Ecomm Cowboy

TikTok Shop is testing a managed-services business that could cannibalize agencies, Halfday is getting sued, Meta is pushing deep-funnel optimization, and a South Korean department store wants shoppers to linger instead of checking out fast.

It's the consumer's daily show — Ecomm Cowboy — where we break down the stories moving retail and DTC, then sit down with the operators building through it.

Today guest host Chase Mohseni (Co-Founder & CEO, CreativeOS) joins Chris Hall and Colin Dougherty.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE

Will Critcher — CMO, KEY Sparkling Water We dig into running the two hardest jobs in DTC at once — a zero-equity beverage startup in the most crowded aisle and the resurrection of a beloved dead design brand — plus the Death Wish Coffee acquisition machine, sequencing DTC vs. retail vs. Amazon for an emerging CPG brand, finding the disruptive angle in a conservative category, what Liquid Death got right, and KEY's actual wedge against LaCroix and Waterloo.

Samir Balwani — CEO, QRYWe dig into why he spends a week just looking before touching spend, what full-funnel paid media really means and where brands over- and under-invest, the named diseases quietly draining DTC ad accounts (retargeting harvesting, branded-search cannibalization, vanity ROAS), the metric founders should manage to instead of ROAS, building a brand without outspending anyone, and killing a channel that's quietly done.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- Aston Martin's V12 Dreadnought

- Lip Pillow x Big League Chew

- Maple Boost product iteration

- Snapchat: 41% of its users never open Instagram

- "The Art of Spending Money"

____________________________

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:

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TrendTrack - https://www.trendtrack.io/

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Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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Kai Cenat sold out in five minutes mid-stream on Shopify, Shopify brands are getting cloned wholesale, TikTok Shop is banning AI voices in live commerce, Kimi K3 has people asking if video editors are obsolete, the box office crossed $10B, and beehiiv shipped a huge update.

It's the consumer's daily show — Ecomm Cowboy — where we break down the stories moving retail and DTC, then sit down with the operators building through it.

Today guest host Rabah Rahil (CMO, Tie) joins Chris Hall and Colin Dougherty.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE

Brandon Harrar — Founder & Creative Director, HRVSTWe dig into the "small shop, not a boutique" positioning behind a 350+ brand Shopify Plus agency, his deliberate anti-scaling philosophy, where DTC brands unknowingly leak trust across the customer journey, whether a rebrand request is really a positioning problem, what separates a store that looks good from one that converts, and the invisible ceiling that shows up when everything runs through the founder.

AJ Anderson — Founder, FAST PICKLEWe dig into turning a childhood pickle-juice habit into a functional hydration brand — the 3oz real-brine shot as the anti-sugar answer to Gatorade and LMNT, why awareness without availability is wasted spend, balancing DTC against Amazon subscribe-and-save and Fleet Feet run-specialty shelves, reorder velocity over vanity metrics, and building a category instead of selling a product.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

-Hot Jobs

-Tony Robbins gets into testosterone

-SharkNinja's innovation machine

-$21K of Lego sets for $5.7K

-Calbee's personalized granola

-Costco x Carrera GTS

____________________________

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:

Tie - https://meettie.com/

TrendTrack - https://www.trendtrack.io/

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

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Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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Olive Garden brings back the $100 Never Ending Pasta Pass, Whatnot acquires Shaped to power real-time live-shopping recommendations, we meet Chip (@drivewithchip), and Lemme is back in the spotlight over its weight-loss claims.

Plus Jimmy Kim and Cody Wittick guest-host with John McDermott on the clipping economy — the Clavicular playbook, MrBeast launching his own clipping platform, and whether brands should be arbitraging clip views right now — and Bryan Bumgardner with the Northbeam Weather Report.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE OF ECOMM COWBOY

John McDermott (Writer & Content Marketer, McDermott Media) — LA-based journalist and B2B content marketer with bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, WIRED, The Atlantic, Politico, and Fast Company. Came up covering the ad and media business at Ad Age and Digiday, then in 2015 became a founding writer at MEL Magazine — the men's lifestyle publication owned and operated by Dollar Shave Club — where the site won the 2018 Webby for Best Writing. Now runs McDermott Media, serving Fortune 500 tech clients including Apple, Amazon, Meta, LinkedIn, and The Trade Desk, and ghostwrites for CEOs in WIRED, AdWeek, Inc., and the World Economic Forum. We dig into who's actually winning in the clipping economy (clippers, marketplaces like Whop, or original creators), whether a million clip views for a few hundred bucks is a real arbitrage brands should be exploiting or a bubble that pops when advertisers realize the views don't convert, and where the whole thing goes in 12 months.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

