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Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://whatsworkingpod.beehiiv.com/ Jordan Menard joins What’s Working Pod after growing Instant Hydration from zero to nine figures, then stepping away to build something he couldn’t stop thinking about. After years teaching himself supplement formulation from clinical literature, he found a protocol he believes can make your body measurably younger on an epigenetic clock by up to five years biologically. White Rabbit launches January 2027, and this is the first time he’s talked about it publicly. Connect with Jordan: Follow Jordan on X: https://x.com/jordanmenardConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainOur sponsors: Richpanel: Richpanel is an AI-native customer service helpdesk purpose-built for e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands - https://www.richpanel.com Fulfil is an agentic Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform explicitly designed for high-growth direct-to-consumer (DTC) and omnichannel eCommerce merchants - https://www.fulfil.io ROKT Aftersell is an eCommerce post-purchase upselling and cross-selling application primarily built for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants - https://www.rokt.com/products/rokt-aftersellProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Jordan Menard: From Zero To Nine Figures At Instant Hydration03:41 - The Subscription CPG Model That Gets Nine-Figure Valuations05:52 - LTV To CAC: What The Three To One Ratio Actually Means For Investors07:12 - Why Subscription Fatigue Is A Myth09:57 - Narrative Ads: The Creative Format That Spends Eight Hundred K On One Video11:44 - Why Jordan Hired An Organic Storyteller And Will Never Go Fully AI13:10 - Media Buying Is Not Dead: What Separates Good From Great At Scale15:04 - Seal Team Six Style Teams Are The Future Of Marketing16:09 - How Motif Digital Was Born And Why He Chose Boutique19:09 - The Betrayal That Pushed Him Toward Instant Hydration20:55 - How A Research Nerd Taught Himself Supplement Formulation23:52 - Twenty Percent Of People Cannot Metabolize Caffeine And He Built For Them25:01 - It Tasted Like Drinking A Battery: Seven Months To Get The Flavor Right28:12 - Introducing White Rabbit: The Protocol That Could Make You Biologically Younger30:02 - The App That Shows You If Your Supplements Are Actually Working37:11 - Why AI Search Will Eventually Audit Every Supplement Label38:00 - Cellular Senescence: The Zombie Cells That Are Aging Your Body Faster39:26 - Organic Content And TikTok Shop: The Long Game For Lowering CAC #Longevity #Biohacking #EcommerceMarketing #WhatsWorkingPod #SubscriptionBusiness

Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://whatsworkingpod.beehiiv.com/ Robert Derow is a Managing Director and Partner at BCG, one of the most prestigious strategy consulting firms in the world, where he leads their Digital Growth and Agentic Commerce practice. He has been doing data driven full stack marketing for 25 years, has worked with Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies on digital transformation, and is one of the few people in the world who can tell you with authority what the largest brands on earth are actually doing about AI right now. Ashwin is the co-founder of Nile, an agentic e-commerce infrastructure company helping brands treat every AI chat as a sales channel. Between the two of them, this is one of the most data heavy conversations we’ve had on the pod. We also get into why trust is the final frontier of commerce and why Amazon solved speed and convenience but is quietly losing the trust war, why TikTok Shop is still in the early innings with the US at fifteen to twenty billion in GMV versus over four hundred billion in Asia, and an AI platform tier list for commerce impact that ranks OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Grok, and Gemini from S tier to C tier with real reasoning behind every pick. Key Takeaways: GEO Is the New SEO and Your Competitors Are Already Doing It: Every Fortune 1000 company Rob works with now has some form of generative engine optimization running. If your brand is not showing up in AI-generated answers, you’re already behind.Connect with Ashwin and Robert: Follow Ashwin on X: https://x.com/BeingAshwin Follow Robert on X: https://x.com/rderowConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Will AI Chatbots Handle Most DTC Orders In Ten Years?03:14 - Why Fulfillment Is About To Become Part Of Your Brand07:32 - How Fortune 1000 Companies Are Approaching GEO Right Now09:18 - Reddit Citations Dropped 85 Percent On ChatGPT In August11:45 - The 90-Day Plan To Make Your Brand AI Discoverable13:00 - The Internet Boom Gave Access — AI Gives Intelligence15:33 - Your Store Is Now Open To Both Humans And Agents19:30 - AI And Jobs: Net Neutral Or Mass Unemployment?21:22 - ChatGPT Ads: Why Is Nobody Seeing Results?23:30 - Which Ad Platforms Can Actually Compete With Meta?25:09 - Trust Is The Final Frontier Of Commerce29:54 - TikTok Shop Is Still Early And Here Is The Data33:14 - What Is Nile And How Agentic E-Commerce Works35:05 - The Full AI E-Commerce Tech Stack You Need Right Now41:41 - AI Platform Tier List: OpenAI Anthropic Perplexity Grok Gemini43:19 - Will Entry-Level Jobs In Professional Services Disappear?45:16 - Game6: Predictive LTV At The Keyword Level #GenerativeEngineOptimization #AICommerce #TikTokShop #EcommerceMarketing #WhatsWorkingPod

