DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

Episodet

• #368 - The Bootstrapper's 9-Figure CPG Playbook: How Azuna Went From DTC to Amazon to Retail With 300% YoY Growth & 2x LTV 25.02.2026 49min

  Scott Dancy is the founder and CEO of Azuna, a fast-growing brand in the air freshener space that champions natural, tea tree oil-based products. His experience spans hands-on entrepreneurship, product development, and building a high-growth business rooted in Buffalo. In this episode of DTC Pod, Scott shares how Azuna scaled from DIY packaging to thriving in DTC, Amazon, and retail channels. He breaks down product strategy, funding decisions, and marketing partnerships—highlighting lessons learned from both successes and setbacks in growing a modern CPG brand.
• #367 - The Insider's Guide to Supplements: What Every Founder Needs to Know About Compliance, Claims, and Scale 24.12.2025 53min

  Graham Rigby is the President and CEO of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), a 20-year veteran of the herbal supplements industry, and former Chief Innovation Officer at Care/of. He has also been involved with startups including Infinite Garden and Ingredient AI. In this episode of DTC Pod, Graham breaks down what founders need to know to build compliant, scalable supplement brands. He covers the regulatory landscape from FDA requirements and Good Manufacturing Practices to navigating claims and labeling, the difference between pharmaceutical and dietary supplement pathways, and how to work with contract manufacturers and trade associations. He also shares insights on how AI is transforming product formulation, why clinical research is now more accessible than ever for startups, and the tailwinds driving the $70 billion supplements category forward.
• #366 - 360° Brand Growth: How Premium Brands Crack the UK, Optimize Their Funnel & Scale Profitably 11.12.2025 48min

  Natalia Chappell is the founder and director of Natalia Chappell & Co, a UK-based consultancy helping luxury, fashion, and lifestyle brands scale sustainably through holistic digital marketing. In this episode of DTC Pod, Natalia shares her framework for building premium brands the right way. She covers everything from cracking the UK market as a US brand, optimizing your full funnel for profitable customer acquisition, and why authentic content and cultural relevance are key to winning younger consumers. She also opens up about her journey from THG's luxury division to launching her own agency as a female founder.
• 365 - From Clicks to Bricks: How Digitally Native Brands Go Massive in Retail 28.11.2025 58min

  Martin Forde is co-founder and partner at Highline Brands, a retail brokerage focused on helping modern, digitally native consumer brands make the leap into omnichannel retail. In this episode of DTC Pod, Martin shares actionable strategies for brands looking to enter retail. He covers everything from independent channels, online marketplaces, and supply chain setup to best practices for landing retail partnerships.
• #364 - Cracking the Code on Retention: Recharge CEO Reveals What Best-in-Class Subscription Brands Do Differently 31.10.2025 44min

  Oisin O’Connor is the CEO and co-founder of Recharge, a leading subscription management platform. Recharge now powers over 100 million subscribers and has reached $100 million in ARR, offering infrastructure for thousands of brands looking to build, optimize, and scale recurring revenue models. In this episode of DTC Pod, Oisin breaks down the evolution of subscriptions in e-commerce, critical product and acquisition strategies for founders, and actionable frameworks for increasing retention, customer lifetime value, and minimizing churn.
• 363 - Creating a Category Leader: The Absorption Company's Rise to Erewhon's #1 Functional Health Brand 21.10.2025 37min

  Zeke Bronfman is the co-founder and CEO of The Absorption Company, a health and wellness brand focused on creating the most bioavailable, highly absorbable supplements to help consumers actually get the nutrients they need. In this episode of DTC Pod, Zeke shares the origin story behind The Absorption Company, the science that sets their products apart, and the strategies used to carve out a unique space in the crowded wellness market.
• Packaging Like the Pros: The Hidden Process Behind Your Favorite CPG Brands 02.10.2025 51min

  Danielle Kidney-Beal is the founder of The Creative Pack. She brings over 20 years of experience in packaging design for CPG, DTC, and retail brands. Having worked on major accounts like Tesco and beloved emerging brands such as Nom Nom and Levain Bakery, Danielle shares the process and strategy of creating packaging that stands out, tells a compelling story, and supports rapid growth. In this episode of DTC Pod, Danielle breaks down the design process, regulations, production, material selection, print logistics, common mistakes, and how brands—both large and small—can use packaging as a powerful lever for sales and brand loyalty.
• #361 - From Ecuador to Your Table in 24 Hours: How UrbanStems Built a Time-Critical Supply Chain 26.09.2025 45min

  Meenakshi Lala is the CEO of UrbanStems, a leading e-commerce floral gifting company that specializes in sourcing premium, carefully curated bouquets from global farms and ensuring their timely delivery across the United States through a highly efficient, temperature-controlled supply chain. In this episode of DTC Pod, Meenakshi shares her unique journey from fashion to flowers and breaks down the operational and supply chain challenges of running a top-tier floral e-commerce brand.
• #360 - Supply Chain Lessons from Building Seed, Liquid IV, and Celsius 11.09.2025 49min

  Natan Bershtel is the Director of Business Development at Pelagic, a specialized operations consultancy that helps commerce brands optimize their supply chains and logistics systems to unlock scalability and profitability. In this episode of DTC Pod, Natan shares actionable insights on building resilient supply chains for DTC and omnichannel brands, whether you’re just starting out or scaling nationally. He discusses common pitfalls, strategies for sourcing the right partners, the importance of in-person relationships throughout the supply chain, and more.
• #359 - Inside Bullish: Lessons from Backing Major DTC Winners (Peloton, Harry’s, Warby Parker) 03.07.2025 47min

