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Stop losing revenue after the click! Get your free conversion audit at https://www.tiereleven.com/cro/service Are you optimizing your ads but ignoring what happens after the click? Most brands obsess over traffic acquisition while leaving massive revenue opportunities hidden inside their websites, forms, and customer journeys.In this third episode of our CRO series with Ned MacPherson, head of CRO at Tier 11, we get into why CRO is really revenue optimization and why copying a competitor's "pretty" site is a dangerous shortcut. Ned introduces the AI feature we built that scours the web every couple of hours to show high-end shoppers exactly how the price compares to the market, without them having to leave the page.We also get into something wilder: an AI agent that runs live pricing experiments across thousands of SKUs on its own. We talk about generative engine optimization (GEO) and how to structure your site so LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT actually recommend your website. In this episode:- Why conversion rate optimization is really revenue optimization- How data-driven CRO beats design-based assumptions- Optimizing landing pages, PDPs, forms, and post-click experiences- How lead generation forms create massive conversion leaks- The role of AI agents in the future of CRO strategy- Why generative engine optimization (GEO) matters for future visibility- Improving e-commerce performance with AI-powered pricing experimentsMentioned in the Episode: Previous Episodes With Ned MacPherson: https://perpetualtraffic.com/podcast/episode-796-stop-redesigning-start-diagnosing-the-cro-method-that-actually-works/https://perpetualtraffic.com/podcast/episode-797-what-a-live-cro-audit-reveals-that-your-design-agency-never-shows-you/ Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 - https://www.tiereleven.com/apply-now Mentioned in this episode:https://perpetualtraffic.com/advertise-with-us/
Quick question: Are you pricing your FBA holiday orders for 2026 fees yet? Most operators aren't, and Amazon won't remind you until it's too late. Neil Twa dives into a Retail Dive piece revealing Amazon's new fulfillment fees for the 2026 holiday season, urging sellers to ship inventory early. With 20+ years of experience, Neil shares a real-life example from a home goods brand in his portfolio that sees a massive revenue spike during Q4. He outlines three critical moves to make now, not in September: pull your Q4 fee baseline today, run the FBA revenue calculator on your top holiday SKUs, and prepare for fee changes. If this resonates, especially the fee change issue, it's the exact problem Caiman Data was built to solve. Most sellers miss these details until it's too late. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep327 See your Amazon numbers in one place and protect your margins with Caiman Data at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep327&learn_mcp=1
Are you leaving money on the table by ignoring AI personalization in your Amazon brand? Neil Twa dives into the missed opportunities most operators face by not using customer behavior signals. While ad spend continues to rise, conversion rates remain stagnant. Neil breaks down a real case from one of his portfolio brands in the home goods category, where traffic and conversion were decent, but repeat purchases lagged. Discover how AI personalization can transform your brand's performance by utilizing data you already have. Neil shares three actionable moves you can implement this week, regardless of your current level. Open your Brand Analytics Search Query Performance report, filter by top SKUs, and identify search terms driving impressions but not conversions. The High Voltage Business Builders Podcast is here to help sellers at every level maximize their potential. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep326 See your Amazon numbers in one place and protect your margins with Caiman Data at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep326&learn_mcp=1
In this episode, Adam Martel talks about stepping up from legacy processes, embracing PartsEdge automation, and what it's like to turn the chaos of managing 50,000+ SKUs into a streamlined, growth-focused operation. From running smarter online sales to preparing for industry shifts like mandatory video MPIs, Adam shares gritty, optimistic insights on staying competitive and turning inventory faster.We dig into the real-world challenges parts managers face: drowning in outdated DMS setups, legacy sources nobody even remembers, and lacking tools to break out of silos. If you've ever felt like inventory is a guessing game, this one's for you.--------------------------------------------This show is powered by PartsEdge: Your go-to solution for transforming dealership parts inventory into a powerhouse of profitability. Our strategies are proven to amp up parts sales by a whopping 20%, all while cutting down on idle inventory. If you're looking to optimize your parts management, visit
Most automation projects stall long before the first robot moves. Not because the technology isn't ready, but because buying feels like a maze: vague budgets, endless “it depends” quotes, and months of back-and-forth just to learn what something costs. We sit down with Wes from FANUC to talk about a different path for manufacturers, especially in food and beverage packaging: standard, scalable robotic solutions you can pilot quickly and then replicate across lines or plants.We dig into what “automation made simple” looks like on the ground, including FANUC's CRX cobots and the growing partner ecosystem behind ready-to-deploy applications like cobot palletizers. We talk about why transparent pricing and show-floor demos can lower the barrier to trying automation, how lead times improve when systems are standardized, and why some suppliers can even support trial periods or quick evaluations before you fully commit.If you're newer to robotics automation, we share a practical way to approach evaluation: define your SKUs, speeds, payloads, and KPIs before you get distracted by a shiny demo. We also get real about what drives success after install: operator-friendly HMIs, changeover flexibility, safety and risk assessment choices like area scanners, and the small day-to-day tweaks that keep a system running for years.If this helps you think more clearly about your next automation decision, subscribe, share the episode with a teammate, and leave a quick review so more manufacturers can find it.Support the show_________________________________________________________________
Wie verändert KI ein 80 Jahre altes Familienunternehmen? Alexander Zindler, CMO bei der Grube KG, war in der neuen insights! Folge bei Joubin Rahimi zu Gast und liefert eine sehr konkrete Antwort. Du erfährst, wie Grube vom klassischen Katalogversand zum Online Pure Player mit 50.000 SKUs wurde, wie KI 10 Jahre SEO-Arbeit auf 3 Monate komprimiert und warum das Konzept des Mini-CMOs klassische Marketing-Hierarchien aufbricht.
Dr. Angela Casey spent nearly 15 years treating skin cancer before she had her business idea. She didn't come from entrepreneurship - she came from molecular biology, medical school, residency, and a clinical practice. When the idea hit her, it was so obvious she couldn't believe nobody had done it properly. She searched every major retailer - Ulta, Sephora, Target, Walmart, Macy's - and found nothing worth recommending to her own three daughters. A Macy's assistant tried to sell her 12-year-old an anti-aging eye cream. Bright Girl was the answer to that gap, and it cost her $350,000 and three years to bring it to life. In this episode, Angela gets completely honest about what it takes to launch a product the right way from scratch - the hundreds of surveys, the thousands of patient conversations, the Covid shipping crisis that sent her costs up six times overnight, and what nearly $120,000 in packaging sitting in a warehouse actually feels like when you're still flying the plane as you build it. What you'll learn in this interview: How Angela validated Bright Girl before spending a cent - surveying hundreds of people on SurveyMonkey, questioning thousands of patients over two years, and physically visiting every major beauty retailer to confirm the gap was real Why she interviewed dozens of cosmetic chemist teams around the world before finding the right fit - and how three years of clinical research meant she only needed three rounds of formula revisions The real cost of a custom, premium launch: $50K for the first filled run, $120K when you include the 36,000 empty bottles in reserve, and $350K all in when you add branding and design What it felt like to order 40,000 bottles and jars across four SKUs in 2020 - just as Covid hit and shipping costs multiplied by six Why she spent the first year of DTC sales proving market fit before ever approaching dermatology practices as a distribution channel - and why that sequencing mattered The exact moment she knew the product had real credibility: when other dermatologists - notoriously skeptical of new skincare brands - started recommending Bright Girl not just to patients but for their own children How selling through dermatology practices built the trust that made mass retail possible - and the retailers Bright Girl is now stocked in Why Amazon, launched just over a year ago, is now growing at 10-20% month over month - and how TikTok Shop became an unpredictable but consistent additional channel The email marketing lesson from her Founder mentor that unlocked 15-20% of website revenue from a channel she had barely touched What two full-time jobs actually looks like - five days a week in clinical practice, seven days a week on Bright Girl - and the non-negotiable routines that hold it together If you're early in your journey and wondering whether your idea is good enough to back with serious money and serious time - Angela's story is a masterclass in what deep validation actually looks like before you commit. She still wants more. She's her own harshest critic. But $40K a month on a brand she built from scratch with zero business experience, while running a full medical practice, is not nothing. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to https://your.omnisend.com/foundr to get started. WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → https://foundr.com/operators HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application → Already have a store? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application CONNECT WITH BY DR ANGELA CASEY Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/brightgirlbeauty/ Angela's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/angelacaseymd/ Website → https://brightgirl.com/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt Website → https://www.foundr.com Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/foundr/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/foundr Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/foundr LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/ Podcast → https://www.foundr.com/podcast
When Walmart builds a global flywheel like Amazon's, and you're only selling on one platform, you're at risk. Neil Twa dives into why ignoring Walmart's structural shift is a mistake for ecommerce operators. He shares the story of David, who was doing $30,000 a month on Amazon with six SKUs, and how expanding to Walmart changed his business. Neil outlines three critical moves to prepare your catalog for Walmart, emphasizing immediate action. This episode is a must-listen for sellers at every level who want to stay competitive in a multi-platform world. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep317 See your Amazon numbers in one place and protect your margins with Caiman Data at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep317&learn_mcp=1
Have an idea or tip? Send us a text!Your customer starts a photo order on their phone, asks a question in store, pays at the counter, and expects everything to “just work.” Most retailers cannot deliver that simple experience because their POS, e-commerce site, kiosk, and lab workflow are stitched together from different systems, each with its own SKUs, pricing, and payment records. Gary Pageau of The Dead Pixels Society sits down with Pat Hugron, Vice President of Operations and R&D at Dakis, to unpack how unified commerce for photo retailers is meant to fix the daily grind of reconciliation, duplicate inventory, and channel confusion.We trace Dakis's long path from early product recommendation tech to building tools for camera stores, photo labs, and specialty retailers who need a single platform. Hugron shares what has changed in production over the years, why outsourcing the long tail of photo gifts can be healthier than trying to make everything in-house, and why “seamless” matters as much to the lab as it does to the customer. We also dig into the return of film, why the resurgence surprised so many stores, and how better film processing workflow and delivery can keep customers engaged long enough to actually order prints.Then we get practical about what “unified” means: one product catalog across online and in-store, a save-and-send quote that lets staff build a cart and email a payment link, and unified data that can support smarter follow-up and add-on sales. Hugron also previews what is still coming, including purchase orders, receiving, and serial number tracking, plus how retailers can get hands-on training at the IPIC boot camp.Energize your sales with Shareme.chat, the proven texting platform. ShareMe.Chat ShareMe.Chat platform uses chat-to-text on your website to keep your customers connected and buying!MediaclipMediaclip strives to continuously enhance the user experience while dramatically increasing revenue.Independent Photo ImagersIPI is a member + trade association and a cooperative buying group in the photo + print industry.Photo Imaging CONNECTThe Photo Imaging CONNECT conference, March 2027, at the RIO Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas, NBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showSign up for the Dead Pixels Society newsletter at http://bit.ly/DeadPixelsSignUp.Contact us at gary@thedeadpixelssociety.comVisit our LinkedIn group, Photo/Digital Imaging Network, and Facebook group, The Dead Pixels Society. Leave a review on Apple and Podchaser. Are you interested in being a guest? Click here for details.Hosted and produced by Gary PageauAnnouncer: Erin Manning
Today I want to talk about SKU numbers because a question that I often get asked is how many SKUs should I have before I start selling wholesale? Unfortunately, the answer is it depends. Which I know you all want like a solid number and we do give some solid recommendations and guidance for like how much we want you to have in Paper Camp and also how many you should have before you start exhibiting at trade shows. But I wanted to do this solo episode on the podcast about this topic because there is a lot of nuance and I want to break down what that nuance is and so you can apply it to your own business.Today's episode is brought to you by our Paper Camp program. Paper Camp is our wholesale coaching program where we teach you everything you need to know to build strong wholesale foundations. Over the course of 4 weeks, we tackle your product line, sales tools, and marketing plan, and we even talk about how to exhibit at trade shows if that's what you want to do. We start with your product line and go into everything from how often you should be releasing new products to ensuring that your numbers are sustainable for the wholesale market and their price for profit.Then we move into sales tools you must have for selling wholesale so you make a strong first impression with buyers like catalogs and your terms and conditions. Then, we cover marketing strategies and ways to reach various store owners. Each week's teachings build on the previous week, and we host weekly live engaging coaching calls to answer all of your questions. We will open enrollment for our next round of Paper Camp soon, and we sell this program out every time we run it. Join the wait list and you'll get early access to enroll.SIGN UP FOR THE WAITLISTYou can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/448 Quick Links:Free Wholesale Audio SeriesFree Resources LibraryFree Email Marketing for Product MakersPTP LABSPaper Camp
