Retail War Games

In this episode of Retail War Games, I am joined by David Heacock, the founder and CEO of Filterbuy, for an absolute masterclass on what it takes to disrupt a commodity category. David walked away from a career as an options trader at Goldman Sachs to buy a struggling industrial supply house in Alabama, eventually pivoting it into one of the largest direct-to-consumer air filter manufacturers in the United States, on track to clear over $300 million in revenue.

David pulls back the curtain on why he views Filterbuy strictly as a logistics business rather than an air filter brand. Because air filters are incredibly expensive and bulky to ship, David solved the scaling equation by building a massive manufacturing and fulfillment network. Spanning nine facilities across the US and Canada, his infrastructure allows Filterbuy to produce 150,000 filters daily and achieve next-day delivery to 80% of the country. We also break down the broken realities of the retail shelf space landscape, why the omnichannel strategy of matching online and in-store pricing is pricing major retailers completely out of the market, and how Filterbuy uses granular zip-code purchase data to prove exactly why traditional big-box stores are stocking the wrong sizes. From expanding into commercial B2B spaces like hospitals and hotels to their massive new push into mini-splits and air purification verticals, David's framework is a masterclass in scale, operational moat-building, and engineering an unbeatable consumer advantage.

In this special episode of Retail War Games, we share the incredible keynote presentation by Robert Pedersen, co-founder and former CEO of ZAGG, recorded live at the Retail Collective Summit on May 4–5, 2026, in Ogden, Utah. Robert delivers an unfiltered masterclass on operational resilience and bold experimentation, revealing how he scaled a hardware brand from a simple mall kiosk into a $265 million public powerhouse listed on the NASDAQ. The core of his message lies in a profound piece of advice passed down by his father: the highway to success is always under construction. Instead of viewing structural challenges or market delays as dead ends, Robert breaks down why entrepreneurs must embrace a "why not?" mindset that prioritizes immediate action and flips every obstacle into a detour toward profit.

Throughout the presentation, Robert exposes rare, behind-the-scenes stories of strategic dealmaking and guerrilla marketing. He walks us through how a simple dinner in New York turned into the landmark $105 million acquisition of their up-and-coming rival, iFrogz, effectively protecting their retail market at Walmart and proving completely accretive to their public stock price. He also recounts the wild, legendary marketing plays where he willed massive strategic partnerships into existence, including bringing MC Hammer directly into Apple's corporate headquarters and converting a threatening legal cease-and-desist from Kim Kardashian's attorneys into a highly lucrative global product partnership that landed in Apple stores worldwide. This keynote is an indispensable guide for founders and executives trying to navigate the complex, unpredictable construction zones of modern retail with absolute integrity.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I'm joined by Jon Klotz, the President of Natural Waterscapes. Jon shares an incredible masterclass on how he took a traditional, boots-on-the-ground environmental construction company and completely pivoted it into a hyper-efficient, 100% controlled direct-to-consumer product powerhouse.

We dive deep into why Jon made the high-stakes decision to completely shut down his multi-state construction division to double down entirely on e-commerce and proprietary product development. Jon breaks down a massive macro shift happening right under our feet: the death of traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the rapid rise of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). He explains how his team built a cutting-edge web app ecosystem to capture this shift, utilizing third-party watershed and soil data to predict exactly what treatments a customer's pond or lake will need before problems even start—locking in deep customer stickiness and securing margin-heavy sales.

In this exclusive panel recorded live at the Retail Collective Summit, top-tier founders and retail executives come together to decode the shifting paradigms of high-end consumer behavior. Hosted by local celebrity Lori Prichard (KSL) and moderated by Rebekah Kondrat (Rekon Retail), this masterclass features an unfiltered look into product engineering, supply chain adaptability, and the transition into quiet luxury.

We explore how luxury has completely redefined itself in modern retail, moving away from loud, logo-driven status symbols toward emotional resonance, extreme convenience, and tactile comfort. The panelists pull back the curtain on how their respective brands navigate volatile global tariffs, execute sophisticated dynamic pricing, and weigh the multi-million-dollar financial commitments of physical retail vs. wholesale channels.

Moderators: Lori Prichard | Journalist & Anchor, KSL - Rebekah Kondrat | Founder & Managing Partner, Rekon Retail

Panelists: Lauren Smith | Founder, Smith Luxe - Ashley Neeleman Cole | Founder, Cecelia NY - Blake Brown | Founder/Executive, KURU Footwear - Hyaat Chaudhary | Founder & CEO, Luxome

In this episode of Retail War Games, I am joined by Jim Umlauf, the founder of 4Knines. Jim is a fascinating operator who spent 20 years at the pharmaceutical giant Merck before pulling the ripcord to turn a weekend-warrior side hustle into a highly efficient, multi-million-dollar pet brand.

