Advertise on podcast: Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast

A crowded category can still leave room for a brand with a clear promise. For Truvani, that promise started with ingredient transparency and became the foundation for a business spanning DTC, Amazon and major retail shelves. On this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, Devin and Melanie Duncan trace Truvani's journey from an early turmeric presale that exceeded its goal by more than tenfold to a protein business with a footprint in 12,000 retail stores. They explain why their clean-ingredient standards made manufacturing harder, how protein became their hero product and what finally unlocked demand in a competitive market. They also unpack the channel decisions behind Truvani's next stage of growth: rebuilding a Meta advertising engine, seeing online awareness lift retail sales and choosing to pause TikTok Shop while the team focused on what was working.

Jeff Durham is the Founder & CEO of Durham Brands, the family company behind Gimme Beauty. In this episode of Verified, Jeff joins David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom to break down how Gimme Beauty differentiated a familiar category, built credibility through creators and expanded to 36,000 stores nationwide. Jeff explains the "science of hair type," Gimme Beauty's approach to creating products specifically for fine, medium and thick hair. He shares why the company spent years engineering its thick-hair tie, how visual product proof made creator marketing a natural fit and why the brand has worked with thousands of creators across macro, micro and nano levels. The conversation then moves from social discovery to retail execution. Jeff explains why ecommerce-only brands should think seriously about diversification, what founders need to understand before entering major retail and why packaging, buyer relationships, pricing and channel strategy can determine whether a product stays on the shelf.

Agentic commerce has moved through a full hype cycle in less than a year. The opportunity is real, but the numbers, adoption and consumer behavior tell a more complicated story than the headlines suggest. On this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom revisit agentic commerce with a sharper operating thesis: discover in AI, buy on site. They break down why massive growth percentages can be misleading without a meaningful base, where AI is actually influencing commerce today and why retailer agents like Amazon Rufus and Walmart Sparky may matter more to many brands than standalone AI assistants. The conversation moves from hype to execution, including machine-readable product data, GEO, reviews, schema, AI-referred traffic, retail-agent visibility and the weekly testing operators can start without a major technology investment.

Susan Petersen built Freshly Picked from the ground up, starting with Etsy, leather she bought with money from scrapped aluminum window frames and a belief that the right product could become a real company. On this episode of Verified, Susan joins David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom to unpack what she learned building Freshly Picked into a lasting brand and what she is doing differently as she builds again. The conversation moves from her early bet on Instagram and preparing for the exposure of Shark Tank to Edith's Mary, her newest venture in needlepoint, where she is testing demand, rethinking a traditional category and finding unexpected traction through a low-cost vending machine concept. Susan also gets candid about the parts of entrepreneurship that do not get easier: forecasting, knowing when growth changes the business, learning from failure and getting back to work when something goes wrong.

On this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, Nik Sharma, Host of Limited Supply and Founder of Sharma Brands, joins David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom to break down what is actually working for brands right now. His answer starts with the fundamentals: build a product that works, create awareness and make sure customers have a place to buy it. Nik explores how creator networks are turning brands into content companies, why micro personas can make marketing more relevant and how AI is accelerating everything from creative production to landing-page testing. He also shares where celebrity partnerships still create leverage, why early-stage brands need to crack either organic or paid acquisition and what agentic shopping could mean as AI assistants move into the mainstream.

Jay Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of Sprinter, joins David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom to unpack how the brand is scaling from TikTok into nationwide retail. Jay shares why TikTok Shop has become both an awareness engine and a sales channel, why brands need to create entertaining content instead of treating social like a digital shelf and why distribution becomes critical when customers already have established shopping habits. The conversation also gets into the role Kylie Jenner plays in awareness, how micro and mid-tier creators drive conversion, what Jay has learned from moving into Target and why disciplined testing still matters even when a brand has major reach behind it.

David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom sit down with Shahab Elmi, Co-Founder & CEO of Cymbiotika, to discuss how the wellness brand scaled while protecting the product standards that shaped the company from the beginning. Shahab has spent decades building companies across retail, technology and consumer products. At Cymbiotika, that experience has shaped a disciplined approach to growth: protect the product, surround yourself with people you trust and keep moving through the periods when the business gets hit hardest. The conversation traces Cymbiotika's path from a bootstrapped DTC business launched around COVID to a major omnichannel brand expanding across Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Walmart, Sam's Club and TikTok Shop. Shahab shares how limited capital forced financial discipline, why the company refused to water down formulas as it scaled and how new funding will support inventory and brand storytelling at a much larger scale.