Your Best Customers Are Quiet-Quitting. Here's the Proof with Ethan Giffin Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com or email him at rocky@profitcomesfirst.com Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/ You haven't lost the account. The customer still picks up the phone. But somewhere in the last 18 months the reorder volume dropped, and nobody flagged it because the relationship still looks fine. That's how B2B quiet quitting works. Your customers don't cancel and don't complain. They just route their consumables to whoever made buying easiest, while keeping your account open for the orders that still need a conversation. By the time it reaches your revenue line, the relationship has already moved. Ethan Giffin has spent nearly two decades inside mid-market manufacturing and distribution watching this happen. In this episode, he and Rocky break down how to find it in your own data, why most digital fixes fail before they launch, and the one alignment conversation that changes the outcome. In This Episode: How to find B2B quiet quitting in your order data before it hits your revenue The $5 vs. $50 order-processing gap and how to calculate your exposure Why the five-team alignment failure kills most digital projects before launch The hero vs. arsonist dynamic and why your most indispensable people may protect the friction Private equity's playbook for modernizing legacy manufacturers and capturing the multiple The three-year sequence from zero to a digital channel customers actually use Why AI makes things worse without clean operational systems first Key Takeaways: Pull your top 20 accounts and look at order frequency, not just revenue. Frequency drops first. A call center order costs about $50; a portal order about $5. Run that across your volume. Salespeople don't lose when customers self-serve. Quotas rise, territory grows. Start with the SKUs customers actually reorder, not the full catalog. Test your own buying process. You don't know how hard it is until you do. About Ethan Giffin: Ethan Giffin is the Founder and CEO of The B2B eCommerce Agency and author of Closing the Digital Revenue Gap. Since 2007, he has worked with mid-market manufacturers and distributors across the U.S., helping executive teams find the structural leaks in their revenue, modernize how their customers buy, and build digital systems that actually get used. He also hosts The B2B eCommerce Summit, an annual gathering of operators shaping the future of B2B commerce. Ethan's approach focuses on three things most digital projects skip: sequence, alignment, and adoption. His book and consulting work give executive teams a practical blueprint to protect margins and build buying experiences that keep customers coming back. Away from the agency, he performs as DJ Opie, producing nonprofit galas across Baltimore since the age of 16, helping charitable organizations create events that raise more money and leave a lasting impression on donors. Links: Website: https://ethangiffin.com/ https://b2becommerceagency.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethangiffin/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/b2becommerceagency/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@B2BeCommerceAgency Podcast: TheB2BeCommercePodcast Free Copy of the book: https://b2becommerceagency.com/free-consultation/ Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
SEASON: 6 EPISODE: 34Episode Overview:Welcome back to Becoming Preferred, the podcast for entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to grow their business, level up their game and become preferred in the markets they serve.Let's be honest: in today's market, growing your revenue is only half the battle. The real danger? Growing so fast that you break your own business. When your logistics fracture, your software stacks multiply, and your profit margins start bleeding cash, marketing success can quickly turn into an operational nightmare.Our guest today is the man who steps in when guesswork fails. Michael Kleinmann is a seasoned D2C operator, founder, and fractional C-suite executive who has built and scaled multiple businesses to the mid-eight-figure mark. He is a master at turning back-end infrastructure, fulfillment, and supply chains away from boring cost centers and into lethal competitive advantages.Whether you are running an e-commerce giant, scaling a subscription model, or just trying to protect your margins in a shifting economy, today's conversation is a blueprint for logic-driven execution. Please join me for my conversation with Michael Kleinmann.Guest Bio: Michael Kleinmann is a seasoned direct-to-consumer (D2C) operator, founder, and executive advisor with more than two decades of experience building, scaling, and modernizing seven- and eight-figure e-commerce and subscription brands. A true pioneer in the digital retail space, Michael launched Freshpair from his New York City apartment in 2001, transforming it into a category leader with over 30,000 SKUs and even founding "National Underwear Day" before its successful acquisition. In 2012, he repeated his success by launching Underwear Expert, growing it from a massive content marketing platform into a high-performing subscription powerhouse driven by proprietary curation technology.Today, Michael steps into organizations as a fractional C-suite executive, transforming logistics, fulfillment, and operational infrastructure into true strategic assets. He brings deep, end-to-end expertise across product, tech stacks, marketing, and supply chain management, replacing guesswork with practical, logic-driven execution. Throughout his career, he has built a reputation for engineering creative solutions to complex operational bottlenecks—delivering massive freight cost savings, optimizing 3PL partnerships, and turning around struggling business processes.Michael is far from your typical, surface-level consultant. Having worn every imaginable hat over 25 years of hands-on business building, he knows exactly how to align infrastructure with rapid revenue growth while ruthlessly protecting profit margins. He joins us to share his proven systems for navigating the realities of scaling and removing the friction from modern e-commerce operations.Resource Links:Website: https://www.mkinc.com/Product Link: https://www.mkinc.com/servicesInsight Gold Timestamps:02:40 I gravitated towards technology and business04:41 We had just about every hurdle you can think of06:12 I created National Underwear Day08:20 How do you get from zero to 100 with next to nothing or maybe fumes?10:38 I want to hear the problem from their perspective; that doesn't mean that that's what the problem is15:11 There's a lot of analytics that you can get about different things to try to see if B2C makes sense17:03 I was reading this morning that there's 73,000 3PLs in the United States20:35 By moving to a 3PL, you can get your costs lower than if you did it yourself21:48 Amazon is a shipping carrier that you can use separate from selling on Amazon24:42 If you want to pick something easy to do, don't have a direct-to-consumer brand28:40 I think asking for help is difficult33:20 I just went through the whole entire business and tried to simplify everything38:53 I think there's a lot more opportunity, but it's different40:00 mkinc.comConnect Socially:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkleinmann/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@poweredbymkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/poweredbymkEmail: mk@mkinc.comSponsors: Rainmaker LeadGen Platform Demo: https://calendar.summit-learning.com/widget/booking/JKItVP7WErmCBjU2cCIxRainmaker Digital Solutions: https://www.rainmakerdigitalsolutions.com/
Revenue dropping despite having a beloved brand? That's the reality Beardbrand faced, even after building the beard care category from the ground up. Neil Twa dives into their journey, revealing how a 15-year-old company like Beardbrand navigates a crowded market. Eric Bandholz, the man who made beards cool, isn't just resting on past successes. The packaging story is a standout, Beardbrand reworked their entire look to break into Target, adding new SKUs to fit the bill. Neil breaks down three critical moves for sellers at every level. First, audit your channel math before scaling spend. Beardbrand is tripling down on Meta as their top acquisition channel. Do you know your top channel? If you're feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of channels and decisions, you're not alone. Most operators are. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep313 See your Amazon numbers in one place and protect your margins with Caiman Data at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep313&learn_mcp=1
Jennifer Fisher started with $5,000 and a dog tag she sketched on a piece of paper for her son - a son she almost never had, after chemotherapy, failed IVF, and years of surrogacy attempts. She knocked on doors on 47th Street, got Uma Thurman to wear her piece on a Glamour cover, and bootstrapped the brand for 20 years without taking a single dollar from investors. Now Jennifer Fisher Jewelry is on track for nine figures, growing 50% year over year, and targeting 200-300% growth by 2028 - with a $20 jar of salt as her secret customer acquisition weapon. In this interview, Jennifer breaks down the Instagram pivot in 2017 that tripled sales overnight, how 6% of salt buyers convert to jewelry customers, and the manufacturing mistake she made after Covid that nearly broke the entire business. What you'll learn in this interview: • How a dog tag she sketched for her son became Hollywood's go-to jewelry brand - starting with Uma Thurman on a Glamour cover • Why she launched DTC before Shopify existed - and what running a jewelry brand on Magento in 2005 actually looked like • The 2017 Instagram pivot: how showing her real life - cooking, dogs, kids - tripled sales overnight • How a $20 jar of salt she made in her kitchen became a full customer acquisition funnel - with 6% of buyers converting to jewelry • Why founder-led creative outconverts every influencer she's ever worked with - and why she still does it all herself • The manufacturing mistake that nearly broke her: why not moving production out of NYC fast enough after Covid was her biggest business regret • How a JV with Centric Brands unlocked the operations, manufacturing scale, and systems she couldn't build alone in 20 years • Managing 4,000 SKUs (cut from 10,000) - and the inventory planning challenge that still costs her sales every season • Why she's launching men's jewelry, silver, sunglasses, and home as category expansions - and how she decides what's actually her • What surviving chemo, years of IVF, and the loss of her father taught her about handling fear in business If you're building a DTC fashion or lifestyle brand, trying to figure out how founder-led content and creative actually works at scale, or just want 20 years of hard-won bootstrap lessons from someone who built nine figures without ever raising a round, this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about brand building, customer acquisition, and what it means to show up as yourself. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to https://your.omnisend.com/foundr to get started. WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → https://foundr.com/operators HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application → Already have a store? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/ CONNECT WITH JENNIFER FISHER Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/jenniferfisher/ Website → https://jenniferfisher.com/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt Website → https://www.foundr.com Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/foundr/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/foundr Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/foundr LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/ Podcast → https://www.foundr.com/podcast
In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough podcast, host Josh Hadley shares his strategic framework for approaching major sales events like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Rather than chasing short-term profits, Josh advocates using these events for customer acquisition through aggressive discounts on front-end products. Using Athletic Greens (AG1) as a prime example, he illustrates how maintaining a cohesive brand promise drives long-term success. Josh also emphasizes the importance of the 3:1 lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio as the key metric for sustainable e-commerce growth.Bullet Points:Strategic approach to major sales events (Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday)Importance of customer acquisition over short-term profitsUse of aggressive discounts on front-end products to attract new customersCase study of Athletic Greens (AG1) as a successful brand exampleFocus on maintaining a cohesive brand identity and promiseEmphasis on understanding and optimizing customer lifetime value (LTV)Recommended LTV to customer acquisition cost (CAC) ratio for scalable growthImportance of thoughtful product packaging and messaging for customer engagementCaution against short-term gimmicks that can damage brand trustStrategies for using sales events to clear excess inventory and enhance brand equityTimestamps:00:00:00 Approaching Major Sales EventsThe host discusses different strategies for sales events like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday for e-commerce brands.00:00:52 Introduction to the HostJosh Hadley introduces himself, his e-commerce experience, and the focus of the podcast on building a true brand.00:01:48 Defining a Real BrandA real brand sells a promise to a customer, not just products. The host uses Athletic Greens (AG1) as an example.00:02:52 AG1's Brand Promise StrategyHow AG1 uses a starter kit to introduce customers to their brand promise of convenient health and wellness.00:03:54 Prime Day as Customer AcquisitionThe primary goal of Prime Day should be front-end customer acquisition, not short-term profitability, to build an ecosystem.00:05:57 The Importance of Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)Focusing on the long-term LTV of a customer and the 3-to-1 CAC to LTV ratio for sustainable scaling.00:07:51 AG1's Customer OnboardingAG1's starter kit includes materials to onboard customers into their ecosystem and encourage repeat purchases, building long-term trust.00:09:04 Long-Term Brand Building vs. Short-Term TacticsThe best brands focus on a 3-5 year time horizon, building trust through repetition and delivering on their promise.00:11:06 Creating a Cohesive Brand EcosystemBrands should have a lead offer that introduces customers to an entire ecosystem of products delivering on a single promise.00:13:22 The Two-Pronged Strategy for Sales EventsUse aggressive discounts on acquisition products to attract new customers and use the event for liquidating excess inventory.Links and Mentions:Tools and Websites"AG1 (Athletic Greens)": "00:01:48""Expandify": "00:07:00"General Concepts"Lifetime Value (LTV) Ratio": "00:05:57"Recommendations"Front End Acquisition Offers": "00:13:22""Liquidation Offers": "00:13:22"Transcript:Josh Hadley 00:00:00 One of the biggest topics that's always up for debate this time of year is, hey, how should I approach Prime Day? Should I be aggressive giving out a bunch of discounts? Should I turn off my PPC campaigns and just maximize profitability? Should I actually increase my prices and not decrease them? So I just ride the high of all the traffic that's going to Amazon? Well, today I'm going to be diving into how I'm going to be approaching Prime Day moving forward. And this also includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday as well. Welcome to the Econ Breakthrough podcast I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own ecommerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. Who am I? My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband to a beautiful wife and the father of four children.Josh Hadley 00:00:52 I've been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing over $20 million in annual revenue, doing multi-millionaire on other sales channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify, and also the host of the number one e-commerce podcast for business strategy. And that is Ecomm breakthrough. Today, I want to share with you our mindset of how we're approaching Prime Days moving forward. This also includes how we're going to be approaching, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and what some of the best brands out there in the e-commerce space are doing. I think that this is game changing because this kind of piggybacks off of what I've talked about in the past, which is, are you actually building a true brand, or are you just trying to sell products on Amazon, or are you just a product brand that's just slapping their brand name on a bunch of different random products that don't have a whole lot of cohesion? If that's the case, you probably don't want to listen to the rest of this podcast episode because it's not going to be relevant for you.Josh Hadley 00:01:48 This is going to be for those sellers that are actually trying to build a real brand. And what does a real brand mean? It means you're not just selling products, it means you're selling a promise to a customer, and then you're actually able to deliver on that promise to a customer. Now, one of the best examples that I want to dive into is aji one. And aji one does an excellent job of this on Amazon because they know exactly who they are as a brand. You don't just see Aegon all of a sudden coming out with, hey, now they're selling socks. Aegon supplements is not coming out with, you know, iPad covers or cell phone cases or anything like that. They're not an opportunistic, you know, product business. Instead, they are actually a brand trying to serve a very specific target market and customer delivering on the promise of, hey, if you come to us, we will provide you with the fastest, easiest way to get all of your vitamins and minerals in a very efficient way so that you are living your best life, that you are living, you know, in an optimal health environment.Josh Hadley 00:02:52 Okay. That's their brand promise. Now, are they actually able to deliver on this promise. And so ultimately, I share with you this example because this is what's going to be kind of set the foundation for why you're going to execute prime days and all of the big deal days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday in a new framework. So with AG one, one of the things that they do knowing their brand promise is how do I introduce people to our products to let them know, hey, they're tasty, they're easy, they're convenient, and hopefully you feel better while you use these. That's their brand promise. Okay, so how do they do that? Well, they have a seven day starter kit that they sell on Amazon. Now. They also sell some of their other SKUs on Amazon as well. But one of their key things and I just pulled it up. They're doing over 2000 units a month just on their one supplement, ...
