Podcasts about Skus

In this episode, farming couple Jesse Way & Megan Brandenburg of Milk Way Farm talk about how they list their different product SKUs in their online store.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!   Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:  Instagram  Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:  Carrot Cashflow  Farm Small Farm Smart  Farm Small Farm Smart Daily  The Growing Microgreens Podcast  The Urban Farmer Podcast  The Rookie Farmer Podcast  In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books:  Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon   Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

When a brand makes you smile just by looking at it, you know there's something special going on.  That's exactly how I felt when I discovered IZIPIZI,  a company on a mission to bring style, joy, and accessibility to eyewear.  In this episode, I sit down with Charles Brun, Co-founder and CEO of IZIPIZI, to explore how they transformed a simple idea into a global lifestyle brand by leading with design, affordability, and human-centered values. Charles and I delve into IZIPIZI's journey from a class project in France to its distribution in over 7,000 stores across more than 80 countries. We talk about the power of simplicity, the discipline of great design, and how his team keeps joy at the center of their brand, even as they scale.  Whether you're building a brand from scratch or looking to rediscover your "why," there's so much to learn from their intentional and inclusive approach. Here are a few highlights from the episode:   * How three college friends turned a school idea into a multimillion-dollar brand.   *Why international expansion starts with listening, not assumptions.   * The role of simplicity, functionality, and “smile design” in standing out in a crowded market.   * Building retail partnerships without losing the brand soul.   * Keeping purpose and product quality aligned as you grow. Join me, Ramon Vela, as we listen to the full episode and get inspired by a brand that's making vision care both stylish and joyful for everyone. For more on IZIPIZI, visit: https://www.izipizi.com/us_en If you enjoyed this episode, please leave The Story of a Brand Show a rating and review.  Plus, don't forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify.  Your support helps us bring you more content like this! * Today's Sponsors: Compass Rose Ventures - Advisor for CPG Brands: https://compassroseventures.com/contact/ Compass Rose Ventures can help your CPG brand increase customer lifetime value, expand into the US market, create an omnipresent omnichannel footprint, optimize customer journeys, build brand communities, and more. Visit the link above to learn more.    Color More Lines: https://www.colormorelines.com/get-started Color More Lines is a team of ex-Amazonians and e-commerce operators who help brands grow faster on Amazon and Walmart. With a performance-based pricing model and flexible contracts, they've generated triple-digit year-over-year growth for established sellers doing over $5 million per year. Use code "STORY OF A BRAND” and receive a complimentary market opportunity assessment of your e-commerce brand and marketplace positioning. 

In Episode 28, James and Sean sit down with Aidan Morris and Matt Wilson, Co-Founders of Orion Supplements — the Gen Z-driven, flavor-first protein powder brand shaking up the health and wellness aisle. In this episode, we cover:-Starting Orion in a college entrepreneurship class with $5,000 and a kitchen full of cocoa and PB Fit-Bootstrapping production with midnight shifts in a Cincinnati commercial kitchen and zero experience in supplement formulation-Building a community-powered brand by selling face-to-face in gyms and hitting the road in the now-legendary Orion RV (sleeping behind gyms included)-Designing packaging with personality — from “Life's too short to drink chalk” to gorilla milk mixing instructions and scoops that actually sit on top-Using real ingredients (like actual cinnamon and Oreos) to beat the chalky, artificial competition and still win on taste-Scaling with minimal SKUs and learning that sometimes, three great flavors are better than thirty mediocre ones-Embracing Gen Z energy and grassroots hustle to grow Orion without relying on the Facebook ad gold rush of the 2010sAidan and Matt deliver a crash course in scrappy entrepreneurship, authentic brand-building, and why creating superfans beats chasing viral views. If you haven't tried Orion yet, check out orionsupplements.com or find them at your local gym — just follow the good vibes.

In this episode of Owned and Operated, we shift focus to a critical yet often overlooked pillar of business success: leadership development and management training. With insights from Amir of Snowball Industries, we dig into how identifying and nurturing potential leaders is foundational to scaling tier two and tier three service businesses.The discussion explores the evolution from technical expertise to soft skills as the driving force behind effective leadership. We unpack the core values that matter most—empathy, urgency, financial intelligence, and humility—and how they shape team culture, performance, and long-term growth. John and Amir also examine structured training programs, peer learning opportunities, and practical management tools that enable owners and operators to build sustainable, high-performance teams.For anyone acquiring or operating in remote and niche sectors like HVAC or turf installation, this conversation delivers actionable insight into creating a leadership framework that fuels operational excellence and employee retention.

This week we're joined by Nate Moran, Senior Director of Growth, Digital Strategy & Analytics at Edgewell Personal Care—the company behind brands like Schick, Banana Boat, Wet Ones, and more. With a career spanning Red Bull, Newell, Unilever, and now Edgewell, Nate brings a sharp perspective on what it takes to turn data into decisions and insights into impact.In this conversation, Nate and host Dave Feinleib explore the evolving relationship between analytics, creative, performance marketing, and AI. They dig into how Nate and his team think about data strategy, omnichannel planning, and the question on every marketer's mind: where should we spend the next dollar?If you're navigating retail media, e-commerce, or digital growth today, this episode offers a smart, candid look at the challenges—and opportunities—of scaling modern brand performance.Key Takeaways & Episode HighlightsWhy profitability, performance, and category management need to work together in an omnichannel world—and how Edgewell ties these functions across the business.What “the next best dollar” means at Edgewell, and how the team balances incrementality, ROAS, and long-term brand health.Lessons from managing 30,000+ SKUs at Amazon (before APIs made it easy) and how those scrappy skills still apply today.The role of a clear, focused data strategy—and why owning your data is critical for AI readiness and true self-serve analytics.How AI and generative tools like ChatGPT and Snowflake are reshaping workflows, and why agentic AI might be the real unlock for the future.Why creative still matters: performance spend alone won't build trust or brand love—and how to balance emotional storytelling with analytics-driven media.Rapid Rundown QuestionsFavorite Edgewell product: Jack Black Dual Defense SPF MoisturizerBrand that's nailing it creatively: Liquid DeathGo-to tech tools: ChatGPT and SnowflakeFavorite read/listen: The Long and the Short of It by Les Binet and Peter FieldFavorite way to recharge: Mountain biking and snowboarding in Bend, OregonConnect with Nate: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanmoran/Get the It'sRapid Creative Automation Playbook: https://itsrapid.ai/creative-workflow-automation-playbook/Take It'sRapid's Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey: https://www.proprofs.com/survey/t/?title=ffgvdEmail us at sales@rapidads.io with code “BEYOND2025” to find out how you can save more than $1,000 on our Digital Sell Sheets and Retail Media Automation solutionsTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

#162 Jim Kanter knows a thing or two about selling and marketing beer and spirits. That's because he started off driving a beer truck as a summer job. Tell me, does a summer job get any better?   From there, Kanter went on an 18-year tear at MillerCoors moving all the way up to General Manager.    Then, he went in a different direction. Kanter pivots and joins a small but growing distillery called Central Standard.    Today, Central Standard is one of the fastest-growing spirits brands in the Midwest!    ✅ How did Kanter and the team do it?  ✅ What's it like marketing a spirits brand?  ✅ How do you stand out in a crowded space?    All of these questions and more – answered here. Have a listen   Show highlights:   00:00–00:04 – Intro & Jim's early start: from beer truck summers to PR with the Milwaukee Brewers. 00:04–00:13 – 18 years at MillerCoors: navigating roles, M&A chaos, and unifying sales/marketing ops. 00:13–00:18 – Jumping into Central Standard: the startup leap and learning curve. 00:18–00:21 – What is Central Standard? Overview of the distillery and key product lineup. 00:21–00:26 – What a Chief Commercial Officer actually does in a small spirits brand. 00:26–00:30 – Big company vs. small startup: “You think you know... then the bottle caps run out.” 00:30–00:36 – Breaking into retail: the hard truth about shelf space, distributors, and awareness. 00:36–00:41 – The power of product focus: “You can't launch 30 SKUs. Pick your winners.” 00:41–00:46 – Branding that works: the origin of Central Standard's rugged Midwestern visual identity. 00:46–00:51 – Marketing consistency: “We get bored way before the customer does.” 00:51–00:55 – Spirits market overview: who's growing, who's hurting, and why brandy's having a moment. 00:55–01:03 – Canned cocktail origin story: a shuttle ride, a few beers, and a big bet with Liney's. 01:03–01:10 – Marketing strategy on a budget: event play, influencer work, scarcity as a tool. 01:10–01:14 – Cracking into events like Summerfest: strategy, speed, and solving event organizer problems. 01:14–01:18 – Jim on networking: authenticity, saying yes, and getting uncomfortable on purpose. 01:18–01:20 – Final thoughts: Central Standard's growth, airport bar launch, and what's next. Connect with Jim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-kanter-726930b7/    Check out Central Standard here: https://thecentralstandard.com/   For God's sake, try one of these: RTD or Pour Ready Cocktails: https://thecentralstandard.com/our-spirits/ Connect with Pat at: pmcgovern@ascedia.com   Before you go, please do us a favor. Take a minute and leave us a review. That's the energy that powers this supertanker!  Thanks, you're the best! Want more marketing insights? Take a look at our full lineup. This podcast is sponsored by Ascedia. A web development and digital strategy agency helping clients win in the digital space.

In this episode of Owned and Operated, we sit down with AJ and Noah—the powerhouse founders behind Premier Home Pros—to reveal how they scaled their home services business from $0 to a projected $174 million in just three years.Launched from a dining room table in 2022, AJ and Noah built a home improvement juggernaut using proven sales systems, smart team building, and bold marketing strategies that fueled rapid growth. But their journey wasn't without hurdles. From expensive ad failures to tough people problems, they open up about what it really takes to scale at lightning speed.Whether you're aiming to grow your home services company, lead a larger team, or implement repeatable growth systems, this episode is packed with actionable insights, operator-tested frameworks, and real-world strategy breakdowns.

This week, Tyler Simmons shares his journey from summer intern to marketing and e-commerce leader at Energy Management Corporation, and how that path through sales and marketing has uniquely positioned him to bridge the gap between the two. Tyler breaks down the realities of running a successful e-commerce platform in the B2B manufacturing space. He discusses how talking directly with customers and internal sales teams provides critical feedback and why consistency beats one-time wins when scaling a digital storefront. If you're navigating the grind of e-commerce in B2B manufacturing, this episode is packed with grounded insights, tactical takeaways, and a refreshing dose of honesty.

As someone who's passionate about brands that lead with purpose and quality, my conversation with Lindsey Hickey, CEO and owner of Simek's, was a true highlight.   Simek's isn't just about frozen meals; it's about nourishing people with food made from real ingredients, giving back to local communities, and doing business with integrity. In this episode, Lindsey shares her journey from joining the family business at just 26 years old to leading the company through a complete transformation from running retail stores to building a nationally distributed CPG brand.   We talk about product simplification, clean ingredient innovation, what it takes to get B Corp certified, and how she balances leadership and motherhood with authenticity and purpose. Here are a few key takeaways from the episode: * Why simplifying the product line was critical to scaling, and which SKUs made the cut * How Simek's removed artificial ingredients and doubled down on real, clean, small-batch meals * Lessons learned from the brand's CPG transition, trade spend strategy, and digital evolution * Why DTC didn't make sense for frozen and how they partnered with retail to grow smarter * Their mission-driven approach to impact: from donating 13M+ meals to removing 180K+ lbs of ocean-bound plastic Join me, Ramon Vela, in listening to the full episode to hear how Lindsey is leading with heart, purpose, and a commitment to doing things the right way. For more on Simek's, visit: https://simeks.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, please leave The Story of a Brand Show a rating and review.  Plus, don't forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify.  Your support helps us bring you more content like this! * Today's Sponsors: Compass Rose Ventures - Advisor for CPG Brands: https://compassroseventures.com/contact/ Compass Rose Ventures can help your CPG brand increase customer lifetime value, expand into the US market, create an omnipresent omnichannel footprint, optimize customer journeys, build brand communities, and more. Visit the link above to learn more.    Color More Lines: https://www.colormorelines.com/get-started Color More Lines is a team of ex-Amazonians and e-commerce operators who help brands grow faster on Amazon and Walmart. With a performance-based pricing model and flexible contracts, they've generated triple-digit year-over-year growth for established sellers doing over $5 million per year.   Use code "STORY OF A BRAND” and receive a complimentary market opportunity assessment of your e-commerce brand and marketplace positioning. 

MusclePharm might seem the same to you…but it's radically different from my POV! But for anyone new to these quarterly content pieces, FitLife Brands sells more than 250 SKUs across 13 supplement brands…each with a slightly different product portfolio and sales channel strategy. In total, the FitLife Brands portfolio is sold through more than 20K retail locations globally. But throughout this content, you'll hear me categorize the FitLife Brands portfolio into three segments: Legacy FitLife Brands, Mimi's Rock Corporation, and MusclePharm. In the first quarter of 2025, FitLife Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: FTLF) had revenues of $15.9 million...which was down 4% YoY. But while there's strategic initiatives going on that involve the legacy FitLife Brands and Mimi's Rock segments, the most intriguing activity within FitLife Brands is also currently its smallest segment (i.e. MusclePharm). In the first quarter of 2025, MusclePharm segment revenue was just under $2.0 million...which decreased 6% YoY. And maybe you're hearing that result…thinking to yourself “that's not too terrible,” but I'll explain just how terrible that internal thought actually is about these MusclePharm quarterly numbers. I was quite confident that FitLife Brands understood it's a marathon (and not a sprint) with MusclePharm. Moreover, the last 5-7 years of MusclePharm brand mismanagement had provided a sizable amount of unlocked value that was just waiting to come out. Furthermore, doing the required “hard work” upfront to rebuild the foundation of MusclePharm for the long haul would inherently unlock enough short-term financial results to appease shareholders around the acquisition ROI. Yet…that's not happening right now! Instead, FitLife Brands has surprised me (and not in a good way), believing it would be better served in reaching arbitrary segment-level financial goals by not learning from various past MusclePharm experiences (like what became major underlying drivers of its bankruptcy) or how FitLife Brands is chasing a ready-to-drink beverage mirage with zero “route-to-market” expertise. When product-based differentiation proves unable to provide a long-term defensible moat within low barriers-to-entry CPG categories like sports nutrition, distinctiveness can transform a product from commodity into a perfect experiential foundation for brand storytelling. It's the strategic substance with signature style that sets your CPG brand apart from the landscape of lesser alternatives. And throughout the initial first-half of the “athletes' company” existence, MusclePharm had a distinctive brand identity that absolutely defined and then delivered its authentic self. But when FitLife Brands acquired MusclePharm in late-2023, it wrongfully assumed MusclePharm still had ample distinctiveness in the marketplace…or at least a sufficient amount to trigger emotional responses with enough consumers to justify its current strategic gameplan. That was a miscalculation…one that I believe will require FitLife Brands to thoroughly contemplate its strategic decision to “sprint the race without knowing its distance.” Finally, I end on a more positive note...examining the Russell 2000 Index inclusion possibility and likely M&A announcements coming soon with FitLife Brands.Doss is the first Adaptive Resource Platform (ARP). Book a live demo here.

