DTC Growth Show

Rosie Bailey and how AI-powered Nibble is changing the chat game

It's not uncommon to find chat on an eCommerce website. And it's not uncommon to find a bot-powered chat on an eCommerce website. But it is uncommon to find an AI-powered chat experience that is willing to negotiate with customers, and do so with ... well ... some personality. That's exactly what Nibble provides. Rosier Bailey, Nibble's president and CEO, chatted with the DTC Growth Show about Nibble and its potential uses across eCommerce.   Read more

Erica Werber, CEO of Literie Candles, on the explosion of the candle industry

In today's episode we interview Founder and CEO of Literie Candles, Erica Werber. Literie was originally launched as a pandemic hobby and love letter to NYC. With help sampling scent profiles with her kids as they were learning remotely and with an order of 2000 candles, founder Erica Werber thought she would just sell the candles mostly to friends, and then return to her normal career. Cut to the end of 2021 and Literie sold over 10,000 candles in just the nine months after launching and is...

Tuft and Paw's Jackson Cunningham on developing thoughtful furniture for cats

FlavorCloud's Mike Sanchez on the business of leading

Now the Chief Revenue Officer at FlavorCloud, Mike Sanchez has had 17 years of experience driving partner, sales, and customer success. At every company he’s been at he has delivered double- or triple-digit growth rates. In this episode, we talk to Mike about topics such as building diverse teams within organizations, and how important that is to the success and vision of a company. We also dive into common challenges amongst teams like imposter syndrome and ways leaders can preserve the psy...

Holiday 2022 shopping predictions: Creativity is key if you're going to survive

It seems for the third consecutive year we're saying the same thing: This holiday shopping season will be unlike any we've seen before. With the eCommerce boom regressing significantly in the shadow of an economic downturn, brands are having to be creative with how they attract people to their websites and brick-and-mortar locations. 

DTC cheese and charcuterie? Yup! That's Boarderie

In today's world of immediate gratification, it's uncommon to find a brand that takes its time in spinning up an eCommerce site and going DTC. But that's exactly what Boarderie did. Boarderie has spent the past two years sending artisan charcuterie and cheese boards directly to people's homes. Their boards don't require the recipients to unpack them and put them together, they're not baskets. These go straight from the box to your table and are ready to eat. ... (READ MORE)  

Hank Watt on the power of the ledidi berry, AKA Nature’s Wild Berry

In Hank’s 20’s his parents were diagnosed with cancer 18 months apart. Going through that taught him that if you don’t have your health, you don’t have a lot to look forward to. Hank knew it was time for him to make a change. At 250 lbs and a size 40+, he was tired of making excuses for himself. Hank turned to his friend Juliano, who owned Planet Raw, a healthy food restaurant, for help. If anyone was going to help Hank, it’d be Juliano. Juliano ordered these red berries that Hank never ate ...

General Mills' DTC strategy and its chief, Carter Jensen

Abtin Masseratagah on the importance of retention marketing

Abtin Masseratagah is a digital marketing consultant and founder of Northn Mo., a Toronto-based digital and social media marketing firm. Abtin’s been in the industry for over a decade specializing in retention marketing, paid media, growth hacking, influencer marketing, social media marketing, brand amplification across digital platforms, and business development. Abtin’s been featured in major media publications such as Forbes, Huffington Post, and Entrepreneur Magazine. In today’s episode ...

How Dog Child is helping serving up healthy options for picky pets

FFUPS and how Sam Tichnor is trying to create the next iconic snack brand

Kristi Knowles on transforming RawFoodz to Mother Raw

In this episode Kristi Knowles, CEO of Mother Raw, shares how her 25-plus years in food/CPG led to spearheading a successful rebrand and expansion of founder Michelle Kopman’s beloved RawFoodz. Taking the genesis of Kopman’s mission, Knowles strategically evolved RawFoodz to Mother Raw, resulting in a rebrand that resonated with a wider range of consumers and opened up a wealth of expansion opportunities in their category. 

Chris Meade and how CROSSNET is creating a new sports category

Chris Meade is not only marketing a product, he's creating a new sport! Through CROSSNET he's brought 'foursquare' to volleyball, soccer and pickleball; and he's done it all without raising venture money. Chris and his brother, Greg, are the products of a small town in Connecticut. The brothers and a childhood friend were tired of the rat race, so they found something they were passionate about and dumped their savings and 401Ks into it. Listen to Chris as he speaks to BANKNOTES editor in...

Marketing lessons from AND1

Two new documentaries have cast a fresh light on the history of AND1, which in the late '90s and early 2000s was the hottest basketball brand in the United States. The rise and fall of AND1 was quick and occurred over less than 10 years. So what lessons can marketers learn from AND1? Ian Leslie and Andy Rosenberg took some time to unpack the history of AND1 for the DTC Growth Show, presented by BANKNOTES minted by #PAID.

