SummaryDrew Fallon, a former finance professional turned DTC entrepreneur, shares his journey from banking to e-commerce. He discusses the success of Mad Rabbit Tattoo, a beauty brand he co-founded, and the challenges he faced in the DTC space. Drew emphasizes the importance of financial rigor in e-commerce and introduces Iris, his new venture aimed at providing real-time financial insights for consumer brands. He highlights how Iris helps brands understand profitability and manage cash flow through data centralization. Drew also provides insights into the stock market, specifically discussing the potential of HIMS as a promising investment due to its subscription-based model and high margins. He concludes by sharing his thoughts on the importance of dedication and discipline in achieving excellence.TakeawaysStarting in e-commerce requires understanding both marketing and financial management.The transition from banking to entrepreneurship can offer valuable perspectives.Financial rigor and real-time insights are crucial for scaling DTC businesses.HIMSS demonstrates how a subscription model in healthcare can mimic the high margins and retention rates of SaaS businesses.Dedication and discipline are key to achieving excellence in any field.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background01:50 Starting in E-commerce03:35 Early Success with Mad Rabbit Tattoo06:20 The Role of Financial Rigor in E-commerce10:40 Transition from Banking to Entrepreneurship12:55 Launching Iris18:00 How Iris Helps Brands Manage Financial Performance21:30 Insights on HIMS and the Stock Market28:10 The Importance of Contribution Margin35:45 The Challenges of DTC Businesses41:20 Drew's Equation of Excellence: Dedication and Discipline43:30 Where to Find Drew and Iris

In the world of marketing, much like gambling, we take calculated risks. We strategize, we forecast, and we adjust. Today on Decoded, we'll look beyond numbers and wagers through Blaise Pascal, whose thoughts, often poetic and deeply personal, remind us that at the core of all of our strategies lies a human touch. “GOOD IDEAS DON’T MATTER. GOOD PEOPLE DO.”{00:07:11} - “A lot of magic happens when you allow yourself to be bored. I actually think that's when really interesting things come about.” - Rabah{00:11:05} - “When people ask me how much I should post on social media, that's not the right question. The question is, how many times can I post while generating value?” - Rabah{00:18:02}} - “In investing, you actually would rather be right once or twice really heavy. Whereas in marketing, it's the opposite. I want to figure out where I'm right and use it almost more of as experimentation to palpitate the elephant. And then when I do find a really awesome well to dig, then I'm going to put more rigs on that land and then keep doing that.” - Rabah{00:22:45} - “Having intersectional knowledge gets really, really interesting. That's when you can really find some big unlocks.”  - Rabah

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was much more than Isaac Newton's rival. He was a polymath who dabbled in everything from music to metaphysics and embodied the spirit of true deep generalism. Modern marketers can connect the dots, even if you didn't know they exist, by studying continual change: from calculus or clicks."ABSORB WHAT'S USEFUL, REJECT WHAT'S USELESS."{00:10:04} - “A lot of people think that there are these tried and true tactics for this and that and the other thing. And there's just so much nuance to our businesses, and then there's so much nuance to the scale that you're at. There's so much nuance to the context of the company.” - Rabah{00:19:38} - “Every part of a digital experience, perhaps your website, every product recommendation, every marketing message, could be tailored in the future to reflect the unique needs and desires and the context of the individual consumer. What Leibniz teaches us through monadology is about our interconnectedness: to a brand, to a purchase, to a product, and each other.” - Phillip{00:34:27} - “The way I define or bifurcate marketing from sales is marketing is selling one to many. Sales is selling one-to-one. And now you're seeing a blurring of the lines with technology. Now I can market almost one to one, not in the actual literal sense, but in that persona, jobs to be done, where that person is on their customer journey, and what I know about them.” - Rabah