A 150-year-old beauty brand with over 1,000 SKUs, Granado might be new to US market, but in Brazil, it's a household name. This week, I chat with CMO Sissi Freeman about the brand's uniquely Brazilian identity, its recent global fragrance boom, what it's like running this legacy brand in lock step with her father (CEO Christopher Freeman), and the smells most special to Brazilians.SOTD: The Body Shop Full IrisFRAGS MENTIONED:Granado: Iris, Esplendor, Nostalgia, Oasis, Oud, Carioca, Epoque Tropical, Bossa, Citrus Brasilis; CKOne, Carolina Herrera 212, Issey Miyake, LeLi Scents, Granado: Gardenia, Magnolia, Suzette, Folha Imperial, Folha de Laranjeira, Limão Taiti & Neroli; Robert Piguet Fracas, Dior PoisonJASMINE SMELL CLUB: jasminesmellclub.eventbrite.comRSVP HERE FOR STELE FLORSTALGIAThanks to this month's sponsor Goldfield & Banks! Try Pacific Rock Flower on luckyscent.com (get 10% off w/ code perfumeroom10)

If you've ever dreamt of turning your creative passion into a thriving business, this episode is a masterclass in doing just that. Tyler Jorgenson welcomes Katie Hunt, founder of Proof to Product, who shares how she went from making custom wedding stationery to leading 45+ rounds of her acclaimed wholesale coaching program. Katie opens up about her scrappy early days, the fire marshal shutdown that almost tanked her first trade show, and how collaboration—not competition—became her superpower.Dive into Katie's insights on the difference between selling DTC and wholesale, what most entrepreneurs get wrong about SKUs and inventory, and why knowing your customer is the ultimate growth hack. She doesn't just preach systems—she's built a business that runs while she takes three-week trips to Europe with zero emails. Yep, she's that dialed in.Whether you're a creative looking to scale, or a seasoned entrepreneur curious about the future of retail and product-based business models, this episode is packed with gold. From indie shop secrets to navigating big box partnerships and economic shifts, Katie reveals how to thrive in today's market—and build a business that supports the life you want to live.TakeawaysStart scrappy, but systemize fast. Trial by fire leads to wisdom—just don't forget to fireproof your trade show booth.Wholesale isn't just easier—it's scalable. With the right structure, it can outperform DTC with less burnout.Know your numbers and your customer. Inventory, pricing, and product lines must match your business model and target buyer.Big box isn't always better. Indie retailers bring repeat business, feedback, and deeper relationships.Simplicity scales. Streamlining systems doesn't just help the team—it creates freedom for the founder.Chapters00:00 From Paper to Powerhouse: Meet Katie Hunt  01:30 Starting a Creative Business & Learning the Hard Way  04:20 From Side Hustle to Coaching: Birth of Proof to Product  06:20 Systems, Strategy & the Truth About Wholesale  10:20 SKU Balance & Building the Right Product Line  13:00 DTC vs Wholesale: What Founders Need to Know  17:40 Retail Trends, Tariffs & Economic Shifts  22:35 Wholesale Mistakes to Avoid  24:10 Katie's Vision & Building a Business That Supports Life  27:20 Final Advice + Free Training

In this Petworking interview short, host Peter Kenseth catches up with Dr. Greg Aldrich of Nulo Pet Food at Global Pet Expo 2025 to see their innovative packaging redesign firsthand.Following their pre-show conversation about the challenges of retail merchandising, this was an exciting chance examine Nulo's comprehensive packaging refresh for their Freestyle line - a project that touched 70-80 different SKUs. Dr. Aldrich walked us through their smart design improvements including flat-bottom construction, interrupted gussets for better shelf stability, and the impressive "apex closure" Velcro seal that makes resealing pet food bags significantly easier.We also got a look at Nulo's newest products: a small breed beef and sweet potato recipe and their new adult lamb formula. This brief segment perfectly illustrates how packaging innovation can enhance consumer experience in meaningful ways beyond the product itself.As Dr. Aldrich notes, pet food manufacturers have just 5-6 seconds to communicate their value proposition to shoppers amid the visual noise of retail environments. Watch to see how Nulo is meeting this challenge!

At a time when much of the wine industry is flat or in decline, Avaline — founded by Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power — is breaking sales records. In 2024, Avaline crossed 213,000 cases sold, generated $33.2 million in tracked retail sales, and saw 48.8% year-over-year growth.In this episode, we speak with Jen Purcell, Avaline's CEO, who has led the company to retail dominance. Under her leadership, Avaline has dialled in its retail strategy, becoming a top-selling wine at key retailers like Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Total Wine. They've expanded to all 50 U.S. states, and built a loyal DTC and affiliate customer base — all while disrupting wine norms with a transparent, health-conscious, and lifestyle-forward approach.In this episode, Jen shares:How Avaline built traction with consumers by emphasizing organic ingredients, clean labels, and simplicity over terroirWhy Avaline launched in retail first, grew DTC later, and is only now expanding into on-premiseThe thinking behind early SKUs like “White” and “Rosé,” and why the brand later expanded into varietals like Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon BlancHow the team grew an affiliate network of 700+ brand fans who drive sales through community-based storytellingWhy Avaline's marketing team is built with talent from fashion, beauty, and lifestyle — not wineWhat's working in paid ads, social, and influencer marketing — including a focus on UGC and lifestyle content over traditional product shotsLast Call:Do wine writers need formal wine certifications? That's the provocative question we're tackling on this week's Last Call on the Business of Drinks podcast — sparked by a viral Substack post from author Henry Jeffreys. With 134,000 people taking WSET exams in the past year alone, wine education is booming. But is it necessary to be a great communicator? We've got thoughts.Don't miss our next episode, dropping on May 14.For the latest updates, follow us:Business of Drinks:LinkedInInstagram @bizofdrinksErica Duecy, co-host: Erica Duecy is founder and co-host of Business of Drinks and one of the drinks industry's most accomplished digital and content strategists. She runs the consultancy and advisory arm of Business of Drinks and has built publishing and marketing programs for Drizly, VinePair, SevenFifty, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies.LinkedInInstagram @ericaduecyScott Rosenbaum, co-host: Scott Rosenbaum is co-host of Business of Drinks and a veteran strategist and analyst with deep experience building drinks portfolios. He currently serves as Head of Search at Distill Ventures. He was formerly the Vice President of T. Edward Wines & Spirits, a New York-based importer and distributor.LinkedInCaroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.LinkedInInstagram @borkalineSPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by eBev 2025 — the premier forum for beverage marketing leaders, happening May 28–30 at The Conrad in Indianapolis. Visit bevmarketing.org for more info.The next wave of beverage design is here! Check out Studio Garces at martigarces.es Reach out at hola@martigaces.es and mention Business of Drinks for a free 30 minute consultation. SWIG Partners is exclusively offering $100 off their supplier-distributor matchmaking fee when you mention the Business of Drinks podcast, or inquire via this link: ⁠https://www.swigpartners.com/businessofdrinksIf you enjoyed today's conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you're listening, and don't forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

In this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin chats with Roch LeFrancois, Director of Distribution at Tenaquip, a Canadian industrial supply distributor known for its wide-ranging catalog and focus on customer service. Roch shares how his passion for technology and operations has shaped his leadership journey across grocery, pharma, real estate, and distribution. With over 180,000 SKUs, automation challenges, and sky-high customer expectations, he emphasizes the importance of adaptability, balance, and keeping the human element central to every process.Learn more about Zebra Robotics here. Follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

This podcast is a part of a collection of podcasts recorded at ISC West 2025 and previously shared on social media. At ISC West 2025, BluebirdSales.io, an outsourced sales and marketing firm dedicated to the technology sector, showcased its deepening partnership with floLIVE, a global cellular MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) known for simplifying and scaling connectivity in security and IoT applications. Tom Dever, president and self-described “strategy guy” at BluebirdSales.io, explained the company's mission: “We're not just about sales—we're about helping technology companies build strategic paths to market. That means understanding the technical problems and delivering the right solutions to the right partners.” At ISC West, Dever and his team were onsite supporting floLIVE's booth, helping introduce the company's carrier-agnostic connectivity to a range of security-focused exhibitors and attendees. floLIVE enables OEMs and integrators to embed global, multi-carrier eSIMs into their products, providing automatic access to networks like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular—with no need for separate SKUs or carrier contracts. “It's a game-changer for manufacturers,” said Dever. “One SIM, one integration, and you're connected nearly anywhere.” floLIVE's technology is especially useful for security and monitoring devices—such as IP cameras and smart sensors—that need to transmit critical data from remote or variable locations. Their local IMSI capabilities ensure compliance with global data sovereignty rules, converting devices into local nodes on the cellular network and avoiding roaming restrictions in regions like Brazil and Turkey. Dever also spotlighted floLIVE's channel-friendly approach. MSPs and MSSPs can white-label floLIVE's platform or refer it as a connectivity solution, offering new revenue streams while enhancing customer deployments. “Partners can resell the service or embed it in their offerings—either way, it's a win-win,” he said. In addition to floLIVE, BluebirdSales.io is also engaged with global tech brands like Arduino and Grin. The latter showcased an M.2 module at ISC West featuring floLIVE-enabled connectivity with both cellular and Skylo satellite support—ideal for rugged deployments in agriculture, energy, or isolated security locations. BluebirdSales.io continues to bridge the gap between innovative products and effective go-to-market execution. As connectivity becomes increasingly central to physical security solutions, partnerships like the one between BluebirdSales and floLIVE are helping integrators, manufacturers, and MSPs meet the moment—with confidence and scale. Learn more at: www.floLIVE.net and www.bluebirdsales.io.

Back in the 1990s, Dilip Upmanyu sat in a room filled with servers as he pieced together a homegrown database of costs and SKUs. His employer at the time couldn't tell which products paid the bills; by dawn, the young financial analyst could. That improvised profitability model, he tells us, still informs his investment mindset today.Upmanyu never mistook rows of numbers for the whole story. Later joining IBM, he moved from product analytics to revenue accounting in a single year, then volunteered to face Wall Street. Preparing earnings decks, he practiced fielding questions until he could anticipate three out of four before the line opened. “Data matter only when you can explain the ‘why,' ” Upmanyu tells us.A misstep—a brilliant job wrapped in toxic politics—taught him culture diligence. From then on he evaluated environments as rigorously as balance sheets. That instinct paid off when NetIQ sold to Attachmate: suddenly he was steering a global integration that tripled his team and required fresh capital. He treated the chaos as a practicum in fundraising and leadership, logging the final credit hours for his CFO ambition.By the time Cloudera called in 2023, Upmanyu had stitched together every major finance discipline. Today he pushes growth by leading with the firm's public‑cloud platform and embedding AI into forecasting.

