Operators

Why lower AOV and a disciplined P&L saved this brand from the brink.

Steven Borrelli (Founder & CEO, Cuts), Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern), and Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) unpack how Cuts reached $60M without outside money, then nearly went under when tariffs hit 145%. Steven walks through the layoffs, the first raise, and the comeback that followed. 

Selling 50K joggers sight unseen gave Cuts confidence it hadn’t earned. Steven explains how a lower AOV cut customer acquisition costs by 65%. Now Cuts is betting on elevated menswear priced below luxury labels, where winning products draw copycats. 

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How do you create a company culture that’s a competitive advantage?
Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) build culture through deliberate choices, while most brands leave it to chance. They work through it in five hard questions: 

1. Who should you let go? 

2. How close should you get? 

3. What won’t you tolerate? 

4. Why are values a “trade”? 

5. Where do leaders go next? 

Matt has hired and fired hundreds, and no two exits looked alike. Mike surveyed his entire team, and 80% praised the same quality in him: transparency. As AI takes over the busywork, trust becomes the real advantage. 

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Postscript 

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“It’s very easy to scrape an ad library, pull out concepts and then literally just duplicate the ad. That’s just a race to the bottom.” 

How do you learn from other brands without copying them? 

Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty) share their screens to walk through six consumables brands they’re learning from while building Winks. Each picked three, plus one bonus from outside DTC. 

1. Nutrition Geeks: UK single-ingredient 

2. Norse Organics: Natural acne care 

3. Elavate: UK collagen for women 

4. MarsMen: Testosterone support 

5. Spoiled Child: Oddity’s brand 

6. Boostcous: Gluten-free couscous 

(Bonus) Wispr Flow: AI voice app 

Matt and Cody trace each brand’s ads, landers and offers, including why long pages still convert. Some brands force subscriptions, others offer a choice, and a few lead with one-time bundles. Meanwhile, Winks is testing a no-subscription bundle of its own. 

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“If you don’t sell on Amazon, somebody else is gonna sell it.” 

When should a DTC brand stop treating Amazon as an afterthought? 

Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern), Jason Panzer (President, HexClad), Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi), and Katy Mimari (CEO, Caden Lane) break down the five things DTC brands must get right to scale on Amazon. 

1. Always stay in stock

2. Executive ownership

3. Tailor your catalog

4. Protect your reviews

5. Pricing and promotion

Amazon drives over half of Simple Modern’s contribution profit, yet Matt and Katy admit neglecting it. Mike’s fix covers five fronts: inventory, ownership, catalog, reviews, and pricing. Even HexClad is still learning, after underinvesting cost it millions this year. 

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“Creative supply chain is the essential ingredient of demand.” 

Get all the resources from this episode: https://9ops.co/abchwj

★ 6-step framework

★ Brief template

★ Hook training guide

Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road) launched Winks with more ads than lessons. Now they walk through the six steps every ad faces, starting with the message. 

1. Message 

2. Source 

3. Media Formats 

4. Creative Approach 

5. Funnel Role 

6. Production Checks 

More ads went live, but Cody still didn’t know what was working. The fix is research by hand, down to an Instagram feed trained to think like the buyer. With AI editing and uploading their ads, taste is the job left for people. 

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“We didn’t actually choose them. They chose us.”

Can a bootstrapped brand enter Target and Costco while still growing DTC? 

Alex Schinasi (Co-Founder & President, Hulken) joins Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) to unpack how a two-time SaaS founder built a ~$50M rolling tote brand without raising money. 

She had raised $3M for a new SaaS when Hulken hit $1M a month. A year later she exited the startup, and now nine people run the business with AI chiefs of staff. She wants a brand that lasts decades, yet she still moves at software speed. 

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AfterShip 

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Podqi 

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AppLovin 

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https://applovin.com/9operators 

“Some businesses aren’t ready for great CMOs.” 

What do CMOs need from their CEOs but never say out loud? 

MacCoy Merkley (CMO, Portland Leather Goods), Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi), Jason Panzer (President, HexClad), and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) unpack 5 truths CMOs won’t say to the boss’s face, and what CEOs lose by ignoring them. 

MacCoy took a $13K-a-year job off Craigslist and now leads marketing at a nearly $250M brand. HexClad still has no CMO, so Jason and its co-founders carry the role themselves. Hand the keys to the wrong hire, and the blame lands long before the results do. 

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“A great offer makes the customer feel stupid for saying no.” 

How do you know your offer is wrong before the market tells you? 

Jordan Menard (Co-Founder, Instant Hydration) and Lina Fahizul (Chief Ovary Officer, Freelance) join this episode to put Winks’ pricing, promotion, and pitch on trial. The payoff is a 10-element offer playbook any DTC brand can steal. 

1. Not just price or discounts 

2. Fits how the product is used 

3. One customer + one problem 

4. Adds value before discounts 

5. Tackles your top objections 

6. Gives a reason to buy “now” 

7. Priced right for your market 

8. Your most-valuable customer 

9. Built for orders 2, 3, 4, etc. 

10. Profitable unit economics  

It starts from a simple claim: Your discount gives away margin once. Jordan catches the founders without an answer for the CAC they can afford. Lina shows why making moms feel bad wins the click and loses the customer. Today's “winning” offer could lose money for months. 

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“Better is probably the worst word you could use in marketing.” 

How can a DTC brand stand out in a category full of identical promises? 

Matt Orlić (Co-Founder, Qure Skincare) joins Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) and Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) to break down why brand positioning beats a better product. Each story shows how a brand can win a crowded category without inventing anything new. 

Qure’s water filters beat Jolie’s on technology and patents, yet Orlić can’t out-position them. Mike explains how Yeti took Thermos’s 1800s vacuum insulation and sold it for cold drinks. Once a position works, competitors move in, and the founders debate how to hold it. 

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“We know how to run ads. This is a playbook.” 

How should you market a new DTC brand in its first six weeks? 

Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi), Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Curtis Christopherson (Chief Growth Officer, Ammortal) hold the Winks marketing plan up against the results since launch. 

They built the brand for moms, yet men keep showing up to buy. Meta CPMs hit $800 until a free account fix and a smaller budget turned them around. Now creators and credible doctors have to bring CAC down to $100 before they scale. 

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