The Competitive Intelligence Report from Social Commerce News gives brands a practical framework for understanding what their marketing actually caused and where the next dollar should go. In this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom break down the difference between attribution and incrementality and explain why platform-reported ROAS can create an incomplete picture of performance. They walk through how demand moves across TikTok, Instagram, Amazon, DTC and other channels and how operators can account for halo effects and cannibalization along the way. The conversation also covers geo tests, holdouts, a 90-day measurement roadmap, AI agents for continuous testing and the data foundation brands need before pursuing CAC financing. The report is designed as a working operator resource: build the baseline, run the tests, calibrate the results and use the findings to make better allocation decisions. Chapters 0:00 The Competitive Intelligence Report from Social Commerce News 1:48 Attribution vs. incrementality 4:05 Where did the sale actually come from? 6:36 Why platform dashboards can mislead operators 7:54 How Meta and TikTok take credit for conversions 9:50 Measuring demand across multiple channels 11:16 Choosing where to spend the next dollar 14:46 The false confidence of closed-loop social commerce 15:36 Measuring halo effects and cannibalization 16:20 Demand creation vs. demand capture 18:08 How to design an incrementality test 21:07 Why one test is only one data point 22:09 The 90-day measurement roadmap 24:08 Common incrementality testing mistakes 27:51 How much should brands spend on testing? 28:51 Short-term ROAS vs. long-term brand building 31:01 Finding repeatable signals in the noise 33:55 Using AI agents for continuous testing 36:55 Why measurement matters for CAC financing 41:09 Growth requires constant experimentation 43:48 Why your business can never be treated as static 46:26 Awareness, engagement and conversion across channels 48:49 How to use the Competitive Intelligence Report from Social Commerce News Download the Competitive Intelligence Report from Social Commerce News and find every episode at SocialCommerceNews.com/verified

Ben Witte is the Founder & Co-CEO of Recess, the brand that pioneered the relaxation beverage category and has since expanded into Mood, Mocktails, and Supplements. In this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, Ben joins Peter Griscom and David Vanderveen to explain why he believed consumers needed an alternative to both energy drinks and alcohol—and how that conviction became an entirely new category. He discusses why Recess focused on marketing a feeling instead of an ingredient, how launching direct-to-consumer validated the category before retail, the lessons learned from the CBD regulatory collapse and COVID, why Recess evolved into a platform brand, and what founders should know about creating a category instead of simply competing for market share. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:21 From Silicon Valley to founding Recess 3:17 The insight that created the relaxation category 5:17 Why being an industry outsider became an advantage 7:04 Marketing a feeling, not an ingredient 10:16 What Ben got right—and wrong—about the original thesis 12:10 Creating a category versus capturing market share 16:36 Why Recess became a platform brand 20:37 Building for the long term with investors 24:10 Turning the CBD crisis into an opportunity 28:25 Growing through organic content and community 33:15 Lessons from fundraising and navigating difficult markets 41:23 Bringing in an operating partner to scale 45:32 Why Mocktails became the next category 50:19 Advice for founders building brands today 53:08 Where to find Recess Subscribe and find every episode at SocialCommerceNews.com/verified

Puneet Nanda is the founder and CEO of GuruNanda, one of the top-selling brands on TikTok Shop. A serial entrepreneur who first built success inventing the Firefly toothbrush, he reinvented himself in his late forties as one of TikTok's most prolific founder-creators. In this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, Puneet joins Peter Griscom and David Vanderveen to tell the story of the accidental viral moment that started it all, why he became his own creator instead of relying on influencers, and what it actually takes to win on TikTok Shop. He gets into how much of the growth comes from content versus owning the supply chain, why he created a category and sat on it for nine years, the difference between the TikTok customer and the Instagram customer, his advice for founders who haven't gone viral, and what he is betting on next. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:30 From India to Dr. Fresh to GuruNanda 2:00 Inventing the Firefly toothbrush and reinventing categories 5:04 Becoming a "Hollywood production company" 5:26 The accidental viral moment that changed everything 10:31 Content, supply chain, and "if I don't touch the soil, I don't buy the oil" 13:00 Creating a category and sitting on it for nine years 14:02 Becoming his own creator: "a hundred influencers myself" 15:09 The TikTok customer vs. the Instagram customer 17:43 Advice for founders who haven't gone viral 20:21 The TikTok Shop hacks he thinks are nonsense 22:41 What breaks if TikTok Shop vanishes tomorrow 23:36 What he is betting on next, and using AI to build products 26:18 Where to find Puneet Subscribe and find every episode at SocialCommerceNews.com/verified

