Sand Cloud: Using cash back to support marine conservation

When your brand’s mission is to #SaveTheFishies, every penny counts. The three entrepreneurs that started Sand Cloud relied on the unlimited 2% cash back from their Capital One Spark Cash Plus business card to build their business and spread their message of preserving marine life. 

Learn about Spark Cash Plus and how this business card helped three young friends build a brand, revolutionize the beach towel industry and support marine conservation.

Surfboards evolve over time. Beachwear adapts to styles and trends. Yet the old-school terrycloth beach towel had stubbornly remained the same sand trap it’s been for decades.

That was the key insight that spurred three young San Diego friends—Brandon Leibel, Steven Ford and Bruno Aschidamini—into creating what has quickly become the popular and innovative beach lifestyle brand Sand Cloud.

Where else could it start but on the beach? After graduating college and working together at an insurance company, Brandon and Steven tossed countless business ideas around. “One day we were laying on the beach after a day of work,” said Leibel. “I turned to Steven and said we should put a pillow in our beach towel. That was the genesis.” Pretty soon, their friend Bruno Aschidamini bought their first prototype and told them, “You should call it the Sand Cloud.” A brand was born.

The three entrepreneurs quickly moved in together and got to work. And it wasn’t long before they realized that their idea was far bigger than a towel with a pillow attached. The real potential was in rethinking the entire concept of the beach towel and building a lifestyle brand around it. All they had to do was figure out how.

They researched a variety of different materials before settling on Turkish cotton, and it’s easy to see why. Turkish cotton is lighter and thinner than traditional towel material and easily lends itself to eye-catching designs and colorful styles that bring an aesthetic look to social media, the marketing channel that helped the brand initially take off. And they were happy to discover one more major advantage.

Perhaps best of all, towels made of Turkish cotton were nearly impossible to find in the United States. “These towels are so much better than what you could buy off the shelf,” said Aschidamini. “And no one was selling them! The United States wasn’t importing Turkish cotton in any meaningful volume until we got started.”

They had a great idea, and the world noticed. A memorable appearance with a winning pitch on a popular reality TV show did a lot to increase their exposure. Savvy marketing on Instagram went even further to build their brand awareness. But the executive team was always about more than profits. 

From Day 1, the beach-loving entrepreneurs knew their brand needed to be tied to something bigger. That means donating 10% of their profits to marine conservation, or as they memorably put it, #SaveTheFishies.

That commitment to sustainability starts with their towels. Turkish cotton uses 50% less cotton than terrycloth, which reduces its carbon footprint in terms of packing, shipping and transport. And, because it’s sand-repellent, it doesn’t take sand away from the beach.

“Beyond that, we partner with about 20 different nonprofits that support marine life in different ways,” said Aschidamini. “Some nonprofits we work with are focused on beach cleanups. Others promote protected ocean sanctuaries. The beach is a special place for us. We want to protect it and keep it clean and pristine.”

For Brandon, Steven and Bruno, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus business card has been central to the growth of Sand Cloud. They’ve used it for everything from developing new products to purchasing monthly snacks for the dozens of team members they now proudly employ.

“The fact that we get unlimited 2% cash back means we’re able to invest more in other areas,” said Ford. “We do an annual retreat, new product development, new categories—these require a lot of up-front costs. The rewards enable us to take more risks in other areas.” 

That includes building what will soon be known as the flagship Sand Cloud retail space, in San Diego. “Building out our own company-owned retail stores is a big project for us over the next five to 10 years,” said Leibel. “We need to have physical locations for customers to interact with us.”

Another benefit of Spark Cash Plus is the fact that its rewards come in the form of actual cash back instead of gift cards. “If you want to invest in a store or new fabrics, or donations to nonprofits, you can’t really do that with a gift card,” said Aschidamini. “The cash gives you the flexibility to grow your business the way you want to grow it.”

The Spark Cash Plus card offers a range of benefits, including:

• Unlimited 2% cash back. Cardholders earn unlimited 2% cash back at a flat rate on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions.

• Attractive welcome offers. You can earn $4,000 or more in cash bonuses—$2,000 when you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months and an additional $2,000 bonus for every $500,000 spent in the first year.

• Big purchasing power. Spark Cash Plus gives you big purchasing power with no preset spending limit so you can spend more and earn more rewards. It adjusts to your needs based on your spending behavior, payment history and credit profile. Keep in mind: As with any charge card, you’ll want to pay your balance in full every month.

• An annual fee you can earn back. The $150 annual fee is refundable when you spend at least $150,000 annually, giving business owners the opportunity to enjoy this premium card at no additional cost. 

Learn more about how Spark Cash Plus can help your business and ways you can use its unlimited 2% cash back, no preset spending limit and other rewards to fuel your growth.