It's tough to compete with Supergoop, the sunscreen startup that entered the market in 2006 and quickly became the industry darling before selling to private equity firm Blackstone in 2021. In many ways, the company created the modern sunscreen playbook by marketing it as skin care, not sun care. “[Supergoop started] with the mission of really transforming the SPF category, so that people wouldn't think of it as a seasonal thing,” Lauren Weinberg, chief marketing officer of Supergoop, told Glossy. “The way the brand did that was really by coming out with formulas that debunked, I would say, all the things that people didn't like about sunscreen. So, it wasn't sticky, it wasn't greasy, it didn't have an odor, and it could go as a primer underneath your makeup.” Today, Supergoop sells one unit of its cult-favorite Unseen Sunscreen every 16 seconds, but staying on top requires constant evolution, Weinberg told Glossy. For Supergoop, this has included evolving the company's channel mix this year to better reach new and existing consumers. “Consumers don't really think about where they see and hear about brands,” Weinberg said. “One of the things I noticed when I came [into this role in February 2026] is that the way we were storytelling as a brand, or how we were communicating with consumers, was not really cohesive across all of our channels. So we've really been trying to focus on doing cohesive storytelling.” Small shifts this year have helped to grow sales through a more diversified channel mix. For example, Weinberg's team is focused on promoting lesser-known SKUs on evolving platforms, such as TikTokShop, while launching its best-sellers across new channels, including Target in February and Amazon Premium starting in May. Weinberg joined Supergoop at the top of the year after more than two decades in marketing. Her CV includes six years at Yahoo, ending her tenure as VP of marketing, plus another six years at Square, where she was the global chief marketing officer. She held the role of CMO at Peloton before joining the Supergoop team five months ago. Glossy Beauty Podcast host Lexy Lebsack sat down with Weinberg to discuss everything mentioned above, plus the challenges of tackling Amazon in-house through a Premium storefront and entering mass retail at a prestige price point, and the power of emerging social channels and social commerce. The following conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at Glossy's annual E-Commerce Summit in Miami on June 1.
Jeremy Goldman is VP Editorial & Insights at RETHINK Retail, a community platform supporting retailers, brand leaders, logistics practitioners, and AI specialists. Before joining RETHINK Retail, he founded and sold the Firebrand Group, spent years as an analyst at eMarketer, and has been building e-commerce properties since 2000. He also runs a podcast called Future Proof.This episode examines the gap between AI hype and business reality. Jeremy argues that agentic commerce attracts far more attention than the near-term use cases justify, and that the brands quietly gaining ground are the ones who never stopped running the fundamentals.The conversation covers where AI is delivering real results today, including enhanced product discovery for high-consideration SKUs, and what is actually shifting in search as LLMs reshape how buyers find products. Jeremy and Eitan work through why Google is more relevant than the current discourse suggests, what the rise of TikTok Shop signals about the pace of social commerce adoption, and why community building has become one of the most underrated growth levers available to brands right now.Listeners will leave with a clearer read on where the real ROI in AI sits in 2026, a sharper sense of which fundamentals are worth doubling down on, and a framework for knowing whether their company is commerce-optimized, marketing-optimized, or falling short on both.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: info@vimmi.netPodcast website: https://vimmi.net/commerce-untold/Eitan Koter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eitankoter/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VimmiVideoCommerce/featuredGuest: Jeremy Goldman, VP Editorial & Insights, RETHINK RetailJeremy Goldman's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremygoldmanRETHINK Retail: https://rethink.industries/Key Takeaways:• Agentic commerce is real technology, but the claim that AI will handle all buying decisions within two years is not where the near-term reality lands• AI-driven product discovery is already delivering measurable results for large-catalog, high-consideration SKUs, and that is where brands should focus first• Most companies are either commerce-optimized or marketing-optimized, rarely both, and knowing which one you are determines where the gaps are• Community is the growth lever most brands are underinvesting in: a brand with a genuine community is structurally harder to displace than one relying solely on paid acquisition• When hype cycles hit, the companies that lean back into fundamentals, email, checkout friction, fulfillment speed, and conversion rate, take share from everyone else while they are distractedChapters:[00:12] Introduction and Inside RETHINK Retail[01:37] From E-Commerce Builder to Editorial Leader: Jeremy's Career Thread[05:44] Agentic Commerce: Real Technology, Outsized Claims[07:34] Where AI Is Delivering Real Results in Retail Today[10:28] Google Is Not Out: AI Search and the LLM Landscape[15:27] Commerce vs. Marketing: Knowing What Kind of Company You Are[18:49] Community Building as the Next Growth Unlock for Brands[21:26] TikTok Shop and Why Social Commerce Is Catching On[23:41] Why the Fundamentals Win When Everyone Else Chases Hype[28:36] Omnichannel Strategy: When and How to Add a New Channel[30:33] What Jeremy Is Focused on in the Second Half of 2026
SmarTrak.ai Turns Cisco Data Into Partner Growth, Podcast Cisco 360, AI, refresh cycles, and multivendor migration are creating new openings — and SmarTrak.ai says partners have a timely opportunity to grow more strategically. “We help them manage their practice, grow their practice, and increase their profitability around it,” says Ted Lee of SmarTrak.ai. In this Technology Reseller News podcast, recorded following Cisco Live, Doug Green speaks with Ted Lee of SmarTrak.ai about the company's expanding role in helping Cisco partners turn Cisco data into actionable business intelligence. Lee describes SmarTrak.ai as a platform built to help Cisco partners manage their Cisco practice by ingesting data from Cisco APIs and other sources. The goal, he says, is to give partners better visibility into customer environments, including hardware assets, software, services, service contracts, subscriptions and enterprise agreements. For end customers, SmarTrak.ai provides visibility into Cisco infrastructure and spending, helping organizations optimize their environments while giving partners a more strategic way to support long-term customer retention. The discussion focuses heavily on Cisco 360, one of the major themes at Cisco Live. Lee says SmarTrak.ai announced a Cisco 360 module designed to help partners understand how they can perform under the program, identify opportunities to improve their scores, and increase profitability with Cisco. “We announced at Cisco Live that we had a 360 module that we are releasing that gives predictability into how they can perform, how to optimize it,” Lee says. “Since we have their entire estate with every one of their customers globally, we can then give them opportunities with which they can raise their scores in order to increase their profitability with Cisco.” Lee also points to a larger market moment for Cisco partners. With major refresh cycles, end-of-life events, new AI-enabled products and changing customer infrastructure requirements, partners have an opportunity to move from reactive selling to more strategic planning. SmarTrak.ai is also putting that intelligence directly into the hands of sales teams. The company announced a mobile application designed for sellers and solutions engineers who are meeting customers in the field, giving them access to forward-looking intelligence around sustainability swaps, end-of-life replacements, AI replacement SKUs and other Cisco-driven opportunities. “Sales reps are not sitting at their desks,” Lee says. “These partners are out with their customers, and we are putting this wealth of intelligence in the hands of their sales reps and their solutions engineers.” The podcast also covers SmarTrak.ai's multivendor migration capabilities. Lee notes that customer environments are rarely Cisco-only. Partners often encounter Juniper, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Aruba, Ruckus, HPE and other installed platforms. SmarTrak.ai's migration platform allows partners to ingest those install bases and build forward-looking roadmaps for when it may make sense to replace other platforms with modern Cisco solutions. Lee says the platform can help customers budget, help partners quote more effectively, and help move opportunities toward higher-level Cisco buying programs such as enterprise agreements. The conversation also touches on audit readiness. Lee says SmarTrak.ai has helped partners pass CX Expert and advanced audits by providing the visibility and health scoring needed to support certifications, partner status, rebates and incentives. “We are a full Cisco practice engine to help them take advantage of the wealth of data and opportunity in front of them and turn it into revenue and profitability with the end customers,” Lee says. AI is also part of the SmarTrak.ai story. Lee says the company was founded in early 2023, as large language models were becoming more widely accessible, and recognized an opportunity to use AI against Cisco's large data universe. SmarTrak.ai is SOC 2 Type II and is pursuing ISO 27001 certification, Lee says, emphasizing that the company is “security first” while using AI to help partners analyze data faster and identify new sales opportunities. Lee describes the result as “agentic lifecycle intelligence,” enabling partners to generate forward-looking Cisco practice plans, budgets, replacement strategies, enterprise agreement eligibility, and takeover opportunities across large customer bases. “One of our customers has nearly 10,000 Cisco customers,” Lee says. “They can view any customer in the world with a few clicks of their mouse, and they can create a five-year forward-looking internal or external Cisco practice plan.” The podcast offers a look at how SmarTrak.ai is positioning itself as a Cisco partner growth platform: helping partners make Cisco data more usable, make customer conversations more strategic, prepare for Cisco 360, manage refresh cycles, and turn infrastructure intelligence into recurring revenue opportunities. Learn more at smartrak.ai.