iRestore took a failing family business that lost money for ten straight years and turned it into a 9-figure red light therapy empire with a $1,000+ AOV. In this episode of What's Working, Kevin Chen (CEO of iRestore) breaks down his journey from quitting his corporate path to rebuild his dad’s failing quit-smoking laser clinic. He reveals how iRestore pioneered the home red light therapy market on Amazon before "red light" was even a search term, how FDA clearance creates an unshakeable regulatory moat, and why he spent two years developing a translucent face mask so users could multitask. Kevin also exposes cheap competing red light brands selling "Christmas lights" with zero power efficacy and explains why hiring A-players beats striving for 1% OpEx when aiming for $1 billion in revenue. Connect with Kevin: Follow Kevin on X: https://x.com/KFC_KevinChenConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainOur sponsors: Richpanel: Richpanel is an AI-native customer service helpdesk purpose-built for e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands - https://www.richpanel.com Fulfil is an agentic Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform explicitly designed for high-growth direct-to-consumer (DTC) and omnichannel eCommerce merchants - https://www.fulfil.io ROKT Aftersell is an eCommerce post-purchase upselling and cross-selling application primarily built for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants - https://www.rokt.com/products/rokt-aftersellProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The $1B Vision for Red Light Therapy00:40 - Rebuilding a Failing Family Business03:07 - Pivoting from Quit-Smoking Clinics to Physical Products05:07 - Pioneering Red Light Therapy on Amazon07:01 - How to Sell $1,000+ AOV Products Online10:08 - The FDA Clearance Moat vs. Cheap Counterfeits12:52 - Category Expansion: Launching Red Light Face Masks16:15 - Spending 2 Years Engineering a Multitasking Mask19:26 - Cracking Costco: In-Store Demos & Costco Connection21:00 - Managing Omnichannel Pricing & Channel-Specific SKUs24:03 - The Dyson Playbook: Building Long-Tail Hardware26:02 - Sponsor: Fulfill ERP28:24 - Red Light Market Explosion: From Niche to Top 200 Amazon Search30:34 - Scaling Logistics & Supply Chain for 100% YoY Growth31:50 - Why 1% OpEx is Overrated: Hiring A-Players vs. AI36:53 - Product Development & CEO Priorities for a $1B Brand37:41 - 30-to-60 Day Consideration Windows & Attribution38:48 - AI Model Tier List for E-com Operators42:06 - Advice for Young Entrepreneurs: The Mentor Rule43:36 - Why DTC is NOT Dead45:05 - Exposing Fake Red Light Brands (The "Christmas Light" Scam)46:05 - The Science of Red Light: ATP, Collagen & Hair Miniaturization48:56 - Outro & Where to Find Kevin #WhatsWorkingPodcast #iRestore #KevinChen #RedLightTherapy #EcommerceGrowth #FDAclearance #HighAOV #DTCBrands #ProductLedGrowth

Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://whatsworkingpod.beehiiv.com/ Sean Frank is the CEO of Ridge, one of the fastest growing nine figure DTC brands in the world, and co-host of the 9 Operators podcast. He’s been running YouTube creator sponsorships since 2016, spending more than almost any brand in history, and his team sits at the intersection of e-commerce, advertising, and brand building. Connect with Sean: Follow Sean on X: https://x.com/SeanfrankConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainOur sponsors: Richpanel: Richpanel is an AI-native customer service helpdesk purpose-built for e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands - https://www.richpanel.com Fulfil is an agentic Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform explicitly designed for high-growth direct-to-consumer (DTC) and omnichannel eCommerce merchants - https://www.fulfil.io ROKT Aftersell is an eCommerce post-purchase upselling and cross-selling application primarily built for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants - https://www.rokt.com/products/rokt-aftersellProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro And Who Is Sean Frank00:58 - Sean's Ten Year Vision: Sell Ridge, Investment Bank, Or Family Office02:04 - Why Ridge Has Not Sold Yet And Why Timing Is Everything03:09 - When To Take Life-Changing Money vs When To Hold04:54 - Is The Meta Ads Paradigm For Physical Products Coming To An End?06:13 - Why Everyone Is Starting A Health And Wellness Brand Right Now08:52 - Where The Alpha Actually Is In Digital Advertising In 202609:38 - Snapchat, Reddit, And X: The Underinvested Ad Channels10:19 - How Crypto And Gambling Apps Destroyed The YouTube Sponsorship Market12:12 - The Real Alpha In Creator Marketing Is Short Form Affiliates Not Big Deals13:22 - TikTok Shop: The Three Boxes You Need To Check To Win14:22 - International Markets: The UK, The EU, And The No-Go Zones18:26 - Wholesale Reality Check: Only Works If You Can Get Into The Big Three19:24 - How Nine Operators Became An Eight Figure Business20:22 - AI At Ridge: Inventory, Creative, Finance And The 2 To 3x Productivity Bet21:45 - When To Use An Agency vs Hire In-House23:52 - The MKBHD Deal: Equity, Salary, And Where The Real Value Is25:23 - Why Creator Accounts Will Dominate Ad Spend Next Year27:03 - Why Meta Can Never Build A TikTok Shop Competitor27:45 - Meta, Innovator's Dilemma, And The $500 Billion Reason They Can't Pivot31:30 - Meta AI Glasses And The AR Wearable Bet32:44 - The Pros And Cons Of Running A Family Business34:06 - Operators Build: Launching A Sleep Brand In Public36:39 - The GLP-1 Wave And Where $20 Billion Is Moving Next38:00 - Why Agencies Never Reach Billion Dollar Scale #EcommerceMarketing #TikTokShop #DTC #BusinessStrategy #WhatsWorkingPod