  Brent Vartan is Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Bullish, a hybrid branding agency and early-stage venture fund that backs some of the DTC’s most recognizable names, including Peloton, Warby Parker, Casper, Harry’s, Hu, Nom Nom, Bubble, and more. In this episode of DTC Pod, Brent discusses the DNA of world-class DTC brands, why foundational brand strategy matters more than ever, and how Bullish works alongside founders to create lasting, acquisition-worthy brands.
• #358 - The AI Ad Strategy Every DTC Brand Needs in 2025 feat. Bestever CEO Apoorva Govind 19.06.2025 52min

  Apoorva Govind is the founder and CEO of Bestever, a platform that helps brands analyze and generate ad creatives using AI. With a deep technical background from her previous roles at Uber, Apple, and Nvidia, Apoorva brings a data-driven approach to creative strategy and performance marketing. In this episode of DTC Pod, Apoorva discusses how AI is reshaping the creative process for e-commerce brands. She explains the importance of strategy and data in generating ads that convert, offers advice for early-stage brands on scaling creative, and shares her vision for the future of AI-powered content and workflow automation in marketing.
• #357 - Product First, Creator Second: How 1Up Candy Hit $10M in 10 Months feat. VOID CEO Chris Koch 29.05.2025 43min

  Chris Koch is the founder and CEO of VO/D, a venture studio that partners with major talent to build CPG brands in DTC, e-commerce, and retail. In this episode of DTC Pod, Chris shares how VO/D identifies product opportunities, vets creator partners, and structures deals for long-term growth, using the success of 1Up Candy as a case study.
• #356 - 0 to $50M in 24 Months: The Explosive Growth Story of BRĒZ feat. CEO Aaron Nosbisch 09.05.2025 48min

  Aaron Nosbisch is the founder and CEO of BRĒZ, one of the fastest-scaling CPG cannabis beverage brands, generating over $50 million in annual revenue—80% of that through DTC. In this episode of DTC Pod, Aaron unpacks everything from finding product-market fit, to assembling the right team, creative launch strategies, understanding unit economics for food and beverage DTC, leveraging organic and paid media, and building a durable flywheel by combining DTC and retail.
• #355 - The Truth About Scaling on Facebook: Lessons from $150M in Ad Spend 01.05.2025 40min

  Marin Ištvanić, a partner at Inspire Agency, has extensive experience scaling brands through paid social advertising, having personally spent over $150 million on Facebook ads. In this episode, Marin shares his insights on growing brands through paid social advertising. He discusses the importance of product-market fit, compelling offers, optimized landing pages, and data-driven creative strategies that resonate with target audiences.
• #354 - Tariffs, Duty Drawbacks, and Building a Bulletproof Supply Chain Strategy feat. Justin Sherlock 24.04.2025 55min

  Justin Sherlock is the co-founder and CEO of Caspian, an AI-native duty drawback platform designed to help brands navigate complex global trade and tariff environments. Prior to Caspian, Justin led Flexport Capital. In this episode, Justin breaks down the rapidly changing landscape of tariffs, duties, and global supply chains—especially relevant amid recent policy moves and volatile trade relations.
• #353 - Meta Ad Secrets: How Top DTC Brands Spend $300K/Month Profitably 28.03.2025 46min

  Peter Czepiga is the founder of Flighted, an agency that scales advertising for DTC brands. He also runs his own brand, Ando. In this episode, Peter shares his tactics for profitable Meta ad campaigns, including testing product-market fit, winning creative strategies, audience targeting, the impact of AI on ad production, and how DTC ad tactics apply to SaaS.
• #352 - Building a Profitable Timeless Brand: 20 Years, 8 Figures, 100% Bootstrapped with Parker Thatch 13.02.2025 49min

  Irene Chen and Matthew Grenby are the married co-founders of the luxury handbag and accessories brand Parker Thatch. In this episode of DTC Pod, Irene and Matt share their 20+ year entrepreneurial journey of bootstrapping their business to 8 figures in revenue. They discuss the ups and downs, key decisions, and lessons learned along the way that helped them achieve sustainable growth and longevity.
• #351 - The Content Strategy That Took Nectar Hard Seltzer to $5M+ in Revenue 06.02.2025 54min

  Caleb Alvarez is the founder of Shadow Light Studios, a content creation agency that specializes in short-form content for top-tier creators, entrepreneurs, and brands. In this episode, Caleb shares his insights on creating high-converting founder-led content that drives attention and revenue for DTC brands. He breaks down his tried-and-true content strategy framework that has helped scale brands from idea stage to millions in revenue.
• #350 - Inside Night Ventures: The Fund Behind Internet’s Top 1% Creators (Mr Beast, Kai Cenat, Hasan Piker) 26.12.2024 45min

  Ben Matthews is a general partner at Night Ventures, a seed fund focused on consumer, creator, and culture sectors. In this episode of DTC Pod, Ben shares his approach to incubating successful creator-led brands. He discusses key considerations when selecting talent, identifying market opportunities, and executing effectively. Ben also shares insights on the future of TikTok, the potential of "dark data" for creators, and the evolving landscape of the creator economy.
• #349 - Between Trends and Timelessness: The Antara Approach to Building Strong Brands from the Outside In 05.12.2024 35min

  Isabel Mendez is the founder and design director of the design studio Antara. In this episode of DTC Pod, Isabel discusses the importance of brand storytelling and cohesion amidst ever-changing design trends. She also shares her approach to creating a brand identity for clients, from research and ideation to design.