The 16:9 PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY SCREENFEED – DIGITAL SIGNAGE CONTENT If you go to big outdoor sports events, concerts in parks or even political rallies, there's a reasonable chance that what's happening is going to be relayed on a portable LED display that was wheeled into place by   trailer. My local footy team uses one and it is old and looks terrible. But that's not the norm, and certainly not for a Des Moines, Iowa company that is very specifically in the business of making and selling great-looking and bulletproof on-the-go LED trailers. Insane Impact has been at it for eight years and now has almost 500 units operating, mostly but not only in the United States. The flagship product is 17 feet wide by 10 feet tall, using 4mm LED and pushing as much as 7,500 nits. It's been designed to roll into place and be up and running in 10 minutes or less - even if a doofus like me was told to get it lit up. I had a really good chat with Tod Puetz, who started the company after first being a user, when he was in the golf equipment business. In this podcast, we get into a lot of things - including how he had the foresight to get ahead of the tariffs turmoil and pre-ordered enough electronics and hardware to hopefully ride out these uncertain months. We also talk about use-cases and probably the most curious application to date - drive-in funerals when COVID was raging. Subscribe from wherever you pick up new podcasts. TRANSCRIPT Tod, thank you for joining me. Can you tell me what Insane Impact does, where you're based, those kinds of nuts and bolts questions?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, appreciate it Dave. Insane Impact, primarily focused on LED as a business, but we are an audio video integration company based out of Des Moines, Iowa.  Des Moines. So you're in flyover country? Tod Puetz: Absolutely.  It's actually very handy there because you're like two hours away from the East Coast and two hours away from the West coast, right?  Tod Puetz: It really is. Just in proximity here in the central part of the US, where our corporate office and warehouse location is about 65 seconds from the airport Des Moines International, so very easy to get in. All the major interstate throwaways between I-29 North and South and I-35 North and South, and then I-80 West. We're pretty much within minutes of getting anywhere we need to go east, west, north, or south.  Nice. How long has the company been around?  Tod Puetz: We started up in 2015, flipped the switch basically late December, 2015 and have been going rock and roll. So we're coming up on our 10 year anniversary here in December.  You are a founder?  Tod Puetz: I am, yeah. Founder and CEO.  So what compelled you to do this? What did you see in the marketplace that said, okay, this is what I should do?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, really the CliffNotes version, my former life was in the golf business. I was a manufacturer sales rep for TaylorMade Golf, and I was introduced to a gentleman here locally in Des Moines that had an older video truck and basically saw an opportunity to utilize that as a sales tool to help me sell more golf clubs.  So we took this video truck out on the driving range here locally in Des Moines, hooked it up to the launch monitor and, gosh, that was almost 18 years ago. Back then it was a big deal. Not a lot of people in your run of the mill average daily golfer really ever had an op opportunity to do that. They'd seen it on tour. But we brought the bigs out to the little team here in some of these country clubs, and again, larger than life. They were able to see their stats up on the screen and really fell in love with the technology back then, and were able to utilize that for a number of years after that initial introduction. What was it back then? What was the technology back then, early LED?  Tod Puetz: It was an SMD, It was an early 8x8 millimeter SMD back then. I refer to it as antiquated, but back then, it was pretty fresh and new. But yeah, just the idea of being able to drive this thing up to the driving range, the wings folded open on this thing and, within minutes we're plug and play and just really, fell in love with that concept. ,  Yeah. So did you buy the business from him or just get something going on your own? Tod Puetz: Did not. We utilized them. It was a kind of a one man show there. It was more of a hobby for individuals, and they used it for four or five years. But they weren't interested in scaling this thing. As my career with TaylorMade progressed more and more, I ended up working with other companies, just trying to understand the LED business. So I branched out and helped a few other smaller LED niche companies to try to generate some business in the sports space. We just had a lot of relationships with the golf business and yeah, really just took the concept and I knew there was a different mouse trap here with that type of opportunity to scale it, that's where we started things in late 2015. So the idea is just at its bare essentials, and I think most people understand this anyways, but just in case, is you've got a foldable all in one LED display that's on a trailer and your customers are rolling it out to different locations, whether they're entertainment events, sports events or something else, and finding power, plugging it in, open it, and driving a signal to it, and you've got a big display where it needs to be for three days or three weeks or whatever it is, right?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, absolutely. By no means, does Insane Impact claim to be the inventor of mobile LED. Obviously, that has been one man for a very long time. Our business, Insane Impact, started up on the rental side. We designed, fabricated and engineered a handful of units, just to service what we thought was gonna be a Midwest boutique rental business and very quickly became a national presence. And what we found was that the same people were renting products two, three and four times a year, and really, our thought process was, why don't we just own one of these things, and we can use it 365 days a year, if we want? And again, there were already customers out there, there were common trucks that were selling trailers, but it wasn't popular and we really started working back in 2016 to develop a plan where if you own the product, we can certainly start to feed your business as well, you can be part of our rental network and that's really what kind of, put the fuel on the fire. Each year, more and more units in the field, more and more customers from parks and municipalities, armed forces, college, university, all of the usual suspects out there that use these things on a regular basis, really became the traction for rapid growth in this endeavor.  So your company, it's an interesting kind of mashup of different competencies, so to speak, in that if you are manufacturing rolling stock with lots of heavy-duty metals and wheels and everything else, that's one thing. And then at the polar opposite, you've got fairly sensitive electronics. So you're doing both sides of that, right?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, absolutely. We take a fully engineered and manufactured trailer. These trailers weigh anywhere from 3,500 pounds on our smallest unit up to 18,000 pounds on a triple axle gooseneck. And they've got real high end LEDs permanently. We've approached it a little bit differently. We're putting a fixed product on it. So something that's used to and withstands the elements pretty much anywhere, including the road, and then obviously everything else on the unit is fully protected from shock, from absorption of weather. Everything's IP67 through the components side of things, and IP65 on the trailer, fully powder coated system.  So we've really built, tried, and tested a product that's gonna last and withstand the elements going up and down the road at 75 miles an hour in any extreme environment.  I'm guessing that you, in your early years, had some lessons, whether they were hard ones or whatever.  Tod Puetz: Yeah, absolutely. It wouldn't be any fun if we didn't. Our first major lesson that we learned, Dave and I think this is really what sets us apart is that we did the hang and bang modular cabinets on our product for the first, probably two and a half years and we learned the lesson real quick that those just aren't designed to withstand the long-lasting road and weather, wear and tear. At the time, that's what everybody was using it and that's kind of where we were at. It took a lot of headaches, blood and sweat, for those first two years to figure out what product really made sense. For the last four and a half years, we've really been rock and rolling on a specific product, chassis, and stuff that just really outperformed, in a big way. So that was a very painful lesson because you're a year into this thing, and you've got issues, and those are hard to come by as a startup, but we were able to weather the storm and find what really worked for us and I think that really separate us from most right now is we just, we're putting some of the best products out there on the market on these trailers. And you not only have to make it bulletproof, but I suspect you have to do it down like crazy, because this can not be something that takes 45 minutes and has a checklist, like launching a rocket or something. It's gotta roll into place and find power and open the hinges, lock them down, and get a signal in, right? Tod Puetz: Yeah, you nailed it. I think one of the things as we built this thing out, Dave, is that the single most important part was customer focus and customer friendly, and I will tell you that you yourself, or even my 18-year-old daughter, can get this thing up and running in less than 10 minutes. We pride ourselves on delivering a turnkey functional unit to our flagship product, which is our Max 1710. You can pull in, and it'll take you longer to unhook it than it will to turn it on and set it up in some respects. We offer a generator-powered option or a battery-powered option. We've got a fully self-sustained, lithium-ion pack that is performing at an incredible level right now, which we're really excited about.  So we worked with a major organization probably about 18 months ago, in the Armed Forces space, and we worked with them to design a fully self-sustainable battery pack solution and were really excited about that. We can talk about that a little bit more here, but at the end of the day, our electronics cabinet is an IP67 rated rack that basically opens it up, and as you know, with everything, we run Nova Star. So everything is just a straight playback video. So just hit the breakers, hit the power switch, and you're off and running. So we really did wanna make this thing turnkey. They come fully self-sustained with audio as well. We wanted to make sure that anybody and everybody could operate this thing very quickly.  Is there a media playout box in there, or do you use an external feed and then just plug it into an HDMI or whatever it may be? Tod Puetz: Plenty of different options. Most often our customers, like your Park and Rec municipality, the people that are using this thing to play movies and stuff, they're just streaming it off the laptop. But we got an IO box that they can drop in, SDI, fiber, anything else if you're running or whatever it might be. But yeah, anybody can bring us any signal within, within a minute, and we're up and running. So really trying to get in that turnkey facet of this thing to make sure that we're in a good spot.  Okay, so you're sourcing the trailer from a third-party manufacturer as opposed to bending metal and doing all that yourself and you're sourcing the electronics, and you're basically doing final assembly, right?  Tod Puetz: Correct. Yep.  Doing it the other way would be very complicated.  Tod Petz: We did that when we first started this little venture, we hired engineers, we bought the welders, we were buying cut parts and building them ourselves, and we realized very quickly that in a 4,000 square foot facility that when this thing takes up, it'd be impossible to keep up. So we were very fortunate to find a local vendor that was in the trailer business already but they took a liking to what we were doing, and it really has just been a wonderful partnership and relationship with them. They build a fantastic product, best-in-class warranty around it, and it's really the fit and the finish from premium laser cut, premium powder coat finishes, all the details that are there, and certainly, we work with some of the best engineers out there in the marketplace to create the best product so really exciting to have that partnership. On the LED side and the electronics side, we're taking the trailer and we're taking the electronics and we're putting the fit and finish on it and making it function and delivering a finished product.  I assume you have some sort of a contract manufacturer or a finished goods supplier in, whether it's China, Taiwan, or somewhere else you're sourcing from. Tod Puetz: On the electronic side, yeah, we do. So we actually just made an announcement here yesterday. We are partnered with DVS (Dynamic Visual Solutions). We've been working with them for almost six years now.  Obviously, Chinese based, but we got in touch with the owner and the CEO of the US business almost six years ago and kind of started to understand what it meant for us and what it meant for them to be a partner and really have our hands on the technology, help them with some of the design elements that we needed within the product to make sure that it was gonna pass the buck and make sure that it lasted and, almost six years later. But, yeah, we just had a nice press release announcing the partnership. We got a huge opportunity with them with the craziness that's going on out there in the space. But great company, wonderful products, best-in-class warranties, and we've had the ability to shape what that product needs to be on our trailers.  I suspect that was a bit of a journey too, finding the right supplier because we've all heard the stories about different companies who make a lot of promises, but what shows up isn't what you thought you were getting. Tod Puetz: Yeah, it was. So we had gone through probably three to five different manufacturers, three to four at least prior to getting with DVS and it's very painful on that side of it because you are dealing with somebody over in China, and sleepless nights and figuring stuff out and a startup and all of the fun things that happen around that. When we were able to locate, DVS was based out of Florida. They really just took a liking to what we were doing and threw all the chips on the table and said, we've got a great modular rental business going, but we're really intrigued about this mobile solution. How can we help? And we really started to dig cautiously optimistic out of the gate because there are thousands of people out there trying to get the business in some respects.  Could we go to one of the major five or six? Yeah, we certainly could have, but we felt like there was a little bit more of an intimate approach to this. We were a newer company. We took our time getting into what we really wanted, and we felt like we had a little more leverage working with a decent-sized company. And with somebody who's got an office in Florida as opposed to Shenzhen or Beijing. Tod Puetz: Correct.  I don't want to get too deep into what's going on right now, but how are you navigating the tariff situation right now?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, that's the million dollar question and in some cases, multi millions. When I started this company, Dave, I had two stances that I wanted to live by. One, I was gonna over-index on our employees and make sure that we had the right people in the right seats, and take very good care of them. The other one that came later on, probably after we had established and it was I'm never gonna run out of products. I just know that if we have products, we'll sell them.  So after those first three, four years, we put ourselves in a position where we've rubber stamped our products, we know who we're selling to, we know what our core markets are, and we've got the right people in the right seats and I just knew that if I would run out of product, then I just make sure that we are collectively chasing the business. That's a really hard thing to do. But fortunately, we've got the right vendors to do this with.  So back in November, after the current administration was elected or they won the nomination, knowing that this discussion of tariffs was on the horizon, we took a very calculated and risky approach, but we went out and bought a slew of equipment. So we bought basically upwards of almost a year of supply in LEDs out front. We went to our trailer manufacturer. They bought a year's worth of supply of our top three SKUs and hedged the bet with us. So we're in a little different position than most, again, there are a lot of people out there who probably did the same thing. I'm not the only one out there who took that risk, but we did take the risk, and it's certainly paying off. That kind of gets you an idea of where we're at and how we've run our business. We just don't wanna run out of products. So fast forward to today in reality, I think there's a blinking that's happening, there's a stance, and this isn't a political statement by any means. This is just our gut feeling on this is, I feel like it's gotta loosen up a little bit here. It can only go so hard and so fast. But we've been able to weather the tariff storm, internally at Insane, impacted by some of the stuff we did on the front end. We have not been significantly impacted by LEDs. If we're to place orders today on LEDs. Honestly, it's been fairly minimal in the impact. We're seeing some of the expensive shipping surcharges that are happening. But I think there's just buying power that's come with some of the things that we've done with our manufacturer to keep them rocking and rolling, that have helped us mitigate a little bit of this. But you're not like some of these companies where they're wringing their hands, okay, in order to get something out of a container in Long Beach, California, I need to write a check for an extra million dollars that I had not anticipated.  Tod Puetz: Yeah, we're not dealing with that. I think where this thing's really impacted, the hundreds of, I'm just gonna call them mom and pop manufacturers over there, whether they're manufacturers or just the days of them just shipping, 12x7s into the States by air is probably coming to an end or they're pricing themselves out of the market a little bit. Either that or they just don't care. But I think a lot of this is the consolidation in the short-term impact that we've seen in real life. The long-term impact, in my opinion, is gonna weed some of them out, and then obviously you've got all the Chinese entity companies, the larger players in the game that are having to come to market with distribution here in the US, where it impacts us the most. So they're adding additional layers of cost and it's really gonna open the door from what we're seeing, it's gonna open the door for us to other markets by virtue of that since we're already and established US distributor. When you first got in touch, I didn't know that much about you and thought, you're a rental company, but I was intrigued that, sure, you do rentals, but really, you're a manufacturer and you're selling to companies who are more regional rental companies. That's accurate, correct?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, it's interesting. So we've really got three business units, Dave. But we started off as a rental company with a primary focus on the mobile solution. We did have modular hanging bangs as well that we took care of some specific customers, but when we kinda uncovered the opportunity, evolved is a great word into the more offside of the business selling video trailers, that opened up a whole other segment of opportunity for us to then really start to take a look at the fixed install stuff.  Our three business units are really, primarily led by the mobile video solution on the trailers, and other new innovative products coming. Now, by the way, we do the marquees and the scoreboards and the highway signs, the airport conference room takeover stuff. We do all of that as well, and oh, by the way, customers that have video trailers, they become part of our cross-rental network. So this nucleus business unit feeds that we have, one feeds the other and that feeds another. It's really that we create a really cool situation here that allows us to have return business from our customers in all of those different facets. Because if you can't afford it, you can rent it. If you rent it too many times, then you can afford to buy it, and oh, by the way, we can replace your scoreboard or we can replace your, your, your classroom or your theater, modular wall, whatever it might be.  We do all three of them, and we do, we feel like we do them pretty well, and again, we're very lucky to have those three business units that fill the pipeline on a regular basis.  Is there a rule of thumb as to that point where, okay, we can rent this five times a year and that makes financial sense, but there's a certain break point where it makes more sense just to buy it? Tod Puetz: Yeah, that's a wonderful question because it really comes down to there's such a tremendous education process. Again, up until maybe, really when we started, at least here in the US, there was nobody else that was mass producing or really proactively selling to the end customer, and when we started doing that, we were very fortunate just to have some relationships where they actually saw the light. “Oh, this makes sense.”  Yeah, it's a high school or a college, and they're using it for their game day stuff. But what's been more fun for me in this company is to see just the evolution of the education that's had that's happened. Going to a city administrator and telling them, hey, it's not just the three movie nights a year, it's all of your chamber events. It's the community support events, it's the fundraiser stuff. So when they start to understand the use case of these items, these trailers, and that they can turn and burn and have these things up and running, whether it's just mass notification, you've got storms coming, or just any and all of those things.  Once they understand the full use case of applications that these products can offer, then the light comes on, and then it becomes a much easier conversation for them to take to the stakeholders and say, alright, we really need this. Here are all the reasons why. So our sales team is incredibly focused on the educational side of the business on how this can impact the community, campus, etc.  I realize you have a number of different sizes and everything else, but, for your primary selling unit, what would that cost?  And if I wanted to rent it for a weekend, if I'm in Ames, Iowa, what would that cost to rent it for a weekend?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, great question. So our flagship product is our Max 1710. So 17 wide, 10 foot tall, 3.9 millimeters on their turnkey generator operation, delivery, and tech. To rent that thing for a day, in this market, it does vary a little bit based on coast to coast. You get a three-day festival and you're spending $7,500 to 8,000 bucks for a screen that's operated that comes turnkey, that has power if needed. That's gonna turn the lights on and be reliable. So that's a pretty good snapshot of what we offer from a rate card on that specific product. If somebody wants to buy it, I'm gonna say turnkey trailer screen electronics, generator, audio. If you want the Mac Daddy package delivered to your doorstep, you're in that $150-160k range, which is gonna get you, 10-year parts, five-year labor on LED screen warranty, five-year parts, five-year labor on the trailer warranty, and then obviously an electronics warranty. So you're really protecting the investment there, Dave.  We're not the most expensive in the marketplace. We're definitely not the least. We feel like we're in a really good slot, and I think our adoption within the marketplace probably supports that. But that gives you a quick snapshot of where we're at from the pricing structure. So if you're a company that's on the rental side of it, you could see an ROI in a year if you're in a busy market.  Tod Puetz: Absolutely. Yeah. I think, 1710, and this doesn't factor in your cogs, your travel, your truck, your tech, etc. Sure. But if you get 20 to 25 really strong rental events within your market on a single day's use, you're right there certainly, being able to pay it back.  And it goes back to that education process. When we sell a customer a unit, we don't guarantee them any business, in terms of what we can bring to them from the cross-rental network. We're very forthright about that. But what does happen is if you're a proven, vetted, rental partner out there in the marketplace, you can bet, you're gonna get some help with monetizing this thing. That's the unique part about this business relationship with our customers on the trailer side is: we're gonna help you guys monetize the unit over time.  I have season tickets to the local Canadian Premier League soccer team that does very well here. They pull 6,500 people to games, but it's at a somewhat temporary stadium, and they have an LED display, it looks like maybe a 17x10 on a truck.  I severely doubt it's yours because it's a piece of crap. It's not very bright, it's not very crisp or anything, but it's something, so I gather that this can be all over the map in terms of what you rent. If you're an end user, you have to pay attention to the specs.  Tod Puetz: Absolutely. We prided ourselves on being the leader when it comes to what products are out there on mobile products, in and of itself. But it really comes down to the screen at the end of the day. I guess we will probably take it a step further. We do take a lot of pride in the physical trailer itself, the metal that this thing rides on, because that's as important to me as it's the LED.  But at the end of the day, having something that you can put up in direct sunlight and have the most quality, crisp image, is what we've over-indexed on that in a good way. So what we come to market with is a 7500 nit, 3.9 product, competitively in the marketplace. 3.9 from our core competitors are in that 4500-5500 nit and it just overpowers everything.  So again, if you're rolling up to the game for a little pre-game watch party, you're gonna get the best viewing experience possible, with some of the product. But we do pay a lot of attention to the spec, the physical components, the quality, and that's very close to our chest, so we don't take that for granted. So you're doing lots of sports and entertainment events, probably some corporate events. I'm curious, what's the most unusual one that you're aware of?  Tod Puetz: It was interesting. You look at Covid and the impact that it had on the industry, and all of these companies out there that have stages and rigging and modular and everything else, they took a little bit of a bath at the onset of Covid, and really, what allowed us to squeeze in and continue to, I would say, entertain, but take care of customers that had to continue to engage, whether it was employees or crowds or whatever.  So we did everything. But this leads up to your question, doing drive-in funerals was probably one of the most unique things that we've done. They couldn't get into the churches, so we were pulling up to large parking lots and they were streaming the funeral from inside the church out to the streets. It was really wild, but I bet we did anywhere from 50 to 60 funerals in late 2020 and in early 2021 until the restrictions relaxed a little bit. So we had funeral homes. We probably have three or four customers that actually own these, as a result of Covid, and they continue to use them for different settings in the church and funeral space. That would be the one that comes to mind, honestly, is that kind of the most bizarre one that you never really think about? Yeah.  How many units do you have out there, roughly?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, so we shipped the first unit in January of 2017 to a gasoline company in Texas. By the end of this month, the end of April, we delivered right around 495 units into the marketplace all around the US. We've got some army bases and navy bases over in Japan. We've got a handful of units over in Europe, a good chunk over in Hawaii, obviously I know that's US, but largely, 95 to 97% of what we've got is here in the lower 48. We do have a few up in your neck of the woods as well, but, yeah, we've been very to lead the charge there as it relates to the go to product in the marketplace. Super interesting. If people wanna know more, they just find you at insaneimpact.com?  Tod Puetz: Yeah, InsaneImpact.com. They can learn a little bit more about everything we do, but it's an exciting time for us. I know there's a little bit of uncertainty and doom and gloom, but we're just keeping our heads down. We've got customers that want the product. They may want it, but how do we get them to realize that they need the product to continue to advance their business, regardless of the sector, and I think if they get in touch with our folks, we're putting ourselves in a good spot to provide really good information and provide a great solid starting base for our conversation. I'm impressed with the advanced planning that you did. I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who were sitting around this week and saying, I didn't see that coming.  Tod Puetz: Head on a swivel constantly, there's no question.  Alright, Todd, thanks very much for taking the time.  Tod Puetz: Dave, I appreciate you. Take care now!

Ari Zecher is a former special operations commander turned entrepreneur and the co-founder of Deepsee Commerce, a boutique Amazon agency. Known for his disciplined leadership and strategic expertise, Ari blends creativity with data to help brands scale and thrive.> Here's a glimpse of what you would learn…. Simplifying complex variables in e-commerce for growth and profitability.Importance of understanding core metrics: revenue, profit, traffic, conversion rate, and average order value (AOV).Analyzing traffic sources to enhance revenue generation.Developing effective keyword strategies for targeted traffic and conversions.Utilizing creative strategies to improve brand messaging and product visibility.Focus on profitability through realistic expectations and key metrics like Total Advertising Cost of Sales (TACoS).Importance of inventory management and its impact on organic rankings and sales.The flywheel effect of maintaining optimal inventory levels for improved performance.Systematic approaches to operations, including regular monitoring and proactive problem-solving.Continuous testing and iteration of strategies to refine approaches and drive better outcomes.In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, hosted by Josh Hadley, Ari Zecher, co-founder of DeepSee Commerce, shares insights on simplifying complex variables in e-commerce to drive growth and profitability. Ari emphasizes focusing on key metrics like traffic, conversion rate, and average order value (AOV). He outlines a systematic approach for brands to boost topline revenue through traffic analysis, keyword strategy, and creative messaging. Additionally, Ari discusses the importance of inventory management, proactive problem-solving, and leveraging Amazon's features to enhance customer experience and conversion rates. This episode offers actionable strategies for scaling e-commerce businesses effectively.Here are the 3 action items that Josh identified from this episode:Action Item #1: Prioritize High-Impact Metrics for Growth – Focus on the key drivers of revenue and profitability: Traffic, Conversion Rate, and Average Order Value (AOV). Leverage tools like Google Analytics and Amazon Brand Analytics to track traffic sources, optimize listings for high-performing keywords, and ensure consistent branding across all product pages.Action Item #2: Improve Profitability by Managing TACoS and Returns – Monitor Total Advertising Cost of Sales (TACoS) to optimize ad spend and ensure efficient use of marketing budgets. Reduce return rates by refining product descriptions, using accurate imagery, and addressing common customer misunderstandings to protect margins.Action Item #3: Optimize Inventory to Maintain Organic Rankings – Avoid stockouts by keeping at least 45 days of inventory, as Amazon deprioritizes low-stock items in search rankings. Use data-driven forecasting, prioritize hero SKUs, and implement an inventory monitoring system to maintain visibility and sales momentum.Resources mentioned in this episode:Scoop DataData DiveHelium 10Jungle ScoutFathom Note TakerMonday.comDeepSee CommerceThe E-Myth by Michael E. GerberZero to One by Peter ThielMary Ruth OrganicsRidge WalletSimple ModernOperators PodcastBrandon Young on LinkedInEzra Firestone on LinedInSpecial Mention(s):Adam “Heist” Runquist on LinkedInKevin King on LinkedInMichael E. Gerber on LinkedInRelated Episode(s):“Cracking the Amazon Code: Learn From Adam Heist's Brand Scaling Secrets” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast“Kevin King's Wicked-Smart Tips for Building an Audience of Raving Fans” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast“Unlocking Entrepreneurial Greatness | Insider Secrets With E-myth Author Michael Gerber” on the eComm Breakthrough PodcastEpisode SponsorSponsor for this episode...This episode is brought to you by eComm Breakthrough Consulting where I help seven-figure e-commerce owners grow to eight figures. I started my business in 2015 and grew it to an eight-figure brand in seven years.I made mistakes along the way that made the path to eight figures longer. At times I doubted whether our business could even survive and become a real brand. I wish I would have had a guide to help me grow faster and avoid the stumbling blocks.If you've hit a plateau and want to know the next steps to take your business to the next level, then email me at josh@ecommbreakthrough.com and in your subject line say “strategy audit” for the chance to win a $10,000 comprehensive business strategy audit at no cost!Transcript AreaJosh Hadl...

