Lucas Walker's Rolled Up

Henry opened his store, The Six convenience at the start of the pandemic. While Uber Eats takes a big cut, they also bring lots of orders. In this episode we talk about the inspiration that Kim's Convenience had, the challenges of selling ice cream, and making sure that your customers are happy. We also talk about Rivalries with other Uber-Eats sellers Challenges of getting started, including competing against Wal-Mart The more honest you are, the more they buy Building relationships with your reps Pitting suppliers like Red Bull and Monster against each other. Colin Davidson, partner at Omnium CPG joins me to take it home. Talking about CPG  What it means for be Omni-channel  We tease up Bricks and Clicks

Cannabis is much more than just flower. In this episode, Colin Landforce joins me to talk about the industry, products, and how he's grown his business to be on track to do $69M in sales this year.Specifically, we talk about.   Different styles of cannabis, including deli-style and pre-roll Differences in legality across states  Issues and challenges with packaging requirements  The process of making a consistently good pre-roll using a hop milling machine What the processing process looks like to get different products for different products  Making sure dosage is safe for consumers Creating different brands and  products for different budgets Differences between indoor and outdoor grown cannabis, including regional growing opportunities. Jamie Sutton  from https://omnisend.com/rolledup (Omnisend) joins as well to take us home. Thank you to our 420 friendly sponsors, http://product.shipbob.com/rolledup (Shipbob) and https://gorgias.grsm.io/pitstop (Gorgias)    

This episode of Rolled Up is all about Bananas. From wild ads in the 1970s to online grocery in the roaring 20s. Kim Chackal knows everything there is to know about the produce aisle, good and bad. In this episode we talk about. The history of bananas Hidden things about the industry, including the role of the ripener Trends toward more sustainable and equitable products Finally, Jamie Sutton, GM of Omnisend joins me to talk about sustainability and trends he's seeing. Special thank you to this season's sponsors. https://omnisend.com/rolledup (Omnisend), http://shipbob.com/rolledup (Shipbob), and https://www.gorgias.com/ (Gorgias).

Ian Leslie, CMO of Industry West furniture swings by to talk about how the pandemic shifted their entire business model. 

Paul Miller was a house husband when he had the idea to start Phreshly, cocktails in a can. CPG expert Colin Davidson joins me to talk about the dilution of the drink market.

Colin and Lucas  open this episode talking about the CPG industry, and some of the nuances.  Colin is a new voice to you, but best friends with Lucas Walker. He's a mathematician at Omnium CPG, working with large grocery brands like Love Good Fats. Then Lucas is joined by this week's guest Suzie York. Suzie Yorke, CEO and founder of Love Good Fats is on a mission to bring healthy fats back. A mom, eleven-time Ironman competitor and yoga enthusiast, Suzie spent years adhering to a low-fat diet only to hit a wall in her mid-40s. After reading Nina Teicholz's best seller, Big Fat Surprise, she immediately shifted to a high-fat, low-carb diet, and felt better right away. While she loved the benefits of her new lifestyle, Suzie found it challenging to find convenient, good-fat snacks. Seeing a gap in the marketplace and a huge opportunity to help others through food, Suzie developed https://lovegoodfats.com/ (Love Good Fats), a company that produces high-fat, low-carb, and low-sugar products. Today, Suzie leads Love Good Fats' expansion as it quickly becomes one of the fastest-growing bar brands in North America. As a 30-year veteran of the CPG industry, Suzie has worked at high-profile companies such as Proctor & Gamble, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, Weight Watchers, and Zag. Utilizing her accomplished marketing background, personal journey, and deep devotion and passion for health, Suzie is on a mission to spread the word that fat is back, and sugar is out! Suzie has been recognized several times since launching Love Good Fats, including the 2019 Mompreneur® Start Up Award, 2019 WXN Top 100 BMO Entrepreneur Award and 2020 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards Ones to Watch Award. SponsorsThank you to https://www.omnisend.com/rolledup/ (Omnisend) for making this season possible. Increase your sales, not your workload. Want to stress test your operations? Get started with $500 in free credits from Shipbob Rolled Up is produced on partnership with Shogun, if you want to explore Headless Commerce, you can learn how https://getshogun.com/frontend/nomad-case-study (Nomad Goods) increased conversions and revenue per session 25%.  

