How This Female Founder Grew a $5K Startup Into a $3M Period Care Business With Amazon | Entrepreneurship | Katie Diasti | Presented by Amazon

Description

Katie Diasti turned her business school class project into Viv, a sustainable period care business, with just $5,000. When manufacturers demanded massive minimum orders, far beyond her budget, she negotiated a $3,500 production run and hand-packed orders from her apartment. As demand grew, she turned to Amazon to reach more customers and handle fulfillment. Today, Viv has generated over $3 million in revenue and expanded into 2,000 retail locations. In this episode, recorded at Amazon Accelerate 2026, Katie shares how she uses Amazon's seller tools to drive repeat sales and build a profitable business with product margins above 70%. In this episode, Hala and Katie will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (00:58) Introducing Viv: Clean, Sustainable Period Care (03:28) Turning a College Project Into a Business (07:39) Launching a Startup With Just $5,000 (13:42) How Amazon Drives Sales and Subscriptions (19:14) Using Social Media and Amazon Insights (24:12) Turning Viral Attention Into Product Sales (30:11) Using Amazon Data to Drive Repeat Sales (32:16) Viv's Revenue, Costs, and Product Margins (34:54) Raising $2 Million After Proving Profitability (39:54) How Amazon Supported Viv's Retail Expansion (44:49) Building a Profitable, Sustainable Product Brand Katie Diasti is the founder and CEO of Viv, a modern period care brand sold online and in 2,000 retail locations across the U.S., including Whole Foods and Sprouts. Named to Forbes' 2024 30 Under 30 list and recognized as one of Women in Retail's 25 Most Inspirational Female Leaders in 2024, Katie has led Viv to raise over $3 million in funding and achieve over 70 million in social media reach. Sponsored By: This episode is sponsored by Amazon and recorded at Amazon Accelerate 2026, Amazon's annual seller conference. More than 60% of sales in Amazon's store come from independent sellers, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses. Amazon provides tools and services to help these entrepreneurs grow their businesses. To learn more about how Amazon is helping ind