Kartworthy

When should you actually hire for your DTC brand? Connor Gross from Constant Hire has recruited hundreds of roles for consumer brands scaling from $0 to $500M—and his #1 rule might surprise you: hiring should be your last resort.

Connor Gross — Founder at @ConstantHire, recruiting exclusively for consumer brands.

In this episode, Connor breaks down his complete hiring framework:

→ Why hiring too early kills bootstrapped brands

→ The 4 revenue stages that change your hiring strategy ($0-1M, $1-10M, $10-100M, $100M+)

→ Freelance vs agency vs full-time: when each makes sense

→ How to find undervalued talent (the arbitrage strategy most founders miss)

→ Which roles to prioritize at each stage (ops, creative, retention, growth)

→ Common candidate experience mistakes that kill your best hires

If you are a DTC founder or operator at $500K-$20M trying to figure out your next hire—whether that's your first employee, transitioning from agency to in-house, or building out your growth team—this episode will save you from expensive hiring mistakes.

⸻

ABOUT KARTWORTHY

Kartworthy is a media brand for DTC and ecommerce operators generating $1-20M in revenue. We deliver tactical, data-driven insights from operators and agency experts—no fluff, just frameworks you can implement this week.

Hosted by Matt Lady, Associate Director of Ecommerce Marketing at KlientBoost.

⸻

LINKS

Constant Hire: https://www.constanthire.com/

Connor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-j-gross-/

KlientBoost: https://www.klientboost.com/expertise/ecommerce-marketing-agency/

⸻

If you want help scaling your eCommerce/DTC brand with Media Buying, Ad Creative, SEO, CRO, and Business Intelligence — hire us at klientboost.com — a marketing agency with aggressive accountability & proactive obsession.

Timestamps:

0:00 When hiring actually kills your brand

1:14 The hiring decision framework: time vs knowledge

3:18 $0-1M stage: Find undervalued talent (overseas arbitrage strategy)

5:23 $1-10M stage: Ops support + ecommerce manager (the generalist approach)

8:10 When to hire your first specialized role

11:42 $10-100M stage: The shift to in-house specialists

16:28 $100M+ stage: Why agencies lose efficiency at scale

21:03 Freelance vs agency vs full-time decision tree

26:30 Candidate experience mistakes (test projects kill excitement)

28:34 The #1 cultural trait to look for: curiosity in the space

Most DTC brands convert only 10% of buyers into subscribers after the first purchase. But with the right first-order subscription optimization, you can hit 40% opt-in rates immediately. Matthew Holman, founder of Subscription Prescription, breaks down the architecture and testing strategies behind high-performing subscription offers.

Matthew Holman — Founder of Subscription Prescription | Known as "The Subscription Doc" | thesubscriptiondoc.com

What You'll Learn:

→ Why first-order subscription optimization outperforms post-purchase conversion (40% vs 10% opt-in rates)

→ The two critical components of subscription offers: what you get + how you present it

→ How 3-month bulk subscriptions achieve 10% higher renewal rates than monthly options

→ Why gifting beats discounting for margins and attracting better buyers

→ The 28-day billing cycle trap and how to align subscription frequency with consumption behavior

If you're a DTC founder or operator looking to scale subscriptions without killing margins, this episode delivers the tactical frameworks you need to test immediately.

if you want help scaling your eCommerce/DTC/CPG brand hire us at klientboost.com — a marketing agency with aggressive accountability & proactive obsession.

SIGN UP FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL PLANNING 12+ HOUR FREE LIVESTREAM MONDAY 12/15: http://ordnl.link/SOhsSme

Insurance companies are paying $10-14K for medical-grade kids' beds, and parents aren't paying a dollar out of pocket. This changes everything about how you structure your email strategy, bundle offerings, and lifecycle automation. In this episode, Samar Owais breaks down the exact email playbook she built for a medical device brand that creates beds for kids with special needs.

What You'll Learn:

→ Why bundle offers outperform discounts when insurance covers the cost → The 90-day customer journey from quiz to approval to purchase

→ How to write empathetic emails for sleep-deprived special needs parents → Why weekly nurture alone won't drive sales (and what will)

→ Accessory upsells that drive repeat purchases after a one-time big buy

→ The psychology of buying when someone else pays the bill

If you're a DTC founder, email marketer, or eCommerce operator trying to figure out high-AOV email strategies, niche market positioning, or lifecycle automation for complex purchase journeys, this episode gives you a complete playbook from a real client case study.