Enjoy this bonus episode of Omnisend, one of Europe's fastest growing companies. In this free flowing conversation, we talk about our philosophies to viewing customers, being a founder. The mindset to be a founder, especially during the roller coaster ride of 2020. What it means to be truly customer centric Marketing to customers who want to be sold Philosophy to bootstrapping vs raising large amounts of capital Vices and ways to relax while unplugging. I'll be back in a couple of weeks for Rolled Up Season 2, highlighting six different industries.

When building enterprise software for HR departments didn't satisfy young programmer Jeremy Cai's ambition, he returned to the decades old family manufacturing business, but with a new twist to ignite his passion. Now just 25 years old, Cai is the founder and CEO of the international online retailer Italic, bringing high end luxury consumer goods straight from the manufacturer to the customer at a fraction of the cost, while still retaining high quality products and services. With a subscription-based membership style, asking $10 a month or $120 a year, Italic provides consumers with access to exclusive deals and low-cost products, that will save them countless dollars in the end. The high middle ground For Cai and Italic, the secret to success is tapping into the consumers that the other big online retailers miss. There are numerous stores that sell direct-to-consumer goods at a cut rate from in-store brands, such as Ali Baba and Wish, but with little to no quality control or assurance, making every purchase a gamble for the consumer. Likewise, on the other side are name-brands, known for their quality and service, who carry an enormous markup by the time the product hits the shelves. That middle ground, where the consumer gets the quality they pay for without breaking the bank on brand names, is where Italic excels. Bypass the brand, build it yourself To a manufacturer, it doesn't really matter at the end of the day who they are selling their products to, only that there is a satisfied client and a completed sale, high or low end. They have their manufacturing costs to build an item, and a relatively low markup that they pass along to whatever company is next down the line, who pass that cost on to their clients, and so on until you reach the frontline consumer, who pays a ridiculous mark up. Remove the brand name from the product they make, be it athletic wear, kitchen accessories, or tech, and it's still the same highend, high selling goods, but now at a dramatic fraction of the cost. Mutually beneficial business Selling high-quality products to a consumer is the easy part of online retail. The real challenge is selling services like Italic to retailers, and for Cai that means empowering those manufacturers to become merchants themselves, to make the factory itself the brand. While these companies have been around for years, few if any own the product they manufacture, building a set number of products for a contract, and shipping them out. By choosing a selection of products they could manufacture for their own inventory, they can sell directly to customers, with all profit flowing directly back to that manufacturer. Seize the means of consumption With no brand names to interfere with direct sales, the manufacturer themselves become the brand, and Italic capitalizes on this by selling the factories themselves to the consumer as businesses they want to buy from. With details of ISO certifications, environmental profiles, product or labour histories, consumers feel more engaged in the mercantile process on a personal level, choosing to buy from manufacturers who meet their own personal standards. Passing costs, savings and information onto the consumer The key to that level of involvement, explains Cai, is honest transparency with savvy, well educated customers about the products. While price comparisons are old hate for any market, Italic provides not only the price a consumer would pay at another retailer, fully marked up, but also the actual factory cost to build the product, along side the asking price. This empowers consumer to make an informed choice of who to support, and gives them a more realistic idea of the entire factory economy. Italic is likewise upfront with members that the subscriber fee covers their operating costs, allowing them to interact with the manufacturer on behalf of the consumer, and vise verse, for maximum ease of transaction and assured high quality products. SponsorsRolled Up is...

Yelitsa Jean CharlesHas been named a Forbes 30-Under-30, won the Quicken Loans Demo Day pitch, and is one of the few people who can get me to turn into clubhouse.  Her company, Healthy Roots Dolls is a start-up toy company that creates dolls that reinforce positive self- perceptions among young girls. In this episode, Yelitsa shares:The power of YouTube and knowledge sharing that's empowering a new generation of women. Learning how to delegate and say no, without alienating . Advice and experience raising capital. The influence of calling the city of Detroit home vs LA, New York, Austin, or Miami. Referenced in this episode:Watch Yelitsa's Tedx Talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH_TfiMt-DE (How #blackgirlmagic can change the world.) 75% of white people don't have a black friend - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/11/27/three-quarters-of-whites-dont-have-any-non-white-friends-2/ (Washington Post) Women and BIPOC are very underrated when https://betakit.com/women-at-venture-capital-firms-still-vastly-underrepresented-according-to-new-report/ (getting capital). SponsorsThank you to Shogun for sponsoring the Rolled Up Podcast Network. Nomad increased page speed, resulting in a 25% increase in conversions, a 15.6% reduction in their bounce rate, and most importantly made 25% more per sale when switching to https://getshogun.com/frontend/nomad-case-study (Shogun Frontend).