Send us a textIn this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we talk with Justin Baer, an entrepreneur passionate about blending comfort and style into professional wear. Justin shares his journey from a tech-focused entrepreneur to founding Collars & Co., known for their innovative Dress Collar Polo — the perfect hybrid of dress shirt style with polo shirt comfort.Originally a side project launched during the pandemic, Justin's brand has grown exponentially, boasting over 300 SKUs, a 20,000 sq ft warehouse, and 20+ employees. Featured on Shark Tank, The Wall Street Journal, and Men's Health, Collars & Co. is more than just apparel — it's a community dedicated to excellence, integrity, and creativity.Highlights Include:Entrepreneurial Journey: Justin always had a knack for business, growing up in a family where Wall Street Journals replaced Sports Illustrated. After years in tech and software, the discomfort of daily dress shirts in NYC inspired him to create a new kind of apparel.The Launch Story: Using a Shopify store, DIY photoshoots, and a TikTok video filmed by his daughter, Justin's first shirts sold out almost immediately — proof of demand for stylish comfort.Customer Experience Focus: Transitioning from B2B to direct-to-consumer, Justin emphasizes constant learning, using data-driven A/B testing to refine online shopping experiences. They prioritize customer support, treating every customer "like a celebrity."Key Skills Sharpened:Video editing and social media marketing (vital for brand building),Accounting and financial acumen (essential for growth),Customer service excellence (building a brand voice and culture internally and externally).Essential Tools: Shopify and Triple Whale (for e-commerce attribution) are vital to their daily operations.Book Recommendations: The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes, highlighting the power of letting data sell for you.Customer Perspective: As a shopper himself, Justin values social proof, return policies, and responsive support — factors Collars & Co. strives to excel at.Expanding the Line: While Collars & Co. began with menswear, a women's collection is underway, recognizing the significant demand and opportunity in women's fashion.What's Next: Justin is excited about launching a performance dress shirt line in partnership with Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team, offering high-tech, cool-to-the-touch fabrics for modern professionals.Mindset on Challenges: Justin embraces adversity, viewing problems as opportunities to improve — a philosophy that has fueled Collars & Co.'s rapid success.Find Justin Online:Website: www.collarsandco.comLinkedIn: Justin BaerInstagram/TikTok: @collarsandcoclothingClosing Thought: Justin's story is a reminder that true innovation often comes from solving personal problems — with grit, creativity, and a commitment to excellence. Whether you're looking for entrepreneurial insights, fashion industry tips, or inspiration to chase your own ideas, this conversation offers invaluable lessons.

Dexter Weber of TGW Logistics talks about the trends, challenges & opportunities in warehouse logistics; building strategic partnerships; and TGW's new brand.   IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:   [05.31] TGW's 50+ year journey from small fitters shop in Austria to global manufacturing leader. “Part of our journey was becoming a foundation-owned company... We reinvest our profits into our solutions and capabilities, and to charity. We're not chasing goals and pleasing shareholders – we're focused on that long-term vision.” [09.07] Where TGW are now, their vision for the future, and a why they're unveiling a new brand for a new era. [12.21] The ideal client for TGW Logistics. “What we're really looking for is someone that wants to build a true partnership. We need to be an extension of their team and share a vision to really accomplish the goals they want to achieve. Being collaborative makes sure we're both successful.” “Building relationships and trust is the foundation of any good, solid business project.” [15.03] The landscape of warehouse logistics and, from service level agreements and inventory to skill shortages and temperature control, the biggest challenges in the industry right now. [19.56] From improving fulfilment speeds to facilitating more frequent small shipments from stores, the biggest opportunities in warehouse logistics and ecommerce, and why automation is increasingly important in helping organizations pursue those opportunities. “Automation, at its core, is all about process improvement. The goal is to eliminate multiple non-value-add manual touches, boosting speeds… You can take manual efforts, that may take hours or days, to pick orders – and move it up to minutes.” [23.44] Robotics, conveyor, automatic storage and retrieval systems – the different types of automation TGW uses within their solutions. [25.19] How TGW work with customers to understand their challenges and develop customized solutions, using their warehouse automation technologies, to help customers achieve smarter, more efficient intralogistics. “We have experts in different areas, so we can understand the industries a lot better: what do their typical supply chain setups look like? What are some common challenges?… Then we look at each process in the warehouse, from receiving to outbound.” [29.24] The warehouse management software that sits behind TGW's products, and how that tech pulls everything together. “The WMS is the backbone of your warehouse operations. [31.18] How TGW support both equipment and software with their range of lifetime services, and how they build strategic bonds with customers to empower them to meet their short-term goals as well as plan and prepare for long-term success. [35.28] A case study showing how TGW helped a key client tackle big issues to create a network of 650,000 storage locations, managing 125,000 SKUs, with the ability to handle more than 300,000 order lines per day during peak season, ultimately helping them to achieve the best cost per unit in their entire network. [40.09] From mobile and palletizing robotics to robotic picking, the trends and technologies shaping the future of the warehouse logistics sector.   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:   Head over to TGW Logistics' website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with TGW and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or you can connect with Dexter on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more about warehousing, listen to 412: Maximize Warehouse Efficiency and Profitability, with CargoWise or read The Warehouse of the Future.

In this episode of Add To Cart, we sit down with Sean Walsh, Director at Pattern Australia, the ecommerce accelerator trusted by brands like Thankyou, Coco & Eve, Evo Hair, Bellroy and Quad Lock to grow their marketplace presence globally. Sean unpacks the true levers of marketplace success, from cleaning up your distribution to mastering Amazon's algorithm with evergreen SKUs and keyword-first content. As the man behind the largest third-party seller on Amazon globally outside of Amazon itself, with 39 trillion data points at his fingertips, Sean delivers a no-nonsense, high-impact guide to building long-term, scalable marketplace strategies. Whether you're still on the sidelines or already live on Amazon, this episode will change how you think about growth.This episode was brought to you by: Shopify PlusKlaviyoAbout your guest: With nearly two decades of experience in digital and e-commerce growth, Sean has been instrumental in scaling brands across global marketplaces. As a foundational team member of a pureplay e-commerce startup that grew into a publicly traded company, he has firsthand experience building and accelerating digital businesses. Now leading brand acceleration efforts at Pattern, Sean specialises in helping top-tier brands navigate Amazon and other marketplaces, leveraging innovative supply chain solutions to drive growth. Passionate about innovation and strategy, he thrives on creating impactful solutions that propel brands to success.About your host: Nathan Bush is the host of the Add To Cart podcast and a leading ecommerce transformation consultant. He has led eCommerce for businesses with revenue $100m+ and has been recognised as one of Australia's Top 50 People in eCommerce four years in a row. You can contact Nathan on LinkedIn, Twitter or via email.Please contact us if you: Want to come on board as an Add To Cart sponsor Are interested in joining Add To Cart as a co-host Have any feedback or suggestions on how to make Add To Cart betterEmail hello@addtocart.com.au We look forward to hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fresh off the ADI awards stage, Jon Hillgren—founder of Hernö Gin Distillery in Härnösand, Sweden—joins host Ronnell Richards to celebrate an unprecedented third-straight Best-in-Class win. From crafting organic botanicals 500 km north of Stockholm to breaking into U.S. markets via ADI's International Spirits Competition, Jon explains how patience, precision, and purposeful marketing turned a small Nordic gin house into a global sensation.Winning Three Years RunningWhy Hernö's London Dry, Navy Strength, and Old Tom gins each captured ADI's top honor in consecutive years.How consistent medal wins translate directly into distribution deals—most recently in California.Crafting Gin Above the 62nd ParallelThe flavor impact of sourcing 100 % certified-organic botanicals in Sweden's cool climate.Why Hernö lets each batch rest a full 24 hours (instead of the industry-standard five) to maximize aroma extraction.Choosing the Right CompetitionsJon's criteria for entering only six global competitions—focusing on jury expertise, professional organization, and marketing reach.How ADI uniquely connects medal-winners with U.S. buyers across multiple states.Building a Single-Category BrandThe strategy behind being “hard-core gin only” and offering London Dry, Navy Strength, Old Tom, terroir-driven editions, and limited collectibles for aficionados.Balancing core SKUs with small-batch releases to keep both bartenders and collectors engaged.Advice for International DistillersWhy European producers should view ADI as a gateway to America's 50 distinct spirits markets.The importance of face-to-face networking at conferences where distillers, glass suppliers, and importers converge.On Craft Over Speed:“We could finish a batch in five hours, but we wouldn't be up here collecting awards every year.” – Jon HillgrenOn Choosing Competitions Wisely:“We focus on contests that are professionally run and reach real buyers. One medal is nice; three in a row is marketing gold.” – Jon HillgrenOn ADI's Unique Value:“Winning here doesn't just get you a trophy—it gets your bottles in front of state-by-state buyers. That's how we landed in California.” – Jon HillgrenHernö Gin Distillery: https://www.hernogin.comExplore core expressions and limited releases.Find U.S. availability and international stockists.American Distilling Institute (ADI): https://distilling.comLearn about membership, judging criteria, and next year's International Spirits Competition.Follow Hernö on Instagram (@hernogin): Track new cask finishes, seasonal foraged gins, and distillery news.Taste the Triple Winner: Order Hernö London Dry or Old Tom and experience why judges keep handing it gold.Enter Your Spirits: Distillers outside the U.S.—submit to ADI and leverage its buyer introductions.Join ADI: Tap into a global network, attend the next conference, and elevate your craft.Powered By: American Distilling InstituteHost: Ronnell RichardsGuest: Jon Hillgren, Hernö Gin DistilleryLocation: Recorded onsite immediately after the 2025 ADI Awards CeremonyEnjoyed this episode?Rate & Review the show on your favorite podcast app.Subscribe for more conversations with the world's most innovative distillers.Join ADI and be part of the craft-spirits movement: https://distilling.com/membershipRaise a glass—because every drop has a story and every voice advances the heart of distilling.Thank You for Listening!

While much of the wine industry is flat or declining, Archer Roose is bucking the trend in a big way. The canned wine brand, founded by Marian Leitner-Waldman, has more than tripled production since 2021, surpassed 100,000 9-liter case equivalents, and is on track to double again in 2025. With its distinct format, irreverent branding, and placement in non-traditional channels like JetBlue, Dave & Buster's, Vail Resorts, and Regal Cinemas, Archer Roose is proving that smart strategy and sharp storytelling can rewrite the wine sales playbook.In this episode, Marian shares how she built Archer Roose into one of the most innovative and fast-growing wine brands in the U.S. — a company that's not only thriving but helping reshape how, where, and why consumers enjoy wine today.Listen for these insights:How Marian built a premium wine brand that's grown every year since launch and now sells 70,000 cases annually on JetBlue aloneWhy partnering with beer distributors was the key to breaking into non-traditional channels like ski resorts, arcades, and movie theatersThe technical innovations that enabled Archer Roose to achieve a 2-year shelf life in cans, thanks to R&D with Cornell UniversityWhy Archer Roose focuses on 7 tightly curated SKUs and builds winemaker partnerships for each varietal and regionHow celebrity co-owner Elizabeth Banks became Chief Creative Officer and helped the brand go viral — while also keeping the focus on the end consumerHow controlled pours, waste reduction, and high-margin glass sales have made Archer Roose a profit-driving partner for on-premise operatorsWhy Marian structured her sales team like a tech company, with dedicated roles for business development, key accounts, and regional wholesale managementHow the brand uses humor and performance marketing to build mindshare across DTC, retail, and on-premise accountsLast Call: This week, we talk about seasonal selling. Are limited time offers or holiday promotions — like margaritas for Cinco de Mayo or Negroni Week in summer — good, bad, or indifferent? Caroline, Scott, and Erica share their perspectives.Don't miss our next episode, dropping on 4/30.For the latest updates, follow us:Business of Drinks:LinkedInInstagram @bizofdrinksErica Duecy, co-host: Erica Duecy is founder and co-host of Business of Drinks and one of the drinks industry's most accomplished digital and content strategists. She runs the consultancy and advisory arm of Business of Drinks and has built publishing and marketing programs for Drizly, VinePair, SevenFifty, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies.LinkedInInstagram @ericaduecyScott Rosenbaum, co-host: Scott Rosenbaum is co-host of Business of Drinks and a veteran strategist and analyst with deep experience building drinks portfolios. He currently serves as Head of Search at Distill Ventures. He was formerly the Vice President of T. Edward Wines & Spirits, a New York-based importer and distributor.LinkedInCaroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.LinkedInInstagram @borkalineSPONSOR: SWIG Partners is exclusively offering $100 off their supplier-distributor matchmaking fee when you mention the Business of Drinks podcast, or inquire via this link: ⁠https://www.swigpartners.com/businessofdrinksIf you enjoyed today's conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you're listening, and don't forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

Jared Smith is the CEO of PriceSmith, a consulting firm specializing in pricing strategies for distributors and light manufacturers. With a background in pricing systems from Vendavo and experience as an adjunct professor at Oklahoma State, Jared brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. He is passionate about helping companies optimize their pricing strategies to capture more value. In this episode, Jared shares his journey from Frito-Lay to leading pricing innovation in the B2B distribution space. Together, they explore the key distinctions between B2B and B2C pricing models, especially the negotiation-heavy and data-rich nature of distribution.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Learn about the differences between B2B and B2C pricing strategies. Understand the role of pricing systems in managing large SKU portfolios in distributorship. Discover how to effectively segment customers for better pricing strategies.   “Invest in your master data and keep chipping away at it. Start with 80/20 of your products and get that right.”  – Jared Smith   Topics Covered: 01:42 - Jared shares how he got into pricing after his MBA and experiences at Frito-Lay and in B2B distribution. 02:57 - Discussion on the differences between B2C and B2B pricing, including transparency and data access. 06:06 - Challenges in understanding why customers buy and the limitations of data analytics. 12:55 - Jared explains his focus on distribution and the unique challenges it presents. 14:40 - Discussion on the relevance and limitations of cost-plus pricing in distribution. 19:17 - Exploration of how to implement good, better, best pricing in distribution. 25:28 - Discussion on whether distributors publish prices or rely on quotes for transactions. 26:33 - Jared shares insights from Uber experiences and how they relate to distribution pricing. 31:27 - The impact of customer loyalty on pricing strategies and potential risks. 32:55 - Jared's key piece of advice on investing in master data for better pricing strategies. 33:58 - Connect with Jared.   Key Takeaways: “Distribution is an amazing thing. Obviously, it's worldwide. And the simple fact of it, it has two very unique aspects. The first one, a lot of SKUs. And then, the second one is that you have a lot of customers.” – Jared Smith   People/Resources Mentioned: PriceSmith: https://www.pricesmith.com/ Vendavo: https://www.vendavo.com/ Oklahoma State University: https://www.okstate.edu/ Pepsi: https://www.pepsi.com/ Frito-Lay: https://www.fritolay.com/ Coca-Cola: https://www.coca-cola.com/ Apple: https://www.apple.com/ LG: https://www.lg.com/ Uber: https://www.uber.com/ Lyft: https://www.lyft.com/   Connect with Jared Smith: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredpaulsmith/ Email: jared@pricesmith.com   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

Nolan Jones, winemaker at Lava Cap Winery, is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Lava Cap Winery is located in the Sierra Foothills, in Placerville. It is two hours due east of Napa and Sonoma. Dan Berger says that Sierra Foothills makes great wines but there are differences between the different regions. The Sierra Nevada Foothills is one of the biggest AVAs in the state. Their vineyards are at some of the highest elevations in California, at roughly 3000 feet. That is close to the snow line. They get snow and frost in the Spring. Nolan grew up in Placerville. His grandfather started the winery and brought his father into it. Now a retired as a Geology professor at Berkeley, he looked for a place where the climate and soil were what he wanted. They bought the property in 1979, planted in 1980 and their first vintage was the next year. Vermentino They begin by tasting a Vermentino which Dan Berger says is excellent. Vermentino mostly grows in Liguria and Tuscany, in north-western Italy. It is popular there and it is just starting to get recognition in California where more and more producers are making it. This Vermentino has a faint tropical note with a hint of pineapple. This is their second Vermentino vintage. It has fun, bright summer characteristics. It has been very popular since they started making it. Nolan thinks the intensity of being at high elevation produces the acidity and other flavors they want. It was fermented in stainless steel, aged on light lees for three months and then bottled. Dan attributes this wine to the fact that we now have the technology to make wine this way. It uses cold fermentation and good quality filters. This used to be unavailable to most producers. Thanks to new reasonably priced equipment, notably from Italy, local producers can make these world class wines that require special treatment. Nolan says this highlights the California character, which is aromatic, bright and intense. Their freshness comes from the Alpine region, while most other California wines come from coastal regions. To make a parallel, it's like a Sauvignon Blanc but with none of the green grass flavors. Vermentino has its own spice profile that is different than Sauv Blanc. His grandfather, being a geologist, named the winery after the soil, which the old miners named Lava Cap. Lava Cap dot com is their website, where you can buy their wines. They do 26 different SKUs, including Italian, Spanish and French grapes. El Dorado has not settled on a "signature grape" the way that other regions have. Their goal is to showcase their elevation and the volcanic soil. Dan explains that the higher you go in elevation, the cooler it gets, and that gives you the effect and benefits of cooler weather, at a time where other vineyards are experiencing warmer weather. They go on to taste a Chardonnay which is unique due to all the unique growing and winemaking conditions at Lava Cap Winery.

