Cash is king, period. In this episode, the operators get real about why cash flow matters more than your P&L, EBITDA, or vanity revenue numbers. They share their worst "cash crunch" war stories, like pushing payroll or having to choose between buying inventory and paying taxes. To prove a hard lesson: even profitable businesses go bankrupt all the time. You'll learn the backward-sounding truth of e-commerce: rapid growth bleeds cash, while slowing down can actually fill your bank account. They get into the weeds on risky trend-based inventory, and how to get your suppliers to finance your growth by trading margin for better terms. They also cover the real cost of equity (why you should probably just take the money) and why you need a serious finance team and audits long before you ever think about selling.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:07 - Worst Cash Crunch Moments

00:18:26 - How Growth & Inventory Type Affect Cash Flow

00:34:50 - Tactical Ways to Protect Cash

00:46:26 - The Truth About Equity Financing

01:03:27 - Partnership, Paranoia, and Playing the Leverage Game

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Fulfil.io.

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The Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands.

Northbeam.

https://www.northbeam.io/

Richpanel.

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Saras.

https://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc

Rivo.

https://www.rivo.io/operators

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https://9ops.co/channels

Join hosts Matt Bertulli and Jason Panzer to experience the journey of Yariv Citron, Co-Founder & CMO of MAËLYS. After leaving law school, Yariv faced the crushing decision to shut down his first business. Yet, he emerged resilient, venturing into the fiercely competitive beauty industry with a bold vision to “break the feed” and redefine body care.

Born from a hero product, the Booty Lift and Firm Mask, Yariv and his co-founders took a daring leap, securing personal loans to fund their dream and launch MAËLYS with a mega-influencer campaign centered on Khloe Kardashian. This bold move not only expanded their audience but also solidified MAËLYS as a brand that challenges norms and empowers women with innovative, clinically proven solutions.

Today, the company is on track to achieve $150-200 million in annual revenue while maintaining profitability. Discover how personal setbacks became the foundation for extraordinary success, and learn the tactics behind MAËLYS’ rapid growth. This episode is essential listening for anyone looking to understand the grit, innovation, and determination required to build a disruptive brand.

In this episode, the Operators dive deep into omnichannel strategy, starting with the lingering debate: should your brand be on Amazon? The hosts break down the pros of incrementality and meeting customers where they are. Versus the cons of price wars, channel conflict, and the platform's brand-unfriendly nature.

The discussion then shifts to the high-stakes game of wholesale, weighing the relative safety of the "Big Three" (Costco, Target, Walmart) against the serious financial risks of smaller retailers going bankrupt.

Finally, the squad debates the ultimate omnichannel play: opening your own physical stores. They explore the potential for unique customer experiences and domestic supply chain advantages versus the immense complexity, high costs, and low success rate for digitally-native brands.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:16:55 - "Is it Good For My Brand?" Amazon Debate

00:33:30 - The Risks of Wholesale

00:43:45 - Is Being in Big Stores Worth It?

00:56:51 - The Case for Owned Retail

Powered By:

Fulfil.io.

https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands.

Northbeam.

https://www.northbeam.io/

Postscript.

https://postscript.io/

Richpanel.

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Saras.

https://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc

Subscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here:

https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperators

Subscribe to The Finance Operators here:

https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPS

Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here:

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Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits.

https://9operators.com/applovin

Founder anxiety. Sleepless nights. Standing on the brink of bankruptcy. Anyone who’s put their own chip on the table knows just how painful leading a brand can be. What if it wasn’t just one brand, but a portfolio of companies?

Join hosts Matthew Bertulli and Jason Panzer as they explore Roman Khan’s journey from staring into the abyss to building a holdco of multiple +$100M brands as the president of Peak 21.

Discover the challenges + triumphs of entrepreneurship, the importance of distribution over product, and Roman’s unique approach to scaling brands like Raycon, Linjer, Nutrition Kitchen, and more. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned business leader, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and brutally honest inspiration.

00:00 – The Titanic Moment: Facing Bankruptcy

02:46 – Learning From Failure and Founder Anxiety

04:20 – From Finance to Rocket Internet

06:09 – Starting Linjer: The $20K Kickstarter Gamble

07:56 – Pivoting to Jewelry and Early Wins

11:25 – Turning 40: Wealth, Purpose & Gratitude

15:26 – The Raycon Story: A $14M Playbook for Growth

25:55 – How to Buy and Scale Companies the Smart Way

39:00 – Leading Teams: Radical Accountability & Execution

47:00 – Marketing Deep Dive: Meta, AppLovin & the Future of Growth

01:05:00 – AI, Creativity & The Next Era of E-commerce

01:22:00 – TITANS 10: Rapid-Fire Founder Insights

In this episode, the Operators dive deep into the realities of business planning and what happens when things inevitably go off track. They discuss the necessity of formalizing operations as you scale, using frameworks like EOS for quarterly planning and setting OKRs. The hosts share tough lessons on why forecasts are always wrong , the three main reasons plans fail (bad goals, poor execution, or market forces), and the critical growth levers for scaling: brand awareness, new products, and international expansion. They also cover the intense financial discipline required when taking on bank debt and managing covenants , the importance of managing shareholder expectations versus reality , and the best strategies for communicating bad news to your team—like "going ugly early" while always providing hope.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:19:49 Breaking Down Our Quarterly Planning Process

00:33:40 Top Down vs Bottoms Up Strategy

00:49:09 A Tough Lesson in Tripping Bank Covenants

01:03:53 How to Deliver Bad News

Powered By:

Fulfil.io.

https://bit.ly/3pAp2vu

The Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands.

