#announcements

If you could do one thing to improve the conversion rate of www.trysuri.com what would it be?

Why is sales tax unnecessarily complicated in the US?

Genuinely asking this.

Let's say you have an ecomm brand that grows rapidly for the first 3+ years but then hit a growth plateau in year 4.

What are you looking at in the business to determine if you should lean in and get back to high growth or not?

If you’re building mostly solo at the moment. Who’s the first hire & what’s their role that will get you the most momentum

As a new brand launching when is the right time to get on Amazon? Should you be building out your DTC first as you own the customer data or is launching both at the same time a better move?

Gross Margins

What should you expect them to be when you start?
Across industries, and with product price point consideration

How much improvement do you see brands have with their GM at scale as compared to when starting?

What’s a viable wholesale GM — for big box, specialty, and indie (i.e. gift shops on Faire, etc)?

Would love to hear you two discuss oddity who is essentially disrupting beauty and wellness DTC via a data-centric, AI and machine learning approach to personalized solutions. How worried should we all be and how can we leverage their tools for our businesses.

DTC brands often disrupt traditional markets with innovative products and narratives. How do you think DTC brands can transition from being a 'disruptive choice' to a 'trusted staple' in consumers' lives? Can you share an example of a brand that has successfully made this transition, and the key strategies they employed?

Given the saturation of DTC brands in today's digital ecosystem, how can emerging DTC companies create 'moment-based' marketing strategies to capture consumer attention? Can you provide an example of an innovative, lesser-known tactic that has proven effective?

If the two of you had an unlimited budget to do a new business/brand/software together, what would it be?

In episode 4 (series 1): you mentioned you’d talk about the “perfect” daily report, what metrics to look at on daily basis, but didn’t have time to cover, and don’t think you’ve ever touched the topic again.
would be great to hear some thoughts on this.

What type of ad creative has run its course and what format gets you excited heading into 2024?

A human psychology based question for founders:

The reason that so many DTC brands fail is because they aren't able to innovate, experiment, or think outside of the box with the rigour or speed needed to stand apart. What is the advice you would give to a founder / CEO who is (too) particular about all the details of their business and struggles to let go so that their team can experiment, learn, innovate?

If your business is in its growth phase (1 - 2 years) what % of revenue would you spend on marketing if your CAC is low?

Agency Costs 📈

If paying a fixed cost, what is the proper amount in terms of percentage of spend to be paying an agency?

For example, would 10%, or 20%, of spend <100k/mo going to an agency be justified?

would it be 5% if the company was spending 1m per month in ads (i.e. paying 50k for paid ads agency)?

When is the right time for an ecom brand to venture into retail or wholesale?

Our brand is projected to hit $10 mil in rev this year, and I’m strongly considering entering the retail space.

I think it will very much help the brand holistically!!!

My challenge is distinguishing whether this inclination towards retail is something “new” to chase, potentially being a distraction, OR if it’s actually a strategic move that would benefit the brand as a whole.

What is the minimum proof of concept you to start looking for outside funding? (Considering you’re unable to bootstrap)

Why doesn't anyone talk about subscription boxes anymore in DTC? Do you think they're still a good model? Why (not)?

What do you see drastically shifting in 2023 (and beyond) in the world of DTC? Specifically as it relates to apps, platforms and software vendors.

What one piece of advice would you go back and tell your 18 year old self? (doesn't need to be biz related)

What % of revenue do you target for headcount, ads etc during a business scale up period (eg year 2-3)

What are the most important things a DTC start up needs to get right in order to scale in 2023?

You are bootstrapping a new brand. You have limited time and resources. What are the three tools/things you would invest time/money into?

What daily or weekly routines (things you do or don’t do) do each of you hold sacred that help set yourselves up for success each day?

For businesses doing retail + marketplaces + DTC via 3PL shipping. What's the best supply chain / logistics tech stack you recommend or have seen working the best in order to sync all orders and manage the same in one place?
Example: Netsuite + Shipstation or Shippo + custom backend, etc.?

How large should my business be when I invest in a more sophisticated ERP solution?

Not sure if you have already shared insights on this. But what were the top 3 features you see added by Shopify in the latest Shopify Editions and use cases for the same.

Which CRO app you recommend for Shopify Plus merchants and why?

You both have more line of sight under the hood of brands than most - what % of DTC brands are up in revenue YoY?

Best Tips to acquire customers via paid ads for a $200+ product.

Would love to see y’all do a DTC brand or a DTC tool draft — example for moiz

I agree with @Scott Lloyd! Fun idea

I'd like to piggyback on Frank's question about the *“perfect” daily report (*what metrics to look at on daily basis) and ask you to break it down by business stage or how it changes between stages (market fit vs. growth, etc)

long time listener first time questioner. You've spoken about credit cards in the past, but it's been generic to the USA only. If you're a business in Canada, how would you best take advantage of credit cards? Which are the best of the best for a Canadian business that does a large amount of revenue in the US? From what i'm gathering, to get a US card, you have to be a US business. Any work arounds you know of? Currently, we can only get personal cards with small limits, which doesn't help when you're spending 200k per month in ads on amazon. Any ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated.

A lot of advice I get is to “fail fast and learn quick” but with REALLY limited money and resources, what does “failing fast” mean to you?

Is competition too severe to start a DTC brand in 2023?

Please vote on other questions too! A vote = any emoji as a reaction

A lot of DTC brands underinvest in content (we certainly did & are playing catch up now) during the first few years esp if the brand is bootstrapped. How important is it for founders to think about resourcing + creating content in 2023 & beyond? Is a brands content strategy equally as important a decision as let’s say choosing a cofounder or which 3PL to select? Put differently, can a new brand ‘win’ in 2023 & beyond with bad or mediocre content even if they have a sick product? Thx, Roe

For a brand just starting out, what should they optimise for with their credit card selection? Cashback or extensed Payment terms? How does this change for brands that are entering growth stage?

There is a trend recently of brands offerring cashback vs discounts for email sign-ups. How do you see this shaking out over the next two years?

BFCM Prep, what should D2C brands be testing now from acquisition to reactivation to be ready for the season.

What are your top 3 favorite software tools and why?

You mentioned TikTok Shops in a previous episode. What are brands doing to be successful on TT Shops and how would you approach it / your game plan if you were brand new to the channel?

You’ve been open about how much you hate 3PLs (honestly, fair). BUT, Do you think it would be possible to NOT hate a 3PL? What specifically would make you hate them less/or see them as valuable partners?

I’d love to hear an epic mistakes podcast. You both get to see so many business’s and have been apart of many. What are your top 10 biz killer mistakes ?

What % of revenue do you target from upsells/cross sells? Do you use post purchase upsells, and if so what is your go-to post purchase upselling strategy?

Love the @Scott Lloyd idea!!!

How do you value social audiences (e.g Instagram followers) vs. email subscribers? And how important is it to move social audiences to your owned channels like email?