Bryan Bumgardner is the head of media buying at North Beam, the first party data attribution tool used by some of the fastest growing e-commerce brands in the world. His team sits with over 1,000 ad accounts and he is one of the few people actually backing his opinions with real data. In this episode we go through every major ad platform, rank them S tier to D tier, and break down what is actually working for DTC brands in 2026. We also get into why Meta feels broken but is still mandatory, why ChatGPT ads are too on the nose, and why Bryan thinks performance marketers need to go back and read David Ogilvy. Whether you’re a brand owner, media buyer, or agency running paid ads this year, this episode covers everything from TikTok Shop strategy and connected TV to App Lovin, partnership ads, and why account structure basically does not matter anymore. Key Takeaways: Meta is Still Mandatory: It is the only platform that moves someone from awareness to purchase inside one app. Nobody else is within five years of replicating that. You have to be there. Their Earnings Mean Nothing for You: Spend is up 20% year over year but customer acquisition costs are up 10%. Meta making more money and your ads performing better are two completely different things. Performance Marketing Made us Worse at Marketing: We forgot how to tell stories. The brands that win the next decade will be the ones who go back to the basics. Go read David Ogilvy.Connect with Bryan: Follow Bryan on X: https://x.com/BryanBumgardnerConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Bryan Bumgardner And What North Beam Actually Does00:56 - Is Meta Broken In 2026?04:00 - The Ad Load Problem And Meta's Real Objective05:01 - Does Account Structure Still Matter?06:04 - Why Creatives Are Now The Only Lever That Matters07:23 - Spend Is Up But Performance Is Down — What The Data Shows08:33 - Meta's Goal Is Stock Price Not Your Ad Performance09:02 - Consumer Sentiment On AI Generated Content11:42 - Why Brands Cannot Quit Meta Despite Worse Results13:59 - TikTok Users Will Not Click And Why That Matters15:10 - How TikTok Shop Unlocked Ad Spend For The Platform18:05 - ChatGPT Ads: The $60 CPC Experiment Nobody Liked23:43 - CTV And Why Everything Eventually Becomes Cable TV28:05 - How Vibe Is Opening CTV To Small And Local Businesses31:43 - Performance Marketing Has Made Us Worse At Marketing32:15 - Ad Platform Tier List: Meta, CTV, Snap, TikTok, App Lovin, YouTube, OOH36:17 - Why You Need To Build Brand From Day One38:43 - Partnership Ads: Borrowing Trust At Scale40:37 - Does Clipping Actually Drive Incremental Results?42:15 - How To Become A Better Storyteller43:49 - Where To Find Bryan And The North Beam Newsletter #PerformanceMarketing #MetaAds #TikTokShop #EcommerceMarketing #WhatsWorkingPod

Calvin Klaski and the founders of NOBS waited until they were generating $1 million a month in revenue before quitting their corporate day jobs. Now, they run a massive oral care empire with just a 3% operating expense, managing the entire business from an iMessage group chat. In this episode of What's Working, Calvin pulls back the curtain on how NOBS disrupted the legacy toothpaste industry without taking a single dollar of VC funding. He explains their backdoor strategy to get into 960 Target stores, landing in the beauty minis section and quickly becoming the number one seller in dollars per store. Calvin also breaks down their brilliant TikTok Shop strategy, paying 20 to 40 creators and running aggressive retargeting ads to artificially engineer a viral trend before organic affiliates jumped on board. Plus, he shares why Nano Hydroxyapatite (nHA) is replacing fluoride, why you should never buy programmatic podcast ads, and how they funded their Mexican manufacturer's machinery to scale production. Key Takeaways: The iMessage OpEx Hack: NOBS operates with a staggering 3% OpEx by running the entire company through a three-person founder group chat, eliminating corporate meetings and communication bottlenecks. Engineering TikTok Shop Virality: After failing at short-form video for six months, Calvin manufactured a trend by commissioning 20 to 40 creators simultaneously and hammering retargeting ads to make affiliates think the brand was already exploding. The Target Backdoor Play: When brokers failed to secure a meeting, the NOBS team passed a message to a Target executive offering free product, eventually landing them discovery-focused space