DTC Podcast

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Kareem Raslan (co-founder of BrainGain) breaks down how a “25 dumbbells in a garage” COVID side-hustle turned into a home gym brand with 100,000+ customers across 30 countries. We talk heavy-product logistics, why “just run Meta” isn’t the whole story, and what it really takes to expand across Europe without margin leakage.

For DTC operators selling high-AOV, physical products who want to expand beyond one market without getting crushed by fulfillment and localization.

In this episode, we cover:
Why BrainGain skipped dropshipping and went product-in-hand from day one
The Europe expansion reality: VAT, language, regulations, and market-by-market nuance
Why Germany can be the “logical” move… and still the hardest operationally
Their channel strategy today: ~50% Amazon / ~50% Shopify, with Google doing the heavy lifting
How YouTube affiliates drive trust for high-consideration purchases

Who this is for:
Founders and marketers selling heavy, high-AOV products (fitness, home goods, equipment) who need a real playbook for scaling across regions.

What to steal:
Build SKU-by-SKU unit economics so you know your true ceiling CAC (by market + channel)
Use YouTube affiliates for “proof” when the purchase isn’t impulsive
Audit 3PL invoices line-by-line (surcharges hide everywhere)

Timestamps
0:00 BrainGain’s growth from garage sales to 100,000 customers
2:00 How BrainGain started during COVID with Facebook Marketplace sales
5:00 Post-lockdown demand, competing in “big and heavy” products
7:00 Switching to Shopify and Amazon, building the brand online
14:40 Expanding across Europe: VAT, regulations, and localization realities
22:00 Channel mix breakdown: Amazon vs Shopify, Google vs Meta
24:00 Why BrainGain is saying no to TikTok influencers and leaning into YouTube affiliates
27:30 Picking the right 3PL in Europe and avoiding hidden surcharges
31:00 Fulfillment cost levers: packaging thresholds, pallet rules, invoice audits
34:10 SKU-level unit economics audit and setting a real CAC ceiling
37:20 Pricing strategy: Shopify vs Amazon and controlling channel mix
39:30 What US expansion could look like for heavy, bulky products

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If you’re a $5M+ brand owner or growth lead and Meta’s performance feels “fine but fragile,” this is probably why. Abby from Pilothouse breaks down how Andromeda changed the rules: targeting moved upstream into creative strategy, and the old “tiny tweaks + CTR tests” approach doesn’t survive in an AI-ranked feed.

Role-Based Hook: For DTC brand owners and growth leads at $5M+ who need a real Meta strategy for creative testing, not more random volume.

What you’ll learn (tactical + skimmable):
Why “go broad” without segmentation is a strategy fail (and a fast way to spike frequency)
The audience setup mistake that makes Meta hammer warm users instead of prospecting
Why micro-variants (same static, new headline) now read as boring to the algorithm
The new testing model: persona → concept → multiple formats (same message, different executions)
How to use competitive pressure to sharpen your differentiation strategy (not copy angles)

Who this is for: Owners + growth leads managing Meta as a core growth channel and trying to scale without wasting spend on over-frequency.

What to steal:
Ask your team for frequency split by new vs engaged vs existing over the last 30 days
Build creative tests around a persona hypothesis, then ship 5 distinct formats (carousel, static, UGC, iPhone selfie, trend)
Pressure-test messaging against competitors: “If we line up 5 brands, what do we say that only we can say?”

Timestamps
00:00 Andromeda changes how creative testing works
02:00 Why broad targeting breaks without proper audience segments
04:00 Frequency benchmarks and the prospecting mistake to watch
06:00 Why the old “pilot test” headline testing stopped working
08:00 Persona testing: turning pain points into ad angles
10:00 Differentiators vs competitors when everyone sells the same USP
12:00 The new testing stack: one concept, five creative formats
15:00 Building personas with the four Cs plus competitor ad library
18:00 Audit questions to ask your media buyer and creative strategist

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Laura Cantor, VP of Marketing & E-commerce at New York & Company, shares the reality of transforming a legacy retail brand in the age of AI - and why nobody can do it alone.

https://zenyt.ai/grow

In this episode:
🚀 Leading digital transformation at a legacy retail brand
🤖 Using to find 500+ site issues (and the problems AI creates) zenyt.ai/start
💻 Moving from Shopify Hydrogen to Liquid right before Black Friday
🤝 Why partnerships replaced competition in retail
🧠 AQ (Adaptability Quotient) - the skill that matters most
📱 Building in public and learning together
⚡ The reality of doing more with less in 2025
🎯 Why every problem now has 10 AI solutions (and nobody knows which works)