Is the “path of least resistance” a universally true experience? Do all customers experience resistance the same way? In this episode, Rishabh Jain and Rabah Rahil from Fermát explore this idea through the legacy of polymathic thinker Pierre de Fermat, who pioneered the principle of least time in the 1660s.FORGING ‘DESIRE PATHS’{00:20:48} “In the nondeterministic consumer world, you have millions and millions and millions of opportunities to screw up a test with a customer because they don't behave in a controlled way.” - Phillip{00:25:55} “I think, you know, there's a saying where it's like the future's already here. It's just unevenly distributed. This already happens. And the place this happens is in B2B.” - Rishabh{00:47:06} “The website is turning into the business card...I think zero-click commerce is going to be the path.” - RabahKey TakeawaysWhile the “path of least resistance” is a maxim in conversion rate optimization, optimization is highly personal to the customer and their motives. The nature of CRO will evolve with more 1-1 personalized and ephemeral experiences.The ‘website’ as a monolith is a construct of search engine optimization. In the coming future, the rise of constellation sites allows for personalized customer experiences.Brand roles and channels will need to adapt as privacy changes shape the future of web commerce. Zero-click commerce could bea future of online shopping. The website model is evolving, and multiple user experiences and types of interfaces will become a norm.

Each season on Decoded, we demystify a nebulous concept in commerce. In this season of Decoded, presented by FERMÀT, Phillip sits down with Rabah Rahil, the CMO at FERMÀT, to examine the legacy of these prolific thinkers, inventors, and polymaths, philosophers, and mathematicians whose work inspired Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates. One of these inspirations from the past is the mathemetician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Listen now!The best time to be excellent, and the worst time to be average.{00:08:07} - “The first lesson we could learn {from Srinivasa Ramanujan} is becoming your own self-advocate, especially in your career, and understanding that maybe you have a talent and an intuition that can be useful for others.” - Phillip{00:10:12} - “Outside of an Ivy or if you want to go study under a professor, I think academia isn't a lot of times the path for you because I think a lot of times when you have these innate geniuses, if you would have taken them through an academic establishment, the creativity would have been beaten out of them. Because when you think of academics, it's very conformist.” - Rabah{00:13:50} - “I would rather hire people that have had a bunch of failures and pick themselves back up versus people that have never failed. Because I found those people that have never failed are candidly just quite soft.” - Rabah{00:17:05} - “Some truths look like universal laws in one context. But if you zoom out to a bigger context, the law doesn't hold true anymore. The law is broken from a different point of view.” - Phillip{00:24:38} - “When you lack conviction, you can be convinced that your intuition is wrong.” - Phillip{00:29:55} - “The cheat code of mathematics is it's cold and sterile, and there's usually a right answer. What we deal with is humans. Humans are insanely jagged. They flip from logic to emotion to logic to emotion, and there's going to be way more nuance in like, that's why marketing degree is an arts.” - Rabah

SummaryMichael True, President, co-founder, and CEO of Fermat, shares his entrepreneurial journey and the founding of Preshy. He discusses his background in sales and working with blue-chip companies like IBM and Oracle. He explains how he transitioned into the music industry and developed a model to predict tour locations for record labels. When COVID hit and touring stopped, he shifted his focus to streaming and solving the problem of measuring marketing spend and driving streams. He talks about the challenges of building a team and finding the right balance between product velocity and marketing. The conversation covers topics such as the importance of focusing on client value rather than competition, the role of product velocity in different market segments, the elevator pitch for Prescient AI, and the company's media mix model. The conversation also touches on the significance of discipline and culture in achieving excellence.TakeawaysMichael True started his career in sales and worked with blue-chip companies like IBM and Oracle before transitioning into entrepreneurship.He founded Preshy, a company that used data science to predict tour locations for record labels in the music industry.When COVID hit and touring stopped, he shifted his focus to streaming and developed a model to measure marketing spend and drive streams.Building the right team is crucial, and Michael focused on hiring data scientists, engineers, and product managers with the right expertise.Finding the balance between product velocity and marketing is a challenge, but it's important to ensure the product delivers on its promises. Focus on client value rather than competition to ensure quality and alignment with client needs.Product velocity is more important for lower-level customers, while up-market customers prioritize value and complexity.The elevator pitch for Prescient AI is a media mix model that measures and optimizes marketing spend across various channels.Excellence is a function of discipline and a strong culture that prioritizes employee happiness and well-being.Gratitude, strong opinions weakly held, and beginner's mind are key elements of an equation of excellence.Sound Bites"From Sales to Entrepreneurship: Michael True's Journey""Predicting Tour Locations: Preshy's Innovative Solution""Shifting Focus to Streaming: Solving the Marketing Spend Problem""If you're trying to build against a competitor, versus build for the value of your clients, it's a very slippery slope.""Up-market doesn't really care about product velocity. It's just a different sales motion where the contracts can actually be insanely complex.""That down folks. That is what we call an elevator pitch. That is a fantastic."Chapters00:00 From Sales to Entrepreneurship07:10 Predicting Tour Locations25:12 Balancing Product Velocity and Marketing31:22 The Elevator Pitch for Prescient AI48:05 The Significance of Discipline and Culture

