00:00 Introduction: Outsourcing, AI, and the Future of College Education 03:44 The Impact of Remote Work on American Workers 06:30 The Rise of the Global Workforce 26:41 Reevaluating the Concept of Equity in a Global Economy 27:39 The Rise of Robotics and AI in the Workforce 29:07 Remaining Competitive in a Changing Job Market 31:32 The Future of Credentialing 35:09 The Gig Economy and the Freelancification of Work 37:24 Government Policies and the Impact on Employment 47:37 The...

00:00 Government Bureaucracy and Productivity 07:05 Enforcement of Intellectual Property 14:37 The Speed of Government Action 30:45 The Impact on Brands and Creators 41:04 Innovative Brands: Malbon Golf and Rude 53:29 Challenges of Growing a Fashion Brand Operators Exclusive Slack: ⁠⁠⁠https://9operators.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA#/shared-invite/email⁠⁠⁠ Powered By: Fulfil.io. https://bit.ly/3pAp2vu The Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently...

00:00 Introduction and Overview 08:10 The Impact of Taxes on Entrepreneurship 15:20 The Rapid Growth of Temu 33:18 Adding Value, Building Brands, and Operational Excellence in Ecommerce 41:02 Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantages and Protecting Intellectual Property 52:04 Being Proactive and Vigilant in Protecting Your Business Operators Exclusive Slack: ⁠⁠⁠https://9operators.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA#/shared-invite/email⁠⁠⁠ Powered...

00:00 Introduction 08:02 Transitioning from Agency to In-House 30:34 Unlocking New Levels of Growth 37:26 Expanding into Consumables and Higher-End Appliances 46:29 Segmenting Ad Sets for New Product Categories 57:37 Measuring and Comparing Creative Metrics 01:08:28 Maximizing Potential through Editing Existing Creative Operators Exclusive Slack: ⁠⁠⁠https://9operators.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA#/shared-invite/email⁠⁠⁠ Powered...

00:00 Introduction and Overview 09:04 Personalized Investing 16:33 Growing your brand is hard 27:50 Managing Illiquid Assets 38:32 Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) 50:31 Investing in Growth Before It's Needed 58:00 HexClad and Amazon 01:09:24 Q1 Recap at Simple Modern Operators Exclusive Slack: ⁠⁠https://9operators.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA#/shared-invite/email⁠⁠ Powered By: Fulfil.io.https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP...

00:00 Introduction 03:09 Panzerism: Trust No One 04:06 Termination of Relationship with an Agency 07:53 Success, Failure, and Overvaluing Contributions 09:46 Building Trust and Hiring Practices 13:32 Challenges with Meta Advertising 15:00 Diversification into Other Channels 25:17 Transitioning to Other Channels 27:40 The Importance of Profitability and Knowing Your Numbers 30:01 Dealing with Meta Performance Issues 31:01 Navigating Conversion Lag and Meta Changes 36:19 Balancing...

02:00 Preparing for Father's Day 07:14 Content Planning and Pricing Strategy 11:11 Media Mix and Channel Activation 29:45 Channel Diversification and Crop Rotation 32:39 Initial Wins and Marketing Strategy 33:36 Challenges with Meta Platforms 35:09 Identifying Issues and Taking Action 36:08 Reallocating Budgets and Measuring Incremental Lift 38:47 The Importance of CPM and Channel Diversification 44:12 Building Redundancy and Expanding Product Categories 51:07 Creating Artificial...

00:00 Introduction and Background to Roman 06:05 Roman's Journey and Current Ventures 10:14 Lessons from Rocket Internet 13:29 Communication Platforms and Future Plans 24:32 The Importance of Supply Chain Management 31:02 Building Strong Relationships with Suppliers 32:21 Using Factories as Financing Partners 32:55 Negative Cash Conversion Cycles and Negotiation 35:14 Building Transparent and Trusting Relationships with Suppliers 38:38 The Success of Multi-Brand Models 41:28...

00:00 Introduction and Market Update 07:39 D2C Apocalypse: Meta Issues 33:02 The Challenges of Being an Amazon Seller 34:21 The Importance of a Differentiated Value Proposition 35:07 The Evolution of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Brands 36:01 The Role of Product and Brand in Retail 37:28 The Potential Ban of TikTok 38:13 Regulatory Concerns and Potential Buyers for TikTok 40:14 The Uncertainty of TikTok's Future 42:31 Considering the Impact of TikTok's Potential Ban 44:21 The Need for Focus and...

00:00 Ridge Retreat 03:12 Off-Site Team Building 06:08 Challenges of Hosting Retreats 07:36 New Product Launch: Hexclad Pizza Steel 11:51 Measuring Brand Awareness13:18 Aided and Unaided Awareness 15:21 Actionable Insights from Brand Awareness Data 20:59 Awareness vs Competitors 25:11 The Size of the Market 29:14 Expanding the TAM 31:05 Brand Awareness vs Brand Affinity 33:01 Building Market Share Regionally 35:24 The Importance of Household Penetration 36:19 Creating Organic...

In this episode, the Operators discuss Ridge's recent announcement that they've partnered with Marques Brownlee, the number one tech YouTuber. The decision to bring in Marques as an investor, advisor, and board member is driven by the belief that creator-led brands are the future. Sean explains that the skills that made Ridge successful in the past, such as digital marketing, are no longer as relevant due to changes in the digital advertising landscape. The partnership with Marques aims to...

03:42 Discussion on January Retail Sales 24:07 Analysis of Shopify's GMV in Q4 33:09 Panzerism of the week 41:49 Creating a Fun Work Environment 44:00 Yeti's Earnings and Expansion into Cookware 54:00 Challenges in the Bag Industry 01:05:23 The Importance of Gross Margin in Business Growth Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/s... Powered By: Fulfil.io. https://bit.ly/3pAp2vu The Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure...