Industrial Talk is onsite at MD&M West and talking to Kai Li, Production Manager at Mean Well USA about "Power solutions for manufacturing". Overview Kai Li, Product Manager at Mean Well USA, discussed the company's role as a leading power supply manufacturer with over 15,000 standard SKUs. Mean Well specializes in industrial equipment, medical devices, and LED lighting, emphasizing reliability and smaller, higher-protection power supplies. The company has a subsidiary in Kansas City dedicated to providing turnkey solutions. Li highlighted Mean Well's adaptability, driven by a robust R&D team and long-term supplier relationships. The company is transitioning to a solutions provider, focusing on sustainability and AI-driven power demands. Li also mentioned Mean Well's extensive training programs for distributors and their reliance on a global distribution network for over 70% of sales. Outline MD&M West and Industrial Talk Introduction Scott introduces the episode of Industrial Talk, sponsored by MD&M West and News and Brews, highlighting the innovation and energy at the event.Scott thanks listeners for tuning in and celebrates industry professionals who solve problems and innovate daily.Scott mentions the importance of MDNM West and the role of Informa and News and Brews in telling the story of manufacturers. Introduction of Kai Li and Mean Well Scott introduces Kai Li, the product manager at Mean Well USA, and invites him to share his background.Kai Li explains his role at Mean Well, mentioning his 10-year tenure and transition from field applications engineer to product manager.Kai Li highlights Mean Well's expertise in power supplies and their role as a hidden champion in the industry.Kai Li discusses the company's focus on solving customer issues by understanding market needs and providing tailored solutions. Mean Well's Market Position and Solutions Kai Li elaborates on Mean Well's market position as a leading power supply manufacturer, serving various industries including industrial equipment, medical devices, and LED lighting.He explains the company's strategy of providing comprehensive solutions rather than just components, through their subsidiary, Mean Well Power Solutions.Kai Li details the company's approach to developing products based on customer feedback and market trends.He mentions the creation of a subsidiary in Kansas City, Missouri, to focus on providing turnkey solutions for customers. Manufacturing and Market Adaptation Scott inquires about Mean Well's ability to stay nimble and adapt to market changes.Kai Li attributes the company's adaptability to a strong R&D team and a large portfolio of standard SKUs, with plans to add 15% new SKUs annually.He discusses the impact of emerging technologies like gallium nitride and silicon carbide on Mean Well's product development.Kai Li emphasizes the importance of long-term relationships with suppliers and customers in maintaining a steady supply chain. Future of Power Electronics and Sustainability Kai Li predicts a bright future for power electronics, driven by advancements in AI and other revolutionary technologies.He highlights Mean Well's active participation in power electronics conferences to stay updated with the latest trends.Kai Li discusses the company's transformation from a component supplier to a solutions provider, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).He mentions the importance of maintaining a broad market focus to cater to various industries and customer needs. Distributor Relationships and Training Kai Li explains Mean Well's strategy of hosting training sessions and events for distributors to keep them informed about new products and applications.He details the company's efforts to educate distributors through webinars, technical seminars, and direct interactions with the product and technical teams.Kai Li emphasizes the importance of a strong distribution network, with over 260 distributors worldwide, in driving sales and market penetration.He highlights the bi-directional communication between Mean Well and its distributors to gather market feedback and improve product offerings. Conclusion and Contact Information Scott asks Kai Li about his excitement for the future of Mean Well and the company's sustainability initiatives.Kai Li reiterates the importance of sustainability and Mean Well's transformation into the Sustainable Development Group.Scott provides contact information for Kai Li, including his LinkedIn profile and Mean Well's website, to encourage listeners to reach out for more information.Scott wraps up the podcast, encouraging listeners to attend MD&M West and highlighting the importance of storytelling and marketing in the industrial sector. If interested in being on the Industrial Talk show, simply contact us and let's have a quick conversation. Finally, get your exclusive free access to the Industrial Academy and a series on “Why You Need To Podcast” for Greater Success in 2026. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy! KAI LI'S CONTACT INFORMATION: Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-li-725419113/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mean-well-usa-inc-/ Company Website: https://www.meanwellusa.com/ PODCAST VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IRDIdUAJgL8 THE STRATEGIC REASON "WHY YOU NEED TO PODCAST": OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES: NEOM: https://www.neom.com/en-us Hexagon: https://hexagon.com/ Arduino: https://www.arduino.cc/ Fictiv: https://www.fictiv.com/ Hitachi Vantara: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html Industrial Marketing Solutions: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/ Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/ Industrial Dojo: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/ We the 15: https://www.wethe15.org/ YOUR INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL TOOLBOX: LifterLMS: Get One Month Free for $1 – https://lifterlms.com/ Active Campaign: Active Campaign Link Social Jukebox: https://www.socialjukebox.com/ Industrial Academy (One Month Free Access And One Free License For Future Industrial Leader): Business Beatitude the Book Do you desire a more joy-filled, deeply-enduring sense of accomplishment and success? 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If a customer returns a product they never actually sent back, who eats that loss? You do. And Amazon's automated refund system isn't doing you any favors. With ecommerce return rates hovering between 20 and 30 percent, depending on your category, it's a problem you can't ignore. Apparel returns? Worse. Electronics? Brutal. Neil Twa, your host, dives into the real impact of Amazon's returns policy shift on sellers at every level. He shares a story of an operator managing $65,000 a month across 14 SKUs, whose net margins took a hit from untracked returns. Neil outlines three critical moves to protect your margins: start by pulling your return report by ASIN this week. This isn't just theory, it's what works. The High Voltage Business Builders Podcast is here to help you navigate these challenges. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep311 See your Amazon numbers in one place and protect your margins with Caiman Data at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep311&learn_mcp=1 See your Amazon numbers in one place and protect your margins with Caiman Data at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep311&learn_mcp=1
Most grocers can launch same-day delivery. The real challenge is building a model that keeps customers happy while still protecting margins at scale. In this RETHINK Retail Podcast episode recorded at Shoptalk Europe, Top Retail Expert Sharon Yourell sat down with Rohlik Group leaders to break down how they built a profitable in-house same-day delivery operation across five markets. The conversation goes deep into the strategic side of eGrocery, including: - Achieving fulfillment orchestration across 25k+ SKUs with near-perfect inventory accuracy and minimal substitutions - The tradeoffs grocers face when customer relationships, transaction data, and margin ownership shift to third-party platforms - Why owning the customer journey and creating operational consistency are critical drivers of long-term eGrocery profitability A must-listen for grocers focused on building more resilient in-house operations. Listen above!
Most Amazon operators treat TikTok and Walmart like a backup plan, but ignoring these platforms could cost you 119% growth. Neil Twa breaks down why relying solely on Amazon is a single point of failure. He shares insights from a company that's thriving by diversifying across all three platforms. Neil recalls a conversation with a community member who was making $30,000 a month on Amazon with eight SKUs and solid margins. The key takeaway? Expanding to Walmart Marketplace and using TikTok isn't optional if you want to keep up. Whether you're doing $5,000 or $500,000 a month, these moves are crucial. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep304 Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep304
Cindy Gustafson has checked off a laundry list of accomplishments during her first 18 months as CEO of Nutrafol. This includes an app launch designed to improve retention and a product release tailored to reach one of its smallest customer demographics in men over 50. These rollouts happened while she led the team toward double-digit growth during 2025, her first full year as CEO, on a path to soon reach $1 billion in annual sales. “You need a real commitment to delivering on something someone actually needs [in order to win this category],” Gustafson told host Lexy Lebsack. “We actually have quite a small portfolio of products, [unlike our competitor] brands that have hundreds and hundreds of SKUs. We are not that kind of a brand. We are not that kind of a business.” Instead, Gustafson has stayed hyper-focused on delivering on its main promise of improved hair growth. “We have been so fixated on really delivering against what a customer needs and what a customer is looking for, and staying very, very grounded in that,” she said. Gustafson is a veteran exec whose CV includes Weight Watchers, Bark, Mindshare and Unilever. She spent 18 months as chief marketing officer of Nutrafol before taking over the CEO role from Nutrafol's co-founder Giorgos Tsetis after its Unilever acquisition. In today's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Gustafson unpacks her secret sauce for growth, how the supplement consumer has evolved and much more.
AI ARR is easy to announce. Proving it is where most SaaS finance teams are about to get exposed. In episode #379, Ben Murray tackles the new bar for AI financial transparency and what it means for your next budget season. The public markets have already moved the goalposts. Launching AI was the 2024 story. Reporting AI ARR was the 2025 story. Now investors and boards want to see AI margins, customer outcomes, and proof that AI revenue is actually dropping to the bottom line. That same pressure is heading straight for private SaaS, and your board will bring it to budget season whether you are ready or not. Understand why AI ARR by itself no longer satisfies boards or investors, and what they now demand to see in the numbers. Separate pure AI revenue, AI-influenced revenue, and AI upsell so your reporting survives scrutiny, using clean SKUs, product IDs, and chart of accounts. Know which AI costs belong in COGS, including inference, infrastructure, and observability, so you can show your real AI margins. Walk into budget season ready for the board questions on AI revenue, AI cost, and margin by revenue stream. Instrument heavy, medium, and light AI users so you can defend margins and LTV to CAC as usage scales. Listen now and build the AI transparency your board will expect before budget season starts. Resources Mentioned Ben's blog posts on capturing AI costs in COGS: inference, infrastructure, and observability: https://www.thesaascfo.com/what-should-be-included-in-ai-cogs/ Ben's training on AI metrics: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ai-finance-metrics-saas
Two operators, same revenue, same category. One sells for three times EBITDA, the other for six times. What sets them apart? Brand equity. It's not just a fancy marketing term. In ecommerce, it's a financial signal that tells buyers why your business is worth more. Neil Twa, host of The High Voltage Business Builders Podcast, breaks down why brand equity is the secret sauce to getting a higher exit multiple on Amazon. Take David, for example. He started with six SKUs and $30,000 a month in revenue. With the right moves, he transformed his brand from a mere label to a valuable asset. Neil shares three actionable steps to boost your brand equity today. Whether you're just starting out or already scaling, these insights are crucial. Remember, revenue is the scoreboard, but brand equity is the foundation. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep303 Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep303
Most operators think a stockout is just a temporary inconvenience. But why does the revenue loss keep compounding long after you're back in stock? Neil Twa breaks down what a stockout really costs your brand, and it's more than just the days you're offline. Meet David, who came to us doing $30,000 a month, and learn how he turned things around by understanding the true impact of stockouts. Neil shares three actionable moves: audit your reorder points today, pull your top ten SKUs by revenue, and check your reorder triggers. Full transparency, a stockout is a compounding event that costs you twice. Once when you're offline, and again when your BSR takes a hit. Sellers at every level need to understand this to protect their margins and cash flow. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep302 Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep302
How do global digital commerce leaders ditch standard multi-month planning cycles to scale brand communication and supply chains alongside real-time culture?This episode features Lisa Zlotnick, Head of Brand PR at SHEIN, detailing the operational frameworks that power real-time retail execution.Discover how to replace slow predictive planning horizons with data-backed micro-batch testing loops, move from transactional influencer marketing to collaborative product co-creation, and manage large-scale corporate narratives under constant market pressure.Strategic concepts broken down in this episode:The structural math behind micro-batch product testing frameworks (100–200 SKUs) to remove overproduction liabilities.Scaling first-party database feedback channels to capture over 20,000 responses within a single weekend flight.The design of decentralized collegiate affiliate structures, featuring a deep look at a $26 million community network.De-siloing performance marketing funnels and brand messaging pipelines to build sustainable corporate growth.Leveraging real-time live commerce solutions to establish regular interactive connections with Gen Z consumer bases.Guest Profile: Lisa Zlotnick is the Head of Brand PR at SHEIN, possessing nearly a decade of foundational communications experience leading media relations for iconic brands like Nintendo of America.Connect with the Strategy Engine:Lisa Zlotnick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisazlotnick/SHEIN Platform: https://www.shein.comHost Dylan Conroy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/Drive Measurable Marketing Automation ROI via Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-paid-social-media-ads-outcomes/
In this episode, Josh interviews Destaney, CEO of Better AMS, about advanced Amazon advertising strategies. Destaney shares insights on setting ad budgets based on brand goals, structuring campaigns for profitability and growth, and the importance of campaign-level organization. They discuss the challenges of managing large SKU counts and the need for software tools like Pacvue, highlighting that expertise is crucial to leverage such platforms. Destaney emphasizes using data-driven, white-hat strategies and staying proactive with Amazon ads. The episode wraps up with actionable tips and an invitation to connect with Better AMS for further learning and free brand audits.Chapters:Introduction & Guest Background (00:00:00)Josh introduces Destaney, CEO of Better AMS, and discusses her background in Amazon advertising.Destaney's Experience in Amazon Ads (00:00:49)Destaney shares her journey, starting young in Amazon ads, and her experience managing large ad spends.Budgeting for Amazon Ads (00:01:23)Discussion on how brand owners should approach setting budgets for Amazon ads based on goals and growth.Structuring Campaigns for Different Objectives (00:02:05)Destaney explains campaign-level structuring for profitability, keyword research, brand defense, and market share.Fluid Budget Allocation & Campaign Adjustments (00:03:05)How to fluidly adjust budgets between campaigns based on product launches and changing objectives.Challenges Managing Many SKUs & Need for Software (00:04:05)Josh describes the difficulty of managing 1200 SKUs and the need for software to optimize Amazon PPC.Evaluating Amazon PPC Software & Automation (00:05:14)Destaney discusses the importance of having knowledgeable staff and choosing the right software for automation.Advanced vs. Automated Software Solutions (00:07:08)Recommendations for advanced users (rules-based tools like Pacvue) vs. automated solutions for less experienced teams.Limitations of AI in Amazon Ad Tools (00:08:10)Destaney explains the current limitations of AI in Amazon ad software due to restricted data access.Pacvue & Importance of Expertise (00:09:04)Josh and Destaney discuss why Pacvue is powerful but requires deep Amazon ad knowledge to use effectively.Actionable Takeaways for Brand Owners (00:10:33)Josh summarizes three key action items: focus on brand metrics, shift mindset on ranking strategies, and invest in expertise.Closing & Where to Find Destaney (00:13:38)Destaney shares where listeners can follow her and learn more about Better AMS, including free brand audits.Links and Mentions:Tools and Software"Perpetua": "00:07:08""Pacvue": "00:08:40"Websites and Social Media"Better AMS" now BTRMedia: "00:13:52""LinkedIn": "00:13:52"Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I'm super excited to introduce you all to Destaney with Sean. Destaney is the CEO of better AMS and better. AMS is a retail media agency managing over $50 million of spend across Walmart and Amazon. So with that, welcome to the show, Destaney.Destaney 00:00:16 Thank you so much for having me, Josh. Really excited to be here.Josh 00:00:19 I'm super excited to have you on the show. My team is also excited to have you on the show, because they watch your YouTube videos and all the content that you're putting out, and oftentimes in our own strategy meetings, it will be, hey, I remember Destaney said this, Destaney said that. And so to have you on the podcast, I'm super excited to have you here. And I think I want to encourage our listeners to pay attention, because Destaney knows what she's talking about as it relates to Amazon advertising.Destaney 00:00:49 I hope so. I have been in this space for like six years, and I have done nothing but Amazon ads. So, you know, a lot of people are forced to go wide, whether it's because you're brand building or how quickly the industry industry changes.Destaney 00:01:02 I was super thankful to be thrown into Amazon advertising management at like 22 years old. I think my first large brand was managing around $10 million spend a quarter, so I, I had to learn really fast and this is all I know at this point. So thank you everyone for supporting my content because you are, you know, paying for my meals at night.Josh 00:01:23 I love it. A lot of brand owners come to you probably and say, oh well, my budget is unlimited if it's profitable, right? Like if it's profitable, then spend as much as you want. And I think I've fallen into that camp at some times. So Destaney, based on your wealth of knowledge and experience working with even higher level brands, doing 300 million a year, what, like how would you recommend a brand owner comes up with a budget for their products?Destaney 00:01:53 Yep. Yeah. So a budget's obviously so dependent on goals and growth and all of those things. So I always struggle to give that. I will say I interviewed a ton of the other agency owners.Destaney 00:02:05 I think we're managing in total. I kind of like over $500 million worth of spend. And what everyone said an average tacos for a high growth brand that's trying to be competitive is around 10 to 15%. I don't love giving that as a general gauge, because I know a lot of people have certain SKUs that are going to be a lot higher because they're more competitive category, different goals. And I hate giving like one size fits all solutions. Anyone who's listened to me or follow me knows that. It's like my biggest pet peeve. but I will say something to remember is that Amazon advertising is actually really precise. you know, sometimes like Facebook ads where you're doing audience targeting and behavioral aspects are combined in Amazon. Ads are not like that. You can be so granular. So one thing we recommend is we we set up all of our strategies on the campaign level. So when a brand comes to us we're going to have campaigns for profitability. We're going to have campaigns for keyword research. We're going to have campaigns for brand defense, and we're going to have campaigns for rank or market share.Destaney 00:03:05 And when we have all of those set up, that means we can take that budget and fluidly adjust based on our needs. So if we have a $20,000 a month budget and this month we're launching a new product, we're going to shift more of that budget to be focused on rank. And that's going to take away from our profitability campaigns, which means we're probably going to have a higher ACOs, but we're launching now the moment that becomes steady. We're going to lower our budget on our rank and move to profitability. So that way we can be really fluid with those adjustments that make your Amazon advertising align with your actual top line sales goals.Josh 00:03:40 Now that makes a lot of sense. Now I think we I could dive in even further with you. We could get into some real nitty gritty stuff here. Maybe that would have to be a part two. because what I'd like to shift into is we went through this last year in terms of trying to identify a software solution that could execute a lot of these good strategies.Josh 00:04:05 So for our team, you know, we hired an internal PPC manager. We were formerly with an advertising agency for I think four years. So we'd been with them for a long time. But to your point, you know, it's hard for an agency to really get into the details of every single product and tracking their metrics. And w...