Headless commerce is the future of online shopping, and it's already here. One company pioneering headless commerce is Shogun. Their cofounder and COO, Nick Raushenbush, joins Rolled Up to talk about Headless Commerce and how brands like https://getshogun.com/frontend/nomad-case-study (Nomad Goods) load in under a second. Topics Covered by Nick and LucasEvolution of ecommerce over the last few years Definition of Headless Commerce Methodology behind the Nomad Case Study When it makes sense to explore Headless Commerce SponsorsThank you to Shogun for allowing Nick to for sponsoring the Rolled Up Podcast Network. Nomad increased page speed, resulting in a 25% increase in conversions, a 15.6% reduction in their bounce rate, and most importantly made 25% more per sale when switching to Shogun Frontend.

Ben Jabbawy and Lucas first met at Privy's conference a couple of years back. In this episode of Rolled Up, they talk about: What it means to start a company when your biggest supporters turn out to be your biggest skeptics Shifting from Founder to CEO What it looks like to have 10,000 hours of experience Why burritos are the perfect business model SponsorsThank you to Shogun for sponsoring the Rolled Up Podcast Network. Nomad increased page speed, resulting in a 25% increase in conversions, a 15.6% reduction in their bounce rate, and most importantly made 25% more per sale when switching to https://getshogun.com/frontend/nomad-case-study (Shogun Frontend).

He escaped from straight jackets. From handcuffs and shackles, inside a box dropped in a river. He was buried alive in dirt six feet deep. With each incredible feat, Harry Houdini was building his legend as the greatest magician and escape artist of all times. And whether he knew it or not, he was also a master of marketing. “King of Cards”In the early days, Houdini sold out shows by calling himself the King of Cards. True or not, the people came.  Magician Wes Barker has decided if it worked one hundred years ago, why not today?  “Houdini was known as the King of Cards...and the only person to call Houdini the King of Cards was Houdini.”   Taking his cue from Houdini, Barker calls himself the funniest magician in Canada. “Do I believe that's true? Yeah, to a point. But I will get bookers calling me and they will literally say to me, ‘I've heard that you are the funniest magician in Canada'. You know, they heard that from me, from my promo.” “Just tell people that you're awesome.”Like magic, when it comes to marketing, the truth can at times be stretched. Can anyone really prove Houdini was the King of Cards, or that Barker is the funniest magician in Canada?  To Barker, it doesn't matter. “It's kind of crazy because nowadays you could fact check it. But the amount of people that actually do I don't think is very high. So the method still holds for marketing. Just tell people that you're awesome. As long as you can back it up to some degree, you don't have to be the best to say you are. And some fraction of people will believe that.” “He knew clickbait before anybody knew clickbait.”Today's catchy headlines that lead to stories with questionable content are known as clickbait. That's generally not a compliment. But long before the internet, it worked for Houdini. As Barker puts it, “ He knew clickbait before anybody knew clickbait.”   Did Houdini really escape from the belly of a whale?  That's complicated. Sure, he escaped from a lot of handcuffs. Barker says “He would go to the police stations when he got to a new town and just cause a ruckus, make them handcuff him. (He would) say he could break out of any handcuffs, that no cell could hold him, but then he would do it.”  Other times, the more fulsome details would reveal a little help on the side. Barker says on occasion, officials were in on it. “Sometimes he'd be like, hey, I'm going to do it this way. He might even let them in a back door on the method a little bit. For the sake of marketing, it's better for all of us if this goes well for me. So they're going to make certain concessions that they might not make.” It worked for Houdini, so why not Barker?  “He's so fascinating, the skill and dedication plus the marketing and ability to sort of tell the white lies where they're necessary, create his own myth and lore, which I think is so important and admirable and something that I really try and do in my own life.” “These guys just figured it out.”In Houdini's time, there were no marketing gurus or advertising moguls.  “The stuff ...that you're learning in a marketing class, these guys just figured it out.” Instead of targeted marketing on Facebook or Superbowl ads, there were massive tapestry style posters. Barker saw some recently at an exhibit in Toronto. “They would make them as big as they could, as colorful as they could. And it's so interesting to know that it's one hundred years ago. The copy they're using...it's so concise and it's so self aggrandizing and boasting, but it worked and it still does work. Like calling yourself the most amazing, the greatest. The king of this, the king of that. It's amazing that it's lessons we still seem to be relearning now. Some people have to be taught it in a marketing class or business, what to say, and it's like these guys already knew it one hundred years ago  This is what you got to put on the side of a wall. “ Whether he is the funniest magician in Canada or not, the moniker is working for Barker....