in the beauty minis section of nearly 1,000 stores.Connect with Calvin: Follow Calvin on X: https://x.com/CalvinandNOBS Check out NOBS Routines: https://x.com/nobsroutinesConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The 1,000 Store Target Launch02:25 - Driving Digital Traffic to Physical Retail04:06 - Why NOBS Uses nHA and Xylitol Instead of Fluoride06:59 - Hacking the TikTok Shop Algorithm with 40 Creators10:14 - Staying Anonymous Until Hitting $1M/Month12:47 - Calvin's Background: From Bow-Fishing to Corporate Retail16:17 - Why NOBS Rejected VC Money & Investors18:03 - Running a 3% OpEx Business from an iMessage Chat21:40 - When You Should (and Shouldn't) Hire a Marketing Agency22:30 - Training AI to Write Product Descriptions24:01 - Retail Expansion & The Danger of Over-Storing26:12 - Building the "Down to Health" Podcast28:42 - The Power of Focus: Don't Quit After 60 Days31:14 - Why Programmatic Podcast Ads Are a Waste of Money35:00 - Moving Manufacturing to Mexico & Iterating on the Fly37:59 - Outro & Where to Find Calvin

Cody Plofker took Jones Road Beauty to $160 million in revenue without a VP of Finance or a VP of Marketing. Now, he’s stepping down as CEO to stop the burnout and build the future of lean, AI-powered e-commerce. In this episode of What's Working, Cody breaks down the reality of running a 9-figure family business, why he stepped down to focus on high-level strategy, and his unapologetic take on why "AI UGC" is a complete oxymoron. He also pulls back the curtain on his exact AI tech stack (including Claude, Codex, and multiplayer AI tools like HQ) and explains how he is building a brand new sleep supplement company in public with near-zero operating expenses. If you want to know what the next era of DTC looks like, this is the episode. Key Takeaways: The Reality of Scaling Too Fast: Cody sped-ran Jones Road Beauty to nine figures but suffered from burnout due to a lack of proper organizational structure and executive support. Cody is extremely bearish on AI-generated creative, noting that true UGC relies on authenticity, while AI should be reserved for data analysis, web design, and administrative workflows. The DTC Twitter Bubble: Performance marketing isn't everything. Cody argues that real-world, larger brands invest heavily in brand health and tracking upper-funnel metrics, contrary to the hyper-performance bias of "DTC Twitter". The 1-Person Brand Era: As part of the new "Operators Build" podcast, Cody is helping launch a sleep supplement brand in public, aiming to use AI to replace entire agency functions for just a few hundred dollars a month in token costs. Retail Leverage: Jones Road Beauty opted to build its own brick-and-mortar stores rather than rely on Sephora, allowing them to control their own product trends and avoid being dictated by massive retailers.Connect with Cody: Follow Cody on X: https://x.com/codyplof Listen to the Marketing Operators: https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & Why Cody Stepped Down as CEO of Jones Road Beauty02:35 - Running a Brand Without Industry "Passion"04:16 - Transitioning to AI Consulting & CRO Bounties06:06 - Why "AI UGC" is a Complete Oxymoron08:11 - Cody's AI Stack: Claude, Codex, Hermes, and HQ10:19 - How to Actually Implement AI in Creative Teams13:23 - The State of the Beauty Industry & K-Beauty Trends17:23 - Retail Strategy: Why Jones Road Avoids Sephora20:21 - The "DTC Twitter" Bubble & Investing in Brand Health25:30 - The Death of Non-Subscription DTC Brands29:23 - Announcing "Operators Build" & The Sleep Supplement Brand34:11 - Building a Brand Skeleton on a $200/Month Token Budget39:37 - The Power of Building in Public & Networking41:42 - Outro & Where to Find Cody

In Episode 14 of the What's Working Pod, we sit down with Prudence Millsap, co-founder of Beauty by Earth, to unpack the exact strategies she used to build one of the most successful bootstrapped beauty brands on the internet. Prudence pulls back the curtain on how taking TikTok Shop in-house catapulted them to $700k/month, and how that external traffic miraculously slashed their Amazon ad spend by 34% while increasing top-line revenue. We dive deep into the gritty reality of bootstrapping with just $20,000, why she insists on US manufacturing, and how she maintains a shockingly low 4-7% OpEx using an in-house Texas warehouse and Latin American offshore talent. Beyond the business, Prudence shares her refreshing philosophy on personal branding, how she balances entrepreneurship with family life, and why she recently sold off a brick-and-mortar business to stay hyper-focused on DTC. Key Takeaways: The TikTok Shop "All-In" Strategy: After burning $20k/month on agency retainers with zero growth, Prudence brought TikTok in-house and cracked the algorithm by aggressively seeding 30-40 product units a day. The Amazon Halo Effect is Real: Generating external demand on TikTok allowed Beauty by Earth to lower their Amazon ad spend by 34.2% year-over-year while actually growing their top-line revenue by 33.3%. Ruthless Financial Discipline: Prudence built the brand off an initial $20,000 investment. She took zero distributions in year one, lived exclusively off her husband's