We dive into the State of the Agency Report from Andrew Foxwell and what it reveals about how agencies are evolving as AI reshapes marketing workflows. Are agencies growing — or just working harder for the same margins?

Then we sit down with Sean Stone of Spillover Commerce to talk about a major trend happening behind the scenes: why successful Amazon brands are increasingly investing in Shopify storefronts. We unpack the strategy, the risks, and the “halo effect” Meta ads can create across both platforms.

Next, we talk about the future of AI in marketing with Mike Manheimer, CMO of Postscript and member of AdWeek’s AI Power 50.

We also bring in Jason Levin (Memelord) to talk about one of the most underrated marketing strategies on the internet: memes. Why do memes outperform polished brand campaigns? How have they opened doors for some of the biggest names in tech and politics?

Plus we cover several major stories shaping the industry right now:

• Netflix partnering with Amazon to bring shopping data into streaming ads
• What the latest research says about Gen Z entering the workforce
• Why some founders believe certain ideas are simply “early” — not wrong
• Robinhood entering the credit card market
• And a surprising AI + brand collaboration trend emerging across major companies

If you care about the future of commerce, marketing, and internet culture, this episode is for you.

Join us live, jump into the chat, and let us know what you think.

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

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Apple just launched a brand-new laptop aimed directly at Chromebooks — the MacBook Neo, starting under $700. Is this Apple’s play to dominate the education market and lock in the next generation of users?

Then we’re joined by Cody Schneider to talk about one of the most important shifts happening in marketing right now: how operators are using Claude and AI systems to build better ads, analyze performance data, and create entirely new go-to-market workflows.

We’ll also break down some of the most interesting stories across commerce and culture this week:

• What’s really happening with Meta’s AI glasses and content moderation
• Is McDonald’s CEO content getting dragged… on purpose?
• Why livestream platform WhatNot is now selling fresh food
• Ross Stores beating expectations as consumers search for deals
• Why grocery prices are set to rise again in 2026

Plus we’re looking at some fascinating product and brand moments across the internet:

• The viral David Ice Cream brand
• Bulletproof Coffee + Creatine entering functional beverage territory
• Nike’s portable stadium kit concept
• And tools like Pocket that are redefining how we organize knowledge online.

If you’re building, operating, or investing in ecommerce, this show is designed to help you stay ahead of the ideas, technologies, and cultural shifts shaping the industry.

Tune in live and join the conversation.

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Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

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Today we’re breaking down the biggest stories shaping ecommerce, AI, and digital ownership — and bringing on some of the sharpest operators in the game to make sense of it all.

The OpenAI "AirPods" Covert Marketing Campaign
Is OpenAI making a hardware move? If AI becomes ambient — always in your ear — does it become the new operating system? We break down the speculation and what it means for Apple, apps, and the future of computing.

Andrew Gazdecki (Acquire.com)

• Over 2,000 founders acquired
• $500M+ in closed transactions

• What does the ecommerce acquisition market really look like right now?
• What are companies actually selling for?
• Are newsletters viable for acquisition?
• And is AI compressing SaaS valuations?

Noah Friedman (Outer Signal)
Your customers know you — but do you know them?

We dive into customer intelligence, identity enrichment, influencer seeding, privacy debates, and what’s possible when you truly understand who is buying from you.

Meta Invoicing Chaos & Threads Ads Rollout
Meta billing confusion, “verified” questions, and Threads officially rolling out ads globally as it crosses 400M users. Is there early arbitrage here?

Brand & Culture Breakdown

• Burger King vs. McDonald’s leadership
• Reese’s toothpaste
• A 3-way sneaker collab
• All-you-can-eat baseball tickets

What wins — hype, value, or execution?

If you’re an operator, founder, marketer, or builder trying to stay ahead of the curve in AI and ecommerce — this one is for you.

Subscribe. Turn on notifications. Drop your questions in the chat.

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Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

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We’re kicking things off with absolute chaos in AI world — Claude goes down and the internet panics.

What happens when your leverage depends on tools you don’t own? Are we entering the era of AI infrastructure wars?

Then Andrew Faris joins the show — every growth marketer’s favorite growth marketer.