Kareem Elgendy is the Chief Executive Officer of Veiled, an eight-figure fashion brand for Muslim women. Under his leadership, Veiled has achieved impressive growth, with consistent revenue increases and a strong emphasis on analytics to optimize the company's ecommerce strategy. Kareem previously served as a Senior Marketing Strategist at Baked Bouquet and held project management roles at Frank Seta & Associates. His multifaceted background, including roles as a sustainability expert, software engineer, and unit manager in banking, adds a unique perspective to his approach in the fashion industry.   In this episode… Ecommerce founders often face mounting pressure to make quick decisions without clear data, leading to stalled growth and missed opportunities. From inconsistent revenues to underperforming SKUs, using analytics to guide merchandising and marketing plans can make a huge impact on profitability. What if you could cut through the noise and confidently steer your brand using data-driven insights tailored to your business? Kareem Elgendy, an expert in ecommerce analytics and merchandising, shares how a strategic focus on data dashboards and inventory insights has helped his brand grow consistently — surpassing 70% year-over-year growth. Kareem emphasizes the importance of understanding every metric inside and out, using internal scripts, Google Cloud tools, and custom dashboards to analyze traffic, stock velocity, and product demand. He outlines a practical merchandising framework that breaks down collections by category, style, color, and size, ensuring supply aligns with proven demand. Kareem's approach emphasizes the importance of founders remaining curious and optimistic about what their numbers reveal. In this episode of the Minds of Ecommerce podcast, Raphael Paulin-Daigle interviews Kareem Elgendy, CEO of Veiled, about leveraging analytics to drive fashion ecommerce growth. Kareem shares how data-informed merchandising decisions lead to more consistent revenue and dives into daily performance tracking, marketing efficiency, and forecasting demand using internal algorithms.

The 16:9 PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY SCREENFEED – DIGITAL SIGNAGE CONTENT Digital menu boards have long been marketed and positioned as a way to deal digitally with how what's available to order can change through a business day. I'd argue much of the critical thinking around how to do menu boards well hasn't progressed much beyond ensuring the item descriptions and prices are large enough for customers to read from the other side of an order counter. New York-based software and services firm SmarterSign has been in the digital signage industry for coming on 20 years, and has found something of a niche in working with QSR chains on optimized menu boards that are not only legible and visually pleasing, but boost sales performance for operators. Co-founder Gregg Zinn has an interest and passion for the science of advertising and marketing, and he's started writing a series called Digital Menu Board Mastery that gets into the design and psychological weeds of how to lay out and manage menu boards that influence customer ordering decisions and drive higher profits for operators. In this podcast, we get into some interesting things that most menu board sellers and users have probably never considered - stuff like psychological pricing anchors and the so-called golden zones for menu layouts. It's a really interesting chat ... Greg, thank you for joining me. Just to get started, can you give me a rundown on SmarterSign, what it is, how long you've been around, that sort of thing?  Gregg Zinn: Sure. Thank you very much for having me. SmarterSign was founded in 2006, so we've been doing this for just short of 20 years and it was founded by me and my primary business partner, Peter. We got together and both came from technology consulting, building applications for larger organizations, helping them understand how to use technology to make their businesses operate better.  I had actually done some digital signage. My first digital signage was done at Mall of America in the mid 90s working with Mel Simon, I have always been very intrigued by it. I had this vision of a Blade Runner future, where every surface was a communication vehicle and I was just very fascinated with the concept of digital signage, and I also saw that it was gonna be a burgeoning industry that had a lot of runway for the industry to grow and when we looked at the industry, we really found that there were two kinds of providers in the industry, and you probably remember back then, there were providers who were very technology oriented like Cisco, who were very good at moving data around networks, but didn't really have a lot of tools for content control. And there were companies like Scala who had a great software platform, a really powerful software platform, but it didn't really allow business operators to take complete control, and we saw that as the sweet spot for digital signage is moving business operators closer to their message and being able to impact their communication, whether it was in a corporate communication environment, a retail environment, or really what became our biggest market, which is food service, restaurants, digital menu boards.  I think a lot of the reason why digital menu boards became such a big and important part of our business is because of this approach of moving that communication control closer to the business operator. We've spent close to 20 years really working on perfecting as much as we can the tools to bring that vision to life.  So would you describe the company as a CMS software company or more of a solutions firm?  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, that's a great question. So really we view ourselves as two parts of the same solution. One is, one is a software provider that provides great software for controlling digital signage networks, and that's end-to-end from content creation, scheduling, distribution, and playback, and then the other piece is really the services piece of it, and I think that is equally important to the software piece of it, because these business operators are using a new tool, even business operators who have been doing it for 15 years, it's still relatively new to them. So being able to provide that layer of service and support underneath them, and when I say service and support, I'm not just saying, here's how to use our software. I'm talking about how to use this tool for your business. Here are the business opportunities for you. Here are the things that you can do with these tools. I think it's really important, and, for me, as part of the business, it's been a big focus, and I try to influence the software development to accommodate as much of that as possible and make it as intuitive as possible. But a lot of it is just working with business operators, so the service piece of it is really important.  Where's the company based?  Gregg Zinn: Our headquarters is in New York and I am based in Chicago. I moved to Chicago, just short of eight years ago. My wife's family is from Chicago. I was living in Chelsea in Manhattan, and my young sons are getting to school age and New York City is very challenging for raising children. We were living in 700 square feet in Chelsea and the truth is, it was fantastic. I love New York. I'm a New Yorker through and through. But my wife's family is from the Chicagoland area, the suburbs of Chicago, and we decided to pick up and move here, and now instead of looking at concrete and windows, I'm looking at a lake.  Yeah, it's good to have that relief valve as well, the in-laws and extended family where you can say, “hey, we need to do this, can you guys take the kids?” Plus they see more of their family.  Gregg Zinn: It's incredible. We do Sunday dinners and I love having the family around and it's great for me, it's great for my boys and now they're getting on in their teen years and doing all that stuff and it's great to see them grow up in this environment. I got in touch because I noticed on LinkedIn you posted a piece about Menu Board Mastery and I clicked through and had to look at it and I thought, oh, this is interesting because as somebody's been around digital signage as long as you, maybe not quite a few, mid 90s, I only got in late 90s, but nonetheless, we've both been around it a long time. I know that menu boards can be done badly, but I tend to think they're done badly when they're eye charts and there's way too much stuff on there, or quite simply, they're just not working. But your Menu Board Mastery pieces take a look at the science of it and of layout and the thinking and everything else. So I thought that would make a great conversation to get into, first of all why you felt it useful to put this together and then get into some of the key tenets of it.  Gregg Zinn: Really the thing is, I've had so many conversations with business operators, at all levels, and that could be from single location operators to multinational operators and all of them seem to struggle with putting a strategic foundation underneath the concept of what they're gonna display, and even this many years into it, many of them just see digital as a more efficient way to get their print menu up on the screen, and even when they were doing their print menu, I don't really believe that they were tapping into some of the core ideas of using this as an incredible marketing tool.  When I look at digital menus, I think a digital menu should be your perfect salesperson. If you could have that person talking to that customer and guiding them through consuming from your restaurant in a way that is ideal for you, and ideal for them, having it be the perfect salesperson. I think that's really important, and a lot of businesses have struggled to do that. So I took a look at this, and I thought, what if I put a series together that takes very interesting, proven, scientific complex ideas and makes them highly practical? And this has really been a core philosophy for me since I was a teenager.  When I first read BF Skinner's Beyond Friedman Dignity and David Ogilvy's Confessions of an Advertising Man, I became fascinated with how people interact with information and how behavior is impacted by communications, and those various tools and many boards are no different. So I thought about giving people some very practical ideas. I want to make this industry better, like ever since we started SmarterSign, I don't want to just have a great business in the industry. I want this industry to be important. I want this industry to really impact businesses and be indispensable as part of the complete operation for every business. Obviously that helps my business. But it also energizes me. It engages me.  Another key piece of my philosophy has always been moving people from theory to practice as quickly and easily as possible. Nobody ever said theory makes perfect. Practice makes perfect and helps people move to practice practical ideas and I use the phrase, “Is this practical?” all the time. You can have all of these great ideas and all of these visions for what can be, and you can sit there and ruminate, but really, when it comes down to it, where the rubber meets the road is where value is created, and can you put this into practice was the vision behind this series. The first article that you put out was about visual attention. When you talk about visual attention, what do you mean? Apart from the obvious.  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, and it's funny because there are some very obvious things, but there also are some well-studied scientific understandings about how people's eyes move in the interpretation of information and I think in the article, we point out two very well-known, established patterns of how people interact with information.  There is the F-pattern of how your eyes scan information, and that is typically for menus or information that is very text rich, and your eyes go across the top and then they go down to the middle and then across a little bit more, and then they go down to the left hand side and understanding the way that people's eyes are gonna be moving across your information helps you prioritize where you put your information that's important to your business, and I want to talk about what information is important to your business because getting to businesses do not really know how to take advantage of this tool. I think this is a really important piece of it, and I am going to be writing an article about this, and it's been a big focus as well.  But let me continue on with the other way that people interpret information, and that is The Golden Triangle, and it starts in the middle, moves to the upper right, moves to the left, and these two visual patterns have been proven time and time again with eye trackers and studies to see how people interpret visual information in front of them. The Golden Triangle is very helpful for highly visual menus, and really the key spot in that menu is that upper right hand corner. If you can put your really high value items in that upper right hand corner, you are going to see a change in your outcomes, for the better. It's such an interesting thing, and this is part of getting back to why the series is here. I want to be able to provide tidbits of information like that to help businesses change their outcome, and obviously for the better.  Is this something you discovered or you've known because you've had that interest for a very long time in it? I'm curious if you started working with QSRs and restaurant chains and advocated doing this, and then did the reading and found out, oh, there's actually a science behind this.  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, it's really a mixture of both because I had studied these concepts, and they were very interesting to me, all the way back in the 90s. They were very interesting ideas to me. Even before that, managing behavior was always interesting to me. But as I started to work in the practical environment of working with businesses, I was able to apply those ideas and see how they impacted. So I was able to grow a clear understanding of how these ideas very specifically relate to these types of business problems. So it has been a full circle since I was interested in it, I was able to apply it, and now I'm able to move and help businesses perfect it.  So one of the things you get into is positioning, like what should go where and how you wanna have prime positions for your high margin items and signature items, that sort of thing. I've not thought about that at all. I've just thought that companies just laid things out the way they laid out their print menus and didn't really think too much about that stuff, or maybe they don't.  Gregg Zinn: Many of them don't think about it and actually very early on, working with businesses, 2006-2007, I had come up with this idea called The Prominence Pyramid. The idea behind The Prominence Pyramid was to help businesses identify. What are the most important menu items on your menu? And most businesses couldn't identify it. I was really surprised to walk into the c-suites of large organizations and ask them very simple questions about what are the most important items on their menu and they were not able to answer that.  But we would guide businesses through this process of putting items on a pyramid, say at the top of the pyramid. These are the most important items for you, and they're the most important for top line revenue. They're the most important for margin, they're the most important in terms of branding and customer experience, and those are the items that should have prominence within your visual space because they're the ones that are gonna help push your business forward. There are so many moving parts to this as we're moving forward, and as AI has become part of the mix of tools, it's a very exciting time for me because I feel like we can use these tools to help give insights very quickly to businesses using real data using, using these known scientific ideas to help them get these ideas in front of them, and then once you know that, once you know what should be presented in these prominent areas in the visual space, then you could do things like change the sizing, change the coloring, add boxes around them, animate those sections, put little tags, customer favorites.  Actually, we have a customer who just did this who just did this. He wanted to promote this one item, so we put a tag that said “Customer favorite” and sales immediately increased on this item. So we know that these tools can help change business outcomes. It's just a matter of helping businesses get there. And I think this series is gonna help people get there in bite-sized movements.  So when you talk about things like prime positions, that's in your F-pattern or Golden Triangle, there's certain positions that are gonna be optimal. That's where the eye goes naturally?  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy to think that these are actually things, but they've proven, studied, scientifically that this is the way eyes move to interpret information.  So some of the other variables, and you've already mentioned it, are things like white space and borders around stuff, contrast, the font size.  To me, being a knucklehead and not really spending a lot of time talking about QSRs, I just see ones where I can't read this, and my eyesight's assisted, but when I've had my glasses on, it's 2020, and I still struggle to read it.  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, it drives me crazy and I don't know if you have seen this, but I can send you a link to it. I had done a series called the Digital Menu Board Scorecard, and it was an evaluation of menu boards in the wild, not necessarily SmarterSign customers. But menu boards that we had seen, we'd take pictures of them, and we'd break down what are they were doing well, what are they doing poorly and we give them a score on a number of characteristics like branding, layout, organization, and actually, it's funny, just last week I was in the airport and I saw a menu from a pretty big QSR, and I just thought: Who made this menu? This is just terrible.  I won't mention their name because I don't want to get in trouble.  When you did the scorecard, were you handing out as many “A”s?  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, there were some As, there were few, very few, but every once in a while we'd come across a menu board where the business had a really good balanced sense of brand presentation, strategic organization, overall design, effectiveness of the menu to get people to order. That's actually one of the key things when you look at menus. Outside of getting their attention, it is how quickly can you get somebody through the process of making a decision and this is particularly true for digital drive-through, has been a real focus and we've seen some really interesting things done in that realm. For example, having the menu change at 8:00 PM to be a more limited menu on the drive-through, so that it changes the operations from a kitchen point of view, but also gets people through the line quicker.  One of the questions I wanted to ask was, is the thinking and the layouts and everything else different between the screens over the counter, the screens in a self-service ordering kiosk, and then the screens in the drive-through? Gregg Zinn: Yeah, absolutely, and if you look at our customers who are doing interior menu boards and exterior menu boards, the layouts, the structures, the approach to the menus are different. It's just different. It's a different mind frame. It's almost a different form factor in many cases because a lot of times the drive through's gonna be portrait, and many times the interior board's gonna be landscape.  But the whole business mission is really different, and taking advantage of what each of those environments do better. We don't do any touchscreen ordering. I have a love-hate relationship with the concept of it. I'm old school. So when I go into a sandwich shop, I want to talk to the person who is going to be able to take down my details of what I want, and I want to be able to say them and have them articulate that to the kitchen. Personally, I find it very difficult to do the touchscreen ordering and get that right and have the same level of customer experience.  AI is gonna change that because AI is going to somehow offer voice to AI ordering, which will take some of that UI cloudiness out of the mix. You mentioned AI. I'm curious about computer vision and the idea that, I've heard this said, I don't know what it is really being done in-store. I've heard about it in drive-throughs, but dynamically adjusting menus based on the profile of the people who are approaching the counter. Gregg Zinn: Yeah, there's a few things that we've been working with in terms of studying, how this can be done in an effective way. It's a highly strategic concept and, as I mentioned earlier, businesses are really just struggling to translate their static menu to a digital menu in a very strategic way, but we're pushing this forward, and there are other technologies.  There's license plate reader technology for drive-throughs where the same car is coming through, and you could tie it to their past consumption and we're gonna get there, and I think with AI, we're gonna get there much quicker and I'm super happy about that. Because I have been sitting in the running blocks waiting for the gun to go off and I'm excited about what AI means to accelerate some of this progress.  When you started, almost 20 years ago now, APIs were known but they weren't widely available and I suspect it was very difficult to talk to a restaurant about actually jacking into their restaurant management systems in any way, but we're now in a very different world, and that's all possible.  Is it being done? And how do you best leverage that other than the very simple stuff like price changes in the store system, you want to automatically change on the screen? Gregg Zinn: Right now the two primary mechanisms that are interacting, that operating data with the marketing data on menu boards, are price changes. So having the POS system be the source of that price, that's your operating data, and that operating data points should be filtered through to your menu boards. You shouldn't have to manage it in two pieces.  The second piece is inventory. We work with a lot of customers who run out of individual products, and that creates frustration for the customer, and it creates frustration for the person taking the order. So having the ability to show that something's currently sold out, is something that we're seeing being used. Again, this comes down to: Can so much more be done? Yeah, so much more can be done.  But getting over that, what should be done, as opposed to what can be done. It's also part of my core philosophy is, a lot of things can be done, but only some things should be done. So we've stayed away from novelty. We've stayed away from a lot of the things that people are saying, whoa, what about this? What about that? We try to keep it as practical as possible. But we're gonna see a big shift. I don't know if you know the company Palantir. I love Palantir as a company. I love what their vision for using AI is. People ask me questions about it all the time because I'm in technology. People ask me about AI people who are late, not in the technology industry, and late people, and I always point to Palantir as somebody who is an applied AI company. They're using the data to determine what should be done as opposed to what could be done and I think they're doing a really great job of it. They're really leaders in that space. Now, they're not menu boards, but I do follow what they're doing because I think that they're very innovative in terms of how they're looking at the connection between data operations, real world and practical application. In my years doing consulting, I've done quite a bit with some big companies, but the only QSR I worked with was a coffee chain and when I went in to start working with them, they talked about a bunch of things and I asked them about menu boards and takeovers, which I had seen in some of their stores where all of the menus went away and they had a tiled piece of creative, pedaling a particular promoted product and they said that they did some interview intercepts with customers and pretty uniformly the customer said, stop screwing around, just show me the damn menu, and I've since been in a number of restaurants where I had to wait for the menu items that came up because they were promoting something or other on the screen for 5-10 seconds and it irritated the living hell out of me. Is it something you advocate? Just get to the point; don't try to be fancy here. Forget the video, just show me the items and pricing.  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, intuitively for me, that customer response is obvious. They're trying to interact with a piece of data to place an order, and then all of a sudden it's gone and they're waiting. They have no idea how long it's gonna be before it comes back, and then they've gotta go find their spot on the menu again. So intuitively for me, we have always guided people against it. We've had customers asked to do it. Of course, our platform can do it. But it is not a good idea. Now, that being said, with digital menu boards and you've seen them in QSRs, there's a lot of visual space, so you can use a portion of that visual space to do those kinds of marketing techniques. One of the really interesting things that we had seen, so we did an observational study of a food court, working with a customer who had a restaurant, a pizza restaurant, and a food court. We did an observational study, and we saw that nobody looked up at the menu when they came over to the counter to order. They didn't care about the pricing, they didn't care about anything. They never looked up. But the menu boards were not being used properly to get people over to their restaurant as a choice. So what we recommended was: these really aren't digital menu boards in so much as they're digital billboards, and you need to use these as a “come eat pizza” sign, as opposed to thinking of it as a digital menu board. So we used some of the visual space as a “come eat pizza”, and we were able to draw some of that audience thinking maybe they'd go get Chinese food or Chipotle or another option over to them. So that's another way where you can impact outcomes by using the visual space as opposed to just menu boards.  What do you do with restaurants? I think about one up here, Tim Horton's here in Canada that started out doing coffee and donuts and pastries and now does endless kinds of food items, and they've got a menu list that's far longer than it was when the chain first started.  What do you do when you have customers who have like 40 SKUs and you've only got so much real estate on a screen?  Gregg Zinn: It's a big challenge, and it's a funny thing because, when I look at operations like that, I've never run a restaurant, but when I think of the ideal process to get customers through and order your food, I think of a business like In and Out Burger. They've got a very specific menu. People come there for those items. They love those items.  We have a lot of customers who have these extensive menus. I don't love it from an operations point of view, but from a presentation of the menu point of view, it's a matter of just being very organized in how you present that information so that you are able to get that broad menu into somebody's eyes, get them to where they want to order. If they want something that's savory as opposed to something sweet, get their eyes to that.  A good example of that is Dairy Queen has a pretty extensive menu, and they've got food and ice creams and just being able to segment that out. So on their drive-throughs, for example, we do a number of franchisees for Dairy Queen. On their drive-throughs, they've got one complete panel, that's just their sweet treats. They've got a middle panel that is promotion, key promotional items, LTOs and things like that, and then they have a right screen that is their savory items, their burgers and sandwiches and hot dogs and things.  The post that you have up right now about this Mastery series has to do with price anchors. That's not a term I know much about. What do you mean by that?  Gregg Zinn: It's another behavioral technique where you can establish a baseline in a customer's mind by putting an item that you don't really expect anybody to consume, but what it does is it creates a mental baseline of price expectation, so that you can have them pay a premium price for that second level item, without feeling like this is too expensive. So it really is a decoy. It's like look over here, this item is $30, but here's a really good value item at $22. It's so interesting to me because particularly in the past five years, pricing's gotten outta control, and, for so many reasons. Supply chain issues, obviously going back to 2020 with Covid but pricing has gotten crazy, and my favorite burger place in New York City, actually where I got engaged, when I got engaged, the burger was, yeah, I'm a huge burger guy, but it was my second date with my wife. We went there, and we're both burger people, and that's where I proposed ultimately.  You got engaged on our second date?  Gregg Zinn: Oh, no, we went on our second date to this burger place. Seven years later, we got engaged, but in that same spot, but the burger was like $6 at that point, and now it's like 18.  Oh, for God's sake.  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, and even the QSRs I go into sometimes, and I just think, who could afford $60 for a family of four?  It just doesn't seem like an affordable approach and I will tell you that from a pricing strategy point of view, all of the QSRs are recognizing this, and they're trying to adapt. We're already out of time, but I wanted to ask one more question, just around when you're going into a new customer and you start talking about what we've just discussed, kind of the science and the thinking behind it, are minds a little bit blown because they're wanting to do digital menu boards because it's a pain in the ass to change the print ones, and they haven't thought much beyond that? Gregg Zinn: We take it slow. It's been over 20 years and we've learned you can't just go in gangbusters and put all of these ideas in their heads about what's possible because it'll just confuse the situation. So we go slow with our customers. We meet them where they are. Fix the first obvious problem, and then you can go from there. Gregg Zinn: Yeah, and I've said it a number of times in this call if it's not practical, it can't be done.  All right. This was great. If people wanna find out more about SmarterSign and read these articles, they can find 'em on smartersign.com.  Gregg Zinn: They can, yeah. All the articles are there. In the resource section, right? Gregg Zinn: Yeah, and we've got a bunch of videos on our YouTube channel, of course, posting on other social channels like LinkedIn. But yeah, the primary source would be on smartersign.com.  Perfect. All right. Thank you, sir.  Gregg Zinn: Yeah, thank you so much. It was really nice talking to you and re-meeting you again.

