It also means summer sales and yard games aimed squarely at those backyard and park hangouts.
Today’s eCommerce landscape is dominated by mass production and algorithmic marketing, but Matt Butler and Kelvin Sealy, co-founders of Tally Tumbler, told PYMNTS that unique insights can transform a novelty product into a scalable success.
The idea that launched Tally Tumbler wasn’t born in a boardroom but instead emerged organically during a recreational bocce game in Virginia Beach.
“You’re always walking back and forth, drink in your hand, trying to keep score,” said Sealy, a local league organizer and business tax professional by trade. “I saw an opportunity while I was holding a tumbler in my hand and thought, ‘What if I could keep score on something like this?’”
This moment of innovation would become the seed for Tally Tumbler, a hybrid beverage container and scorekeeping tool. The company’s design combines functional drinkware with a rotating-ring mechanism for score tracking, eventually adapted to sports like golf, tennis, cornhole and more.
Sealy connected with Butler, a retired Air Force veteran and creator of the lawn game Rollors, through a podcast on yard games. Their bond was instant and strategic.
“Rollors was a design of mine from one of my deployments,” Butler said. “I combined elements of games like bocce, lawn bowling and horseshoes. Over time, I learned manufacturing and Amazon strategy. So, when Kelvin pitched the idea, I was immediately on board.”
Two Founders, One Mission
Before hitting retail shelves or digital storefronts, the pair tested their hypothesis on Kickstarter, whose data highlighted a winning vertical: golf.
“It was about validating the product,” Butler said. “We set a low goal, just enough to cover mold production. Once we were fully funded, that gave us the confidence to push forward.”
“We were sure golf would be good, but we didn’t know it would win by a landslide,” Sealy added. “That insight helped us lean in, ordering more golf models over others like tennis or general yard games.”
Tally Tumbler’s next move — strategic Amazon placement — supercharged its reach.
Butler brought a decade of hard-won expertise in prototyping and Amazon distribution to the partnership.
“I had a lot of background in working with Amazon,” he said. “It’s been our primary and go-to retailer, and it’s helped get visibility fast… Amazon’s analytics are a game changer.”
One of the most surprising lessons came from understanding who actually buys Tally Tumblers, Butler said.
“People assume our main buyer is male because of the golf angle,” he said. “But it’s actually women — wives, girlfriends, daughters — shopping for hard-to-buy-for husbands.”
With Amazon’s data tools, the founders can access demographic insights — age, gender and purchase behavior — and sharpen their messaging accordingly.
“We try not to guess,” Butler said. “We want ground truth, not assumptions.”
Product Design Meets Lifestyle Utility
Running a high-growth physical product company isn’t without its challenges.
“Inventory management is always tough, especially for a seasonal product,” Butler said. “You don’t know if summer sales will be up 30% or 300%.”
But with each Prime Day, the pair gets sharper.
“We know now that Father’s Day is a big lead-in,” Sealy said. “And we’ve optimized campaigns and ad spend inside Amazon. Our ads convert really well now.”
In terms of payments and operations, the business keeps things simple.
“Having one product with one price point helps,” Sealy said. “We know our margins and ad costs. Shopify integrations make invoicing and payments easy.”
Butler added: “Compared to 10 or 20 years ago, the tech makes digital sales smooth and secure. You can run a pretty sophisticated business with just two people.”
Their mastery of the Amazon ecosystem also extends to fulfillment.
“We use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA),” Butler said. “It lets us scale without boxing up thousands of units ourselves.”
Now, the pair is experimenting with long-term storage options for the critical fourth quarter. It’s an innovation that allows them to preload inventory ahead of surges like Father’s Day, Prime Day and the Christmas holiday season.
“There’s never been a better time to be a small business,” Sealy said. “You can get a website up in an hour. You’ve got tools like ChatGPT, analytics, Shopify. If your product is good, people will buy — and they’ll tell you fast if it’s not.”