00:00 Introduction and Random Conversations 06:00 Review of Tapestry's Earnings 20:16 Discussion on Amer Sports IPO 28:17 Analysis of Shopify's Price Increase 42:16 Exploring TikTok as a Marketing Platform 46:34 Sean's Bearish View on TikTok 48:29 Overspending on Amazon Advertising 53:24 Evaluation of TikTok 57:13 Assessing TikTok's Audience Trust 59:07 Complexity and Uncertainty in Geopolitics 01:04:43 Handling the Unknown in Business 01:05:38 Geopolitical...

00:00 January Performance 03:06 International Expansion 06:23 Competitor Challenges 11:31 The Rise and Fall of Brands 19:01 Surprising January Results 22:03 International Market Opportunities 32:00 Inventory Shortage 38:54 Scaling and Customization Challenges 39:28 Using Pre-Orders to Manage Demand 40:13 Scarcity as an Asset 41:46 Expanding to International Markets 42:16 Leveraging Scarcity for Higher Margins 45:13 Conditioning Customers to Act Quickly Summary: The conversation...

Episode 41 Summary The Operators discuss the topic of competition and how entrepreneurs think about their competitors. They explore the importance of understanding the competitive landscape and share their thoughts on spending time and energy on competitors. The conversation also touches on the concept of red ocean industries and the benefits of being in a growing category. The Operators emphasize the need to focus on running your own race and the dangers of imitating competitors without...

00:00 Enhancing customer experience through digital merchandising planning. 10:44 Seasonal merchandise crucial for successful wholesale strategy. 12:55 Research shows too many options can overwhelm. 20:32 Omnichannel complexities and retail trade-offs. 25:38 Exclusive SMU unit requires strategy. 29:50 Business adaptability leads to changes and growth. 38:15 Align products with brand message for success. 44:08 Merchandizing and brand building define company values. 46:29 Capitalizing...

00:00 The Importance of Taking Time Off 03:27 The Productivity Hack of Taking Space 05:05 Defining Productivity for Different Roles 10:18 The Lion Work Ethic 12:20 The Value of Planning and Prioritizing 13:53 The Importance of Delegating and Empowering Others 19:27 Differentiating Between Where and Why vs. What and How 22:30 The Potential of TV Advertising 24:14 Exploring Different Top-of-Funnel Sources 27:37 The Role of Owned Retail in Top-of-Funnel Awareness 29:15 The Limitations of...

00:00 Introduction and Importance of Inventory Management 01:24 The Complexity of Inventory Management 03:20 Factors Affecting Inventory Risk 05:27 Time-Based and Seasonal Inventory Risks 07:23 Product Market Fit and Specificness as Inventory Risks 09:15 The Financial Engineering Aspect of Inventory 10:04 The Impact of Inventory on Lending and Credit 13:15 The Importance of Managing Downside in Inventory 15:32 The Risks of Overstocking and Understocking 19:09 The Impact of Macro Factors on...

Operators Bonus Episode --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/9operators/message

00:00 Introduction and New Year's Celebration 01:29 Annual Planning and Quarterly Execution 03:17 Purpose and Use of Reporting 08:36 The Role of CEOs in Reporting 10:58 Expectations for 2024 in the DTC Industry 19:31 The Nature of Human Behaviour and Risk 24:47 Review of E-commerce Performance in 2023 29:23 Expanding Target Audience and Design 35:14 Targeting Niche Audiences 38:44 New Stuff, New Places, New People 41:10 Generating Demand and Acquiring New Customers 42:49 Conversion Rate for...

This is a special unreleased episode. The third show ever recorded by the Operators. (00:00) Introduction and Appreciation (01:57) The Effectiveness of Facebook Ads (03:35) The Role of Other Advertising Platforms (06:11) The Importance of In-Market Demand (08:17) The Debate: Remote vs. In-Office Work (17:03) Advantages of In-Office Work (21:23) The Challenges of Hybrid Work (25:35) The Future of Work: Remote or In-Office? (32:14) The Long-Term Trend of Work from Anywhere Operators...

December Pulse Check Peak Gift Giving Period Measurement of ROAS & MER Marketing Spend and Meta Ads Cost Caps Media Mix and Advertising Platforms Google vs. Facebook Advertising Different Advertising Strategies for Different Businesses The Role of Demand Generation and Search Factors Influencing Success on Facebook and Google The Importance of Intent Capture and Creation The Dominance of Meta (Facebook) in Advertising The Influence of Facebook Ad Dollars on E-commerce The Future of...

00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates 01:22 Twitter Game and Ecommerce Metrics 04:18 Using Logos on Websites 06:05 Opinions and Authenticity on Twitter 09:25 The Skill Tree Framework for Ecommerce 13:43 Taking Opportunities and Working at Growing Companies 19:19 The Nuances of Ecommerce and Individual Businesses 21:07 Personal Balance Sheets and Financial Security 25:20 The Impact of Personal Balance Sheets on Decision Making 31:51 The Role of Personal Balance Sheets in...

00:00 Exciting holiday sales followed by January slowdown. 04:32 Demand pulled forward during sales? 06:47 Embrace competition; it's a lever. 15:31 Rise in national brand sales surpasses expectations. 18:45 Innovation and freshness drive marketing success. 21:49 Water bottle manufacturing builds billion-dollar industry. 23:50 Silicone lid production is cost-prohibitive compared to China. 29:32 We need capital and better incentives for manufacturing. Dependence on China is a business...