Operators

100% Growth for 8 Years: IQBAR’s Will Nitze & Jess Greenwood 02.07.2026 1godz 36min

Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://9ops.co/applovin-referral“You are not trying if you’re not getting sued.” How did IQBAR go from a $90k Kickstarter to a nine-figure retail, DTC, and Amazon giant? Will Nitze (Founder & CEO) and Jessica Greenwood (CMO) join Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern). This is the product launch strategy and CPG marketing playbook they wish existed when they started. Will and Jessica detail their early tactics and walk through every funding round: from $625K at a $4M valuation to $5.5M at $50M. They doubled revenue every year for eight years, kept the team at 15 people, and never dropped below 50% ownership. Mike and Matt close on what killed dozens of competing bar brands in 2022 and why IQ BAR survived.

Opening Retail Stores vs. Going Wholesale: What the Numbers Say 01.07.2026 1godz 16min

Should you open your own stores, or let the big retailers do the heavy lifting? Curtis Matsko (CEO, Portland Leather Goods), Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi), and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) go head to head on one of the biggest channel decisions a consumer brand will face. Curtis went from a spite-signed lease to 16 owned stores, while Mike turned a $9 million Sam’s Club bet into 10,000 wholesale doors. This episode breaks down these two different paths and what each model actually costs you in competency, capital, and control, why the wrong channel for your product category is almost impossible to recover from, and what private equity is really looking for when they come knocking on an omnichannel brand. Powered By Fulfil https://9ops.co/fulfil Saras Analytics https://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc Postscript https://9ops.co/postscript Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Northbeam https://www.northbeam.io/ Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

Our 2026 Ecommerce Audit: Wins, Mistakes, Lessons & What’s Next 24.06.2026 1godz 8min

“Whoever can spend the most money is going to win.” Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge), Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi), Jason Panzer (President, HexClad), and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) audit the first half of 2026. The focus is a sound ecommerce growth strategy for Q3 and Q4. No guests, no fluff. Just what worked, what blew up, and where they’re placing their bets. Amazon leads the conversation, with Sean up over 100% year over year on full assortment parity and Mike beating Liquid IV on a $4 blended CAC. Wholesale gets a harder look, with Sean holding a big-three PO and an 18-month runway to shelf. The group then pulls apart margin profile as a competitive weapon, why most consumable brands are quietly heading toward a reckoning, and what it takes to set a spending floor competitors cannot match. Powered ByFulfilhttps://9ops.co/fulfil Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Richpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/4a3gzVvPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

How a $1.5B Pet Brand Wins at Ecommerce Marketing: Whisker’s CEO 18.06.2026 1godz 35min

Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators “We built our iPhone before we built our Apple.” How do you scale a hardware brand from $7M to $1.5B without chasing cheap CPMs? Jacob Zuppke (CEO, Whisker) joins Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) to break down how a self-cleaning litter box company became a $1.5B brand through US manufacturing, big creative swings, and a deliberate omnichannel strategy. Jacob breaks down the marketing that fueled a decade of growth, including how TV outperformed Meta for years, and why Whisker held off Amazon until branded search volume made the case impossible to ignore. He also gets into the Whisker app, which logs 4.7 million cat weigh-ins per day, and why that software layer is where the brand’s omnichannel strategy gets its deepest competitive teeth.

How Ridge’s Annual Revenue Hit +$250M & Sean Became a Dad 17.06.2026 1godz 8min

What does Ridge’s annual revenue growth 2025–2026 look like when you launch three new categories at once? Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge) joins Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) to get into what it looks like when a founder goes all-in on ecommerce product expansion while navigating new fatherhood, a tough M&A market, and a company that had to reinvent its growth story. Sean breaks down the Shark Ninja model. Ship fast, cut losers, never wait on a five-year roadmap. He walks through what made the Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) partnership succeed where a $4 million celebrity deal would have failed. Finally, he gets candid about fatherhood and the DTC acquisition market, where over 70% of deals since 2022 drew zero bids. Powered ByFulfilhttps://9ops.co/fulfil Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/4a3gzVvAftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Richpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Postscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

How to Pick a 3PL Without Getting Burned: Red Flags, Green Flags 10.06.2026 1godz 14min