In this episode of Rolled Up, Kristen LaFrance joins me to share how she became the head of Shopify's Resilient Retail. This includes starting a podcast at a previous company to better get to know customers, to make better decisions as a growth marketer. Kristen also shares what the process of launching a brand new podcast at a new company and how we can all improve podcasts. Catch Resilient Retail wherever you're listening to Rolled Up. SponsorsThank you to Shogun for sponsoring the Rolled Up Podcast Network. Nomad increased page speed, resulting in a 25% increase in conversions, a 15.6% reduction in their bounce rate, and most importantly made 25% more per sale when switching to https://getshogun.com/frontend/nomad-case-study (Shogun Frontend).

Eric Bandholz, co-founder of Beardbrand, joins me to talk about choosing profitability and finding the right balance between running lean and growing your business. That's not to say that capital is a bad thing, but you do give up freedom to do things when investors need to get paid. That can include things like growing a YouTube channel to over 1M views, leaving Amazon, and opening a barbershop during a pandemic. But no matter what you do, you'll get critical feedback, but none of that matter if they aren't stakeholders in your business. Lastly, we discuss how to compete against the behemoth's like Amazon by doing things like opening a barbershop to sell online. Tactical insights from this episode. Profitability and focus prevents you from deploying asinine ideas, and gives you a sustainable business model Have one value proposition per year. For Beardbrand, this is helping customer avoid scent confusion. Investing in content that educates customers as a product differentiator SponsorsThank you to Shogun for sponsoring the Rolled Up Podcast Network. Nomad increased page speed, resulting in a 25% increase in conversions, a 15.6% reduction in their bounce rate, and most importantly made 25% more per sale when switching to https://getshogun.com/frontend/nomad-case-study (Shogun Frontend).

Some of the experiences and takeaways Kara shares. What it means to become an Accidental Entrepreneur Value of learning and continually growing. Considering the source when getting advice, or criticism. What it's like being 8 months and 29 days pregnant when Whole Foods calls. The dangers of happy ears  Being ahead of the curve, and buyers, and being prepared for acceleration

2020 has been a weird year. For many of us, that includes struggles with mental health. My friend and mentor, Peter Neal, of Neal Brothers Foods shares his journey.From making croutons with his brother while still at Bishop's University to having mentored over 300 entrepreneurs, and launching a cannabis brand with the Tragically Hip.We discuss mental health, how giving back and celebrating even the small wins can make a huge difference.

Kurt Elster, host of the Unofficial Shopify Podcast helps me kick off Rolled Up and Festivus with the Airing of Grievances. In this episode, we talk about: How big Amazon is How much Amazon spends on lobbyists, and why that's good for us The true size of Amazon's reach, including their shipping network Some shady and weird business practices Kurt shares what it's been like working with Jay Leno's garage, including meeting Jay! Predatory lending rates for small businesses, and the benefit of going debt free. What makes a bad podcast experience. Find http://twitter.com/kurtinc (Kurt on Twitter) and ask to see him pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Billions of views on their content, and billions of dollars sold, and countless priceless lessons learned along the way.10 successful founders will share some of their highs and lows of their career, as we hold nothing back, and give a peak into the world of being a founder and entrepreneur. Join me December 23rd, 2020 for the Festivus special and launch of the Rolled Up podcast.