SummaryIn this episode of Equation of Excellence, Rishabh Jain, CEO and co-founder of FERMÀT Commerce, discusses his journey in entrepreneurship and the evolution of the company. He shares his belief that business is the best way to propagate ideas in the world and talks about his experiences in building various businesses, including a solar energy company and a lab data sharing platform. Rishabh also discusses the importance of choosing the right co-founder and making bold bets in business. He shares insights on the pivot FERMÀT Commerce made and the significance of focusing on people and systems in the growth of a company.Keywordsentrepreneurship, business, solar energy, co-founder, pivot, FERMÀT Commerce, people, systemsTakeawaysBusiness is a powerful way to propagate ideas in the world.Choosing the right co-founder is crucial for the success and longevity of a company.Pivoting is a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey and can lead to new opportunities.Investing in high-quality people and trusting them to do their best work is essential for growth.Systems should be implemented to enhance efficiency and allow for focus on solving big problems.Sound Bites"Business was the best way to propagate ideas in the world.""Co-founders having a durable relationship is rare.""Building a feature, not a business."Chapters00:00 Propagating Ideas Through Business04:34 The Importance of Choosing the Right Co-founder09:18 Investing in High-Quality People

SummaryIn this conversation, the guest shares his journey from influencer marketing to building and scaling e-commerce brands. He discusses the challenges of running a fulfillment center and the decision to transition from brand incubation to an agency. The potential of TikTok shops and subscription-based brands is explored, along with the impact of TikTok SEO on brand building. The guest also explains bid cap multipliers on Meta platforms and shares thoughts on Klaviyo's professional services announcement. The conversation covers concerns about Clavio's strategy, the importance of enterprise brands in DTC, potential negative effects of scaling service teams, predictions for the year, rising ad costs in an election year, the opportunity in TikTok Shops, the challenge of keeping up with marketing changes, and the equation of excellence.TakeawaysKlaviyo strategy may alienate partners and blur the line between being a tech company and a service company.Enterprise brands play a significant role in the DTC market, and it is important for platforms like Klaviyo to cater to their needs.Scaling service teams can lead to challenges in maintaining relationships with agency partners and talent procurement.Ad costs are expected to rise in an election year, impacting DTC marketing strategies.TikTok Shops present a significant opportunity for e-commerce brands, especially those with an average order value under $50.Keeping up with marketing changes and deploying marketing dollars effectively is a challenge for businesses.Excellence is a function of curiosity and work ethic.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background01:22 From Influencer Marketing to E-commerce Brands05:16 Challenges of Running a Fulfillment Center08:54 Considerations for Brand Incubation10:17 The Potential of TikTok Shops and Subscription-Based Brands15:13 The Impact of TikTok SEO on Brand Building23:39 Klaviyo's Professional Services Announcement24:14 Concerns about Clavio's Strategy26:06 The Importance of Enterprise Brands in DTC27:21 Potential Negative Effects of Scaling Service Teams29:32 Predictions for the Year33:37 Rising Ad Costs in an Election Year35:23 Opportunity in TikTok Shops40:01 The Challenge of Keeping Up with Marketing Changes45:36 The Equation of Excellence