Send us Fan MailManaging more than 50 SKUs on Amazon gets tricky when deciding whether to group products together or separate them by ASIN.In this video, Kevin breaks down how to structure Sponsored Products campaigns based on parent-child variations, separate listings, and shared keywords. You'll learn when it makes sense to let Amazon's algorithm favor the best-performing child variation, how the variation “halo effect” can help traffic move between products, and why separate listings usually need their own dedicated campaigns for better bid control.Get better sales and grow your brand with My Amazon Guy: https://bit.ly/4jMZtxu#AmazonPPC #AmazonAds #AmazonFBA #AmazonSeller #amazonmarketing Want free resources? Dowload our Free Amazon guides here:Amazon Receiving Delay Guide: https://hubs.ly/Q04cdD4c0Amazon Catalog Spring Cleaning: https://hubs.ly/Q046BVfp0Amazon Proft Margin Defense 2026: https://hubs.ly/Q042trRH0Amazon SEO Toolkit 2026: https://bit.ly/4oC2ClTAmazon Seller Strategy Report 2026: https://bit.ly/3YN1RME2026 Ecommerce Website & SEO Readiness Checklist: https://hubs.ly/Q04btghf0Amazon 2026 PPC guide: https://bit.ly/4lF0OYXTimestamps: 0:00 - Strategies for 50+ SKU Catalogs0:13 - Grouping by Parentage vs. Individual ASINs0:41 - Keyword Strategy for Color & Style Variations0:58 - When to Use Single ASIN Campaigns for Separate Listings0:1:36 - The "Halo Effect": Driving Traffic Between Variations0:2:30 - Maintaining Bid Control Across Similar Products0:2:56 - How to Structure Your PPC-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28605816/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpopemag/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myamazonguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/myamazonguySubscribe to the My Amazon Guy podcast: https://podcast.myamazonguy.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-amazon-guy/id1501974229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4A5ASHGGfr6s4wWNQIqyVwSupport the show
Trying to stitch together legacy software after a merger is a guaranteed way to bleed productivity. The smartest health systems bypass the politics and build from scratch.Anthony Boggs, Senior Director of Support Services at Corewell Health, reveals how his team completely overhauled their foodservice operations following a massive three-system merger. He shares how standardizing on Illumia NetMenu and connecting it directly to Epic eliminated food waste and automated patient dietary safety. You will learn the exact strategy they used to cut food SKUs by 70 percent and why retail operations actually dictate hospital food tech.
Amazon can take a shocking cut of your revenue before you even count product cost, shipping, and overhead, and that reality is forcing sellers to get far more disciplined about inventory and profit. We sit down with returning guest Chelsea Cohen to talk about what she's learned as SoStocked moves through acquisitions and into a larger corporate ecosystem, and why that shift makes real-time visibility into fees, forecasting, and unit economics even more important for day-to-day decisions.We get specific about the hidden margin killers that sneak up on Amazon FBA brands: storage fees, aged inventory fees, capacity constraints, and mismeasured products that land in the wrong FBA fee tier. Chelsea shares how smart sellers build a regular overstock plan, move slow inventory without panic, and think in contribution margin terms so they can spot which SKUs are quietly draining cash. We also talk through the pricing trap, why raising prices doesn't always work, and how to weigh profit dollars against the workload and complexity that come with higher volume at thinner margins.On the tactical side, we cover wasted ad spend audits, negative keywords, reimbursement opportunities (including AWD mistakes), and how Amazon Warehousing and Distribution can help with inbound and capacity when used as a lever instead of a full dependency. We close by looking at how AI is starting to move from “answer my question” to “recommend my next action” in inventory management, plus what needs to be in place so sellers can trust the numbers. If you got value from this, subscribe, share it with a seller friend, and leave a review telling us which fee or profit leak you're auditing first.Ready to scale your Amazon business? Click here to book a strategy call. https://calendly.com/firingtheman/amazon Support the show
The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Chris Peterson, President, CEO & Board Member of Newell Brands, a major American global consumer and commercial products conglomerate. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company manufactures, markets, and distributes over 50 well-known brands across three core segments: Home & Commercial Solutions, Learning & Development, and Outdoor & Recreation.This episode was recorded at Newell Brands headquarters in Atlanta.Follow Chris on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-peterson-488930114Follow Newell Brands online at: https://www.newellbrands.com/Chris answered these questions: Chris, at CAGNY, you spoke extensively about an enterprise AI program you internally call "Quantum Leap". You mentioned that in mid-2025, you shifted this from isolated use cases into a broader "how work gets done" workflow model. Can you talk to us about the genesis of Quantum Leap and what it looks like today?That scale is incredible, Chris. One thing that stood out to me during your recent Leadership Summit 2026 was your mention of 33 functional "navigators". It sounds like a massive cultural shift to build AI fluency across the enterprise. How do these navigators act as change agents inside their functions?Let's talk about the tangible outputs because the numbers you shared at CAGNY were staggering. You noted a 500% increase in AI-enabled digital content creation in 2025 versus 2024, entirely without any additional investment. How has AI accelerated your innovation pipeline from concept to launch?You can't run advanced AI without clean data, and Newell has done a massive amount of simplification. You've cut your active SKUs by over 80% and rationalized the brand portfolio from 80 down to just over 50 brands. By the fall of 2026, 95% of your global sales will be supported by a single instance of SAP. How critical is that ERP integration to feeding the Quantum Leap program?Chris, driving a transformation of this magnitude isn't just about technology; it's about the people executing it. Newell Brands has a very clear set of core values: Integrity, Teamwork, Passion for Winning, Ownership, and Leadership. As CEO, how do you lean on these principles to guide your 24,000 teammates around the world through such a massive operational and cultural shift?You've been driving a unified "One Newell" go-to-market model and consolidating what used to be five separate operating segments into just three. How does the value of "Teamwork"—which you define as "Succeeding Together"—play into breaking down those legacy silos?Thinking about the industry, how do you expect AI to impact shopping and agents to guide consumers? What's your advice to retail?Chris, this has been an absolute masterclass in enterprise AI adoption and operational leadership. What advice would you give others embarking on the AI journey?CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.comFMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.comSheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/Rhea Raj's Website: http://rhearaj.comLara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.
Are you losing sales because of inaccurate handling times? Neil Twa dives into a common oversight that could be costing you more than you think. Many operators set their handling time to two days during setup and forget about it. But if you're shipping faster, why let Amazon show outdated delivery dates? Neil shares a story about an operator with a $40,000 to $50,000 monthly revenue on seller-fulfilled SKUs who was proud of his low late shipment rate. Yet, he was missing out on potential sales because of outdated handling times. Neil outlines three crucial moves to make before June 29th. First, pull your actual handling time data from the last 90 days. This isn't just about compliance, it's a diagnostic tool to optimize your listing and boost sales. The High Voltage Business Builders Podcast is here to help you make data-driven decisions. Ready to audit your AI readiness? Take the free 5-question assessment: voltagedm.com/aiquiz?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep295
Most brands think GMV Max is just another ad campaign. It is not. GMV Max rewards better inputs.Better creator partnersBetter content systemsBetter shop operationsBetter product pagesBetter internal alignment between TikTok Shop, paid media, creative, and DTC.In this workshop, Jordan West and Brywinn Travers break down what actually happens once a brand starts scaling on TikTok Shop and why so many brands plateau around the $50K/month GMV mark.They cover why creator relationships matter more than micromanaging campaigns, how to improve signal quality, why more videos per creator matters, when to invest in your top creators, and why GMV Max should be managed like a business system instead of a traditional media buying channel.You'll learn:• Why GMV Max rewards signal quality over manual control• Why the best creators need coaching, not just samples• How many videos per creator brands should be aiming for• Why hero SKUs matter before scaling into more products• How to think about creator testing instead of audience testing• Why boosting individual creatives usually does not beat the algorithm• How to use creator content across TikTok Shop, Meta, Amazon, DTC, YouTube, and CTV• Why retainers are risky before a creator has proven they can sell• What brands need to review weekly to keep GMV Max healthyIf you are running TikTok Shop, scaling GMV Max, or trying to figure out why your creator content is not turning into revenue, this session will help you understand what the real levers are.Social Commerce Club works with brands to build TikTok Shop into a real growth channel through creators, content, ads, operations, and measurement.Book a call with Social Commerce Club:https://socialcommerceclub.com/pages/contact
In this episode, Josh interviews Norm Lanier, CEO of a long-running Amazon private label business. Norm discusses his journey from side hustles to full-time e-commerce, the challenges of increased competition and inventory management, and insights gained from Josh's business strategy audit. Key takeaways include focusing on the most profitable products, increasing strategic ad spend, and shifting from “base hit” to “home run” products. The conversation highlights the importance of data-driven decision-making and adapting business strategies to sustain growth and profitability in a rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape.Chapters:Introduction & Guest Background (00:00:00)Josh introduces Norm Lanier, outlines his Amazon business experience, and sets up the episode's focus on the business audit.Norm's E-commerce Journey (00:00:59)Norm shares how he started in e-commerce, his transition from HP, and his experience across multiple marketplaces.Challenges in E-commerce (00:02:24)Norm discusses recent challenges: increased competition, economic downturn, and feeling out of touch with business metrics.Importance of Data & Inventory Control (00:03:15)Norm explains the need for granular dashboards, product-level profitability, and efforts to clean up catalog and manage inventory.Purpose of the Strategy Audit (00:04:15)Norm describes his motivation for the audit: getting an expert's perspective and actionable insights beyond what accountants provide.Key Audit Takeaways: Advertising & Levers (00:05:28)Norm highlights the realization that increasing advertising spend is a major growth lever, a unique insight from the audit.Profitability & SKU Management (00:06:00)Josh and Norm discuss the struggle with profit margins, managing 7000 SKUs, and the need to focus on high-value activities.Mindset Shift: From Base Hits to Home Runs (00:07:28)Norm reflects on shifting from launching many small products to focusing on bigger opportunities that can significantly grow the business.Action Items & 80/20 Focus (00:10:02)Josh summarizes three action items: prioritizing high-impact levers, simplifying by focusing on top-performing products, and strategic PPC investment.Keyword Strategy for PPC (00:13:19)Norm and Josh discuss the importance of identifying and categorizing keywords before increasing PPC spend for maximum impact.Audit Value & Closing Thoughts (00:14:05)Norm shares the value of the audit, the benefit of an expert's perspective, and appreciation for the insights received.Wrap-up & Future Outlook (00:15:04)Josh and Norm conclude, expressing interest in a follow-up episode to track progress and encouraging listeners to seek similar audits.Links and Mentions:E-commerce Platforms "Amazon": "00:01:06" "Shopify": "00:01:06" "Etsy": "00:01:06" Business Tools and Evaluation "Dashboards and Tools for Business Evaluation": "00:03:15" "Comprehensive Business Strategy Audit": "00:00:00" Marketing and PPC "PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Management": "00:10:02" "Keyword Strategy for PPC": "00:13:19" Business Strategy and Mindset "Mindset Shift for Entrepreneurs": "00:09:02" "Identifying Levers for Business Impact": "00:11:03" "20/80 Rule (Pareto Principle)": "00:12:16" "Simplifying Business by Focusing on Top Products": "00:12:16"Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I am speaking with Norm Lanier. He is the CEO of his own Amazon private label business that he's been running for over a decade now, and he has lots of experience. In fact, Norm is one of the lucky winners of my comprehensive business strategy audit sessions. And so today, I'm super excited that we're going to be diving into the conversation, the audit that we just performed on Norm's business, and he's going to be sharing his takeaways, the insights that he's gleaned. he is already doing millions of dollars in business, but he has aspirations to continue to grow his business and to hopefully one day be able to exit that business. And today, that's the conversation that we had and we talked about. So, Norm, with that introduction, I want you to kind of give us a quick intro about yourself, how you got started into the e-comm world and what you've been doing over the last decade.Norm 00:00:59 Yeah. Thanks, Josh. I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you and your listeners also.Norm 00:01:06 I've been doing, First. e-com business. I kind of, came in the back door and started that in 2004. I started building some side hustles while I was an employee at at HP. I got to the point where I was making more of my side hustles than my real job. So for my 50th anniversary, I 50th birthday, I turned in my resignation. And I've been doing Amazon and Shopify, Etsy, a lot of different marketplaces since then full time. And that's kind of where I'm at today.Josh 00:01:44 I love it, and Norm and I dance in the same space. Sometimes we might be considered competitors, but there's such a big marketplace out there that we were able to, you know, really kind of lift up, open the hood today and really dive into each other's businesses. He was able to ask me a lot of questions, and hopefully I was able to share some valuable insights with you, Norm. And that's what we'll talk about. Norm, we first started off by talking about, you know, what is your overall goal in in your business.Josh 00:02:15 Right. And what are the biggest obstacles that you're facing. So why don't you go ahead and kind of reiterate what we started our conversation off with.Norm 00:02:24 Yeah. So, you know, just taking a look, you know, I think I'm fall into the same category as most people are selling in the e-commerce space right now, dealing with more competition. things are constantly moving. you know, the economy is down to a degree. So I think in our space, we're, we're seeing, you know, some pullback on, on spend over the last couple of years. So that's created challenges, right. And you know, as we as we mentioned, I've been doing this for a long time, and I really had gotten to the point where, a couple of years ago and stuff. I really felt like I was out of touch that before. It was pretty easy for me. I really felt like I had it dialed in, and over the past few years, it really felt like I was kind of losing control.Norm 00:03:15 And a lot of that had to do with not having the proper dashboards and tools to be able to evaluate kind of where we're at on a very granular level. Right. Because it's one thing to see your big number and your paychecks and all of those things come in on a monthly basis. But, you know, on a product level, after shipping fees and advertising and all of those refunds and so forth, what is each product actually generating as far as income and what is really driving bottom line growth? And once I got the proper tools in place, really kind of opened my eyes that a lot of products that we had, it's like, why am I even bothering with this when it's all said and done? I'm not making any money. It's certainly not worth the effort on this. So we've really have gone in and cleaned up our catalog and eliminated a lot of stuff. A lot of exce...
Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits is the world's largest wine and spirits wholesaler, serving 47 markets across the United States, Canada, and beyond. For this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin mixes it up with Karli Sage, Vice President of Supply Chain Management Technology and Engineering at Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits. Together, they discuss how to approach warehouse technology and automation to improve inventory visibility. The discussion highlights the unique challenges of managing thousands of SKUs, maintaining inventory accuracy, and scaling innovation across a complex distribution network.Learn more about our sponsor Dexory's Storage Health here. Follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.Support the show
In episode 121 of Venture Everywhere, Scott Hartley, a General Partner at Everywhere Ventures, talks with Louise Fritjofsson, co-founder and CEO of Martie — a marketplace creating access through the world of excess by selling surplus and overstocked food and household goods from name brands at a discount. Lou shares how a leftover holiday cookie mix from an earlier startup exposed a broken industry: up to 40% of perfectly consumable products go to landfill because brands have no outlet for their overstock. She discusses Martie's vision to become the household name in liquidation — building a brand where quality, savings, and sustainability all come together.In this episode, you will hear:Sourcing surplus from brands locked out of traditional liquidation channels. Landing partnerships with large retailers to anchor the vendor marketplace. Deploying MATE to screen 6,000 SKUs weekly with a lean buying team. Prioritizing assortment depth and loyalty over membership tiers.Testing mystery boxes and new formats to diversify the customer base.Learn more about Louise Fritjofsson | MartieLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisefritjofsson Website: https://martie.com/ Learn more about Scott Harltey | Everywhere VCLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthartley Website: https://everywhere.vc/
Pat Parnell went to buy a classic car for his wife. He ended up buying a company too. Rain Gear Wiper Systems, the only hidden wiper system company for classic cars in the world. After 42 years hauling and installing high-end appliances, his body was done with the heavy lifting. Within a few weeks of stumbling onto this business, he cashed in part of his life savings to buy it. Now at 64, he calls running the business relaxing. He’s shipping wiper kits worldwide for 90 different classic cars, and currently building out a machine shop to make everything in-house. Listen on your favorite podcast app using pod.link. . View the podcast at the bottom of this post or on our YouTube Channel. Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swarfcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swarfcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/todays-machining-world X: https://twitter.com/tmwswarfblog ************* Link to Graff-Pinkert's Acquisitions and Sales promotion! ************* Main Points Hidden in Plain Sight Rain Gear makes hidden wiper kits for classic cars. The systems remove the factory wiper motor from the firewall and tuck it into the vehicle’s airbox or underneath the dash. Cleaner firewall, more room under the dash, and a more reliable system than what came stock on a 1957 Chevy. That last part matters. Original wiper systems on classic cars were often cable-driven and unreliable. This isn’t just about looks. People actually drive these cars in the rain. Pat ships kits to customers as far as Australia. Over 90 SKUs covering everything from C1 Corvettes to Tri-Five Chevys, Ford and Chevy trucks, and 1964-1968 Mustangs. Kits run from around $500 to $800 depending on the vehicle. The Only One in the World Pat says Rain Gear has no competition. He spent 42 years competing in the appliance installation business. Now he’s in a category of one. When customers need a wiper system for a car Rain Gear doesn’t have a kit for, they provide dimensions and Pat works with them to find the closest fit. Rain Gear Wiper Systems Wiper Kit Two Weeks Pat was looking to buy a 1965 Mustang fastback for his wife. The seller mentioned he’d only purchased the car to design a wiper system for it, and that he was also selling the company. Within two weeks Pat bought Rain Gear Wiper Systems in November 2024. His philosophy on purchasing: do the research upfront, know what you want, and when the right thing appears, don’t hesitate. “It’s always the first one. It’s not the second one, not the third one. It’s always the first one you should buy.” His wife puts it differently: “You’re bending over picking up pennies while the dollars are flying over your head.” The Founder is Still at It The original engineer, Tom Jensen, a Vietnam veteran, designed the systems and sold the company to Pat. He didn’t walk away. Jensen emailed Pat recently saying he was heading to the junkyard to buy parts to design a new kit for a 1973-1987 Chevy square body truck. Pat already has customers waiting for it. The pipeline is open. Building a Shop When Pat bought Rain Gear all parts were outsourced. He’s bringing production in-house. He’s already purchased a fiber laser, is looking for a 32mm CNC Swiss machine, and is adding a CNC brake and a high-end compressor, around five to six machines total. His brother-in-law, who installs industrial robotics professionally, is helping with setup, and a programmer he knows will handle the CAD files and machine programming remotely. Pat’s reasoning: spending $200,000 on equipment that generates revenue long-term beats spending the same on parts sitting on a shelf. One Business Fading, One Growing Pat still has two employees running the appliance installation business. The plan isn’t a hard cutoff. Rain Gear has to outgrow it first, and then he’ll let the appliance side fade naturally. He’s managed over 20 employees, multiple trucks, and two warehouses before. The organizational side doesn’t intimidate him. He’s done it.
Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupMost founders want to be first in a category. Justin Soleimani and Zach Dannett did the opposite, and built Tumble into one of the standout washable rug brands without raising a dollar.In this episode, the Tumble co-founders and Co-CEOs break down how they entered a category Ruggable created, fixed the product complaints they found buried in thousands of reviews, and validated the whole thing on Indiegogo before opening a Shopify store. Then they get into the part most founders never have to survive: moving their entire supply chain out of China in 30 days when tariffs went from 25% to 175%.What's covered:Why they launched with 120 SKUs and used crowdfunding as a demand-forecasting tool, not just a fundraiserThe lot-number QC system that let them kill 90%+ of product defects within two yearsHow pre-orders and Shopify payouts gave them a negative cash conversion cycle while bootstrappingWhy they didn't hire a single full-time employee until they were well past $20M in revenueThe China-to-Thailand pivot and accidental Canada launch during the tariff crisisTheir YouTube incrementality test that ran head-to-head against Meta, and tiedJustin's contrarian take on vibe coding: automate manual tasks, don't rip out your tech stackWho this is for: Bootstrapped DTC founders, operators obsessed with margin and cash flow, and anyone building a physical-product brand in a competitive category.What to steal: The crowdfunding-as-validation playbook, the lot-tracking QC system, and the asset-light structure that let them move a supply chain overnight.Timestamps:00:00 Why Great Competitors Make You Better03:00 Launching 120 SKUs Through Crowdfunding10:00 Product Feedback at Scale18:00 Growing Past $20M With No Employees23:00 Surviving Tariffs and Moving ManufacturingSubscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video
Microsoft Build 2026 announced an end-to-end agentic AI stack. COMPUTEX Taipei confirmed heterogeneous AI infrastructure across ARM, Marvell, Intel, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA. Alphabet raised $80 billion. Cisco Live repositioned the network as the AI platform. Patrick Moorhead and Daniel Newman break it all down alongside earnings from Broadcom, HPE, Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike, plus the token cost conversation, the edge AI push, and what Palantir and Oracle are saying about proprietary data as the real AI moat. The handpicked topics for this week are: Microsoft Build 2026 Announced an End-to-End Agentic AI Stack: Microsoft shipped MAI-Thinking-1, its first homegrown thinking model, alongside Scout, Microsoft IQ, Project Solara, and a Majorana 2 quantum update targeting a 2029 commercial timeline with claims of a 1,000x reliability gain. Pat describes MAI-Thinking-1 as likely better than Sonnet 4.6 in blind testing and delivering close to GPT 5.5 quality at a far lower cost. Scout is Microsoft's first autopilot agent, anchoring the M365 Agent Suite with Office Pilot Agent Mode and Agent 365. Microsoft IQ serves as the context layer, integrating M365, business data, boundary IQ, and web IQ with GitHub Copilot, Foundry, and Copilot Studio. Project Solara is a new Android-based platform built for agent-first devices across transportation, retail, and hospital settings. Microsoft also added 83 Unix commands to the Windows stack. Dan frames Microsoft's real play as distribution, not frontier model development, noting that the open model ecosystem being pulled into the platform will matter more to CFOs managing token costs at scale. (The Decode) The AI Stack Goes Multi-Silicon — COMPUTEX Taipei 2026 Confirms Heterogeneous AI Infrastructure: ARM's AGI CPU is in production with Google moving its TPU head node to ARM, and adding Oracle and ByteDance as new customers. ARM also introduced a new switch, the TT100, and put the 51T CPO switch on stage. Marvell received a trillion-dollar company endorsement from Jensen Huang, adding $90 billion in market cap on the comment alone. Intel announced disaggregated inference details and Xeon 6+ Clearwater Forest, its first 18A data center processor. Vista Equity and Cambium Capital announced a NeoCloud called Vector Core Compute, with Xeon 6 handling orchestration, Salmonova RUs handling decode, and Blackwell GPUs handling pre-fill. Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon announced the Dragonfly data center brand with Snapdragon C details coming at their June investor day. The WSTS raised the 2026 semiconductor TAM forecast by 90% to $1.51 trillion, with Pat noting the market could hit a trillion dollars if memory is excluded entirely. (The Decode) NVIDIA RTX Spark and the Edge AI Push: NVIDIA coordinated with ARM and Microsoft around the RTX Spark at COMPUTEX, with the shared message being that the future of Windows is here. Signal65's Ryan Shrout asked Jensen directly why NVIDIA wants to be in the PC business, given low margins and diminishing returns. Dan frames the answer in the context of devices increasingly becoming mobile data centers, capable of running models at much greater efficiency than cloud delivery. The edge AI conversation is also directly tied to token cost economics: as intelligence delivery moves closer to the device, the cost per token drops significantly. The jury is still out on whether NVIDIA will meaningfully disrupt the PC market, but its influence over OEMs like Lenovo and Dell that depend on it for data center gives it real leverage over SKUs. (The Decode) Token Economics and Frontier Model Cost Pressure: Dan and Pat discuss a substantive shift in how enterprises are thinking about AI consumption costs. Dan argues that "token maxing," the practice of defaulting to the most powerful frontier model for every task, has now effectively peaked, as bills have come due at scale. Companies paying for tokens in volume are starting to question whether they can afford the prices that frontier models actually cost to deliver. Pat pushes back, saying the dynamic is still present, but both analysts agree that the market is moving toward a model where token selection is matched to the job, with Microsoft's MOE approach and thinking models positioned to help CFOs manage that economics story. (The Decode) Continuum Goes Public at Highest Valuation for an AI Platform: Dan notes that Continuum, the Honeywell-spawned quantum company, went public this week at what he calls the highest valuation for an AI platform to date. He flags that IonQ will likely contest that characterization. The broader context is Microsoft entering the quantum conversation with Majorana 2 at Build, a name that has largely been absent from the quantum race, while IBM has received most of the attention. (The Decode) AI CapEx Has Outgrown Cash Flow — Alphabet's $80 Billion Equity Raise: On June 1, Alphabet announced an $80 billion equity capital raise, upsized to $85 billion, structured as $40 billion ATM, $30 billion underwritten, and a $10 billion private placement with Berkshire Hathaway anchoring. Pat frames the questions over CapEx returns as entirely dependent on whether you are an AI boomer or a