income, and ran the business purely on credit cards for the first 6-7 years. US Manufacturing: Manufacturing 100% of their formulas in the US is more expensive upfront, but it is exactly what their consumer wants and protects them from high finished-goods tariffs. Hyper-Lean Operations: Beauty by Earth operates on a 4-7% OpEx. They achieve this by running their own warehouse in Texas and heavily leveraging offshore talent in Latin America for their growth team.Connect with Prudence: Follow Prudence on X: https://x.com/MillPrueConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The TikTok Shop Strategy Hook 00:39 - Cracking TikTok Shop & Seeding Strategy 01:45 - The Amazon Halo Effect 02:35 - Why Expensive TikTok Agencies Failed 06:45 - Dialing in Amazon PPC & Slashing Ad Spend 09:36 - Bootstrapping from $20k 11:41 - Standing Out in the Beauty Market & K-Beauty 17:49 - Navigating Business with a Co-Founder 19:14 - Why They Avoid Retail (Sephora, Ulta) 21:51 - The Anti-Personal Brand Philosophy 26:37 - Quitting the 9-to-5 & Building While Parenting 29:04 - Using AI (Claude) for Market Research 30:53 - US Manufacturing vs. China 33:13 - Running a 4-7% OpEx with Offshore Talent 34:57 - The ROI of Hiring a Fractional CFO 37:58 - Killing Distractions: Selling a Brick & Mortar Business #tiktokshop #AmazonSeller #Ecommerce #BeautyBrand #WhatsWorkingPod

Nik Sharma sold his agency Sharma Brands for a reason most people miss, and now he's building entire DTC brands using only AI, from ads to assets. In this episode of What's Working Podcast, Nik breaks down the exact move that led him to sell Sharma Brands through a reverse RFP process, why he wanted a blank slate going into January, and how he went from running one of the most recognized DTC agencies to becoming Chief Growth Officer at Lunar Solar while quietly launching an AI first brand holdco on the side. He walks through launching a health and wellness brand using nothing but AI, covering static ads, UGC, copywriting, and design briefs, including what happened when they finally commissioned a real photo shoot. Nik introduces the concept of the creative supply chain, the idea that brands don't fail because of bad products or poor media buying, but because they run out of creative to feed the machine. He explains every format of creative a brand needs, how to build an endless supply behind it, and what most agencies get wrong. The conversation also covers whether services still have a real moat in an AI world, why taste is the only durable advantage left, how he's validating new brands for under $150K before scaling, and what he learned from watching brand incubators raise millions and still fail. Nik also shares his personal brand strategy, why he's most bullish on Twitter and YouTube, and what he'd do differently building a personal brand from scratch today. If you're running an agency, building a DTC brand, or figuring out where AI fits in your business in 2025, this episode is essential. Nik Sharma is a DTC operator and former founder of Sharma Brands, now Chief Growth Officer at Lunar Solar. Key Takeaways: AI is a tool, not a replacement for "taste": While AI is democratizing software and automating lower-level tasks, human taste and strategic direction are becoming the ultimate moats for both brands and agencies. The "Creative Supply Chain" is the biggest growth bottleneck: Brands trying to scale from $50M to $100M usually don't fail because of a bad product or bad media buying—they fail because they haven't built a system to constantly generate a diverse, never-ending supply of ad creatives.Connect with Nik: Follow Nik on X: https://x.com/mrsharmaConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro00:34 - Who Is Nik Sharma?01:31 - Why He Sold His Agency04:17 - His AI Wake-Up Call05:13 - Do Services Still Have a Moat?07:42 - Launching a Brand With Just AI08:39 - What Categories He's Building In12:10 - The 70% Ads Budget Future13:06 - AI Video Ads That Actually Work15:12 - The Creative Supply Chain Explained18:01 - Will AI Kill Jobs?21:29 - How to Build a Personal Brand Today23:47 - Twitter vs YouTube vs LinkedIn27:31 - The Holdco Model32:35 - Where to Follow Nik #NikSharma #Ecommerce #WhatsWorkingPodcast

Roman Khan has spent the last decade building, scaling, and acquiring e-commerce brands, taking his portfolio to nine figures in revenue. From nearly going bankrupt to achieving a 3% OpEx and netting eight figures in EBITDA, Roman has mastered the mechanics of highly profitable DTC businesses. Now, he’s shifting his focus from private equity to the highly inefficient public markets. In Episode 12 of What's Working, Roman breaks down his tactical playbooks for scaling massive e-commerce brands. He explains how to spot a winning product category using Google Trends, why the "Bryan Johnson" strategy is crucial for brand awareness, and how to use his PC1, PC2, and PC3 framework to maximize cash distributions. Plus, discover why he believes TikTok fundamentally changed the influencer game and why he thinks Hong Kong is the ultimate home base for any serious e-commerce entrepreneur. Key Takeaways: Spotting the Mega-Trend: A successful brand requires the right category at the right time. Roman