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

Find out more about Samar: https://samarowais.com

Take the Email Strategy Quiz: https://emailsdoneright.com/quiz

Check out the eCommerce Email Bootcamp: https://emailsdoneright.com/eebc-special-admission

00:00 Intro: Insurance pays $10-14K for kids' beds

01:39 Medical device brand scenario introduction

02:29 Samar introduces the client case study

03:45 Why bundle offers are the correct answer

05:15 Understanding the audience: parents vs. kids as users

06:30 The empathetic email approach for sleep-deprived parents

08:10 Importance of knowing your customer deeply

09:29 Additional products: pillows and accessories for repeat purchases

10:38 The 90-day purchase journey and qualification quiz

13:15 Post-purchase education and measuring success

15:45 Using testimonials instead of making medical claims

17:54 The power of social proof from exhausted parents

19:12 Compliance challenges with medical-grade products

19:50 Service guarantees and bed repair programs

20:33 Why 20% off discounts don't work for this brand

21:42 The role of weekly nurture emails in the strategy

22:24 Potential for secondary bed purchases

22:48 Final insight: knowing when buyer and user are different

23:11 Outro: Key takeaways and livestream announcement

Most 7-figure DTC brands hire full-time email marketing managers and wonder why revenue doesn't move. The problem isn't effort, it's that one person can't genuinely master strategy, copywriting, design, data analytics, and technical execution. And if they could, you couldn't afford them.

Elliot Kovac is the founder of Dispatch, an email & SMS marketing agency that's generated over $50M for DTC brands. After spending 10,000+ hours inside Klaviyo as an e-commerce director at an 8-figure apparel brand, Elliot built an agency on one core value: don't suck. Today he breaks down the math and reality behind why agencies with specialists outperform full-time generalists at the 7-8 figure scale—and where the threshold changes.

What We Cover:

→ Why there's not enough meaningful work for 40 hours/week at 7-8 figure brands

→ The five expertise domains required (strategy, copy, design, data, technical) and why one person can't master all of them

→ Why the "unicorn" hire who's expert at everything would cost $250-300K

→ Where the nine-figure revenue threshold changes the full-time vs agency equation

→ The opportunity cost of hiring wrong and what brands miss in lost revenue

→ Why 5 hours per week from specialists beats 40 hours from a generalist

If you're a founder or operator at a $1M-$20M DTC brand wrestling with whether to hire an email manager or work with an agency, this conversation will save you months of ramp time and potentially hundreds of thousands in lost revenue.

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

Connect with Elliot:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-kovac-13a7b0152/

https://x.com/elliotkovac28

https://www.thedispatch.agency/

00:00 Why 5-10 hours from experts beats 40 hours from a generalist

01:08 The controversial take: What do email managers actually do for 40 hours?

03:42 The revenue threshold where full-time makes sense

04:10 Nine figures changes everything: Why $10M brands need agencies

05:45 The five expertise domains one person can't master

07:22 The unicorn hire problem: Why they cost $250-300K

08:24 Resource allocation: Better places to spend that salary

10:20 Why most agencies suck and what makes Dispatch different

13:45 Strategy, copy, design, data, technical: Expertise requires reps

16:38 The jaded perspective after hundreds of brand audits

18:52 Opportunity cost and not knowing what you don't know

19:43 What agencies can and can't bring to the table

21:32 Email as your direct communication line with customers

23:10 The oversight most brands make until it's too late

23:42 Final recap and where to find Elliot

Amazon can take up to 50% of your revenue, and DTC brands are still scaling profitably. Here's the complete breakdown of when Shopify brands should launch on Amazon, how to protect margins, and why your wholesale strategy might be sabotaging your marketplace success before you even start.

Mark Lathrum is the Founder and GM of Tiide Commerce, an Amazon growth agency that's helped DTC brands scale from first launch to eight figures on the platform. With almost a decade in the Amazon ecosystem, Mark specializes in helping Shopify-first brands navigate marketplace economics, avoid cannibalization, and unlock incremental revenue

What You'll Learn:

→ The real breakdown of Amazon's 40-50% fee structure (and why it's still profitable)

→ When Shopify brands should actually launch on Amazon (revenue threshold + readiness checklist)

→ FBA vs FBM: Why 95% of brands should choose FBA despite the fees

→ How to price $2-4 higher on Amazon without customer complaints

→ The wholesale trap: Why 60% of wholesale products leak to Amazon and ruin your launch

→ Why you can't spend on Amazon like you do on Meta (and what to do instead) → Product selection strategy to avoid cannibalizing your DTC channel

→ When to hire in-house Amazon talent vs. working with an agency

If you're a DTC founder or operator doing $1M+ on Shopify and considering Amazon as your next growth channel, this episode gives you the complete framework to launch strategically, protect your brand, and scale profitably on the world's largest marketplace.