Northbeam.

https://www.northbeam.io/

Postscript.

https://postscript.io/

Richpanel.

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Saras.

https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_more

Subscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here:

https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperators

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In this episode, we sit down with Bill and Josh from Baseball Lifestyle to unpack their incredible growth story, from a high school Instagram account to a projected $150 million business. They share the secrets behind their success, including the power of niching down in a passionate community and the relentless consistency of posting content for years to build an audience. We dive deep into their bootstrapped financing strategy, leveraging first-order profitability and revenue-based financing to scale inventory and marketing. Bill and Josh also discuss the critical operational challenges of hyper-growth, the importance of their unique founder partnership, and how their high-frequency product drop model fuels an impressive customer LTV. Discover how they successfully balanced their DTC roots with a massive wholesale expansion into retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods, turning their brand into a nine-figure behemoth.

Chapters:

00:03:50 - Introduction

00:22:35 - Power of a Great Business Duo

00:41:44 - North Star Metric for Your Business

00:57:21 - Painful Reality of Hyper-Growth

01:18:15 - How to Balance Wholesale and E-commerce

Powered By:

Fulfil.io.

https://bit.ly/3pAp2vu

The Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands.

Northbeam.

https://www.northbeam.io/

Postscript.

https://postscript.io/

Richpanel.

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Saras.

https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_more

Subscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here:

https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperators

Subscribe to The Finance Operators here:

https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPS

Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here:

https://9operators.com/

Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits.

https://9operators.com/applovin

Jack Gia shares his expansive journey from enterprise technology to investing to founding Muesly, a prescription skincare brand with over one million customers and $100M in annual revenue.

Along with hosts Matt Bertulli and Mike Beckham, they discuss the importance of innovation, learning from failures, and the challenges of building a telehealth platform. Jack emphasizes the significance of community engagement and real customer stories in marketing, as well as the core ethos of DIY. He offers valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs — a calculated yet action-oriented approach to business.

What's it like to build the fastest-growing company in American history... and then watch it all come crashing down? We sat down with John Hefter, co-founder of the legendary Amazon aggregator Thrasio, for a brutally honest conversation about the company's wild ride from a multi-billion dollar unicorn to bankruptcy.John takes us from the very beginning, launching from a co-founder's basement with a simple Google search to raising nearly $3.5 billion and reaching a staggering $9 billion valuation. He shares the incredible inside story of "Angry Orange," the pet deodorizer brand that became the "smell of gold" and proved their model could work on a massive scale.But with insane growth came chaos. John pulls back the curtain on the dark side of the Amazon marketplace, battling black-hat sellers and the operational nightmare of acquiring four companies in a single week. He reveals the surreal moment he knew the dream was over, standing at a lavish party in Cabo when he got the call about a single, catastrophic $450 million inventory mistake.This isn't just a business story; it's a cautionary tale about the real cost of moving too fast. Tune in to hear John's unfiltered take on the future of Amazon FBA, his hard-won advice for founders, and what comes after surviving the unicorn rollercoaster.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction

00:05:10 - How Thrasio Started in a Basement

00:19:11 - Insane Pre-COVID Growth

00:23:18 - Beginning of the End

00:41:39 - The Moment It All Blew Up

00:53:57 - Future of Amazon FBAPowered By:Fulfil.io.https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands. Northbeam.https://www.northbeam.io/Postscript.https://postscript.io/Richpanel.https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescSaras.https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_moreSubscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperatorsSubscribe to The Finance Operators here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPS Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

What is the future of e-commerce? In this episode, the Operators tackle the biggest questions facing brands today. We explore the rise of "Agentic Commerce" and the concept of the "Me Store". A future where personal AI assistants curate and conduct our shopping, potentially replacing the traditional e-commerce storefront as we know it.The conversation then dives deep into one of the most critical topics for any founder: brand. How do you distinguish between building an enduring brand versus chasing a fleeting trend? We break down the Stanley cup phenomenon as a case study and debate the best ways to measure true brand power. Is it about pricing power and repeat purchase rates, or is brand evangelism the ultimate metric? Finally, we explore different strategies for brand growth and category expansion, looking at how to stay true to a core customer while still finding new avenues for growth. Join us for a forward-looking discussion on the threats, opportunities, and strategic pivots required to win in the next era of commerce.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction00:06:15 - Stealing Marketing Ideas from 50 Years Ago00:17:47 - How AI Will Change E-Commerce Forever00:36:44 - How Do You Actually Measure "Brand"?00:49:30 - Analyzing Post-Purchase Survey Data00:56:52 - Brand vs. TrendPowered By:Fulfil.io.https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands. Northbeam.https://www.northbeam.io/Postscript.https://postscript.io/Richpanel.https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescSaras.https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_moreSubscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperatorsSubscribe to The Finance Operators here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPS Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits.

https://9ops.co/channels

Hosts Matthew Bertulli and Sean Frank go behind-the-scenes with Katy Mimari, founder and CEO of +$100M baby brand Caden Lane.

Katy shares her 21-year entrepreneurial journey, detailing the motivations behind starting her company, the challenges faced during economic downturns, and her pivotal decision to transition into DTC.

She discusses the importance of product expansion, compassionate leadership, and the lessons learned throughout her journey.

Katy reflects on the decision not to sell her company along with the personal growth that has come from navigating the complexities of business ownership, going from single mother to blended family, and life.

Chapters

00:00 The Genesis of Caden Lane

09:20 Navigating Challenges and Growth

17:46 The Transition to Direct-to-Consumer

25:50 Rebuilding and Expanding Product Lines

37:06 The Decision Not to Sell: A Personal Journey

56:37 Lessons Learned and Future Aspirations