Dr. Kellyann Petrucci is the naturopathic doctor and New York Times bestselling author who turned the bone broth diet into a nine-figure wellness brand. In this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, she joins Peter Griscom and David Vanderveen to discuss the idea at the center of everything she has built: compounded trust. Dr. Kellyann was doing content commerce before it had a name, building an audience through books, PBS specials, and television, then converting it into a durable, lasting business. She breaks down how to build and scale a personality-led brand, the channel mix behind the business today, what QVC taught her that now translates to TikTok live, how she sells while staying compliant, and what she would do differently if she were starting over today. In this episode: 0:20 When media became the engine, not the marketing 1:19 The personal story behind the brand 3:47 From personal problem to an audience of millions 5:02 Building a personality brand on compounded trust 6:34 Going omnichannel and how it changed marketing spend 8:02 What QVC taught her that translates to TikTok live 12:06 Selling effectively while staying compliant 15:03 What she would do differently starting over 16:36 Pioneering a category and the cost of being first 19:12 Where she would invest if revenue dropped 21:05 Why she seeds every launch with a book 23:43 Advice for founders building a media-first brand 25:14 Where to find Dr. Kellyann Subscribe and find every episode at SocialCommerceNews.com/verified

In July 2026, Prenetics' IM8 secured $1 billion in growth financing from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund — with no equity, no dilution, and no shares issued. In this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, recorded live at the Social Commerce Summit in New York, Danny Yeung tells the story behind that financing and the cohort economics that made it possible. Danny Yeung is the founder and CEO of Prenetics and the co-founder of IM8 with David Beckham. In this episode of Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast, recorded live at the Social Commerce Summit in New York, he breaks down how IM8 is building a consumer brand on trust, subscriptions, and recurring revenue while most of the category chases the next platform or creator trend. Peter Griscom and David Vanderveen get into the $1 billion non-dilutive financing commitment from General Catalyst, the retention numbers behind it, why David Beckham joined as a co-founder rather than an endorser, and how Danny runs a $200 million brand with roughly 60 people. In this episode: 0:00 Introduction 3:26 The $1 billion General Catalyst financing, explained 6:25 How non-dilutive financing actually works 8:06 Subscription economics and cohort math 11:00 LTV, average order value, and quarterly subscriptions 13:01 Why Beckham is a co-founder, not an endorser 14:38 The celebrity equity playbook 17:30 The AI-generated ad that hit 200 million views 18:07 How IM8 uses AI across the business 20:39 Running a $200M brand with 60 people 22:32 Why IM8 launches products so deliberately 25:43 Close Subscribe and find every episode at socialcommercenews.com

Welcome to Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast Social commerce is reshaping how brands build, sell, and scale — but most of what you hear about it online is noise. In this debut episode, hosts David Vanderveen and Peter Griscom cut through the hype to share what's actually working, what's failed, and why data-driven verification is the missing piece in most marketing strategies today. David and Peter bring decades of combined experience — from David's journey scaling a brand from energy drinks into social media dominance, to Peter's deep background in performance marketing and influencer partnerships. Together, they unpack the real mechanics behind scaling a business globally through social platforms, the most common (and costly) mistakes brands make in social media marketing, and how AI and shifting e-commerce regulations are changing the game. Expect honest conversations about connecting performance marketing to real revenue, balancing short-term sales with long-term brand building, and why "real data" beats vanity metrics every time. In this episode: The evolution of social commerce and its impact on brands Common mistakes and hard-won lessons in social media marketing Why data and verification are the foundation of marketing success Leveraging social platforms for global brand expansion The intersection of performance marketing and influencer collaborations How AI and evolving e-commerce laws are shaping business growth New episodes feature real operators, real numbers, and real stories from the front lines of social commerce. Subscribe and follow along as we verify what's actually working. Subscribe at socialcommercenews.com.

Verified: The Social Commerce Podcast Most social commerce coverage is built for the algorithm. Verified is built for the operator. Each week, hosts Peter Griscom and David Vanderveen break down what is actually happening in social commerce: the platforms gaining ground, the brands scaling faster than anyone expected, and the numbers that hold up when you look at them closely. Griscom and Vanderveen go long with the brand founders, agency builders, platform executives, vendors, and independent thinkers who are actively building in social commerce. These are working conversations about what is working right now, what is not, and what practitioners need to know to stay ahead. The kind of conversations that get past the highlight reel and into the real numbers, the real failures, and the real playbooks. Produced by Social Commerce News and the Social Commerce Summit, Verified covers the full ecosystem: DTC brands, TikTok Shop operators, creator commerce, affiliate marketing, live selling, platforms, agencies, and investors. If you run a brand, build on social platforms, or invest in the category, this is the show that keeps you current. New episodes every week.