Connect with Mark:

linkedin.com/in/marklathrum

Mark’s Agency: https://tiideco.com/ 

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

00:00 Amazon takes 40-50% of revenue

01:01 When Shopify brands should launch on Amazon

02:25 Inventory requirements and working with experts

03:35 FBM vs FBA: The 95% rule explained

04:30 Breaking down Amazon's fee structure

05:49 Why you can't scale spending like Meta

07:20 The review and ranking throttle explained

07:50 Product selection to avoid cannibalization

09:15 Pricing $2-4 higher on Amazon strategy

11:45 Bundle and multi-pack tactics

13:30 Amazon's search algorithm dynamics

17:15 Category and keyword strategy

20:15 Brand consistency across channels

21:00 Packaging inserts: What's allowed vs banned

22:16 Cannibalization concerns addressed

23:48 Wholesale warning: 60% leak to Amazon

25:09 In-house Amazon hire vs agency ($10M threshold)

28:07 Final takeaways

Most DTC brands waste time optimizing retention when they should be testing offers. Matthew Holman, who's worked with 150+ subscription brands doing up to nine figures in revenue, explains why the brands growing fastest aren't focused on churn—they're focused on acquisition. If your subscription program feels stuck at $1-2M in revenue, this conversation will show you exactly where to focus your energy.

Matthew Holman is the founder of Subscription Prescription and a subscription consultant who's helped brands add hundreds of thousands of subscribers. His clients include companies doing $10-15M per month in subscription revenue.

What You'll Learn:

→ Why subscriptions isn't a retention game (and what it actually is)

→ The two reasons people cancel subscriptions—only two

→ Key benchmarks: save rates, churn rates, and take rates that matter

→ Why improving take rate from 35% to 40% beats any retention optimization

→ How to calculate LTV so you know what you can afford to spend

If you're a DTC founder or operator at a $1-20M brand trying to scale subscriptions profitably, this episode gives you the strategic framework to stop spinning your wheels on low-impact retention tactics and start growing through smarter acquisition.

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

Connect with Matthew:

https://x.com/subscriptiondoc

https://www.linkedin.com/in/holman-matthew/

https://www.thesubscriptiondoc.com/

00:00 Why subscriptions aren't about retention (intro)

00:58 Biggest misconception: retention vs acquisition focus

02:25 Where to start when subscriptions feel neglected

04:30 Three critical touchpoints: onboarding, billing, cancellation data

05:30 Key metrics audit: what experts look at

07:00 Save rate benchmarks: 10-15% vs 20%+ elite performance

09:00 Monthly churn rates: what's good vs what's realistic

11:20 Understanding take rate and why it matters most

13:30 Testing offers: the acquisition side most brands ignore

15:47 Where to start: art and science of prioritizing

16:30 The math: 35% to 40% take rate vs reducing churn

18:36 Low lift, high impact framework for limited resources

19:10 Calculating LTV to know what you can afford to spend

20:03 Brand personality in subscriber communications

21:33 Episode wrap and next steps in the series

Most email marketers optimize for the wrong metrics and wonder why revenue doesn't move. Customer lifetime value, click through rates, email sales. They sound important, but they're either unmeasurable or they're premature focuses that waste your time.

Samar Owais is the founder of Emails Done Right (emailsdoneright.com), an email retention strategist who's helped DTC brands increase revenue by focusing on what actually matters: average order value.

In this episode, Samar breaks down:

→ Why customer lifetime value is a subjective, unmeasurable metric that wastes brand resources

→ How to optimize for average order value using bundles, subscriptions, and customer segmentation

→ The surprising customer research insight that secretaries place orders for professional buyers

→ Why click through rates and click to open rates are diagnostic tools, not optimization targets

If you're an ecommerce operator, email strategist, or retention marketer trying to increase email revenue without chasing vanity metrics, this episode gives you the framework to focus on what drives real results.

00:00 Why CLV is fundamentally broken for most brands

01:38 The correct metric to optimize first (and why)

03:15 60-70% success rate selling to existing customers

05:05 Bundles strategy for increasing average order value

06:08 Why customer lifetime value is too subjective

08:36 Customer research insight: Secretaries place the orders

09:36 Why click-through rates are a distraction

12:45 How to diagnose problems vs optimize for sales

15:30 Voice of customer research changes everything

18:38 The sock detail that professional buyers actually care about

19:30 Product expansion opportunity most brands miss

21:39 Should hyper-niche brands expand their product line?