explains how to use search volume data and find the "whale" in a market to guarantee your product has massive tailwinds. Public vs. Private M&A: Roman is shifting his focus to public micro-cap companies, explaining that public markets are often mispriced. You can sometimes buy companies for less than their cash on hand or cut excess bloat to massively multiply your returns. The TikTok Shift: TikTok completely removed the "S-curve" of follower dependency, bringing a true merit-based culture to influencer marketing and top-of-funnel brand awareness. The Profit Contribution (PC) Framework: Roman breaks down how he achieves eight figures in EBITDA by meticulously tracking three levels of profit contribution (PC1, PC2, PC3) and driving revenue per employee to over $3 million. Cash Flow & Float: Why negotiating net-90 payment terms and shrinking production lead times is the ultimate secret to taking actual cash distributions off the table every single month.Connect with Roman: Follow Roman on X: https://x.com/RomanEcomConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & Roman's 9-Figure E-com Journey 03:32 - First Principles: What Makes a Good E-commerce Brand? 08:12 - The "Whale" Strategy & Scaling Raycon 09:51 - Tracking Google Keyword Trends for Product Validation 15:26 - Why Public E-com Markets Are Undervalued Right Now 24:26 - TikTok Shop vs. Meta Ads: Margins & Conversions 27:48 - Hitting a 3% OpEx & $3M Revenue per Employee 31:30 - Slashing Logistics & Packaging Costs by 20% 35:00 - The PC1, PC2, PC3 Profit Framework Explained 37:46 - Maximizing Cash Flow & Managing Payment Terms 44:25 - Why Hong Kong is Still the Best Base for E-commerce 46:13 - Outro & Where to Find Roman #BusinessStrategy #EcommerceTips #WealthBuilding

Chris Meade took the ultimate leap of faith, pulling his $7,000 life savings from a 401k to build Crossnet. By age 27, he had grown the invented sport into a massive $10 million business netting $2 million in EBITDA. Today, he has moved away from the brutal grind of physical products to focus on high-cash-flow brick-and-mortar Pilates studios and the ultra-exclusive Founders Club. In Episode 11 of What's Working, Chris breaks down his incredibly diverse entrepreneurial journey. He reveals the harsh realities of seasonal, heavy-product e-commerce businesses, how he made $60k a month writing a newsletter, and why he eventually walked away from lucrative sponsorships to protect the integrity of his community. Plus, discover how he's scaling his Pilates studios to a 4-month payback period with zero paid marketing, and exactly how Founders Club uses Claude AI to run customer service and match members. Key Takeaways: Brick & Mortar vs. E-com: Physical businesses with great margin profiles generate real cash every single day without the inventory tax traps of DTC. Chris's Pilates studios are seeing a 4-month payback period with $0 in paid marketing, smashing the industry standard of 18 months. The Problem with Sponsors: Chris built a newsletter that generated up to $60,000 a month in sponsorships. However, he realized that relying on sponsor money compromises your integrity when making recommendations and eventually "sucks the soul out of everything". AI for Unified Brand Voice: To keep customer interactions consistent across 40 employees, Chris exported five years of newsletters and customer service data into Claude to create a master "brand voice". AI-Curated Community Matching: Founders Club uses proprietary AI tools to analyze 200 minutes of entry interviews alongside Slack data, perfectly matching founders based on shared experiences and interests.Connect with Chris: Follow Chris on X: https://x.com/thechrismeadeConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The Crossnet Origin Story01:31 - The Brutal Reality of Seasonal E-com Businesses04:48 - Writing a Newsletter & Making $60k/Month from Sponsors06:38 - Hosting Dinners for 4,000 Founders Around the World08:03 - Why Sponsorships Destroy Community Integrity09:15 - Pivoting to Brick & Mortar: The Pilates Studio Empire12:29 - Achieving a 4-Month Payback Period with $0 Paid Ads15:48 - The Launch & Explosive Growth of Founders Club21:48 - Rejecting E-com Grifters & Fake "Gurus"23:31 - Taking the Leap: Funding a Startup with a $7k 401k27:46 - AI-Powered "Curated Connections" for Founders30:05 - Using Claude to Build a Unified Brand Voice for 40 Employees32:50 - Why the Average Age of Founders Club is 4034:59 - Outro & Where to Find Chris