doomer: if the payback comes, the raise is the right move. If it does not, the math doesn't close. Dan argues the investment is existential, drawing parallels to how infrastructure-first companies have always spent ahead of monetization, and notes that Google's equity is being used as a capital engine that may be more efficient than the debt markets right now. Both analysts flag the downstream implications for Broadcom, MediaTek, and Marvell given the TPU connection. (The Decode) The Network Becomes the AI Platform: Cisco Live 2026: Cisco launched Silicon One P200, the Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and Spectrum X, AgenticOps, MCP-native automation, Cisco IQ, LiveProtect, and folded Astrix Security and Galileo into Splunk under one control plane. Pat identifies Cisco Cloud Control as the biggest announcement of the entire show, pulling together Catalyst, Meraki, Nexus, Firewall, and WebEx under agentic ops that run natively through MCP, with code running directly on smart switches that have x86 processors. Pat also credits Cisco for establishing Silicon One as a credible chip alternative for hyperscalers capable of taking on Tomahawk and Jericho. Dan frames the long-term opportunity as campus and branch enablement when industrial AI and robotics deployments accelerate, arguing that the numerator of AI's economic impact has barely started, as edge deployment spending has not yet begun. (The Decode) The Flip: Did Microsoft Build 2026 Effectively End the OpenAI Partnership? Pat argues the divorce decree has been filed. MAI-Thinking-1 was built with zero distillation from third-party models offering clean enterprise data lineage, with Maia 200 in production plus Anthropic chip supply, which signals vendor hedging. OpenAI is going all-in on AWS, which means you cannot be married to two people, and the full Build stack covering model, OS containment via MXC, agents via Scout and Agent 365, and context via Microsoft IQ removes every architectural dependency on OpenAI. Dan counters that Microsoft is hedging rather than leaving and predicts the partnership will run through the decade. Enterprise Copilot customers are explicitly showing in data that they demand GPT 5.5, internal benchmarks have not been independently validated, and Microsoft stands to make meaningful money from the OpenAI IPO. (The Flip) Broadcom Q2 FY26 Earnings: Broadcom posted revenue of $22.19 billion, a narrow miss depending on which consensus data set is used, with EPS of $2.44 beating estimates and AI semis at $10.8 billion. Hock Tan declined to raise the $100 billion full-year AI chip target, and the stock dropped 13% in premarket trading. Q3 guide came in at $29.4 billion. Pat calls the miss a timing issue driven by Google's multi-sourcing across Marvell, MediaTek, and Broadcom rather than a fundamental problem. Dan flags that Hock Tan opened the earnings call by accidentally reading from the 2025 print, calling it "not the best moment." Sell-side re-ratings held in the 500s across Jefferies, Mizuho, and Deutsche Bank despite the drop, with Futurum Equities having it at 600. (Bulls and Bears) Hewlett Packard Enterprise Q2 FY26 Earnings: HPE delivered revenue of $10.68 billion, up 40% year over year, and EPS of $0.79, up 100%. Juniper integration and AI servers both outperformed, and all FY26 guides were raised. The stock jumped 19% after hours before settling into a roughly 15% gain, with HPE up 68% over the last month. Pat frames HPE as a value play rather than a volume play, methodically targeting enterprise and sovereign cloud deals where it can maintain profitability, rather than competing for massive NeoCloud volume. Antonio Neri was clear on the call that the profitability pull-forward is a one-shot deal. Pat and Dan will both be at HPE Discover the week after next to interview Neri and the C-suite. (Bulls and Bears) Palo Alto Networks Q3 FY26 Earnings: Palo Alto posted revenue of $3.0 billion, up 31% year over year, beating the $2.94 billion estimate, with non-GAAP EPS of $0.85, beating the $0.79 to $0.81 range. NGS ARR reached $8.1 billion, up 60% year over year, including $1.6 billion from CyberArk and Chronosphere. RPO hit $18.4 billion, up 36%. Both FY26 revenue and EPS guides were raised. Adjusted FCF margin came in at 38.5% TTM, up 430 basis points. The stock jumped 11% immediately after hours, then drifted lower. Pat points to 2,200 platformized customers and 120% net retention as the most important metrics. Dan notes the SaaSpocalypse thesis continues to be wrong. (Bulls and Bears) CrowdStrike Q1 FY27 Earnings and the Proprietary Data Moat Argument: CrowdStrike posted revenue of $1.39 billion with EPS of $1.10 and ARR of $5.51 billion. Net new ARR of $255.8 million set a Q1 record, up 32% year over year. FY27 net new ARR guide was raised by $52 million to a $1.29 billion midpoint, and FY27 revenue was raised to $5.915 to $5.959 billion. A 4-for-1 stock split was announced effective July 2nd. The stock dropped 11% despite the beat after a 64% year-to-date run into earnings. Dan uses the results to make a broader argument against the software disruption thesis, referencing Palantir CEO Alex Karp daring customers to build without him using Anthropic or OpenAI, and Larry Ellison's argument that the real AI value unlock sits in proprietary enterprise data that is not accessible to frontier models. Enterprises with governed, secure, proprietary data will continue to need platforms like CrowdStrike regardless of what frontier models can do. (Bulls and Bears) Six Five Summit is coming. Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff will kick off the event. Register and stay current at sixfivemedia.com/summit. Watch the full video at sixfivemedia.com, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss an episode. The Decode Microsoft Declares Independence — Build 2026 Ships an End-to-End Agentic AI Stack (MAI-Thinking-1 + Scout + Microsoft IQ + Project Solara + Majorana 2) https://www.theverge.com/tech/941738/microsoft-build-2026-biggest-announcements The AI Stack Goes Multi-Silicon — Computex 2026 Confirms a Heterogeneous AI Infrastructure (ARM + Marvell + Intel ASIC + Qualcomm + RTX Spark); WSTS Raises 2026 Semi TAM Forecast 90% to $1.51T https://www.tomshardware.com/tag/computex AI Capex Has Outgrown Cash Flow — Alphabet's $80B Equity Raise Is the Largest in U.S. Corporate History; Berkshire Anchors $10B https://abc.xyz/investor/news/news-details/2026/Alphabet-Announces-Proposed-80-Billion-Equity-Capital-Raise-to-Expand-AI-Infrastructure-and-Compute-2026-b0myAMewCa/default.aspx The Network Becomes the AI Platform — Cisco Live 2026 Launches Silicon One P200, Secure AI Factory (with NVIDIA), AgenticOps, Astrix Security + Galileo https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/about/whats-new/index.html The Flip Did Microsoft Build 2026 Effectively End the OpenAI Partnership? MAI-Thinking-1 Beats Sonnet 4.6 in Blind Testing, Microsoft Claims GPT-5.5 Parity at 10x Cost Efficiency — Will MS Quietly Wind Down OpenAI Exclusivity by FY28, or Is OpenAI Still the Frontier Anchor Microsoft Needs? FOR: MAI-Thinking-1 beating Sonnet 4.6 in blind preference + GPT-5.5 parity at 10x cost efficiency is a frontier-model independence proof point https://www.latent.space/p/ainews-microsoft-build-mai-thinking Build 2026: Accumulating Evidence of Microsoft's AI Independence — EDN (June 4) — https://www.edn.com/build-2026-accumulating-evidence-of-microsofts-ai-independence/ Maia 200 in production + Anthropic-Maia chip talks signal Microsoft is hedging its inference vendor stack https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/01/26/maia-200-the-ai-accelerator-built-for-inference/ Microsoft canceled Anthropic's internal software licenses + pivoted to chip-supply pursuit — customer-not-competitor positioning https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/21/anthropic-microsoft-maia-200-ai-chip.html AGAINST: Enterprise Copilot customers explicitly demand GPT-5.5 — internal benchmarks don't replace the brand https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/release-notes?tabs=all MAI-Thinking-1 benchmarks haven't been third-party verified — Microsoft is the only source https://www.latent.space/p/ainews-microsoft-build-mai-thinking The MS-OpenAI partnership is contractual through 2030+ — unwinding it is impractical and expensive https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/04/27/the-next-phase-of-the-microsoft-openai-partnership/ Microsoft's actual strategic risk is OpenAI leaving, not MS leaving — Anthropic + OpenAI IPOs make OpenAI exit risk the real concern https://www.anthropic.com/news/confidential-draft-s1-sec Bulls & Bears Broadcom (AVGO) Q2 FY26 ACTUALS — Rev $22.19B (Narrow Miss) + EPS $2.44 (Beat); AI Semis $10.8B; Hock Tan Refuses to Raise the $100B Full-Year AI Chip Target — Stock −13% Premarket; Q3 Guide $29.4B https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/broadcom-avgo-earnings-report-q2-2026.html Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Q2 FY26 ACTUALS — Blowout: Rev $10.68B (+40%), EPS $0.79 (+100%); Juniper Integration + AI Servers Both Outperform; FY26 Guides All Raised; Stock +19% AH https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260601866494/en/HPE-Reports-Fiscal-2026-Second-Quarter-Results Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Q3 FY26 ACTUALS — Beat-and-Raise: Rev $3.0B (+31% YoY, Beat $2.94B), Non-GAAP EPS $0.85 (Beat $0.79-0.81); NGS ARR $8.1B (+60% YoY, $1.6B from CyberArk + Chronosphere); RPO $18.4B (+36%); FY26 Revenue + EPS Guides BOTH RAISED; Adj FCF Margin 38.5% TTM (+430 bps); Stock +11% Immediate AH, Then Drifted Lower https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/company/press/2026/palo-alto-networks-reports-fiscal-third-quarter-2026-financial-results CrowdStrike narrowly beats estimates on AI tailwinds, but stock falls 9% — CNBC (June 3) — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/crowdstrike-crwd-q1-2027-earnings.html
Do you have products in your business that are creating more work than growth? In this episode, I share why one of the smartest ways to scale your product business isn't adding more products… it's knowing what to let go of. I break down the 3 categories of products that may be holding your business back, how to identify them using both data and strategy, and why letting go of the wrong products can create more clarity, stronger sales, and a more profitable business. Tune in to learn how to build a focused product line that supports your business's future rather than slowing it down.In This Episode, You'll Learn:00:00 Why some products are preventing your business from growing.03:00 The danger of believing that more products automatically create more sales.05:15 How off-brand products weaken your positioning and confuse customers.07:45 How clarity helps customers buy faster and remember your brand.10:00 Which products drain profit and operational capacity?13:30 What are the costs of carrying too many SKUs?15:45 What data should you review before eliminating a product?17:00 Are you keeping products because of strategy or emotion?21:30 The question every product business owner should ask before keeping a product.22:00 The 3 types of products you may need to eliminate before you scale.23:15 Why growth sometimes comes from simplifying instead of adding more.24:30 How product pruning creates stronger sales, better margins, and easier growth.Resources + LinksReady to stop guessing and follow a proven system? Book your strategy call HERE!Get business tips sent right to your inbox - join the newsletter!Watch on YouTubeFollowJacqueline on IG: @theproductbosstheproductboss.com
There are two ways to scale an ecommerce business: logical and exponential. One client went from $4,000 a month to over $100,000 a month in under a year, and he got there by subtracting, not adding. Most founders are doing the opposite and wondering why they feel stuck.In this audio-exclusive episode, Josh breaks down logical versus exponential scale and the simple equation that forces real growth instead of the safe, predictable kind. Here's what he covers:The difference between logical and exponential goals (and why being 85% certain you'll hit your number is a warning sign, not a good one)The equation Josh runs with clients: Exponential Goal × Time Constraint = Ruthless StandardsWhy "scale through subtraction" beats stacking on more ad platforms, more SKUs, and more monthly product launchesParkinson's Law and the deadline trick that finally forced Josh to hand off a role he'd been "quitting" for five years straightHow one client grew to $14 million in sales using only Meta ads and email (no TikTok, no daily posting, no three-platform circus)The quarterly "energy audit" his whole team runs to find the red-light tasks quietly killing their momentumMaintenance tasks vs. compounding tasks, and the one question that tells you which fires are okay to let burnThe towel brand running a 3 ROAS that keeps stalling out (and the cash-flow trap hiding inside its monthly launches)This isn't about working harder or bolting on another channel. It's about getting ruthless enough to grow into a number you can't even picture yet, by doing less than you're doing right now.