Is owning your own warehouse worth the headache? Or is it a siren song that will slow your growth? Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case and Lomi), Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern), and Curtis Matsko (CEO, Portland Leather Goods) dig into two of the most expensive decisions in ecommerce. Should you own your warehouse or outsource fulfillment to a 3PL? Can a founder ever truly step back from the company they built? They break down the owned warehouse versus 3PL debate, covering when flexibility beats cost savings, and why high-growth brands get burned by leases. From there, the conversation shifts to founder identity and succession, what Tim Cook’s Apple exit and Doug McMillon’s Walmart departure reveal about leadership transitions, and why the skills that built your company can quietly become the thing holding it back. Powered ByFulfilhttps://9ops.co/fulfil Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/4a3gzVvPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptRichpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Operators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

From $10K Losses a Day to an L Catterton Deal: Zach Stuck’s Full Story 04.06.2026 1godz 29min

Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://axon.ai/en/9operators “We’ve never had anyone do four deals in 60 days.” How do you build two nine-figure brands with no outside investors and a Facebook ads background as your only real edge? Zach Stuck, founder of Easy Street Brands and co-founder of Hollow and Mars Men, joins Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge) to break down how he turned an agency into an eight-figure exit and cold-started two nine-figure brands in opposite categories. Closing four deals in 60 days and an L Catterton round, Zach’s brand building decisions are laid on the table. He walks through nearly losing Homestead keeping Hollow alive, and lays out the ecommerce strategy for building from zero. He closes on what the holdco model requires to work and why most operators get it wrong.

How Incrementality Cuts Waste + What and Where to Test in Ecommerce 03.06.2026 1godz 12min

Is your incrementality testing giving you accurate data or are you burning budget on a broken signal? Austin Harrison (CEO, Northbeam) joins Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge) and Katy Mimari (CEO, Caden Lane) to challenge the most repeated advice in ecommerce measurement: that longer tests are always better, holdouts are interchangeable, and incrementality alone is enough to make media decisions. They break down when a growing brand needs incrementality versus MTA, and how running tests inside a noisy environment can produce weeks of data worth nothing. Sean pulls from Ridge’s own results to show how layering incrementality on top of MTA unlocked YouTube spend that in-platform data never would have justified, while Katy’s botched first test proves clean test conditions matter as much as the tool itself. They also dig into why moving up funnel on Meta is outperforming conversion campaigns at scale, and what separates the fastest-growing ecommerce brands in 2026 on creative. Powered ByFulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vuSaras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescAftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Richpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Postscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

How Ecommerce CEOs Actually Pay Themselves (Real Answers) 27.05.2026 1godz 5min

“The obtaining of money is a lot easier than stewarding that money well.” Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge), Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern), and Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) dig into one of the most-requested topics from listeners: how do owner-operators pay themselves? And what should they be aiming for? The hosts walkthrough salary benchmarks, distribution strategies, and the honest math behind building long-term wealth in consumer. The conversation goes deep on the tension between pulling money out now versus betting on the asset long-term, creating a business that outlasts you as CEO, and why chasing one big exit can be the very thing that ruins the deal. They also get personal by sharing what they’d tell their younger selves, the difference between financial security and financial freedom, and why the number you think you need is almost always wrong. Powered ByFulfilhttps://9ops.co/fulfil Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptRichpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Operators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

How Tim Doyle Built Eucalyptus to $450M in ARR & Sold It for $1.15B 21.05.2026 1godz 40min

Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators How do you build a DTC telehealth platform from scratch and play the long game right? Tim Doyle, founder of Eucalyptus and incoming SVP International at Hims & Hers, joins hosts Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) for a wide-ranging conversation on building, scaling, and exiting one of the most ambitious DTC healthcare companies outside the US. Tim traces his path from political media buying in Australia to launching a multi-brand telehealth platform across multiple continents and the hard lessons in between. The conversation covers Tim’s “salary cap” approach to talent building, how Eucalyptus turned clinical outcomes into its most powerful marketing asset, and why he believes bold creative scripts remain the most underrated lever in consumer marketing.

How to Hire the 5 Ecommerce Roles That Will Make or Break Your Brand 20.05.2026 1godz 7min

“The right person does nothing but print money.” Sean Frank, Matt Bertulli, Curtis Matsko, and Katy Mimari get into a heated debate on the hardest roles to hire in ecommerce. Nobody agrees. And that’s exactly the point. The conversation tears through five make-or-break positions: (1) head of product, (2) head of growth, (3) head of Amazon, (4) creative strategist, and (5) head of influencer. Along the way, they expose why CMO is the shortest-tenured C-suite role for a reason, how a wedding photographer became a top-performing CMO, and what it takes to lock down great talent before they go build something on their own. Powered ByFulfilhttps://9ops.co/fulfil Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc Postscripthttps://9ops.co/postscript Richpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanel Northbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/ Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