Jason Levin went from ghostwriting for tech founders to going undercover in the meme world, ultimately raising a $3 million seed round from industry giants like Balaji Srinivasan to build Meme Lord an AI-powered SaaS platform combining Google Trends and Canva for marketers. In Episode 10 of What's Working, Jason breaks down why "Memes Make Millions" isn't just a catchy book title, but a billion-dollar reality. He pulls back the curtain on "memetic warfare," explaining how everyone from massive crypto exchanges to the Ukrainian government relies on memes to control the narrative. Jason also rips into the current state of "AI slop," explains why e-commerce founders need to stop hosting lazy networking dinners, and reveals why LinkedIn is currently the greatest humor arbitrage opportunity on the internet. Key Takeaways: The LinkedIn Humor Arbitrage: LinkedIn is starved for entertainment because users are terrified of getting fired. Posting unhinged, humorous content on a hyper-professional platform creates a massive opportunity to stand out and go viral. Stop Hosting Lazy Networking Dinners: Founder dinners are overplayed and lazy, especially for bootstrapped DTC brands trying to copy cash-rich SaaS companies. To actually generate ROI, create bizarre, non-eating experiences or public stunts (like renting a movie theater to watch Instagram Reels). The "AI Founder" Fallacy: While automated, faceless AI marketing sounds genius to introverted software engineers, it entirely misses the human element required to build trust, ultimately resulting in massive customer churn. Memes Are the Oldest Marketing Form: Humor isn't a new internet trend; it's the oldest form of marketing. Memes (image + text) are simply the most information-dense, modern evolution of classic advertising.Connect with Jason & Meme Lord: Follow Jason on X: https://x.com/iamjasonlevin Check out the software: https://memelord.com/Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The Power of Memes00:55 - What is Meme Lord?02:43 - "Memetic Warfare" & Government Memes04:00 - Raising $3M from Balaji & Sam Lessin04:26 - Why Boring Enterprise Companies Need Humor07:44 - Will Social Platforms Ban Memes?09:37 - The Problem with Introverted "AI Founders"11:27 - Renting a Movie Theater for Instagram Reels13:14 - Why E-com Founders Need to Stop Hosting Dinners18:34 - Should Luxury Brands Use Memes?20:41 - The LinkedIn Humor Arbitrage21:56 - Why Reddit is the Worst Platform on the Internet23:54 - Becoming Un-Cancelable25:03 - The NY Governor Race Hit Pieces26:34 - How Record Labels Use Memes to Break Indie Music27:22 - Outro & Where to Find Jason #WhatsWorkingPodcast #JasonLevin #MemeLord #MemeMarketing #B2BMarketing #EcommerceGrowth #AI

Maxwell Maher went from owning a failing moving company to building "Clean Girl" a media juggernaut that racked up 18 billion views and 27 million followers in under two years. Now, his products are sitting on the shelves of 5,000 stores across the country, including Target and Walmart. In this episode of What's Working, Maxwell breaks down his insane entrepreneurial journey: from knocking on doors at age 13 for landscaping gigs to scaling a massive blue-collar moving company. He reveals why he eventually pivoted to content creation, how he engineered viral success for the Clean Girl brand, and the exact AI-powered feedback loop his team uses to optimize every single upload. Plus, Maxwell drops contrarian advice on why you should strictly use an iPhone to shoot videos and why high-production value might actually be hurting your brand's reach. Key Takeaways: The "Cost Per Million Watch Hours" Metric: Views are a vanity metric. To build a sustainable media empire, you must optimize for watch time efficiency and track exactly what it costs your business to acquire a million hours of human attention. Expensive Cameras Hurt Virality: Data analysis across billions of views shows that craft elements (perfect lighting, 4K cameras, color grading) account for less than 1% of a video's success. An iPhone workflow feels more native to the feed and significantly reduces production bottlenecks. Don't Enter "Broke" Industries: Maxwell built a moving company netting $170k/year in pure profit but struggled to exit because his competitors couldn't afford to buy him out. Ensure your industry has well-capitalized strategic buyers before diving in.Connect with Maxwell & Clean Girl: Follow Maxwell on X: https://x.com/Maxwell_Maher Check out the Clean Girl YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@_The_Clean_GirlConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgainProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The 18 Billion View Empire01:59 - The Secret to 20 Million YouTube Subscribers04:31 - Quality vs. Quantity in Content Creation06:02 - Building an AI Feedback Loop for Viral Videos08:05 - The Ultimate Metric: Cost Per Million Watch Hours10:40 - Why YouTube Shorts Don't Convert (And What Does)12:00 - The Red Bull Strategy for Target & Walmart Retail18:23 - From $15/hr Landscaping to Scaling a Moving Company23:09 - The Danger of Building Businesses in "Broke" Industries27:23 - The Future of Crypto & Meme Coins31:06 - How to Start a Viral Brand from Scratch Today34:32 - Will AI Content Replace Real Creators?37:25 - Why iPhone Workflows Destroy Expensive Cameras42:53 - Outro & Where to Find Maxwell #WhatsWorkingPodcast #MaxwellMaher #CleanGirl #YouTubeShorts #ViralContent #EcommerceGrowth #RetailStrategy #CreatorEconomy