Looking to grow your towing business or break into the towing industry? In this episode, Jack Carr hosts Matt Saskin from East Coast Towing to explore proven towing business strategies, effective growth tactics, and the latest towing industry trends. Matt shares his unique journey from a tech background to becoming a successful towing company owner, covering topics like AI-powered call center solutions with Avoca, consensual vs. non-consensual towing, and much more.In this in-depth conversation, we discuss how Matt has successfully optimized towing operations, scaled his towing business, and leveraged acquisitions to accelerate growth. They also analyze a towing business listing to reveal essential valuation tips and common pitfalls in buying towing companies. The episode concludes with a comprehensive look at the fragmented towing market and the potential for industry consolidation in the future.Whether you're in the towing business, auto services, or any service business, this episode is a must-watch for business scaling, towing acquisitions, and operational optimization to ensure long-term business success.

Mona Sutherland, Head of Performance Marketing at West Marine, joins Will Laurenson to explore the intersection of digital strategy, AI, and ecommerce at scale. With a background at Adidas and Melissa Shoes, Mona shares how West Marine is using AI to improve creative, why video content is crucial for B2B and B2C buyers, and how the brand is thriving despite retail headwinds. They discuss SEO shifts, customer problem-solving, and the practical challenges of marketing 90,000+ SKUs. If you're in performance marketing or ecommerce, this episode delivers tactical depth and big-picture thinking.

Hey, we'll have a business owner come up to us and go, "I just can't sleep." You know, we'll say, “Hey, how was your night last night?” “I didn't sleep very well.” “Well, why not?” “Because my head's constantly spinning, constantly thinking about everything that's downstream and I can't seem to get my head around it.” This is a common refrain that we hear from business owners and we want to give you a tool that I think will be very, very simple for you to start thinking ahead, to forecast downstream, and to relieve some of that pressure. Now, we're still guessing to some degree because we're dealing with people, and people can change. That dynamic is always there. But the more we can create some means of stability—at least thinking based on the information we have—and that's a key point, the better. You've got to predict, project, and forecast based on the information you have today. So when we go with that, I think there's something—we call it a forecasting sheet. You could call it a job start sheet or a project start sheet. If you can start with a simple process, it's often the thing for business owners. Stay tuned till the end of this and I'm going to give you a tool that I think will be really helpful for you. I want you to think in terms of a simple process. While there is an abundance of sophisticated software available, we recommend beginning with a basic spreadsheet. If you can do a spreadsheet for three to six months, this allows you to prove to yourself—and your coach, if you're coaching with us or someone else—that you can consistently use and benefit from the tool before you sign up for that subscription. And the subscription isn't bad, by the way—software is excellent and most of it's really good—but you need to prove to yourself that you can use it first. The cornerstone of the simple process is that project start sheet, forecasting tool, or job start sheet. It's a straightforward spreadsheet that can be customized based on your specific needs. For example, if you're a contractor with smaller jobs, you might organize your forecasting sheet by weeks of the year—week one, two, three—or by specific dates: January 2nd, January 9th, and so on. If you have larger projects that take months, then months of projection might be more appropriate. For others, it might be days of the year, depending on your sales cycle. The project start sheet should list all your upcoming projects in the first column. You might ask, “Well, what if I'm in retail and I've got maybe 10 customers every day or a hundred customers every day?” Then, break down your retail business into three, four, or five major sections. So instead of listing individual products or SKUs, you've got multiple sections—and then you can start to project those sections based not only on the actual product but also on seasonality, which is really important. That's where we begin to see the flow not only of product but also of cash. Across the top of your spreadsheet, imagine having days, weeks, or months of the year—most of you will use weeks or months. Then, in the corresponding cells, input the billing amounts you expect for each project, series of products, or categories. If you're a contractor selling new homes, you might put months of the year across the top, and then, based on your schedule of values, note that you're billing X this month, X plus 15% next month, and so on—accounting for seasonality. When filling in those amounts for future projections, it's important to be very realistic. Don't live in the clouds—live in realism. It might be tempting to divide a project's total value evenly across the duration (like saying, “Last year we did a million in this area, so we'll just divide that by 12”), but be very careful. You can miss out on seasonality, which directly impacts your cash flow. Instead, refer to any schedule of values or historical records you have. A schedule of values is a standard tool in the contracting world that more accurately helps you project when you'll bill specific amounts for work completed. This practice might take some time initially, but that's okay. Once you've set it up, you'll have a powerful tool for projecting and budgeting based on your expected revenue. The project start sheet—whether using days, weeks, or months along the top, and projects or product sections along the side—allows you to track completions. This helps you identify potential lean or full periods in advance. Another aspect to consider is the possibility of unexpected job delays, stoppages, or seasonality. For instance, right now at the time of this recording, about 40 minutes from here there are wildfires in the foothills. That's going to impact businesses. There's a vineyard up there that's been forced to evacuate, and it will affect them. Even large, seemingly secure projects can suddenly stop due to unforeseen circumstances. So it's wise to build in a buffer—say, 10 to 20%—for potential delays in your projections. This might lead to slightly overshooting your estimates, but it provides a more realistic view of possible scenarios. Effective planning and forecasting are only possible with a reliable tracking system. That's where the project start sheet—the spreadsheet—becomes incredibly valuable. By continuously using and updating that simple tool, you'll gain a clearer picture of your business's economic trajectory and be better equipped to make informed decisions. Bring your team into this as well. As you become more comfortable with the process, you'll find it easier to adapt to changes, anticipate challenges, and seize opportunities. Mastering a simple process is the foundational step that can lead to more sophisticated financial management as your business grows. So hold off on the fancy stuff for now—let's go simplistic. Hey, if you need some help, I told you I'd have a resource. You can go to businessonpurpose.com/ask—that's businessonpurpose.com/ask—and you can actually hop on an “Ask Us Anything” call. There are also tools on that site that you don't even have to download. They're right there. They'll give you profit-leak-plugging tools and other resources that will be really helpful. So go to businessonpurpose.com/ask. To check the health of your business, visit mybusinessonpurpose.com/healthy today! SIGN UP for our Newsletter HERE ➡️ https://www.boproadmap.com/newsletter For blogs and updates, visit our site HERE ➡️ https://www.mybusinessonpurpose.com/blog/ LISTEN to the Business On Purpose Podcast HERE ➡️ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-business-on-purpose/id969222210 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel HERE ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbPR8lTHY0ay4c0iqncOztg?sub_confirmation=1

Subscribe to the ECB newsletter: https://newsletter.ecommercecoffeebreak.com/ ---In this episode, we dive into how AI can boost your organic traffic and improve your SEO strategy. Mike Simmons, CEO of Plug In Useful, shares insights on using AI tools to help Shopify store owners compete in the crowded SEO landscape, save time on optimization, and grow organic traffic without relying on paid ads. Discover how Plug In AI makes SEO accessible and affordable for e-commerce businesses of all sizes.Topics discussed in this episode:- Why is organic traffic still hard for Shopify brands to get.- How does Google's ad focus impact your SEO strategy.- What mindset do you need to win in SEO today.- Why is AI the key to faster, easier SEO.- How does Plug In AI optimize Shopify content automatically.- What's the best mix of AI and manual SEO control.- Why you must speak to both customers and Google bots.- How AI can optimize 20,000 SKUs in hours.- What results can you expect in the first 60 days.- Why now's the time to prioritize SEO for long-term growth.Links & Resources Website: https://pluginuseful.com/Shopify App Store: https://apps.shopify.com/plug-in-ai-seo-optimizerGet access to more free resources by visiting the show notes athttps://tinyurl.com/3uz99evmMORE RESOURCES Enjoying this episode? Here are a few ways to grow your business: https://ecommercecoffeebreak.com/level-up/ Store Optimization Beginners Guide: Instant PDF Download! It's FREE.

On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, the staff is going deep into modern marketing strategies. First up, executive editor Anna Hensel and senior reporter Gabriela Barkho talk about what was top of mind for executives at the Modern Retail Marketing Summit. Tariffs -- and how to respond to them -- were a hot topic of discussion. Marketers batted around ideas like adding a tariff surcharge to orders, pressing pause on some collaborations to save resources and taking a surgical approach to cutting SKUs. In some cases, they are still pushing forward on marketing spend while competitors pull back. Speakers from brands like Oura, Chobani and Bark also talked about their approach to growing their retail businesses, as they use insights from their DTC business to inform their pitch to retailers, and use their wholesale businesses to introduce themselves to new types of customers. Then, in this week's featured segment (19:42), Hanna Andersson's chief customer officer, Lisa Perlmutter, talks about how the premium children's apparel brand built its first-ever loyalty program.

What happens when you combine collaboration, efficiency, and standardization in the OR with strategic relationships and data-driven decision-making? You have a success story of operational transformation! Join us in this First Case Vendor Spotlight™ with Randy Subramany, Director of Supply Chain at New York Presbyterian, as we uncover the process that revolutionized procedural supply management. New York Presbyterian, with its expansive network of 10 acute care centers and over 450 locations, collaborated with Cardinal Health™ Presource® Solutions to tackle inefficiencies in procedural supply standardization. The result? A streamlined custom kitting program that reduced redundant SKUs, minimized waste, and significantly improved clinician satisfaction. As a result, the organization eliminated unnecessary variation while enhancing patient care. Throughout the discussion, Randy highlights the critical role of supply chain leaders in driving value-based care, reducing waste, and optimizing workflows. He shares insights into how Cardinal Health™ Presource® has been an essential component in this process, providing robust data analysis, standardization tools, and hands-on collaboration to ensure seamless implementation. From reducing case setup times to improving emergency preparedness, this episode sheds light on how custom kitting solutions can transform perioperative efficiency. If you're looking to streamline supply chain processes, enhance clinician experience, and ultimately improve patient outcomes, Cardinal Health™ Presource® Procedural Pack Solutions is ready to help. Reach out to your Cardinal Health Presource® representative to explore tailored kitting solutions that meet your OR's needs, or request more information on their website. #FirstCase #CardinalHealth #VendorSpotlight #OperatingRoom #Efficiency #Workflows #SupplyChain #PatientCare #CustomSurgicalKits

Justin Soleimani is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Tumble, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in machine-washable, spillproof rugs designed for modern living. Before establishing Tumble in 2021, he worked as a consultant at Bain & Company, advising clients across various industries. Justin holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics from Emory University, where he met his Co-founder, Zach Dannett. Under their leadership, Tumble has grown significantly, scaling to high eight-figures in revenue within four years. Zach Dannett is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Tumble. Before Tumble, he served as the General Merchandise Manager and Buyer & Merchandiser for Outdoor Furniture at Noble House Home Furnishings, LLC and as an Investment Management Associate at BBR Partners. Zach earned his BBA in Finance from Emory University's Goizueta Business School in 2011, where he met his Co-founder, Justin Soleimani. In this episode… Breaking into the ecommerce ecosystem with a physical product — especially a large one like rugs — comes with unique logistical and financial hurdles. From expensive shipping costs to supply chain inefficiencies, many startups fail to develop a sustainable model. How did a product-focused, bootstrapped brand scale successfully without sacrificing profitability? Justin Soleimani and Zach Dannett, experts in DTC product development and operations, tackled this challenge head-on by designing a modular, collapsible rug that's easier and less expensive to ship. Justin and Zach spent over 15 months perfecting their design before launching, focusing on optimizing everything from the product's dimensions to its warehousing footprint. They emphasize the value of focusing on profitability from day one by cutting out unnecessary SKUs, refining your supply chain, and tailoring offerings to fit consumer needs and carrier constraints. In this episode of the Minds of Ecommerce podcast, Raphael Paulin-Daigle interviews Justin Soleimani and Zach Dannett, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Tumble, about building a nearly nine-figure DTC brand. They share how product-first thinking drove early success using the value of modular design, shipping optimization, and bootstrapping strategies. Tune in for insights on crowdfunding, curated product assortments, and manufacturing challenges.