On this episode, Kevin chats with Aleks Gampel, co-founder of Cuby Technologies, a hardware and software company that's built a completely new type of home construction. With 243 people across three continents and a million engineering hours invested, Cuby has developed a mobile micro factory: a containerized, plug-and-play factory in a box that ships to any market and manufactures single-family homes with unskilled labor at roughly $100 a square foot in 30 days.Aleks walks us through how Cuby has built the antithesis to traditional modular construction by localizing manufacturing rather than centralizing it. He gets into why construction is fundamentally a logistics problem, how 168 shipping containers and 600 SKUs come together on a 6.5-acre site, and why the company chose to manufacture its own windows, framing, and sandwich panels rather than relying on third-party suppliers.He also gets into the economics of the mobile micro factory at roughly $25 million all-in, why Cuby targets regional home builders who can't compete with the Lennars and DR Hortons of the world, and how the company bridges two capital worlds. Venture capital funds the platform while infrastructure equity and debt fund each factory as its own SPV.On the business side, Aleks shares why most startups fail on partnership dynamics, what drew him to a problem nobody has cracked, and why solving for housing sits at the base of Maslow's hierarchy. His take on building inside a conservative industry is straightforward: don't try to reinvent the wheel, just figure out how to make it spin faster.
Drake, Mortal Kombat II, Obsession and more...
In this episode, host Josh interviews entrepreneur Rolando Rosas about his journey from office technology to Amazon selling and founding Circuit Com. Rolando shares his advanced PPC strategy, using a year's worth of sales data and heat maps to optimize Amazon ad scheduling for better ROAS. He offers practical tips for sellers: enhance product images, respond to customer questions with videos, and use data tools like Seller Labs Data Hub to identify peak buying times. Rolando encourages starting small with data-driven ad adjustments to boost efficiency and sales.Chapters:Introduction to Rolando Rosas and His Journey (00:00:00)Josh introduces Rolando, his entrepreneurial background, and the founding of Global Tech Worldwide and Circuit Com.Podcast Sound Effects and Stream Deck Tips (00:01:15)Rolando shares his experience setting up podcast sound effects and encourages using a stream deck.Introduction to Innovative Amazon PPC Strategy (00:01:38)Josh prompts Rolando to share his unique PPC strategy, setting the stage for the main discussion.Data-Driven Ad Scheduling and Heat Maps (00:02:13)Rolando explains using 12 months of order data and Seller Labs Data Hub to create heat maps for ad scheduling.Key Insights from Data: Golden Hours and Days (00:02:59)Discovery of optimal times and days for ads, including patterns like low Friday evening and weekend sales.Challenging Weekend Ad Spend Myths (00:04:12)Rolando debunks the idea that weekends are best for ads, showing most sales occur Monday–Friday.Impact on ROAS and Sales Performance (00:06:03)Discussion of improved ROAS and sales by focusing ad spend on high-performing days and times.Layering Day Parting and Low Bid Strategies (00:07:02)Exploring advanced ad scheduling, including low bid strategies during off-peak hours.Manual vs. Automated Campaign Management (00:08:31)Rolando discusses the manual nature of their current process and the use of portfolio grouping for easier management.Leveraging Seller Labs Data Hub for Insights (00:09:36)How to use Seller Labs Data Hub for actionable business insights, even for non-data experts.The Importance of Data Science and AI for Sellers (00:10:53)Emphasizing the future role of data analytics and AI in Amazon selling success.Three Actionable Takeaways for Amazon Sellers (00:11:56)Josh summarizes three key takeaways: main image optimization, customer Q&A engagement, and data-driven ad scheduling.Encouragement to Start Small and Test Strategies (00:15:20)Advice to implement changes gradually, testing on a few campaigns or SKUs before scaling.Closing Remarks and Appreciation (00:16:18)Josh and Rolando wrap up the episode, express mutual appreciation, and end the conversation.Links and Mentions:Tools and Websites"Global Teck Worldwide": "00:00:00""Seller Labs Data Hub": "00:02:59""Google Sheets": "00:10:08"Strategies and Concepts"Day Parting": "00:02:13""Heat Map": "00:02:59"Actionable Takeaways"Adjust Main Images": "00:11:56""Respond to Customer Questions": "00:12:07"Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I'm super excited to introduce you all to Rolando Rosas. Rolando never could have predicted that a college computer, a printer, and an old school wall phone in his kitchen would lead him down the path of entrepreneurship. But that's exactly how it happened. In 2002, he founded Global Tech Worldwide with the goal of making it easy for businesses to use the right office technologies for better and frictionless customer interactions that help businesses elevate their customer interactions and turn them into rich, meaningful discussions. Fast forward to today, and after spending ten years selling on Amazon, he is on his third startup circuit. Com because he was frustrated with the lack of transparency and outdated methods of buying broadband, wireless and fiber internet for small and medium sized businesses. So with that introduction, welcome to the show, Rolando.Rolando 00:00:53 Woo! Woo woo woo woo. Woo woo. Let me try. Let me try.Josh 00:00:56 Hey, there you go. Hey.Rolando 00:00:57 There we go.Josh 00:00:58 You got the audio work?Rolando 00:00:59 I got it, I got it I got him to work.Josh 00:01:02 Rolando has his own podcast and we recorded an episode last week I was on, I was in the reverse side. I was the guest there. And that I told you, Rolando, I love the sound effects that you have going on in your podcast.Rolando 00:01:15 You know what? I'm here. You know what? Go get a stream deck, go get it and call me, and I'll help you set it up. Because it took me a while. I left it in the box for quite some time before I actually started using it, because I was a little intimidated. I'm not an Avi guy or anything like that, but, you know, I was like, all right, let me add one, two, three. And I was like, ooh. And now I've got a couple of those buttons set up for it.Josh 00:01:38 I love it, I love it. All right, Rolando, there's another really wicked smart strategy that I want you to share with our audience that you shared with me prior to hitting the record button.Josh 00:01:48 And this is your amazing PPC strategy that I have never heard anybody else talk about this other than yourself. everybody's always heard of de parting, right? And that's kind of the new hot PPC term, but this isn't Dave Harding. This is something, I think, even more intelligent than what De parting is. So I've laid out the red carpet for you there, Rolando. Give us the gold nugget.Rolando 00:02:13 Yeah, right. So de parting is just simply ad scheduling. You know, run an ad on a schedule. Nothing new there. But what if. Chad. Chad, I was just talking to Chad. What if Josh. We could map or have ads show up when we have our ideal customers on Amazon? How can we do that? Can we pull it off? And can we save money while we're doing that? That's really what we wanted to find out. Turns out there is a way to do it. Not easy, not clean. But there was. So we went and pulled data from our orders for 12 months, and we used, Seller Labs product that they have or service that's called Data Hub.Rolando 00:02:59 and it pulled in all that data, right? It's our own data. So we didn't have to do all these crazy reports from Amazon. Pulled it all in. Once they pulled that in I said, wait a minute, guys. I'm not a mathematician here. This is just a spreadsheet with a bunch of numbers. Can we do something better? So then we put together something that anybody could easily use in the organization. We put together a heat map so that you can visually see the data. And, you know, dark green means good, red is bad. And guess what? We found golden hours every day of the week. Also golden months also patterns within those months. For example summertime for our products which are mostly office related products. After 4 p.m. on a Friday, we've virtually had no orders on the summer months. So if I'm a betting man, Why would I run PPC after 4 p.m. if we're not getting any orders? Another one was when? on the weekends, you hear people say this all the time.Rolando 00:04:12 And now that I have the data for our stuff, I know it's totally wrong. You got to run ads on Saturday and Sunday because people browse Saturday and Sunday and buy on Monday. The evidence does not hold that up in our case, because in our case, most of our activity, nearly 85 to 90% of the purchases c...
When I started getting serious about e-commerce, I genuinely believed the more products you had, the more successful you'd be. More SKUs meant scaling. I was completely wrong. Here's the problem: most founders launch a hero product, get early traction, and then the anxiety kicks in. What if it runs out of steam? What if a competitor copies me? So they launch a second product, then a third — and suddenly they're mediocre at five things instead of exceptional at one. In this episode, I share how I built and sold a seven-figure brand off a single water bottle, and break down how IM8 — co-founded by David Beckham — hit $120 million in annualised revenue in under a year on essentially one product, and what both stories mean for how you should be thinking about your brand right now. Here's what you'll take away: Why the urge to launch a second product is almost always driven by fear — and how to reframe it The three questions to ask yourself before you add a single new SKU How AG1, Liquid IV, and IM8 all built empires off one hero product — and what that blueprint looks like for a smaller brand Why going deeper on your hero product is a stronger competitive defence than launching more products The rule of thumb for knowing when you're actually ready to expand — and the mistake I made with Healthish that I'd do differently How simplicity in your product lineup directly improves your margins, your ops, and your mental bandwidth If you're thinking about launching a second product line before your first one is fully optimised, this episode will show you exactly what to focus on instead — and what's possible when you commit to doing one thing at the highest level possible. If you're loving this solo series, I'd love to hear your feedback. Email me directly at nathan@foundr.com — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it. WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → https://foundr.com/operators HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application → Already have a store? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt Website → https://www.foundr.com Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/foundr/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/foundr Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/foundr LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/ Podcast → https://www.foundr.com/podcast
Today's callers: Barbara in Massachusetts wonders how her nutrition education theater company might live on past her own involvement. Then Jeff in Illinois looks to carry the momentum from his Ninja Warrior-inspired gyms to form a professional league around the sport. And Vince in Virginia weighs the risks from introducing new SKUs for his men's organic underwear brand.Plus, David breaks down the resource management necessary to keep an airline aloft as rising fuel prices grip the industry.Thank you to the founders of FoodPlay Productions, Ultimate Ninjas, and Gotchies for being a part of our show.If you'd like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you'd like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298.And be sure to listen to JetBlue's founding story as told by David in 2019.This episode was produced by Sam Paulson with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Casey Herman. Our audio engineer was Kwesi Lee.You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram and sign up for Guy's free newsletter at guyraz.com or on Substack.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What's the real cost of only having the bandwidth to focus on your top-performing products?Agility requires systems and processes that not only respond to change but also proactively manage complexity across an entire portfolio. It's about creating the capacity to act on every opportunity, not just the most obvious ones.Today, we're going to talk about a critical breaking point for large consumer brands: the operational limits of ecommerce execution. When you're managing thousands of products across countless digital shelves, manual processes don't just slow you down—they force you to leave opportunity on the table. We'll explore how automation and AI are moving teams from being reactive firefighters on their top SKUs to strategic drivers of growth across their entire catalog.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Tambi Younes, Vice President of E-commerce at Newell. About Tambi Younes Tambi Younes is the vice president of e-commerce at Newell. Younes has spent nearly a decade with Newell, holding a series of product experience and DTC leadership roles. Most recently, he was senior director of product, UX and digital experience, where he spearheaded AI solutions within the global DTC digital platform and led an approach to product design centered on user research and customer insights. Prior to that, he was director of e-commerce, DTC, where he led a 12-person team that worked on merchandising, promotional and assortment strategies. He also drove strong growth on Amazon as senior manager of global e-commerce for the company's baby and parenting brands, optimizing digital marketing, product visibility and channel strategy to gain market share. Tambi Younes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tambi/ Resources Newell: https://www.newellbrands.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What's the real cost of only having the bandwidth to focus on your top-performing products?Agility requires systems and processes that not only respond to change but also proactively manage complexity across an entire portfolio. It's about creating the capacity to act on every opportunity, not just the most obvious ones. Today, we're going to talk about a critical breaking point for large consumer brands: the operational limits of ecommerce execution. When you're managing thousands of products across countless digital shelves, manual processes don't just slow you down—they force you to leave opportunity on the table. We'll explore how automation and AI are moving teams from being reactive firefighters on their top SKUs to strategic drivers of growth across their entire catalog. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Tambi Younes, Vice President of E-commerce at Newell. About Tambi Younes Tambi Younes is the vice president of e-commerce at Newell. Younes has spent nearly a decade with Newell, holding a series of product experience and DTC leadership roles. Most recently, he was senior director of product, UX and digital experience, where he spearheaded AI solutions within the global DTC digital platform and led an approach to product design centered on user research and customer insights. Prior to that, he was director of e-commerce, DTC, where he led a 12-person team that worked on merchandising, promotional and assortment strategies. He also drove strong growth on Amazon as senior manager of global e-commerce for the company's baby and parenting brands, optimizing digital marketing, product visibility and channel strategy to gain market share. Tambi Younes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tambi/ Resources Newell: https://www.newellbrands.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company