22:51 Key takeaway: AOV beats CLV for early stage brands

Find out more about Samar: https://samarowais.com

Take the Email Strategy Quiz: https://emailsdoneright.com/quiz

Check out the eCommerce Email Bootcamp: https://emailsdoneright.com/eebc-special-admission

Connect with Matt:

Twitter (or "X"): https://x.com/mattlady

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

Most DTC brands are sending 50-100% more emails than they need to hit the same revenue targets. The problem isn't frequency, it's segmentation. When you don't know where your incremental revenue breaks, you're just burning list health and paying double your ESP bill for zero return.

Eric Rausch is the co-founder of New Standard, a top-tier email marketing agency specializing in retention strategy for seven and eight-figure ecommerce brands. His approach to segmentation has helped dozens of brands unlock 20-40% more revenue without increasing send volume — and in this episode, he's breaking down exactly how to do it.

→ Why most brands waste 150,000+ emails producing $0 in incremental revenue

→ The exact engagement windows to test: 15-30-45-60-90 days for non-buyers, 30-60-90-180-365 for buyers

→ How to run incrementality tests that prove where your revenue actually stops growing

→ The "buy or bye" philosophy: why Eric kills non-buyers after 15-40 days instead of nurturing long-term

→ Benchmark KPIs: 60% open rate, 1% click rate, 0.10% CVR for evergreen emails

→ Frequency testing methodology to find your optimal send count per segment

If you're a DTC founder or email operator sending daily campaigns and wondering if you're over-mailing your list, this episode will give you the frameworks to test, the benchmarks to hit, and the exact three-step plan Eric gives every brand that's starting from scratch on segmentation.

00:00 How to unlock 20-40% more retention revenue without sending more emails

01:01 The fastest way early stage brands can increase retention revenue

02:03 Five core metrics to track for list health and segmentation strategy

03:27 Benchmark KPIs: open rates, click rates, and CVR for evergreen vs promo vs BFCM

05:13 Why revenue matters more than vanity metrics like open and click rates

05:39 How segmentation strategy differs by industry, AOV, and subscription model

07:04 The incrementality concept: making 85K from 150K emails instead of 300K

10:19 What "full list send" actually means and when to reserve it

14:14 How to reduce unsub rates by strategically limiting full list frequency

17:27 Engagement windows explained: who receives evergreen campaigns vs who gets suppressed

20:06 Frequency testing methodology: BAU vs 70% vs 50% send cadence groups

23:25 The three-step segmentation framework to implement in the next two weeks

25:32 Wrap-up and final thoughts

25:39 Key takeaways and how to provide feedback or suggest future guests

Everyone's saying "SEO is dead" because of ChatGPT and AI search... but that's only true if you're stuck using 2020 strategies. The reality? These AI models still rely on Google's foundation, and Ccommerce brands have a massive opportunity right now if they know where to focus.

Seth Trammell, Director of SEO at KlientBoost, breaks down exactly what's working for DTC SEO in 2025 into 2026, and why most brands are wasting time on the WRONG tactics.

→ Why LLMs like ChatGPT still depend on Google for product recommendations

→ The 3 specific SEO areas eCommerce brands should prioritize (collection pages, product optimization, organic feeds)

→ Why blog posts are no longer the (starting) answer for most ecommerce brands

→ How to use Google Search Console to identify your biggest opportunities → The hidden Merchant Center organic feed that almost nobody optimizes

If you're a 7-8 figure eCommerce founder or operator still investing heavily in blog content without seeing returns, or just getting started with SEO, this episode will show you exactly where to redirect that effort for measurable traffic growth.

Your best customers have been trained to never pay full price. Every discount you send conditions them to wait for the next one, slowly destroying your profit margins even as sales volume stays steady. So how do you break the cycle without watching revenue collapse?

Guest:

Samar Owais Founder, Emails Done Right. Retention marketing strategist for 7-8 figure DTC brands

In This Episode:

→ Why changing your opt-in offer won't hurt existing customers (but will transform new customer economics)

→ The 3-step playbook for weaning brands off discounts: free shipping first, bundles second, subscriptions third

→ The metric that matters more than sales volume (and why founders obsess over the wrong number)

→ How to expect and survive the 90-day dip when transitioning away from discount-driven marketing

→ Why bundles are "discounts without calling them discounts" and how they increase AOV while protecting margins

→ Category-specific strategies: what works for beauty, supplements, snacks, coffee, and even one-time purchase products like water flossers

If you're a DTC founder or eCommerce operator tired of competing on price and ready to build a sustainable email retention strategy, this episode gives you the exact framework to start the transition.