Trends Shaping Health & Wellness in Ecommerce: GLP-1s & Beyond 13.05.2026 53min

What happens in ecommerce when obesity is cured? Sean Frank (CEO of Ridge) and Matt Bertulli (CEO of Pela Case x Lomi) dig into one of the biggest health-and-wellness trends they’ve seen in their careers: the GLP-1 wave and how it’s rewiring consumers. They cover who’s about to get crushed and who’s sitting on a gold mine. From the collapse of plus-size apparel and the slow death of junk food to the rise of fiber, longevity, and gut health, they map out the second and third-order effects. They also get into why ecommerce is still the fastest engine for CPG growth, and what Sean sees as the next ingredient trends worth betting on — colostrum to hair loss to mental health. Powered ByFulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vuPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptRichpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

Ecommerce Founder’s Guide to Owning Your Manufacturing & Factory 06.05.2026 1godz 17min

Could one bad supplier decision bring your entire ecommerce brand down? Curtis Matsko (CEO, Portland Leather Goods) joins hosts Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) to pull back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood decisions in consumer goods: vertical integration. Curtis built North America’s largest leather bag manufacturer in Mexico not by grand design, but out of pure necessity. The conversation covers why owning your factory can 10x your business or burn millions of dollars, and how China’s manufacturing dominance is being driven by robotics, not just cheap labor. They unpack how the coming wave of AI-powered robotics could reshape fulfillment and production faster than most operators expect, and close with the one move each host credits with 10xing their own business. Powered ByFulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vuRichpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

New Product Launch Playbook Behind 9-Figure Ecommerce Brands 29.04.2026 1godz 19min

“Marketing’s job gets a lot easier when they have new products to sell.” Curtis Matsko (CEO, Portland Leather Goods) and Katy Mimari (CEO, Caden Lane) join Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case and Lomi) to tackle one of our most requested topics. How to create and launch new ecommerce products. Each host brings a unique perspective. Curtis runs a 280k square-foot production facility and releases fresh products three times a week. Katy built Caden Lane into a 5,000-SKU brand by staying obsessed with what moms want next. Matt’s approach is on-demand, sustainable manufacturing balanced with high-velocity releases for new variants, colors, and sizes. Together, they unpack the art + data behind merchandising large catalogs, when to raise prices versus when to hold, and how to know when to kill a product before it quietly bleeds your business dry. Plus, Curtis reveals his secret (selling) weapon — an Insiders Facebook Group with +200k members. Powered ByFulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vuNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptRichpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

How Ecommerce Brands Can Fund Growth: Winning DTC Math 22.04.2026 1godz 6min

What happens when your bank promises you $20 million, strings you along for a year, and then rips it all away the same week you need it most? Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge) and Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) sit down with Curtis Matsko (CEO, Portland Leather Goods) for a raw conversation about how ecommerce brands fund growth. Curtis shares one of the most gut-punch founder stories in Operators history. Wells Fargo promised him a $20–25M line of credit, demanded $2M back overnight, and nearly killed Portland Leather Goods at the exact moment he had ~$14M tied up in a brand expansion. He survived a year of not paying suppliers, negotiating week-to-week, and somehow came out more profitable than before. The three dig into the real math of affording growth without investors. Why it’s “impossible, but you have to do it anyway,” how supplier relationships are the single best source of working capital leverage, and why the cash conversion cycle will break your business if your margins aren’t right. They close with one of the most important warnings for early operators — stop counting revenue, start counting what’s left. Powered By Fulfil https://bit.ly/3pAp2vu Saras Analytics https://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescAftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5Postscript https://9ops.co/postscriptRichpanel https://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeam https://www.northbeam.io/Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

Mike’s Story, From Yeti Knockoff to Building New Brands 15.04.2026 1godz 12min

What do you do when you’ve already won, and still can’t stop building? Sean Frank and Matthew Bertulli sit down with Mike Beckham, (CEO of Simple Modern and Simple Ventures), to unpack what happens after you climb the mountain. Mike shares how Simple Modern grew from a bootstrapped “Yeti knockoff” to nearly $200M in annual revenue, paid off all its debt, and suddenly found itself generating more cash than it could reinvest — and what he decided to do about it. The conversation covers Mike’s framework for capital allocation when the obvious moves run out, including why he launched electrolyte brand Trevi (and what the $2–3M learning curve actually bought him), how Simple Ventures is building a portfolio of lean, AI-powered businesses with single-threaded leaders, and why Mike believes now is the single best moment in history to be a builder. From the counterintuitive case for being 13th in a massive market, to rewiring your brain around what AI makes possible, to why physical goods aren’t going anywhere — this one goes deep. Powered ByFulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vuAftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Postscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptRichpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