We explore how Jim completely re-engineered traditional direct-to-consumer operations by shrinking his internal team down to just three full-time people and leveraging heavy intellectual property, including well over 20 patents. But the most mind-blowing part of this episode is how Jim is completely ahead of the curve on AI-driven shopping. He reveals how 4Knines is already generating nearly 10% of its entire revenue directly through large language models like ChatGPT and Perplexity as consumers shift from search engines to AI purchase agents. We also talk about his high-profile contract deals with auto giants like Ford and Mopar, and how to protect profit margins against volatile tariffs.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I sit down with Ben Baltes, the co-founder and CEO of Toybox. Ben is a brilliant former Microsoft programmer who took a heavily fragmented, complex industrial tool and completely reimagined it for true consumer adoption.

We pull back the curtain on how Toybox built a friction-free "click-to-print" software ecosystem that allows kids aged 6 to 12 to print out high-quality toys with the press of a button. Ben shares the reality of moving from an 8-year, highly predictable DTC framework to landing major retail wins—including an insane 20,000-unit sell-out at Sam's Club in just a couple of months. We also dive into the high-stakes world of entertainment licensing with heavy hitters like DreamWorks, Warner Bros, and NASA, and get the honest, unfiltered story of how a legendary appearance on Shark Tank literally saved the business from shutting down.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I sit down with Matthew Holman, the founder of Subscription Prescription. Matthew is a leading expert in helping brands scale their recurring revenue models and build sustainable, multi-channel growth systems.

We dive deep into why the retail landscape has completely flipped over the last few years. Matthew explains why direct-to-consumer brands are now racing to get onto physical retail shelves to escape skyrocketing digital customer acquisition costs and build more predictable cash flows. We also crack the code on modern platform trends, discussing the true power of TikTok Shop, the role of Amazon, and why brands must treat new digital channels with a focused, purposeful startup mindset.

Key Strategic Insights from our conversation:

• The Retail Flip: Why direct-to-consumer brands are moving to brick-and-mortar retail to secure predictable purchase orders and escape volatile digital ad costs.

• The Reality of the Digital Market: Understanding that direct-to-consumer e-commerce only makes up 20% to 25% of all retail sales in the U.S., with half of that market completely dominated by Amazon.

• Purposeful Multi-Channel Strategy: Why massive retail brands shouldn't just take giant, blind swings on digital, but instead approach new platforms with careful, starter-sized experiments.

• Cracking TikTok Shop: How to approach TikTok as a content-driven discovery platform, even if your product isn't traditionally "visual" or exciting.

• Two Distinct Industries: Why traditional brick-and-mortar operations and modern e-commerce require completely separate tech stacks, marketing strategies, and expertise.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I'm joined by John Mansfield, the Chief Operating Officer of Dogtopia. John is a powerhouse operator with an incredible track record of working with world-class, premium brands. From starting his career as a high school junior at Oakley and staying for 15 years, to operational roles at Porsche and fast-casual dining, John has spent his life learning the ultimate power of brand loyalty.

Now at the helm of Dogtopia, John pulls back the curtain on how the company executed an explosive growth strategy, scaling from just 28 locations in 2016 to over 275 franchise locations today. We dive deep into what John calls the "childification of dogs," the shift toward predictable, subscription-based recurring revenue, and how they are using custom wearable tech to completely disrupt the pet care market.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I sit down with Terri Gelman, the CEO and Founder of E&T Horizons (DecoTeak). Terri has spent over 15 years building a successful, digitally native brand rooted in quality, sustainability, and intimate global partnerships.

We explore Terri's journey from starting with children's furniture to becoming a leader in the premium teak market, serving boutique resorts in the Caribbean and homes across the U.S.. Terri pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to manage a supply chain in Indonesia and Vietnam, why she prioritizes handmade craftsmanship over plastic mass production, and how she navigated the "supply chain mess" of the post-COVID era.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I sit down with Kristin Harrer, a world-class marketer who has spent the last 20 years leading some of the most iconic brands on the planet. From her early days as a collegiate athlete to her time as a Global CMO, Kristin has approached her career as a "corporate troubadour," strategically collecting experiences across tech, hardware, fashion, and CPG.

We dive into how Kristin used her JD/MBA background to distill massive amounts of information into persuasive brand arguments and why she believes the "metabolism of the consumer" requires brands to be more focused than ever. Kristin also shares a provocative look at the future of the industry, explaining why she'll never lead a 400-person team again and how AI is fundamentally reimagining the marketing tech stack.