Jordan Schwarzenberger: Manager of The Sidemen

Jordan Schwarzenberger is a 24-year-old entrepreneur whose passion of tech, talent and socials, has been in hot demand by companies looking to future-proof their own brands.  Jordan has landed roles at a few companies such as VICE Media, LADbible Group and YMU. Now he takes on a new challenge of co-founding Arcade Media where he manages some of the most famous creators on the planet, one of which being the infamous UK group called the Sidemen. Apart from this he also helps build power house ...

Richa Gupta and the growth of Good Food For Good

Good Food For Good Founder Richa Gupta talks to the DTC Growth team about her experience leading a company that is focussed on clean ingredients and giving back to the world. 

Sam Levinson and how DOM changed perceptions of hand sanitizer

Sam Levinson, co-founder, of DOM talks to the team about what it took to start a hand-sanitizer DTC startup and her journey from tech startup, to recruiter to entrepreneur. Sam has always felt a calling to start her own business and inspiration for DOM came from her own frustration with the lack of safe, effective and aesthetically pleasing products on the market. Especially during a time when hand sanitizer was and still is becoming such an integral part of our lives. DOM is here to reshap...

Vikki Ross on copywriting, working with brands, and building a community

In this interview, we discussed some great copywriting tips for writers and brands and her journey of building a copywriter's community on Twitter, which eventually transitioned into live events across London and other parts of the world. She also recommended a famous artist and a book she ...(Read more).

How to find your center in a world of distraction with Robbie Bent of Inward Breathwork

Robbie is open about his struggles with addiction and has been for a long time. At one point, his addiction got so bad he ended up losing his first company and going bankrupt. Soon after, he had to move into his parent’s basement.  What saved him, in the end, was moving to Israel and doing a Vipassana meditation retreat that included ten days of meditation for ten hours a day—all conducted in complete silence. “For the first time in my life, I felt the benefits of meditation everybody had ...

Advice on how to humanize your brand from Resilient Retail’s Kristen LaFrance

For Kristen LaFrance, commerce is all about the people.  Known as the Mayor of DTC Twitter and head of Shopify’s Resilient Retail podcast, Kristen hosts discussions with entrepreneurs on a plethora of topics surrounding commerce, exploring how brands can find success within DTC and retail spaces.  “I describe the Resilient Retail podcast as this kind of digital property or brand. It’s a space to bring the retail conversations Shopify needs to be having to the merchants we need to be reachi...

The rise of vegan skincare and skincare intellectuals

Connie Lo and Laura Burget believe beauty products should be 100% natural and affordable. The rockstar duo co-founded Three Ships almost four years ago. Frustrated by not being to find affordable and clean skincare options, they decided to create their own. Three Ships represents a line of all-natural certified cruelty-free skincare products.

MarketerHire—Director of Marketing, Tracey Wallace

Are growth marketers just modern marketing managers?  We sit down with Tracey Wallace to discuss all things hiring, marketing trends, and what exactly a growth marketer is. We dive into how to find the best social media manager. We get Traceys to find and hired a great SMM and the struggle many face trying to sources one.  Finally, we ask about the trends that she sees in brand hiring. A lot are going social first, but the number one asked for and placed, according to Tracey, is Growth Mar...

Morning Brew—COO, Austin Rief

In this episode, we talk to Austin Rief, the COO of Morning Brew, a daily email that makes reading the news actually enjoyable. In this chat, we talk to Austin about how Morning Brew got started and its humble beginnings, from a pdf file with a watermarked logo to now having over 2 Million subscribers. Austin also gives his insight into the now-famous advice "every company is a media company" and what that really means for brands and how to be successful at it. We even asked him if we fas...

James Beshara, Founder of Magic Mind & Tilt.

Before founding Magic Mind, James created a company called Tilt, which was acquired by Airbnb. He has been a big supporter and investor in the DTC community, with a lot of cool companies under his belt.  In the episode we talk to James about his background, founding two companies, and how a scary reaction to caffeine led him to create Magic Mind. 

Pattern Brands—Co-Founder, Executive Creative Director, Emmett Shine

Pattern brands is the parent company of these really cool brands in the home good space, like Open Spaces and Equal Parts. Gin Lane is the creative agency behind some really notable companies like Hims, Sweet Green, Quip, and Harry's. In this conversation with Emmett, we talk about how he was drawn away from the classroom and into doing his own thing, as many founders do. We discuss his ability to do an incredible job organizing people who are just incredibly talented, which is one of the r...

