2 Million Tires Sold…Fueled by Crackers and Jelly

Jared Kugel walked away from his family’s tire business to build one of his own. No one fully understood what his plan was…including Jared.

Two years later, the family business shut down.
But his didn’t.

Jared is now the founder of Tire Agent, one of the fastest-growing online tire retailers in the country—serving customers across all credit types with better pricing, better service, and a better experience.

But it didn’t start that way.

“I pivoted four times before we even launched the site,” Jared says. “And every time, someone told me I was crazy.”

The early days were brutal.
After demo day at a New York accelerator, no investors bit.
He ran out of money.
He got a foreclosure warning.
He was living on crackers and jelly and selling his belongings to make ends meet.

“People told me I wasn’t technical enough. That my margins were too low. That tires weren’t sexy enough. And I just kept thinking: ‘I know this market. And I’m not quitting.’”

That mindset? It didn’t come from a TED Talk.
It came from his dad.

“He didn’t understand what I was doing, but every time I failed, he told me: ‘You don’t quit. You started this—you finish it.’ That stuck with me.”

Jared’s not a technical founder.
He doesn’t code.
He didn’t come from Big Tech or VC.

But he knew tires. And he knew customers. And he knew how to listen.

“The industry said I was a joke. My friends thought I was going to fail. So I stopped caring what anyone thought- except my customers, my industry, and my investors.”

That trifecta—respect the space, obsess over customers, keep your word with capital—became the foundation of Tire Agent.

Since 2020, they’ve sold over 2 million tires.

Now, Jared’s expanding again—into fleets: plumbing companies, HVAC companies, and tradespeople with vehicles that need service at scale. It started by accident. Now it’s becoming its own division.

“It’s one of those hidden opportunities that no one talks about. But it’s massive. And we’re going after it.”

Jared doesn’t want to build the next unicorn.
He wants to build a business that works.
A company that lasts.
A team that wins together.

“You don’t need a billion-dollar exit to be successful. There are doubles and triples worth swinging for.”

He doesn’t pretend it’s easy.
He doesn’t recommend this path to most people.
But if you’re willing to get punched in the face 1,000 times and still stand back up? Jared’s the guy to learn from.

“Most founders aren’t technical. They’re not perfect. They’re just desperate enough to keep going.”

This is what underestimated looks like.

Let’s Thrive,
—Eric

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