Brandie Miller brings a wealth of food industry experience, blending expertise in startups, retail buying, and e-commerce with a passion for food accessibility. She began her career launching a small ice cream brand, driving it from food service into retail through strategic sales and marketing. She then transitioned to the buying side as a category manager for Grocery Outlet, a 400-store chain, where she championed Natural & Organic (NOSH) products, growing it into the company's largest category. Her efforts contributed to Grocery Outlet's 2019 IPO.Her dedication to making healthy, high-quality food more accessible deepened at Misfits Market, where she served as Senior Director of Grocery. There, she and her team expanded affordable grocery options nationwide, launched an upcycled food initiative, and introduced thousands of new SKUs in just three years—all while scaling operations across four warehouses.Brandie's impact has been widely recognized, earning her industry accolades such as:• Supermarket News' 2016 Disruptor• Progressive Grocer's 2019 Top Women in Grocery – Rising Star• Natural Foods Merchandiser's May/June 2019 Cover Feature• NEXTY Judge at Expo East 2022In 2024, Brandie and Will Miller combined their vastly different experiences to create something completely new—Mochi Love. Driven by a shared passion for innovation, delicious food, and bringing joy to everyday moments, they set out to expand mochi beyond the freezer aisle and introduce it to more categories across grocery stores.Mochi Love is upbeat, delicious, and simply irresistible—a modern take on a time-honored ingredient. Elevate Your Brand is the #1 marketing podcast for entrepreneurs and “wantrepreneurs” looking for insider tips and secrets from the most exciting new and growing brands in Los Angeles and the US at large. Each week, entrepreneurial special guests join Laurel Mintz, founder and CEO of award-winning marketing agency Elevate My Brand, to discuss the marketing failures and successes that have brought their brands to the next level. Learn from real-life experiences and be inspired by leaders in your industry about how smart digital and experiential marketing can elevate your brand.Contact us: https://www.elevatemybrand.com/contact Stay connected & DM us feedback on the podcast:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatemybrandla/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elevatemybrandla/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elevatemybrand

Community Beer Works Exits Elmwood-Bidwell Project Nearly two years after announcing plans for a taproom at 976 Elmwood Avenue, Community Beer Works has officially pulled out. Director of Operations Chris Groves says CBW hasn't been involved in the project for over a year and will instead focus on optimizing their Chandler Street location and other existing sites. No plans have been announced for their former 7th Street taproom.CollaBEERation V Tickets Still Available Limited general admission tickets remain for CollaBEERation V on April 5 (2-6pm) at The Powerhouse. The festival features unique collabs from WNY breweries, cideries, and meaderies, with food vendors like Pizza Plant, Britesmith, and Brisket Love BBQ. The theme is “Hollywood,” and costumes are encouraged. GA tickets are $70 (includes unlimited pours and commemorative glass); DD tickets also available.Tap That Tap Room Anniversary – Win Free Beer for a Year Tap That Tap Room in Tonawanda is turning one and giving away free beer for a year to 10 winners. To enter, follow them on Facebook or Instagram, share their contest post, and tag a friend. The anniversary celebration happens Saturday, April 5 with live music (Sonic Legacy, 4–7pm), Orso Nero pizza, and a Buffalo Bandits watch party at 9pm.Rusty Nickel Launches Buffalo What? IPA + Bandits Watch Party On April 5 at 8pm, Rusty Nickel Brewing will release Buffalo What? IPA, a lightly hopped American IPA. It's the second in their lacrosse-inspired series, following To The Box Lager. Stick around for a Buffalo Bandits watch party at 9pm for their game against the Colorado Mammoth. Both beers will be available on draft and in 4-pack cans.Bev Depot Beer Store Opens in Cheektowaga Bev Depot has officially opened at 2190 Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga. The 6,000 sq. ft. store offers over 2,000 SKUs of beer, with a strong focus on local craft. “We're proud to support local breweries and offer the lowest prices in Buffalo,” they shared online. Visit bevdepot.org or find them on Facebook and Instagram for more info.Kleinhans Rhythm & Brews Returns – May 9 The annual Rhythm and Brews fundraiser at Kleinhans Music Hall is back on May 9 (6:30–9pm). Enjoy tastings from local breweries and cideries, with food from Oliver's, Britesmith, Creekview Restaurant, and Marcato by Oliver's. GA tickets are $45 and include a commemorative Belgian beer glass; VIP ($85) includes early access, first pours, and reserved seating.Science After Hours: To Infinity And Beer-ond – April 25 Presented by the WNY Brewers Guild, this 21+ event at the Buffalo Museum of Science features tastings from Big Ditch, Brazen, Rusty Nickel, and Spotted Octopus. Explore astronomy exhibits, make mission patches, taste freeze-dried treats, and more. Tickets are $39 and available online. Planetarium shows are already sold out—don't wait!For more local beer news and events, visit BuffaloBeerLeague.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

YouTube Short:  https://youtube.com/shorts/flpTuNN7vqY   Summary In this episode of the Sprinkler Nerd Show, host Andy Humphrey sits down with Steve Barendt from Rain Bird to explore the company's new ESP 2-Wire Controller—a product that's making 2-wire irrigation systems significantly more approachable for contractors who may have previously avoided them due to complexity.   The Origin of the Conversation Andy first encountered Steve at the IA Show, where Steve delivered an impromptu 2-minute elevator pitch on the new controller. That pitch sparked Andy's interest in Rain Bird's new approach to two-wire systems, leading to this deeper dive discussion. Steve's Background Steve brings a decade of experience at Rain Bird, including seven years on the sales team working directly with contractors in the Austin, Texas area. His background in the field informs his work as a product manager, enabling him to better understand real-world customer needs and challenges. Why "Approachable" Matters Historically, two-wire systems have been considered complex, especially around wiring specifications, connector types, and troubleshooting. Rain Bird's ESP Two-Wire Controller aims to lower the barrier to entry, making it easier for contractors—even those new to two-wire installations—to adopt the technology. The term "approachable two-wire" is intentional. Steve explains that Rain Bird designed this controller to work with standard irrigation wire and connectors, rather than requiring specialized components. As long as the wire is direct burial irrigation wire (down to 18 gauge) and connectors are rated for 600 volts, users can leverage what's already on their trucks—reducing the learning curve and installation costs. A Big Shift: De-Energized Two-Wire Path A key innovation is that the two-wire path is not constantly energized, as it is in traditional two-wire systems. Instead, it's only powered when actively running a station or performing diagnostics. This reduces heat at the connectors and decreases corrosion risks, allowing the use of standard connectors and simplifying troubleshooting. Positioning: Who's It For? The ESP Two-Wire Controller isn't designed to replace all two-wire systems. Instead, it's aimed at light commercial and large residential projects with about 12 to 30 stations—an area where contractors often debate between traditional wiring and larger two-wire systems. Key highlights: 50-station capacity (though ideal use is around 12–30 stations) Cost break-even point starts around 12 stations, lower than the 30+ typical for traditional two-wire setups Two solenoids can operate simultaneously Compatible with a standard flow sensor (hardwired) By offering a lower break-even point and simpler installation, this controller fills a gap between traditional modular controllers like the ESP ME3 and higher-end commercial platforms like LX IVM. Troubleshooting Tools and Diagnostics Rain Bird has invested heavily in diagnostics features that make this controller easier to troubleshoot: LED Feedback on Decoders: Each decoder includes red, green, and blue LEDs that indicate operational status, short circuits, and open circuits. Short Finding Mode: Allows energizing the path for diagnostics with a clamp meter. Power-Measure Mode: Helps track power issues in the field. These features empower contractors to isolate and resolve issues faster without needing advanced tools or specialized knowledge. Auto-Addressing Decoders Perhaps the most contractor-friendly feature is the auto-address functionality. Rain Bird decoders come in numbered order, and if installed sequentially, the controller will auto-scan and assign decoder addresses to stations with no manual input. This drastically reduces setup time and minimizes human error. While other systems may require manual address entry or use specialized software, Rain Bird's solution is faster and simpler—especially when paired with the mobile app. No Field Grounding Required Another simplification: unlike other two-wire systems, no field grounding is required for this controller. Though contractors can choose to ground the system if they wish, it's not necessary for functionality or warranty compliance. Connectivity and Software Integration The controller is WiFi-enabled via Rain Bird's LNK2 module. It currently connects to Rain Bird's legacy mobile app, but a transition to Rain Bird's 2.0 app and IQ 4 web platform is planned for 2025, which will bring expanded access and remote management options. Simplified SKUs and Installation Rain Bird is offering this platform with just two SKUs: the controller and a single-station decoder. That's a major advantage for distributors and contractors, who won't need to manage complex inventories of sensor decoders, grounding kits, or multi-station decoders. Behind the Scenes: Product Development Steve shared insights into the 2–3 year development timeline, which included field testing, focus groups, and engineering across multiple departments. The goal: simplify, streamline, and make two-wire technology accessible to more contractors. Multiple patents were filed as part of the innovation process, particularly around the auto-addressing and system architecture. Final Thoughts This controller isn't for every project—but that's the point. Steve emphasized the importance of positioning the right tool for the right job. When used in the right context—light commercial sites, fast food chains, hotels, and medium-size properties—Rain Bird's ESP Two-Wire Controller can offer a compelling mix of ease-of-use, cost savings, and performance. Contractors interested in learning more are encouraged to reach out to their local Rain Bird representatives via their distributor or visit the Rain Bird website for product videos and specs. Key Takeaways Designed for simplicity and approachability Compatible with standard wire and connectors De-energized two-wire path reduces risk and simplifies install Auto-addressing decoders streamline setup Troubleshooting tools built-in (LEDs, short find mode, power measure) Ideal for 12–30 zone projects Connects via WiFi and will be fully app- and web-integrated in 2025 No field grounding required Just two SKUs for the system

Sia Karamalegos is a freelance web developer and web performance engineer helping ecommerce brands turn faster load times into real revenue. As a Google Developer Expert in Web Technologies and a former engineer on Shopify's performance team, Sia brings a unique blend of hands-on experience and deep technical insight to the challenge of building faster, more performant online stores.With a passion for developer education and community building, Sia organizes the Eleventy Meetup, Durham Social Hack Night, and a new global web performance meetup, connecting engineers around the world to share real-world tactics and tools. She's also a frequent international speaker and writer, known for making complex topics like Core Web Vitals and JavaScript performance approachable and actionable.In 2024, Sia launched ThemeVitals, a tool that benchmarks Shopify themes using real user data—not lab simulations to uncover which themes actually perform well across the devices your customers use. It's a mission rooted in impact: helping merchants and theme developers make smarter, faster decisions that drive conversion and long-term growth.Through her work, Sia is redefining how ecommerce teams think about performance, showing that real user data, smart defaults, and community-driven tooling can transform the way we build the web.In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:40] Intro[01:00] Focusing on real-world site speed fixes[02:39] Improving performance metrics for merchants[04:22] Translating Google metrics for merchants[04:56] Understanding how Core Web Vitals work[07:34] Balancing traffic vs technical optimization[10:36] Shifting focus from speed to sales[13:16] Balancing performance with product experience[15:26] Highlighting global device performance gaps[16:54] Uploading giant images the wrong way[21:04] Auditing your tech stack regularly[21:53] Comparing Shopify themes with real data[24:11] Balancing features vs speed in theme choice[26:00] Avoiding minimalist themes that lack function[28:08] Encouraging feedback for future improvementsResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on YoutubeExplore real-world Core Web Vitals performance data for popular Shopify themes themevitals.com/Web Developer & Performance Engineer sia.codes/Follow Sia Karamalegos linkedin.com/in/karamalegosIf you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

How do you manage digital content at scale for some of the world's most iconic snack brands? In this episode of Beyond the Shelf, Eric Altschul, Director of Digital Commerce Content at Mondelēz International, shares how content, digital shelf strategy, and automation play a critical role in winning in eCommerce.With over 10 years at Mondelēz, Eric has helped drive content innovation across brands like Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and BelVita. He walks us through the evolution of eCommerce within CPG, the growing role of retail media, and how AI and automation are shaping content development at scale.In This Episode, We Discuss:The evolution of digital commerce in CPG—how eCommerce went from an afterthought to a core business function (3:00)How Mondelēz structures its eCommerce and digital content teams—the roles of brand teams, shopper marketing, and retail media (5:00)The power of content in shaping consumer experiences—what makes a winning PDP (Product Detail Page) (6:20)Mobile Ready Hero Images (MRHI)—why they matter and how Mondelēz uses them to optimize product discoverability (7:03)How Mondelēz leverages its partnership with It'sRapid to scale content creation efficiently across thousands of SKUs (8:38)Meeting retailer-specific content demands quickly and efficientlyAutomating the creation of Mobile Ready Hero ImagesIntegrating PIM data to dynamically generate optimized visualsThe impact of PIM (Product Information Management) on content automation—how data flows from marketing briefs to fully optimized digital content (9:44)The constant innovation cycle in CPG—how new flavors and product launches impact content strategy (11:39)The future of digital commerce—why efficiency and automation will be key to managing retailer-specific content at scale (18:32)Connect with Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-altschul-b0189a9/ Get the It'sRapid Creative Automation Playbook: https://itsrapid.ai/creative-workflow-automation-playbook/Take It'sRapid's Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey: https://www.proprofs.com/survey/t/?title=ffgvdEmail us at sales@rapidads.io with code “BEYOND2025” to find out how you can save more than $1,000 on our Digital Sell Sheets and Retail Media Automation solutionsTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Thank you so much to our Patreon community for supporting this channel. Join us today at http://www.Patreon.com/KitAndKrysta for exclusive content including predictions and reactions to the latest Switch 2 news *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Hello!! It's finally almost time for the big Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Direct and we are having the best time sharing in the excitement with our wonderful community. We've been looking forward to this video for so long so here it is, our MEGA Nintendo Switch 2 Direct predictions. It's a lot so settle in and get comfy. What are you hoping to see? 0:00 - HYPE TRAIN LET'S GOOOOOO 2:18 - General predictions/what is the vibe of this Direct 13:24 - Hardware and system software 35:08 - Switch 2 games 54:56 - Launch details (price, date, SKUs, pre-orders) 58:07 - What happens next? Follow Us! https://www.patreon.com/kitandkrysta https://twitter.com/kitandkrysta https://www.tiktok.com/@kitandkrysta https://www.instagram.com/kitandkrysta/ http://www.facebook.com/kitandkrysta/ https://bsky.app/profile/kitandkrysta.bsky.social -Kit & Krysta

Within my last quarterly content piece on FitLife Brands, I outlined my utter shock around leadership's inability to learn from past MusclePharm experiences and how “becoming a victim of product line extension creep” became a major underlying driver of its failure. Though, the strategic decision by FitLife Brands…pandering to a retailer request for this (or that) exclusive MusclePharm line extension, is an immaterially small mistake compared to launching MusclePharm Combat Ready ready-to-drink protein shakes. But for anyone new to these quarterly content pieces, FitLife Brands sells more than 250 SKUs across 13 supplement brands…each with a slightly different product portfolio and sales channel strategy. In total, the FitLife Brands portfolio is sold through more than 20K retail locations globally. But throughout this content, you'll hear me categorize the FitLife Brands portfolio into three segments: Legacy FitLife Brands, Mimi's Rock Corporation, and MusclePharm. In the fourth quarter of 2024, FitLife Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: FTLF) had revenues of $15 million…which was up 13% YoY. But though that YoY growth rate obviously looks strong, it's important to remember that those reported results were greatly impacted by the MusclePharm acquisition that closed in October 2023. While there's strategic initiatives going on at legacy FitLife Brands and Mimi's Rock, the most intriguing segment within FitLife Brands is also currently its smallest...MusclePharm. In the fourth quarter of 2024, MusclePharm segment revenue was $2.8 million. And while the full-year 2024 sales channel mix of MusclePharm was evenly split between wholesale and online revenue…the fourth quarter started to signal that the brand's biggest long-term commercial opportunities will come from offline retailers. I was quite confident that FitLife Brands understood it's a marathon (and not a sprint) with MusclePharm. Moreover, the last 5-7 years of MusclePharm brand mismanagement had provided a sizable amount of unlocked value that was just waiting to come out. Furthermore, doing the required “hard work” upfront to rebuild the foundation of MusclePharm for the long haul would inherently unlock enough short-term financial results to appease shareholders around the acquisition ROI. Yet…that's not happening right now! Instead, FitLife Brands has surprised me (and not in a good way), believing it would be better served in reaching arbitrary segment-level financial goals by deciding to chase various mirages. FitLife Brands has meaningfully begun almost zero of the “hard work” required in rebuilding connection and trust with customers, reconstructing the brand story, rebuilding community, and bringing it all to life with layers of compelling content. And because FitLife Brands decided sprint through the MusclePharm turnaround plan…instead of being strategically conservative to rebuild the foundation for future growth opportunities at MusclePharm, it will undoubtedly expose its weaknesses even more prominently (and create unnecessary burden) across the entire organization.