-Industry News

1. Gary Vee is a new partner at Paul Street

2. Social Commerce Club acquired by Podean

3. Sabrina Carpenter's team uses Simple Bundles

4. OpenAI unveils the $230 Codex Micro keyboard

5. DoorDash CLI — order DoorDash from your agent

6. $6M raised (this week's stealth win)

7. micro-mobility, peptide froyo

- Words of Wisdom: Brian Blum on perfect unit, Allen Walton on the one-man brand, Maxwell's June agency stats and update

- Moment of zen: the worst-timed ad in history

____________________________

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:

Tie - https://meettie.com/

TrendTrack - https://www.trendtrack.io/

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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David Beckham's IM8 raises $1B from General Catalyst's Unusual CVF fund, Gap turns to Hailey Bieber to relive its 90s denim heyday, Anthropic's newest ad is creeping people out, and we make the case for recommerce as more returns end up in the resale channel.

Plus Nate Lagos guest-hosts with Cody Schneider on what an agent-first BI product does that a chat box bolted onto Tableau can't, and what he's betting on with Graphed after building Swell and Drafthorse bootstrapped.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE OF ECOMM COWBOY

Cody Schneider (Co-Founder & CEO, Graphed) — Graphed is an AI agent for marketing analytics that connects a team's data sources, manages the warehouse, and generates dashboards you build by chatting in plain English. Previously founded Swell AI (AI content repurposing) and Drafthorse AI (programmatic-SEO article generation) — both bootstrapped — and was the growth manager at Rupa Health when the valuation ran from $20M to $110M in six months. Prolific voice on X as @codyschneider, host of the podcast "In the Pit with Cody Schneider," known for aggressive distribution tactics, programmatic SEO, and contrarian takes. Builds in public and is currently raising for Graphed. We dig into what Graphed needs that the bootstrapped Swell/Drafthorse playbook couldn't fund, what actually died in programmatic SEO after Google's helpful-content updates and AI Overviews (and what survived), the exact 30-day channel sequence he'd run if he launched Monday with zero audience and zero budget, and what structurally an agent-first BI product can do that a chat box bolted onto Tableau or Looker can't — and how long that window stays open before the incumbents catch up.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- Spend Market AMA

- BUFFS secures $1.1M in pre-seed funding

- Nissin launches the first cold-water Cup Noodles

- Haaland's raccoon — sold out

- Watch & React: The mosquito drone

- Watch & React: Universal Ads

- OLIPOP Packaging

- Moment of Zen: I Love Gabagool

____________________________

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:

Tie - https://meettie.com/

TrendTrack - https://www.trendtrack.io/

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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A San Gabriel Valley woman pleads guilty in a $150M counterfeit postage fraud, Roman Khan breaks down Quince's logistics play, Levi's DTC jumps 19% in Q2 to $793M, and Quit with Jones launches an app and 100K community.

It's the consumer's daily show — Ecomm Cowboy — where we break down the stories moving retail and DTC, then sit down with the operators and thinkers building through it.

Today guest host TJ Bongiorno (Founder, The Outgoing Co.) joins Chris Hall and Colin Dougherty.

ON TODAY'S EPISODEMaximilian Breall — CMO, Central Coast Live FoodsWe dig into the juice-delivery-to-national-brand arc behind Kraut Krackers, the defiantly in-house "scaling one dehydrator at a time" production stance, the contrarian bet on Outdoor Retailer over Expo West, winning the co-op channel, and how a four-ingredient fermented cracker proves it's real in the three seconds before a shopper's hand moves.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- Shopify x DoorDash delivery

- NYC's luxury grocery boom

- Jensen Huang's jacket goes to auction

- Pinwheel's kid-friendly retro landline

- The colostrum craze

- LMNT's retail win

____________________________

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:

Tie - https://meettie.com/

TrendTrack - https://www.trendtrack.io/

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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Apple is suing OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft, McKinsey drops its State of the Consumer, Disney+ inches toward recreating cable with a free ad-tier, and the World Cup is literally selling blades of grass. It's the consumer's daily show — Ecomm Cowboy — where we break down the stories moving retail and DTC, then sit down with the operators building through it.

Today guest host Chase Mohseni (Co-Founder & CEO, CreativeOS) joins

ON TODAY'S EPISODE

Ryan Beltran — Founder, Original GrainWe dig into how a University of Oregon grad moved to Guangzhou to learn manufacturing, invented the reclaimed-wood-and-steel watch, and outlived the entire 2013 wood-watch wave — the story-material sourcing playbook (bourbon barrels, Yankee Stadium seats, championship courts), licensed drops with Jack Daniel's and Ford, and 13 years of bootstrapped DTC discipline in a category the Apple Watch was supposed to kill.