Privy—CMO, Dave Gerhardt

During his extensive career, Dave has created not one, not two, but three successful podcasts. When he was working at HubSpot, he produced, hosted, and marketed The Growth Show with HubSpot CMO Mike Volpe. Over at Drift, he created and hosted "Seeking Wisdom," and currently at Privy, he has the "Ecommerce Marketing Show." 

Pattern Brands—General Manager, Katy Marshall

Group chat: Huron—Founder & CEO Matt Mullenax

In this episode, we talk to Matt Mullenax, the Founder & CEO of Huron a men's grooming brand. After spending time at Bonobos in the early days, Matt witnessed first-hand what it meant to build a brand around a customer and fell in love with dtc business models. Huron was built with the same mentality. Hear him talk about his experiences, why he founded Huron, and how he built such an iconic brand. 

The Passion Economy ft. Web Smith and David Perell

Two giant ecommerce thinkers had a conversation—and it was epic! Join Web Smith and David Perell as they discuss everything from creator marketing to building a brand community.

Candid—Founder & CEO, Nick Greenfield

Nick created Candid for a personal reason. He needed to straighten his teeth but was presented with a market full of limited, outdated options. He wanted something more affordable that fit into his busy lifestyle. Through his work with his Cheif Dental Officer, who has nearly thirty-five years of experience in the industry, Candid could provide something unique in the oral health space, a high-quality aligner with remote monitoring at a fraction of the cost. They set out to shake up an outd...

Fix My Churn—Founder & CEO, Val Geisler

Val runs Fix My Churn, and they work with brands to... fix churn. And the main channel she uses for onboarding and customer communication is email. Lots of other great channels, but that's the main one.  Don't pit acquisition and retention. They're friends. Marketers need to learn to split their focus, and adjust it at different times throughout the year. And if you don't know how to approach your retention, ask yourself what you'd do  if you could never acquire another customer again. I lo...

truLocal—Founder & CEO, Marc Lafleur

TruLocal is a consumer platform that started four years ago.  Their main objective is to get consumers consuming value-added meat, meaning meat that's 100 percent grass fed, pasture raised, and most importantly locally sourced.  That means there are strict criteria for farmers and suppliers wanting to join the network. Marc unpacks what the expectations are for everyone joining the marketplace. COVID-19 has changes this, but TruLocal is fortunate to be positioned as a DTC brand d...

truLOCAL—Founder & CEO, Marc Lafleur

TruLocal is a consumer platform that started four years ago.  Their main objective is to get consumers consuming value-added meat, meaning meat that's 100 percent grass fed, pasture raised, and most importantly locally sourced.  That means there are strict criteria for farmers and suppliers wanting to join the network. Marc unpacks what the expectations are for everyone joining the marketplace. COVID-19 has changes this, but TruLocal is fortunate to be positioned as a DTC brand doing almo...

Common Thread Collective—Taylor Holiday

In this episode we talk with Taylor Holiday, CEO at Common Thread Collective. They're a growth agency that helps brands make a profit from their digital spend. We kick off by talking about Taylor's hiring approach for the digital marketer role. He's found a way to hire people with the right skillset from outside of marketing proper—within the fantasy sports community. His team has found a way to incorporate  fantasy into the hiring process. Interesting stuff. To make sure they're ...

Common Thread Collective—Founder & CEO, Taylor Holiday

In this episode we talk with Taylor Holiday, CEO at Common Thread Collective. They're a growth agency that helps brands make a profit from their digital spend. We kick off by talking about Taylor's hiring approach for the digital marketer role. He's found a way to hire people with the right skillset from outside of marketing proper—within the fantasy sports community. His team has found a way to incorporate  fantasy into the hiring process. Interesting stuff. To make sure they're hiring we...

2PM—Founder, Web Smith

In this episode, we talk to Web Smith, Founder at 2PM, a bootstrapped media and publishing company that puts out two long form essays and three letters every week, maintains 12 databases, and hosts the 2PM polymathic community. Mention Web Smith, and most in the DTC community will know exactly who you're talking about. Not in 2009, though. Back then, Web found himself unemployed—with a family of three. He wasn't discouraged. A couple hours into unemployment, and he was making his next move....

Five Minute Journal—Co-Founder, Alex Ikonn

In this episode, we talk to Alex Ikonn, Co-Founder at Intelligent Change, where he's building products like the five-minute journal to boost happiness and increase productivity. Alex talks a lot about gratitude, and the positive impact it can have. What better way to start than asking him what he's grateful for, and walking through how he's incorporated that philosophy into the Five Minute Journal.  Next, we launch into another topic Alex is passionate about—mindset. He talks about the dif...

