When Mark Cuban was asked about his favorite Shark Tank investment during an interview on Good Morning America, he didn’t hesitate: DUDE Wipes. In an Instagram video posted in October, Cuban joked, “We all have to wipe, right?” He added: ‘To them everything is a joke. Business is going well. They put an end to it. They’re going to make over a hundred million dollars this year. So wipe early, wipe often.”
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That unusual humor is at the heart of DUDE Wipes’ success. Launched in 2011 by childhood friends from the Chicago suburbs – Sean Riley, Ryan Meegan and Jeffrey Klimkowski – the company has gone from a quirky idea to a serious disruptor of the $11 billion toilet paper industry. In 2023 alone, the brand generated $110 million in revenue, up from $70 million the year before, and now has a 1% market share in a space dominated by giants like Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble.
The concept of DUDE Wipes started as a simple hack: Riley supplied their apartment’s shared bathroom with baby wipes. The housemates realized that while traditional toilet paper was not sufficient, baby wipes, let alone men’s, were not marketed to adults.
From that lightbulb moment on, they sketched their prototype, collected $30,000 in savings and ordered their first batch of wipes. With only $5,000 left for marketing, they began handing out samples on college campuses, music festivals and student unions.
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“We didn’t have any money for marketing, but we had a product,” Riley explained.
DUDE Wipes had a big break in 2015 with Shark Tank. With their bold pitch – telling Mark Cuban that his “a** hates him” because he uses dry toilet paper – they secured a $300,000 investment for 25% of the company. Cuban’s investment remains the only outside funding they have ever received.
Fast forward to today and DUDE Wipes is now a staple in more than 20,000 stores, including Walmart, Target and Kroger. This year they expanded to Sam’s Club and Costco. They’ve also doubled down on their irreverent marketing, including Super Bowl billboards poking fun at pop culture figures like Taylor Swift (“It’s me. Hello. I’m the solution. It’s me. Not TP.”) and Travis Kelce (“We also like a clean, tight end.”).