We’re talking:

• Why he brought Patrick Coddou in as a partner at AJF Growth
• How AI is actually creating margin (and where it’s just hype)
• Whether media buyers are cooked
• And why he’s launching his own brand when he could just pick clients forever

From there we shift gears with 6x Ironman Ryan Dreyer — founder of Tribal Training and now building Maple Boost.

What does elite endurance teach you about entrepreneurship? Is the athlete mindset the ultimate unfair advantage in business?

We also break down:

• Casey’s — the “gas station” that might actually be one of America’s biggest pizza chains
• Burger King using AI to score employee friendliness
• Why Gen Z is bringing print books back (and how Coach turned that into culture)
• “The Last Year of Meaningful Work” — are we entering superhuman leverage or human irrelevance?
• A WhatNot & TikTok Shop reseller running out of a storage unit — scrappy genius or fragile arbitrage?

Plus insights on scaling creative, AI workflows, DTC margin, small-town dominance strategies, and what actually wins in 2026.

If you’re building in ecommerce, media, AI, or consumer brands — this one’s for you.

Live. Unfiltered. Operator-level thinking.

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

Weekly newsletter:
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We break down the hottest roles in ecommerce right now — from $225K commerce leadership at SKIMS to data strategy at Peter Millar, planning at G/FORE, lifecycle at Crocs, and CX leadership at Good Ranchers. The talent market is shifting… and it’s clear what brands value in 2026.Then we sit down with Dean Brennan to talk about:• Why the best DTC leaders are in the terminal building tools• Cashflow forecasting as a competitive advantage• What his team thought when he shipped an internal AI-powered tool• Culture as a force multiplier (yes, steaks included)• Why he’s bullish on primal health in 2026We also cover:• A CEO firing 40% of the company… and the stock going UP 20%• What that signals about the efficiency era we’re entering• The gritty reality of selling on WhatNot and live commerce• Why using AI on your resume might get you rejected• New Balance’s “Recovery Days” creative and lifestyle positioning• And the internet-native marketing energy brands can’t fakeIf you run a DTC brand, manage a team, hire talent, build culture, or care about where ecommerce is heading — this one’s for you.Live chat is open. Drop your takes.— — —Welcome to DTC's daily—what's now/next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.Weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.ecommcowboy.com/Made possible by:Postscript - https://postscript.io/sms-benchmarks?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+CowboyAMP - ⁠https://postscript.io/sms-benchmarks?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+CowboySeguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+CowboyFollow Ecomm Cowboy:https://x.com/ecommcowboyhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/ecommcowboyhttps://www.instagram.com/ecommcowboy/https://www.tiktok.com/@ecommcowboyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/0q1Pp0rW8j6cehXToNTeJchttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ecomm-cowboy/id1761749693

Meta is reportedly restricting DTC brands from paying with credit cards. We break down what this means for cash flow, risk, and who wins (and loses) next.

Then we’re joined by John Roman (CEO of BattlBox) and Cameron Carrier (Director of Social Commerce) to talk about:

• Selling BattlBox… and buying it back
• Why round-two founders operate differently
• Building 50K+ followers on WhatNot
• Daily live commerce as a real revenue engine
• Turning socials into episodic programming (BattlGames)
• Why most brands still don’t understand Content → Commerce

Matthew Gattozzi, Founder of Goodo Studios, joins the show!

We also dive into:

• AppLovin’s new “Discovery” campaigns and what true net-new acquisition could mean
• AI in creative workflows with Matthew Gattozzi (Goodo Studios)
• Quality vs volume in paid creative
• Agent-led video editing tools like Wideframe
• Nostalgia marketing (Vacation x Pepsi)
• Espresso soda and the beverage experimentation era
• And… what exactly Apple is doing now

If you run a DTC brand, buy media, build creative, or care about where commerce is headed in 2026 — this episode is for you.

Live chat is open. Bring your takes.

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

Weekly newsletter:
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We’re breaking down Kim Kardashian’s new paraxanthine-powered energy drink, what it signals about the future of wellness, and why “biohacking baddies” might be the next billion-dollar consumer segment.