Bruvy—Co-Founder & CEO, Steadman Dinning

Instead of launching with one, Bruvy kicked off with two plant-based products—a cleanser and a moisturizer. Based on their research, those are the two products that men need to use.  Steadman and team spent a lot of time interviewing customers, and working with them to build the brand. They found that a lot of men are using three-in-one products, and other products that aren't good for them. There's a lack of education in the market about skincare for men, but Bruvy is looking to step in to...

Judy—Nik Sharma

In this episode, we talk to Nik Sharma. If you don't know him, here's a quick intro: He started handling social strategy for major celebrities like Priyanka Chopra and Pitbull—at 15. He's one of AdWeek’s Young and Influential, and helped build the Cha Cha Matcha and Hint brands. This episode is especially exciting because we're catching him on the heels of the Judy launch. Wondering how it went? It “absolutely crushed,” and has had great traction. The platform is going live with unboxing vi...

Lensabl—Founder & CEO, Andy Bilinsky

‍In this episode we talk to Andy Bilinsky, Founder and CEO at Lensabl. They make it really easy for you to update prescription lenses for your existing frames. This isn't Andy's first launch. He launched a Warby Parker look-a-like before Lensabl. That's where he first formed the idea to de-couple the purchase of frames and lenses online. Instead of jumping into a saturated market, they launched the first ever lens replacement service online. As they evaluated entering the prescription lens...

Frey—Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Erin Frey

Walk down the aisle of the detergent section, and you’ll see the same thing on both sides—branding that perpetuates outdated stereotypes about who does the laundry. The opportunity is huge. Think about it, the razor industry is a fraction of the size of the laundry detergent industry, and on top of that, Frey is expanding the market by appealing to groups outside of the laundry category. Part of their approach to customer acquisition is partnering with high-end clothing retail partners. Th...

Ettitude—Founders, Phoebe Yu & Kat Dey

Ettitude stands for eco attitude. It’s the perfect name because they promote sustainable bedding and lifestyle products made entirely from Bamboo. Why Bamboo? Phoebe says, “it’s a wonder plant.” It requires way less water than cotton, doesn’t require pesticides or fertilizers to grow, and when you harvest the plant you don’t need to cut the root (which means you’re not damaging the soil).  Some people call it vegan silk because it’s as smooth as silk, but the worm isn’t disturbed.  Becaus...

Kabo—Founder & CEO, Vino Jeyapalan

In this episode, we talk with Vino Jeyapalan, CEO and Founder of Kabo, a company that brings human-grade dog food to dog owners. Vino and team are on a mission to improve the life of dogs. It's personal for him because his first dog, Kabo, passed away. That got him and his co-founder searching for answers-what influence do owners have on the lifespan of their dogs. Research shows that more fresh dog food, and an increase activity, reduces a dog's chance for cancer, and increases a their li...

Olivers—Founder & CEO, David Wolfe

Inspiration can come from anywhere. CEO and Founder, David Wolfe, says he was inspired by the burgeoning farm-to-table movement. That's what led him to launch Olivers. Consumers were becoming more interested in what they consumed—they wanted to know origin stories for their products, and there was a big emphasis on quality. The entire visual identity, from clothing colours to website, was rooted in the farm-to-table movement.  They launched with one product on Kickstarter. All of their fo...

The Sweat Club—Founder & CEO, Bryan Lewis

How did the launch go? It was a pain in the ass. They launched a month late. Of all the brands he launched, Bryan says this was the hardest. He was never going to have ass it. Always be networking. That's how Bryan connected with Bree, his Chief Creative Officer, and part of the founding team. Why this role? Why her? Because Bryan isn't good at content creation, and you have to hire for areas that you're weak—that's foundational to build a 50MM+ brand. Why not launch with subscription righ...

Bite Toothpaste—Founder & CEO, Lindsay McCormick

How did she start? She was working as a TV producer for House Hunters (yeah, the TV show). She was travelling over the country, and soon realized that she was going through those little plastic tubes at a rapid pace. That didn’t line up with her values—conservation and sustainability. So she did something about it.. She’s not a chemic. She had to learn all about making toothpaste. She credits her deep knowledge with free online chemistry courses that she has enrolled in over the years. #hu...

Bite Toothpaste - Founder + CEO, Lindsay McCormick

In this episode, we talk with Lindsay McCormick, CEO and Founder of Bite - Toothpaste Bits. Her company is reinventing toothpaste—fully sustainable dry tablets (instead of the paste most of us are used to). She explains the many advantages that Bite Toothpaste Bits have over regular toothpaste. She was working as a TV producer for the television show House Hunters, and travelled all over the country. With conservation always at the front of her mind, Lindsay realized that she was ...