Abdu Shodmonov — Co-Founder, Primal QueenWe dig into how a 19-year-old college dropout rode the ancestral-nutrition wave into a women's-health rocket — the TikTok Shop affiliate engine (79K+ units sold), the standing strikethrough pricing model, sourcing grass-fed beef organs against viral demand, and the jump from social commerce into 900 Target doors.

Colin McGuire — CEO, GlimmrWe dig into the $45K distressed-brand-to-$5M turnaround, 40 million TikTok views in 96 days, the "TikTok Shop as break-even flywheel" thesis that landed a Target launch, and surviving a $1M cargo heist — plus the insurance lesson every DTC operator needs to hear.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- Shopify: no more vapes

- Starbucks spends $400M a year on software

- Even Realities bets on camera-free smart glasses

- Jeremiah Prummer exits Kno Commerce & Stamped

____________________________

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:

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Follow Ecomm Cowboy:

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The Yapper hits Pop-Up Grocer, Oisin O'Connor says don't start a creatine brand, Sam's Club taps Weight Watchers to expand membership benefits into GLP-1 territory, and we ask: are World Cup hydration breaks too much? Plus Rabah Rahil guest-hosts a marquee sit-down with John Peters on building Amberjack — the "looks like a dress shoe, feels like a sneaker" brand backed by Aaron Rodgers and built with a former Cole Haan CEO.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE OF ECOMM COWBOY

Ryan Garrow, Director of Partnerships at Logical Position

Rabah's got a launch teased, powered by Shopify UCP

ALSO ON THE SHOW

-Hot Jobs

-Read & React: the Phia attribution scandal — Bloomberg says the Phoebe Gates / Sophia Kianni shopping app hijacked affiliate credit à la Honey

- Watch & React: OpenAI unveils GPT-5.6 (DTC & CPG examples)

- Watch & React: meet the Talk Sock

-Apple Notes ads in Claude

-Animal rugs featuring Band-Aids in their design

-Ikea's World Cup ads

-Influencer ad for Claude code

-Cursor advertising on Snap?

- Moment of zen: Alex Hormozi on things that create 10x outcomes

____________________________

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:

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Follow Ecomm Cowboy:

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ecomm-cowboy/id1761749693

Nike is teens' #1 brand, we run the Piper Sandler 2025 Teen Survey, Tecovas inks a partnership with Bass Pro Shops, and Meta's AI glasses are among the fastest sellers at America's Best and Eyeglass World. Plus Jimmy Kim and Cody Wittick guest-host with Zach Stuck on selling Homestead Studio to Verndale and building Mars Men and Hollow, Yash Chavan on bootstrapping SARAL against VC-funded incumbents and launching SATHI, and Bryan Bumgardner with the Northbeam Weather Report.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE OF ECOMM COWBOY

Zach Stuck (Founder, Homestead Studio; Co-Founder, Mars Men, Hollow) — Founded Homestead Studio in 2019 (named after the street he grew up on), scaled it past $100M in annual ad spend, and won Klaviyo's 2025 Agency Partner of the Year for the Americas before Verndale acquired it in March 2026. Now runs an 8-figure DTC holdco building Mengo / Mars Men (testosterone-support supplement) and Hollow (alpaca socks). Mars Men went from six figures a month to a nine-figure run rate in under 18 months and closed $27.5M from L Catterton. @zachmstuck on X, posting real Meta spend and creative budgets. We dig into why he locked the door on a five-year non-compete, what changed the day he made the subscription-first bet, and his call that media-buying-only agencies have 18 months left.

Yash Chavan (Founder & CEO, SARAL) — Founded SARAL, "the Influencer OS" for DTC brands, in 2022 after running an agency where everything lived in spreadsheets and Trello. Engineering-college dropout, bootstrapped — no VC — differentiating from funded incumbents like GRIN and Aspire ($30-50K/year, upfront) versus SARAL at $499/month, cancel anytime. Works with 250+ brands, claims $40M+ in incremental revenue, behind the "Predictable Pyramid" framework. In 2025 launched SATHI, fixing fraud and attribution in Shopify affiliate programs — and now an Ecomm Cowboy sponsor. We dig into what "cancel anytime" forces his product team to do that a locked-in competitor doesn't.

Bryan Bumgardner (Northbeam Weather Report) — This week's read on DTC spend and creative.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- Ad vs Ad

- Palantir Tennis Club accessories + new patches

- Hello Kitty x SPAM

- Bob Ross Positive Energy Drink

- Heinz Penalty Packets

- Devil vs Angel headphones by Senne

- OpenAI and F1?