Then we go deep with Matt Schroeder, co-founder of Tidalwave (Twitter’s favorite 3PL), on:

• Why fulfillment nightmares happen
• When outsourcing is actually cheaper than in-house
• What founders get wrong about 3PLs
• Building operational leverage in DTC
• The future of vertically integrated print + fulfillment

After that, we talk with Mister Civ (Kenny Cox) — the #1 Madden/CFB coach online — about:

• Turning content into a real business
• Working with EA Sports and major brands
• Why creators are becoming media companies
• Whether brands should hire creators full-time
• Building a real community (not just saying you have one)

We’re also covering:

• Truff’s redesign — glow up or dilution?
• Graza going NASCAR — genius distribution or off-brand?
• Apple manufacturing Mac Minis in Houston
• Ad vs. Ad breakdown
• And what this all means for modern operators

If you’re building a DTC brand, working with creators, or trying to future-proof your edge in 2026 and beyond — this one’s for you.

Live chat is open. Bring your takes.

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

Weekly newsletter:
https://newsletter.ecommcowboy.com/

Made possible by:

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Today we’re breaking down the biggest shifts happening in marketing, ecommerce, and consumer behavior — and what they mean for operators who want to stay ahead.

• Is Dove’s “brutally honest” Reddit campaign the future of advertising — or just recycled UGC?
• James Camp joins us to talk about AI as infrastructure — not just a personal assistant.
• How $50K in revenue was added in 10 hours using AI.
• Are we entering the era of the one-person brand and the “superman marketer”?
• What 8-figure ecommerce brands are missing when it comes to AI implementation.
• Why Topo Chico might disappear until Q3 — and what scarcity does to premium brands.
• The DoorDash driver who built a 100M impression brand with a flyer.
• A new better-for-you sweetener (Poca) that’s leaning into indulgence instead of optimization — is this where wellness is headed?
• And finally — how to not get replaced by AI.

This episode is about leverage.

Operators who win over the next 12–24 months won’t just use AI — they’ll redesign their systems around it. They’ll understand distribution. They’ll understand psychology. They’ll understand focus.

If you're building, scaling, or trying to future-proof your career — this one’s for you.

Live chat is open. Bring your takes. 🔥

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

Weekly newsletter:
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Made possible by:

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Are performance marketing roles collapsing into 1–2 operators? Is AI quietly building bigger baskets than your best CRO test? And is Meta about to charge you based on where your customers live?

Today we’re breaking down the biggest conversations happening in commerce right now:

• Why elite performance teams may soon only need 1–2 high-agency killers
• The leading indicator of where the marketing job market is headed
• Walmart’s AI shoppers spending 35% more (and what that means for your AOV)
• Consumer psychology trends heading into 2026
• Costco somehow becoming the cheapest store in America… while charging membership
• Why it might be time to build your own ad network
• Meta potentially introducing location-based fees
• Shopify going down — and what that exposed
• Meme of the weekend

This is not surface-level commentary.

We’re talking:

• Role convergence
• The death of the button pusher
• Intent-driven commerce
• Owned distribution vs rented reach
• AI as a basket builder
• Psychological precision in marketing
• Platform risk
• The future of operator-led growth

Join us live, bring your takes, and let’s unpack where commerce is actually headed.

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

Weekly newsletter:
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Made possible by:

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Today we’re breaking down the future of ecommerce operators, creative strategy, and paid media — and what it actually takes to win in an AI-accelerated world.

HOT JOBS: The New Operator Economy

We’re reviewing some of the most interesting ecommerce roles on the market right now — including:

• Growth Strategist at Kynship (profit-first, $1M+/mo budgets)
• Ecommerce Manager at Salt & Stone
• Head of Duolingo Store (first ecomm hire, $150–230K)
• Ecommerce Generalist at Yeti
• CX role at Ramp

Interview: Sarah Levinger

We go deep on buyer psychology and creative strategy:

• Why people don’t always buy the “best” product
• What a creative strategist actually does
• The concept of “teaching the algorithm”
• How to land 8–9 figure brands without connections
• Building skill through community vs chasing tactics

If you run ads, build brands, or write copy — this one is dense.

Interview: Phil Kiel

Health & wellness brands are feeling a “category tax” on Meta. We unpack:

• What’s happening to supplement brands on the platform
• Why CPMs doubling can break your math
• The truth about reach compression
• Common structural mistakes found in ad account audits
• Why media buyers are really treasury managers

If you’re spending serious money on Meta, this is required viewing.

— — —

Welcome to DTC's daily — what's now and next in ecommerce so founders, marketers, and operators can survive and thrive.

Weekly newsletter:
https://newsletter.ecommcowboy.com/

Made possible by:

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