Colin McGuire acquired a dormant Australian hair care brand and scaled it to $7 million in just 18 months. His DTC growth was so explosive that Target's lead retail buyer actually filled out a customer service form on his website begging to stock the product. In this episode of What's Working, Colin breaks down his incredible e-commerce journey, starting from running Facebook's earliest "Dark Post" ads in 2010 to building an agency that acquired a brand portfolio doing $84 million in top-line revenue. He reveals the exact playbook he used to revive Glimmr, how to successfully finance a mass retail launch, and the shocking data behind the "Retail Halo" effect. Key Takeaways: The Retail Halo Effect: A 37-week tracking study proved that $0.32 of every single dollar spent on Meta ads flowed directly through to Target in-store sales. Mass Retail Cash Flow: Launching into mass retail requires serious financial engineering; Colin utilized a $350,000 line of credit from HighBeam and leveraged JP Morgan's Target program to secure 72-hour payment terms. Go DTC First to Win Retail: Retailers like Target aren't trying to compete with Walmart on value, they want digitally native brands that already have engineered cultural relevance on TikTok and Instagram. Track Your Numbers Manually: Instead of over-automating dashboards early on, manually updating blended retail metrics in a spreadsheet forces you to "feel" your numbers, allowing for highly confident ad scaling decisions. The 3-Pronged Social Affiliate Playbook: Glimmr engineered virality by coordinating massive volumes of micro-affiliates, B-tier creators, and A-list influencers to post in waves, forcing the algorithm to recognize their relevance.Connect with Colin & Glimmr: Follow Colin on X: https://x.com/colinvmcguireConnect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmedProduction & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The Glimmr Target Story00:54 - Accidentally Becoming an Early Facebook Advertiser in 201004:00 - From Agency Owner to Acquiring an $84M Brand Portfolio05:52 - Acquiring a Dormant Australian Brand (Glimmr)08:18 - Scaling to $7 Million in 18 Months via Meta & TikTok Shop09:09 - The 3-Pronged Social Affiliate Strategy13:30 - How Target's Lead Buyer Begged to Stock Glimmr18:43 - Financing Mass Retail (HighBeam & JP Morgan)20:04 - The "Retail Halo" Study: $0.32 of Every Meta Dollar Goes to Target23:44 - Why You Should Track Retail Metrics Manually24:49 - Expanding Full-Chain & Raising a Seed Round28:27 - Outro & Where to Find Colin #WhatsWorkingPodcast #ColinMcGuire #EcommerceGrowth #RetailStrategy #MetaAds #TikTokShop #DTCBrands

Connor MacDonald helped scale Ridge from a couple million in revenue to over $200 million a year. How? By ditching the traditional agency model, going in-house, and ruthlessly optimizing everything from growth-hacking subreddits to coining brand-new e-commerce metrics. In Episode 7 of What's Working, Connor (CMO of Ridge and host of the Marketing Operators podcast) breaks down his wild origin story of buying Ethereum at $12 just to pay for Reddit upvotes. He reveals Ridge's exact strategy for unlocking TikTok Shop, explaining why you don't need thousands of winning creators to drive massive GMV. Connor also steps onto a soapbox to deliver a reality check on AI: stop building messy Zapier automations and start fixing your core data infrastructure. Finally, he coins a brilliant new e-commerce metric the "Attention Value of Inventory." Key Takeaways: The Attention Value of Inventory (AVI): Drops and flashy new products generate disproportionate top-of-funnel clicks. Even if customers ultimately buy your standard core products, you need that flashy inventory to run ads against. Don't soft-launch and quietly sell out of your most attention-grabbing SKUs. The TikTok Shop Creator Math: You don't need thousands of winning affiliates. Connor reveals that for some of the biggest brands on the platform, just 12 creators are driving up to 60% of their total TikTok Shop GMV. Repurposing TikTok for Meta: Ridge’s main goal for TikTok Shop isn't just native platform revenue it's building a massive creator army to generate high-performing UGC, securing the usage rights, and scaling those winning videos on Meta and YouTube Shorts. Fix Your Data Before Adding AI: The real AI unlock comes from having pristine naming conventions and clean data infrastructure (like local transcripts and MCPs) that LLMs like Claude can easily query, not from chaining together fragile automation tools.Connect with Connor & Ridge: Follow Connor on X: https://x.com/couuor Listen to the Marketing Operators Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Ridge: https://ridge.com/Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/Chapters:00:00 - Intro & The Ridge Growth Story01:24 - Buying Ethereum at $12 for Reddit Growth Hacks03:52 - Why Connor & Sean Frank Left the Agency World for Ridge05:59 - The Value of Hiring Marketers with Agency Experience09:00 - Ridge's Big Bet on TikTok Shop & Creator Activation11:31 - Structuring an Affiliate Program (Retainers vs. Commission)14:40 - Getting Usage Rights to Scale TikTok Ads on Meta18:38 - Will Instagram Shops Finally Beat TikTok?27:32 - The Insane Creator Math: 12 Creators, 60% of GMV33:53 - Connor's Soapbox: Why Clean Data Beats Shiny AI Tools37:29 - The AI Tech Stack: Local LLMs, MCPs & Querying Transcripts44:03 - How Ridge Achieved Its Biggest Q1 Ever47:33 - Coining a New E-com Metric: "Attention Value of Inventory"50:48 - Outro & Where to Find Connor #WhatsWorkingPodcast #ConnorMacDonald #RidgeWallet #EcommerceGrowth #TikTokShop #MarketingStrategy #ArtificialIntelligence #DTC