Key topics:
- The shift from headless back to Liquid (and why simplicity won)
- AI-powered site QA and the translation gap (zenyt.ai/start)
- Why collaboration beats secrecy in the AI era
- Post-COVID conference culture and community building
- Adaptability and unlearning in real-time
- NRF insights and retail trends for 2025
- The calculus class we're all failing together

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:30 - Laura's retail background (Ralph Lauren, J.Crew)
2:10 - New York & Company's digital transformation journey
4:40 - The biggest challenges: doing more with less
8:15 - AI creates problems AND solutions (the QA challenge)
15:50 - Why we moved from Hydrogen to Liquid
21:10 - The post that resonated across the industry
28:30 - Why partnerships matter more than competition now
33:00 - How agile teams adopt AI tools
36:35 - We're all failing calculus together
39:00 - Adaptability Quotient (AQ) - the new essential skill
44:50 - The power of clarity: translating robot to human
52:30 - Why retail is fundamentally a people business
55:45 - Upcoming events (eTail West, ShopTalk, Commerce Next)

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Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) used to feel “enterprise-only.” Not anymore. Tyler Masur (Head of Amazon at Pilothouse) breaks down what AMC actually does, how to use the no-code templates without being a SQL wizard, and the audience overlays that make broad keywords finally make sense.

Role-based hook: For Amazon operators and DTC teams spending real money on Sponsored Ads who want lower ACOS without sacrificing scale.

In this episode, we get tactical on:
What AMC is (and isn’t): audience building + deeper measurement layered on top of your existing console
How to start with the no-code audience + analytics templates (and when AI-generated SQL helps)
Why you should test AMC audiences in net-new campaigns (so you don’t accidentally choke your winners)
The “broad keyword + qualified audience” play (example: bidding on “cooler” but only for outdoors browsers)
Measuring DSP impact: what happens after someone sees DSP, then hits Sponsored Brands/Products

Who this is for: Amazon managers, DTC founders, and growth teams trying to scale Sponsored Ads past the “set it and forget it” phase.

What to steal:
Build a “generic keyword” campaign, then overlay an in-market audience (nodes/categories) so you can bid higher without paying for junk clicks.
Keep audience tests isolated in new campaigns; don’t jam audiences into legacy structures and hope.
Run the AMC overlap reporting to spot the campaigns that actually increase conversion when paired together (then fund those).

Timestamps:
0:00 Amazon Marketing Cloud is now open to all sellers
2:05 What AMC actually does: audiences and analytics
4:10 No-code templates vs custom SQL queries (and the built-in AI helper)
6:10 Audience targeting strategy to improve ACoS without over-narrowing
8:55 Using prebuilt analytics to see which campaigns lift conversion together
11:10 When AMC becomes worth it based on ad spend and effort required
13:15 How Pilothouse uses AI day-to-day for Amazon work (including Rufus content)
15:20 Measuring DSP incrementality and overlap with sponsored ads using AMC reports
17:30 Platform notes: Amazon layoffs and the OpenAI + Amazon speculation

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Bushbalm co-founder David Gaylord returns for his third appearance on the pod — and he brought receipts.

The brand just pulled off one of the most impressive growth runs in DTC:
70% YoY revenue growth
18,000+ waxing salon accounts (up from 2,000 in 2023)
Expanded shelf space at Ulta Beauty
Focused DTC growth (+25%) while spending less on Meta

We unpack how they’ve built a growth machine that’s lean, durable, and built on word of mouth — not channel sprawl.

For DTC brands thinking bigger than Meta ads.
Why their pro channel is the ultimate word-of-mouth flywheel
How they invest $200K+ into retail the right way
What goes into planning a product launch 2 years out
Why pulling back on Meta actually helped retention
How exclusivity (not everywhere all at once) became their moat

Who this is for: Brands navigating retail, trade marketing, or B2B scale

What to steal:
How to anchor your retail bet on ONE whale by building deep
Build demand from the pros outward
Treat your best partners like real channels (with loyalty perks + exclusive SKUs)

Timestamps
00:00 Bushbalm’s 70% growth and shift to profitability
02:30 Why retail and the pro channel now drive the business
06:20 Going deep with one key retailer instead of many
09:40 How trade marketing and in-store displays impact sales
12:30 DTC growth, Meta ads, and changing channel priorities
18:00 Launching exclusive products through the pro channel
22:00 Simplifying DTC assortments to improve performance
25:00 Category rewiring in hair removal and skincare
31:40 Expanding shelf space versus adding new retailers
37:00 Building a sustainable, profitable growth engine

Hashtags
#DTCPodcast #Bushbalm #DavidGaylord #DTC #Ecommerce #RetailStrategy #BeautyBrand #FounderJourney #RetailMarketing #ProChannel #UltaBeauty #BrandGrowth #Omnichannel

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