Billions in Ecommerce Deals & How to Build a Brand Worth Buying 13.04.2026 1godz 7min

Special episode on what billions in recent ecommerce exits, raises, and M&A mean for your brand. Curtis Matsko (CEO, Portland Leather Goods) joins hosts Matt Bertulli (CEO, Pela Case & Lomi) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) to dig into the wave of consumer deals. They debate whether strategic buyers and PE firms are truly back, why physical consumer brands are suddenly looking like the safest asset class, and what it takes to build something worth acquiring. The conversation covers LTV math behind consumables to TikTok shop’s role in driving $200K days at Portland Leather Goods. It explores how to build a durable brand using first principles in a chaotic macro environment defined by tariffs and AI disruption. The speakers also dive into why omnichannel presence is now essential for a premium exit, and reveal the single most important question every founder must answer before taking their first step. Powered By Fulfil https://9ops.co/fulfil Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Northbeam https://www.northbeam.io/ Saras Analytics https://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc Postscript https://9ops.co/postscript Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

Marketer to President: Posh Peanuts’ Jenna Habayeb on Growth & Data 08.04.2026 1godz 7min

“If you become really good at harnessing that data, AI can let you not only predict the future, but create it.” Jenna Habayeb (President of Posh Peanut) sits down with Jason Panzer (President of HexClad) and honorary Operator’s co-host Cherene Aubert. Together, they unpack what modern ecommerce leadership looks like at every stage. Jenna brings a rare arc — from Ogilvy to Chief Brand Officer at Ipsy, where she helped grow the business from $300M to $1B, through a CRO role at Ruggable, and now her first president role at Posh Peanut. Discover the “forgotten community flywheel” and how a 250,000-person Facebook group drives real revenue. The conversation moves on to why most companies are further behind on data infrastructure than they’d like to admit — and why AI, layered on top of a clean data warehouse, is changing what’s possible. They also get into the evolution of the CMO role, managing teams up a mountain without losing your humanity, and the mental shift required when you go from marketer to president. Powered By Fulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vu Saras Analytics https://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc Postscripthttps://9ops.co/postscript Richpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanel Northbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/ Aftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Operators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

“It Was So Hard”: Operationalizing Scale With Spot & Tango’s Founder 01.04.2026 1godz 15min

“We had no cash, no supply chain, high product market fit, and low CAC. There was this giant button flashing: hyper growth.” What does it take to build a profitable pet brand from a studio apartment to a nine-figure business with its own factory? Russell Breuer (Co-Founder and CEO, Spot & Tango) joins hosts Sean Frank (CEO, Ridge) and Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) to trace the full arc of building one of DTC’s most quietly dominant pet brands. Russell shares how Spot & Tango launched Unkibble days into COVID with nearly no cash, sold out in three days, and then had to resist pressing the hyper-growth button without inventory to back it up. The conversation gets deep into the math of subscription growth — payback windows, LTV by channel, contribution margin, and why Russell’s kids know what a CAC is. They cover the contrarian decision to build a dedicated factory, how vertical integration added 30-plus margin points and created a competitive moat, the trade-offs of going omnichannel when you’re profitable DTC, and why discipline is what separates brands that last. Powered ByFulfilhttps://bit.ly/3pAp2vuAftersellhttps://9ops.co/4i3bb5Richpanelhttps://9ops.co/richpanelNorthbeamhttps://www.northbeam.io/Saras Analyticshttps://bit.ly/9OP-YtdescPostscripthttps://9ops.co/postscriptOperators Newsletterhttps://9operators.com/

How The Woobles Built a Cult Brand: Product, Not Marketing 26.03.2026 1godz 27min

Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators Can you build a beloved consumer brand around the joy of making something with your hands? Matt Bertulli and Mike Beckham sit down with Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang, Co-Founders of The Woobles — a crochet kit brand born from a personal journey through burnout, self-discovery, and a Brooklyn apartment full of hand-stamped packaging. What started as a side hobby became a business with Super Bowl airtime, a McDonald’s Monopoly partnership, and a spot on Shark Tank … where they walked away from every deal. The conversation covers the concept of “fiero” — the feeling of doing something you once thought was impossible — and why that idea sits at the core of everything The Woobles makes. Justine and Adrian discuss the brutal lessons of being listed as Joann Fabrics’ largest unsecured creditor, how iOS 14 forced them to rethink channel strategy, why product obsession beats marketing strategy, and what it’s like to build a company, a marriage, and a family all at the same time.