- Minted NYClothing tag

- Yeti OOH

- Moment of Zen: Backyard Pub

____________________________

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:

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Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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Meta unveils Muse Image, and Gruns is growing again with a dream-team hire. Plus Nate Lagos guest-hosts with Hayley Cannon on building onewith into a "swimsuits that fit like underwear" brand off a two-shark Shark Tank deal, and Brett Curry on the data proving YouTube ads are underattributed by 70%.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE OF ECOMM COWBOY

Hayley Cannon (Founder, onewith) — Formerly Hayley Segar. Launched onewith in late 2021 after a frustrating swimsuit search: she wanted swimwear that fit like her favorite raw-cut underwear. Bootstrapped it into a category creator built on patented elastic-free, bonded, edgeless construction — "swimsuits that fit like underwear." Pitched Season 16 of Shark Tank (aired January 2025) and walked out with a two-shark deal from Barbara Corcoran and Jamie Kern Lima. Eloped in NYC in a custom dress built from onewith's swim fabric. We dig into what made her walk out of the fitting room and build the product, the best advice Jamie Kern Lima has given her, and what makes a founder video convert on TikTok versus rack up views.

Brett Curry (CEO & Co-Founder, OMG Commerce) — Springfield, MO Google Premier Partner running a ~45-person agency managing Google, YouTube, and Amazon for 100+ brands including Native, RTIC, Dude Wipes, Jones Road Beauty, Crumbl, Groove Life. Author of "The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping" and host of eCommerce Evolution since 2017. Signature: profitable YouTube scale — brands from zero to $1M in 90 days while hitting CAC, Boom Beauty from zero to $6M in first-year Amazon sales. DTC's loudest credible voice that in-platform reporting undercounts YouTube by ~70% — backed by a 190-test incrementality study and the Arctic geo-test showing 25% Walmart sales lift and 230% branded search lift. On July 23 he co-hosts "Scale With YouTube Ads" in NYC with Jacques Spitzer and Google.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- Nike's Norway World Cup jersey still sold out

- Fiat opens U.S. orders for the Topolino EV

- New ad format: Human vs. AI

- Read & React: the AfterSell High Trust Revenue Report

- Read & React: Shopify's new partner earning model

- The ACTUAL Pringles hot dog buns

- Misfits Stuffed — 17g protein, 170 cal, no added sugar

- Meta faces $1.4T in penalties

- Moment of zen: the most-requested X Ads feature

____________________________

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:

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

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Forme hedges its World Cup brand promo on Kalshi — the new shape of ecomm risk. Meta rolls out Live Video Ads at Cannes, influencers debut better-for-you cereal brand Backflip, and we ask: is Threads 500M real?

Plus TJ Bongiorno guest-hosts .

ON TODAY'S EPISODE OF ECOMM COWBOY

Devan Welch (Growth Marketing, Kwasi Paul) — SEO, founder-led LinkedIn authority, high-intent email, PR, community referrals — and a DTC-to-retail-to-marketplace flywheel thesis. Built no-paid-ads muscle in adult-wellness and SexTech categories where ad platforms flat-out restrict you. We dig into what made Target on day one the right bet, what paid-restricted brands learn that easy-ads brands don't, and where refusing paid holds a brand back.

Veronica Gelman (Co-Founder & CEO, Castaway Bed) — Old Bridge, NJ sleep startup behind a patent-pending motorized split-king bed for couples with "sleep incompatibility." Conceived it from her own problem — a light sleeper whose partner's snoring and movement, plus a five-year-old climbing into the middle, left her more tired than when she went to bed. After roughly a year with co-founder Michael Strem, Castaway launched April 13, 2026 and won a MUSE Design Gold Award. Glides apart on a button-press into two Twin XLs.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

- How to make $1M

- Made in America merch

- LEGO Pokémon Pokéball set (72154)

- Read & React: the curious case of Krispy Kreme

- Watch & React: The Age of Aura Farming by Gritcult

- Watch & React: Tommy Melo — words matter

- Color of the summer?

- Hilary Duff is Bath & Body Works' new Fruit Fusion ambassador

- A "trick" to click ads by wiping off an overlay

- Moment of zen: Bank of America says take profits

____________________________

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:

Sathi - https://www.mysathi.io/champions/ecomm-cowboy

Slash - https://www.slash.com/

Richpanel - https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Postscript - https://postscript.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Seguno - https://www.seguno.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Intelligems - https://www.intelligems.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

SARAL- https://www.getsaral.com/

ROKT Aftersell - https://www.aftersell.com/offers?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Proxima AI - https://www.proxima.ai/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Northbeam: http://northbeam.io/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Universal Ads - https://www.universalads.com/?utm_source=Ecomm+Cowboy+Show&utm_medium=Show&utm_campaign=Ad+Read&utm_id=Ecomm+Cowboy

Follow Ecomm Cowboy:

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ecomm-cowboy/id1761749693