeguard against imitators.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Host Modern
With a supplier secured and production underway in China, Host Modern launched a Kickstarter campaign in September 2024.
Host Modern had hoped to raise $10,000 but this far exceeded the expected demand. The campaign raised $120,000, and by the end of the year the business launched on Shopify – then saw another $600,000 in pre-order sales. Pre-orders grew to $1.5 million before shipment of the product the following spring, and sales totaled $2 million in just six months.
“We have designed this business to be optimized from start to finish.”
Coyne says some of the lessons learned from the sticks helped pave the way for Host Modern’s strong start.
The golf brand has raised more than $12 million, surpassed 75,000 sets sold and $50 million in revenue, and is growing more than 30% year over year, according to the company.
When Coin started with Stix five years ago, he came from a digital background and had no experience in physical goods or global manufacturing.
As a result, Coin learned a lot about storage and delivery to customers. In creating Host Modern, Coyne combined that knowledge with his tried-and-true digital advertising playbook to capture an even bigger market.
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Recent estimates suggest that golf equipment market Combined it is worth about $7 billion cookware And server market According to Grand View Research, that’s about $43 billion.
Additionally, Host Modern’s lower price point – a $100 thermal serving dish versus a $1,000 set of clubs – attracts an even broader group of potential customers.
“(The product) is also small, so it warehouses and ships well,” Coyne says. “So many things have been more efficient (this time). We have designed this business to be optimized from start to finish, from cost of goods to warehousing, digital marketing and the actual markets we are reaching.”
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The co-founders also learned a valuable lesson on SKUs with Stix, numbering up to 3,000 at a time, which had to be juggled effectively to maintain adequate stock. At Host Modern, they wanted to keep the product line manageable.
Host Modern currently offers its thermal serving dish, a carry bag, and a glass baking dish.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Host Modern
When the tariffs hit, having fewer SKUs worked in Host Modern’s favor, although it was still a significant hurdle. A duty of 145% was imposed on the business’s products and not a single shipment was avoided. Nevertheless, the brand stuck to the product and moved forward.
“We started opening up new markets,” Coyne says. “Canada, Australia and the UK. But now, when you’re managing all this inventory, trying to stay in stock, you’re probably talking about multiple U.S. warehouses that are now international, trying to make sure everything is flowing in and out. It’s a challenge, even with a few SKUs.”
“We have to prepare inventory for a massive increase.”
With holiday dinners approaching – an ideal use case for the thermal casserole dish – Host Modern expects to see an increase in demand. Of course, it doesn’t have historical data to forecast sales, but Google Search Trends, which helped the co-founders initially forecast sales in Sticks, seem promising.
“We look at the search term casserole dish on Google Trends, and over the last five years, it’s gone crazy (during the holidays),” says Coyne. “The spike in November is 5x. So we don’t know exactly what to expect, but we have some estimates and will have to prepare inventory for a massive spike.”
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Host Modern will also take advantage of interest around Black Friday and Cyber Monday — though it won’t go as far as “Black November,” the co-founder notes.
“We want to maximize our ad dollars,” Coyne explains. “If there’s going to be a surge,[we want]to get it while it’s at its initial peak, rather than having the surge happen at the beginning.”
“We are not a server company. We are a hosting company.”
Coyne has always appreciated great hosts and the generosity and care they bring to their events, and as he looks to the future of Host Modern, he hopes the brand will lean into its name, which was intentionally chosen to leave room for a range of hosting-related products.
As the co-founders and their wives continue their own hosting traditions, Coyne is committed to making the experience easier and more enjoyable for both them and their guests — and sees Host Modern doing the same for others.
“We have some fun products in the pipeline, and it’s pretty extensive,” says Coyne. “We’re not a server company. We’re a hosting company. So what are the biggest problems with hosting? We’re going to solve those problems.”