When Perelel launched its first prenatal vitamin products in September 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic had upended the startup's fundraising plan. Co-founder Victoria Thain Gioia said that rather than launch with splashy campaigns or a big retail entry, Perelel decided to use organic social media posts to help spread the word. For the first year, Gioia answered every customer service ticket personally. "The roadmap that we originally had for the first year to 18 months was very different than what we encountered, in terms of the world and how we had to pivot," she said. But the company gained momentum in the direct-to-consumer subscription world and has grown an average of 600% year over year since its inception. Sales have more than doubled in the last three years, with Perelel currently selling around 182,000 vitamins a day.  Behind the scenes, Perelel has invested in its growth by getting into new product categories. It has 21 SKUs, including a men's supplement and products catered toward other wellness needs like hydration or sleep support.  Gioia joined the Modern Retail podcast this week to discuss the company's growth journey and its latest product launch, a protein powder with creatine and fiber. Though creatine may read as a masculine product, Perelel's research has tapped into a growing recognition of its benefits for women, too. It can be to help with brain fog, fatigue and muscle retention, for instance, during postpartum, menopause and perimenopause. The product has been in development for about two years as the team looked to perfect the formula, Gioia said.

Act+Acre's husband-and-wife founders were early to the growth of the scalp-care market when they launched their brand in 2019 with one product: a $48 prewash treatment called Scalp Detox Oil.  “[Scalp care] was definitely an afterthought for people [a few years ago],” brand founder and hairstylist Helen Reavey told Glossy. “Launching it in 2019, we were one of the first to solely think about scalp care the way skin care had come up and was so personalized, and we took that approach. It's not a one-size-fits-all for the scalp.” Reavey has seen the effects of poor scalp care throughout her 15-year career as a celebrity and editorial hairstylist — most notably during fashion month, when models' hair is routinely overworked backstage until their scalps become sensitive to the touch. “I had that moment where I was like, ‘I wish I could give them something to remove everything and to really start with a fresh canvas,'" she said. “It was that moment [where we said], ‘OK, we should do this; we should launch a brand.'”  Reavey is also a certified trichologist, a specialization focused on the treatment and health of the hair and scalp. She launched Act+Acre with husband and business partner Colm Mackin, who now serves as CEO.  Now an award-winning hero product for the brand, Scalp Detox is one of 25 products sold individually and through 10 curated systems made up of individual SKUs. From oil control to hydration to hair growth, they're each designed for a specific concern.  To help consumers navigate the offerings, Act+Acre publishes blog posts and educational content on social media, and offers a 10-plus question quiz on its site to match a consumer with the right products.  Top selling systems include its Stem Cell System, Thick + Full System and Essential Hydration System. Meanwhile, individual bestsellers include Stem Cell Serum for $86 and Daily Hydro Scalp Serum for $24.  The line is sold DTC and through Sephora, Revolve, Bluemercury, Amazon, Dermstore, Anthropologie and TikTok Shop, among other channels. The brand does 60% of its business DTC and has a 50% subscription rate within that cohort, Mackin told Glossy.  Several products are also recognized by the National Psoriasis Foundation for being safe for those with psoriasis.  “People are definitely starting to understand that the scalp is a foundation for healthy hair, and that comes across in all of our messaging,” Reavey told Glossy.  Act+Acre's latest launch, a two-step shampoo and treatment, is focused on hard water buildup, which impacts the majority of U.S. consumers. High levels of minerals like calcium and magnesium in tap water can build up in the hair and cause brittleness and discoloration, especially on color-treated hair. “I don't think people were really understanding that hard water was this silent destructor,” Reavey told Glossy. The brand's Clarifying Hard Water Shampoo sells for $32, while the Clarifying Hard Water Scalp Treatment goes for $38.  In this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Reavey and Mackin share insider details on these topics. The duo also discusses the ways they stand out in the market, including through community building, education and customer service.

On this episode of Tank Talks, we welcome back Villi Iltchev, founder and managing partner of Category Ventures, for an unfiltered deep dive into the evolving venture capital landscape. From his early days at Salesforce Ventures to launching his solo $160M fund, Villi unpacks the seismic shifts happening in enterprise software, how AI is reshaping startup economics, and what today's founders need most from their investors.We get tactical about startup pricing models, founder-investor trust, and what it takes to build truly category-defining companies. Villi also shares what he learned from backing GitLab, why transparency builds long-term trust, and how he thinks about firm design as a solo GP.Whether you're an aspiring founder, current operator, or an emerging VC, this episode is a masterclass in strategic thinking and building with purpose.Inside the Mind of a Modern VC (00:01:00)* Villi's journey from tech banking to Salesforce Ventures* Why Salesforce's transformation into a platform company changed everything* The parallels between Salesforce and NVIDIA's ecosystem dominance* How being early at Salesforce shaped Villi's thesis around go-to-market and platform strategyScaling GitLab: Lessons from the Frontlines (00:15:00)* The inside story of GitLab's infamous database failure—and why live-streaming the crisis built trust* Why Villi pushed GitLab to sunset unscalable SKUs and simplify pricing* The power of bundling and setting an “aspirational” price point from day oneGoing Solo: Building Category Ventures (00:25:00)* Why Villi finally felt ready to start his own fund—and what changed* The biggest surprises (and reliefs) in raising as a solo GP* How LPs are getting more sophisticated and what they want from fund managers* Why venture needs a reset and what legacy firms are getting wrongThe New Rules of Early-Stage Investing (00:32:00)* Why founder/firm misalignment leads to orphaned startups* The real impact of mega-funds dabbling at seed and pre-seed* Why Category Ventures is built to be flexible—and fiercely focused on enterprise softwareAI, Startups & the Future of Enterprise (00:38:00)* Villi's hot take on AI-powered lean startups: “It's not the norm—and won't be.”* Why AI is a second-order unlock for vertical SaaS and back-office automation* The coming wave of software replacing the BPO industryLife, Adrenaline, and VC Energy (00:45:00)* What gets Villi's adrenaline pumping as a VC* Why endless internal meetings kill his vibe—and founder calls fuel him* How skiing and extreme adventure balance the chaos of ventureAs the venture landscape shifts under our feet, Villi Iltchev is proving that thoughtful investing, deep expertise, and founder-first empathy are more vital than ever. From GitLab board rooms to building Category VC, his journey is a blueprint for those looking to lead with clarity—and conviction.About Villi Iltchev:Villi Iltchev is the founder and managing partner of Category Ventures, a $160M early-stage venture firm focused exclusively on enterprise software. With a career spanning both operating and investing, Villi brings a rare blend of empathy and edge to the startups he backs—having sat on both sides of the table.He began his career in tech investment banking before transitioning into operating roles at companies like Hewlett-Packard, LifeLock, and Box. He later joined Salesforce Ventures at its inception, helping to build one of the most influential corporate venture arms in the world. During his time there, he led investments in category-defining companies like GitLab and HubSpot.Prior to launching Category Ventures, Villi was a partner at August Capital and Two Sigma Ventures, where he built a strong track record backing developer tools, infrastructure, and vertical SaaS startups. His investments are grounded in deep enterprise domain expertise, a keen sense for go-to-market strategy, and a relentless focus on founder empathy.A lifelong learner and backcountry skiing enthusiast, Villi draws creative energy from the outdoors and adrenaline-fueled adventures. He holds degrees in finance and philosophy and is driven by a singular belief: the best founders don't just build products—they redefine categories.Follow Villi Iltchev on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/villi04Visit the Category Ventures website: https://www.categoryvc.com/Follow Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

In this episode, co-host Scott Rosenbaum sits down with Vishal Patel, CEO of James Gin, one of the fastest-growing and most unconventional spirits brands on the market. Founded in the UK by Top Gear's James May and master distiller Hugh Anderson, James Gin has already surpassed $2 million in revenue, with 50% of sales coming from the U.S. — a market not traditionally known for embracing gin.Vishal shares how the brand is flipping the traditional playbook on its head, building a media-first business with over 1 million followers across social platforms, and driving sales through digital-first, DTC strategies (!!). His insights are essential for any drinks entrepreneur navigating today's saturated and highly competitive landscape.In this episode, Vishal shares:How James Gin scaled past $2M in revenue while launching in both the UK and U.S. markets within its first four years.Why the team operates more like a content studio than a traditional spirits brand — and how its "anti-celebrity" tone sets it apart.The data-driven rationale behind going DTC-first in the U.S., and how James Gin expanded from 15 to nearly 40 Total Wine stores in California.The importance of conversion metrics, and how improving the site's 0.75% conversion rate is central to doubling the business.How the brand's flavor innovation and storytelling — with SKUs like Asian Parsnip, London Drizzle, and California Dreamgin' — create buzz and drive sales.Why 95% of James Gin's social media followers are male, but 40% of purchasers are women — and what they're doing to bridge that gap.Why Vishal believes founders must be clear about their end goal before taking investment, and how overextending can derail brand building.Last Call: We discuss the DISCUS 2024 Annual Economic Briefing report — quiz style! Scott challenges Erica and Caroline on the latest stats including which category grew the most in 2024; which category claimed the top market share spot; and, whether hospitality employment has really bounced back?Don't miss our next episode, dropping on 4/2.For the latest updates, follow us:Business of Drinks:LinkedInInstagram @bizofdrinksErica Duecy, co-host: Erica Duecy is founder and co-host of Business of Drinks and one of the drinks industry's most accomplished digital and content strategists. She runs the consultancy and advisory arm of Business of Drinks and has built publishing and marketing programs for Drizly, VinePair, SevenFifty, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies.LinkedInInstagram @ericaduecyScott Rosenbaum, co-host: Scott Rosenbaum is co-host of Business of Drinks and a veteran strategist and analyst with deep experience building drinks portfolios. He currently serves as Head of Search at Distill Ventures. He was formerly the Vice President of T. Edward Wines & Spirits, a New York-based importer and distributor.LinkedInCaroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.LinkedInInstagram @borkalineSPONSOR: SWIG Partners is exclusively offering $100 off their supplier-distributor matchmaking fee when you mention the Business of Drinks podcast, or inquire via this link: ⁠https://www.swigpartners.com/businessofdrinksIf you enjoyed today's conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you're listening, and don't forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

I'm joined by Ashwinn Krishnaswamy, an expert in launching and growing consumer brands, where we discuss how he evaluates market opportunities and creates unfair advantages. We discuss various tools for market research including Ahrefs for keyword analysis, Particl for competitor sales data, and AI tools for product design. Ashwinn emphasizes that entrepreneurs should work backward from distribution channels rather than focusing solely on product development.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro03:45 - Ahrefs tool for keyword research15:08 -  Particl for analyzing competitor sales data18:52 - Why start a CPG brand21:05 - How to stand out in crowded categories24:57- Opportunities in Branding for Older Adults28:40 - Bootstrapping Your Product Idea33:56 - Researching Your Market and Competitors36:52 - Manus AI for automating market research39:58 -  Distribution is everything.Key Points:• Ashwinn shares tools and strategies for evaluating market opportunities for physical products and brands• Tools like Ahrefs and Particle provide valuable data on search volume, competition, and sales trends• AI tools like Manis can now automate much of the market research process that previously cost thousands• Distribution strategy should come before product development, not vice versa1) First, understand that DISTRIBUTION is everything."First-time founders focus on product, second-time founders focus on distribution."The hard truth? Many subpar products CRUSH IT because they nail distribution and operational excellence.Always work BACKWARDS from how you'll acquire customers!2) Use Ahrefs to evaluate category demand and competition Type any keyword to see:• Monthly search volume (market size)• Keyword difficulty (competition level)• Seasonal trends• Geographic distributionThis helps you VALIDATE demand before building anything!3) Look for geographic OPPORTUNITIES in the data When Ashwinn checked "electrolytes" he found:• 74% of searches from English-speaking Western countries• Only 3% from India, PhilippinesThis reveals potential to build "Element for Germany" or other untapped markets where trends haven't diffused yet!4) For physical products, use Particle to spy on competitorsThis tool shows:• E-commerce sales data for brands• Best-selling SKUs• Category trendsCrucial insight: Often 90% of revenue comes from just 4 SKUs!5) The REAL opportunity in physical products?They force you to become EXCEPTIONAL at marketing."The bleeding edge of marketing happens in consumer products because it's SO HARD to get attention and convince someone to part with their dollars."It's a marketing masterclass in real-time.6) How to stand out in crowded categories:Study the competition obsessively! Ashwinn showed how most magnesium supplements look generic and medical.But brands like Moon Juice and Lemme differentiate through:• Distinctive packaging• Custom bottles• Clear positioning• Targeting specific demographics7) The BIGGEST opportunity right now?Find UNDERSERVED demographics!Most brands target coastal millennials or Gen Z because that's who creates them.But what about products for older adults with:• More disposable income• Less saturated marketing channels• Different aesthetic preferences8) AI is your UNFAIR ADVANTAGE for research• Competitor analysis• Market sizing• Customer needs• Design trends"It's putting together a report Nielsen would charge $20K for!"99% of people aren't using AI this way yet.9) Before building ANYTHING, become a "relentless researcher":• Study every competitor's positioning• Read all the 1-2 star reviews in your category• Visit stores and talk to owners• Contact potential customers directlyNotable Quotes:"First time founders focus on product, second time founders focus on distribution." - Ashwinn"Building a physical product business is very hard and by most people probably just shouldn't be done on a whim. But if you can do it in a somewhat low stakes way or low risk way... I think it is a phenomenal way to get really good at marketing." - AshwinnLCA helps Fortune 500s and fast-growing startups build their future - from Warner Music to Fortnite to Dropbox. We turn 'what if' into reality with AI, apps, and next-gen products https://latecheckout.agency/BoringAds — ads agency that will build you profitable ad campaigns http://boringads.com/BoringMarketing — SEO agency and tools to get your organic customers http://boringmarketing.com/Startup Empire — a membership for builders who want to build cash-flowing businesses https://www.startupempire.coFIND ME ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/FIND ASHWINN ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://x.com/ShwinnabegoInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shwinnabegobrandBrand Brothers Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2wgTQ7mXBngdiNzcJ2cUJZ

Here's the latest CPG news happening right now on March 9th, 2025 including New Malk SKUs, Sweet Loren's Meteoric Rise, Expo West RecapMalk has released two new SKUs in multi-serve format: Coconut Malk and Soy Malk. These are both available in 32 oz bottles.Coconut MALK is hitting shelves nationwideSoy MALK is exclusive to Whole Foods Market and with 3 Simple Ingredients and 6g of naturally occurring protein per serving fills a much needed niche.They debuted both at Expo West this past weekThe cookie dessert brand Sweet Loren's is now on track to achieve $120M in revenue in 2025Loren Castle is the CEO and Founder. The then 22-year-old New York City native got a degree in communications and knew she liked health, wellness and business, “but I had no idea what I was going to do with my life,” she says. Post-graduation, she went back to New York but planned to move to L.A. permanently to see where life took her.Just months after graduating, however, Castle was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the immune system, and had to undergo six months of chemotherapy. Depressed, she began seeing a therapist who helped her see the moment as empowering and an opportunity. There were still ways in which she could take control.One such way was her diet — she could make sure to eat healthy even after her treatment. Castle began taking nutrition and cooking classes, but she quickly discovered something was missing: dessert. “I have a huge sweet tooth,” she says, and she couldn't find baked goods made with more whole foods that didn't use ingredients like bleached white flour, corn syrup and artificial chemicals.So Castle started trying to make healthier desserts for herself. Expo West 2025 is in the books. There were over 65,000 attendees. This was the first year where every exhibit hall opened at the exact same time. According to recent information, Expo West 2025 featured around 3,600 exhibitors (an increae from 3,000 last year) showcasing a wide range of natural and organic products across various categories like food, beverage, packaging, and wellness items.

In this episode, mother-son duo Robin & Kellen Kanzius of Fred's Urban Farm talk about the logistics behind having many or few product SKUs.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!   Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:  Instagram  Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:  Carrot Cashflow  Farm Small Farm Smart  Farm Small Farm Smart Daily  The Growing Microgreens Podcast  The Urban Farmer Podcast  The Rookie Farmer Podcast  In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books:  Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon   Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

In this episode, I share a critical lesson we learned the hard way—why relying solely on past sales data to forecast inventory for seasonal products can be a big mistake. For the first three years of our brand, we experienced consistent growth, fueled by marketing, new SKUs, and the surge in demand during COVID. But what we didn't account for was the actual market demand beyond our own sales numbers. I break down the risks of over-relying on historical data, how we adjusted our approach, and what you can do to avoid the same mistake.   ➡️ All my resources: https://www.andyisom.com/