Savepod × STOQ: how preorders turned a viral moment into $65,000 in revenue
From Porsche to coffee pods: yianni’s founder journey
In late 2019, Yianni was working at Porsche by day, but at home he was struggling with a simple problem: his Keurig coffee pods. The taste wasn’t great, the pods were expensive, and every use created plastic waste. He wanted something better, and so began the idea for Savepod, a reusable system for making fresh, sustainable pods at home.
Like many first-time founders, Yianni’s journey wasn’t linear. He started with uncomfortable customer interviews, scrappy prototypes, and eventually launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2021. He even taught himself to draft his own 30-page patent and edited the Kickstarter video himself on iMovie. That campaign went on to raise $213,000 in 30 days, but it also introduced new challenges in production and fulfillment. Yianni went through what he describes as one of the hardest periods of his life: two years of delays, supply chain hurdles, and even harassment from backers upset at late shipments. “People were very, very, very angry that I was late, to the point where I was getting harassed badly,” he recalled. “Luckily, I have thick skin, so I was okay. But not everybody does.” It took two years, countless iterations, and plenty of setbacks to get Savepod from prototype to reality.
The breakthrough: “instagram blew up, and we ran out of stock”
Just as the product was finally getting manufactured, Yianni’s daughter was born. He was juggling life as a new father with the pressure of making his young company survive. Only weeks after she arrived, he was flown to California to appear on Amazon Prime’s Buy It Now show, making it a surreal turning point in his journey.
The show was supposed to be a breakthrough moment. “They told me, make sure you stock up a lot of inventory, because you’re going to have a lot of demand,” Yianni said. “I put everything into inventory… and the next day, nothing. Two days later, nothing. I was like, oh my god.”
But just a week later, everything changed. A simple Instagram post went viral. “It got a million views in 24 hours, 100% organically. Two hours later it was at 2 million. An hour later, 3 million, 4 million. That video went up to right now, it’s at 20 million views,” Yianni said. In less than 10 days, Savepod sold through 5,000 units.
And that’s when the stockouts hit. Yianni knew momentum like this doesn’t wait. “Our website traffic was high, and I said, I need to create preorders now so that we can continue capturing sales.”
Installing STOQ: instant human support + preorders that just worked
“I didn’t try ten different apps. STOQ was the first one I installed,” Yianni says. “I just needed something that worked.”
At first, a small fulfillment setting wasn’t working as expected, and Amazon inventory sync was adding confusion. “I wasn’t sure if it was even STOQ’s fault,” he recalls. “But I reached out on chat and got a response right away. Within minutes, Anaam was on a call with me fixing it.”
That moment stuck with him. “Other software companies tell you to figure it out yourself. With STOQ, I felt like I had a team on my side.”
Results: $65,000 captured in preorders
With STOQ, Savepod turned a stockout into an opportunity: - 1,000 units pre-sold between Black Friday and their next inventory batch.
- $65,000 in revenue captured before inventory landed.
- 7,000+ subscribers collected through STOQ’s back-in-stock alerts, ready to convert on the next restock.
For a self-funded founder navigating production costs, that preorder revenue wasn’t just sales. It was critical cash flow that kept Savepod alive and growing. Yianni remembers the relief clearly: “It gave us cash flow, allowing us to fund our business and keep going,” he said.
Cash flow, captured: “Preorders gave us the ability to keep selling even when shelves were empty. That money funded our next production run.”
Lessons learned & advice to other merchants
Yianni is candid about the risks of overcommitting on preorders too early. His Kickstarter taught him the dangers of promising inventory that doesn’t exist yet. “I had a ton of preorders from Kickstarter, and people were very angry that I was late,” he shared. But once production is viable, his advice is clear:
“If you don’t capture preorders, you’re leaving money on the table. That consumer may never come back to your website again.”
For Shopify merchants running ads, going viral, or simply selling through faster than expected, preorders are not just a nice-to-have. They are essential to keeping momentum and recovering otherwise lost revenue.
What really stood out: the people behind STOQ
Yianni is quick to point out that great software can be copied. What made STOQ stand out wasn’t just features, but the people behind the product:
“Other companies can build similar software. But what really stood out about STOQ was the people — cool, personable, and ready to hop on a call anytime. That made all the difference.”
For a founder navigating unpredictable demand and cash flow crunches, that kind of partnership matters.
Final takeaway
Savepod’s journey shows what’s possible when you’re ready to capture momentum. From a viral post to $65,000 in preorder revenue, STOQ helped turn a stockout into a growth opportunity.