SummarySaunders Schroeder shares his journey from starting an e-commerce business to becoming a leader in the digital marketing industry. He then discusses the inspiration behind Buffed Energy, a premium energy drink made with organic mushrooms and nootropics. Saunders explains the product mix and pricing strategy, as well as his plans for the future of Buffed Energy. In this conversation, Saunder Schroeder discusses his next product and the challenges of entrepreneurship. He emphasizes the importance of consistency and building a strong brand. Saunder also shares his desire to have a conversation with Steve Jobs and asks about unlocking genius. He reveals his unusual skill as a competitive gamer and discusses what he would bring if stranded on a deserted island. Saunder expresses his fascination with ancient Egypt and his equation of excellence: resilience, discipline, and creativity. He concludes by sharing where to find Buffed Energy.TakeawaysStarting an e-commerce business can provide valuable experience and insights into marketing and sales.Dealing with a career-ending injury can lead to unexpected opportunities and new directions.Being a leader and manager requires meeting people where they are and helping them become the best version of themselves.Launching a new product requires careful consideration of the product mix and pricing strategy.Future plans for a brand should focus on growth and expansion.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background01:39 Starting an E-commerce Business03:03 Dealing with a Career-Ending Injury06:12 Transitioning to Sales and Marketing09:03 Becoming a Leader and Manager19:33 Launching Buffed Energy24:19 Product Mix and Pricing Strategy29:23 Future Plans for Buffed Energy31:14 Next Product and Entrepreneurship Challenges32:42 Consistency and Building Brand33:59 Conversation with Steve Jobs35:29 Unusual Skill or Hobby36:46 Stranded on a Deserted Island38:12 Visiting Ancient Egypt39:40 Equation of Excellence40:15 Where to Find Buffed Energy

In this solo cast, FERMÀT Commerce shares five tips for becoming a better marketing leader. The tips include hiring the right talent, delegating responsibility, running effective leadership meetings, distributing workload, and being your number one fan. FERMÀT also discusses the agency talent matrix, the RACI framework for responsibility, the L10 meeting structure, the IDS method for problem-solving, and the goals-rocks-to-dos framework for workload management.TakeawaysHire go-getters and game changers who can have a significant impact on the organization.Clearly define responsibility and ownership using the RACI framework.Run effective leadership meetings using the L10 meeting structure.Use the IDS method to identify, discuss, and solve issues.Manage workload using the goals-rocks-to-dos framework.Chapters00:00 Introduction00:39 Tip 1: Hiring01:30 Tip 2: Delegating Responsibility02:20 Tip 3: Running Leadership Meetings04:17 Tip 4: Distributing Workload05:17 Tip 5: Being Your Number One Fan06:16 Agency Talent Matrix06:45 Responsibility, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (RACI)09:55 L10 Meeting Structure11:23 Identify, Discuss, Solve (IDS)15:11 Workload Structure: Goals, Rocks, To-Dos18:25 Being Your Number One Fan

SummaryIn this conversation, Nate Lagos, a marketing expert, discusses his background in paid acquisition and his experience in the marketing industry. He shares insights on conversion rate optimization (CRO), the importance of understanding business metrics, and the exciting trends in the marketing industry. Nate also talks about his approach to Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, the gifting strategy for his brand, and the success of YouTube as an acquisition channel. He highlights the importance of high-quality creative and the impact it has on advertising performance. Nate also discusses his focus on online sales and the structure of his Facebook campaigns. In this conversation, Rabah and Nate Lagos discuss various topics including the best MLB pitcher ever, getting involved with Original Grain, where to buy Original Grain watches, Nate's Twitter handle and site consulting, Nate's marketing business, and a podcast brought to you by firmatcommerce.com.TakeawaysMariano Rivera is considered the best MLB pitcher ever.To get involved with Original Grain, visit originalgrain.com.Use code 'legos' for a special deal on Original Grain watches.Follow Nate Lagos on Twitter at @NateLagos.Nate may be available for site consulting.Nate's marketing business is highly regarded.Visit firmatcommerce.com to book a demo and optimize your customer journey.Follow Nate Lagos for more insights and updates.Original Grain watches make great gifts and have an incredible unboxing experience.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background01:42 Getting into Paid Acquisition03:05 Baseball Career04:21 The Difficulty of Hitting a Major League Pitch05:22 Building a Foundation in Marketing08:19 The Importance of Practical Experience09:17 Understanding Business Metrics10:58 Exciting Trends in the Marketing Industry11:54 Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)13:24 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Promotions16:37 Gifting Strategy18:56 YouTube as an Acquisition Channel19:41 Creative Process for YouTube Ads23:17 Leveling Up the Creative26:03 Retail Presence and Focus on Online Sales27:36 Facebook Campaign Structure29:54 Exploring Over-the-Air or Linear TV32:20 Firmat 5 Questions34:36 Best MLB pitcher ever35:05 Getting involved with Original Grain35:30 Where to buy Original Grain watches35:54 Nate's Twitter handle and site consulting36:22 Nate's marketing business36:31 Podcast brought to you by firmatcommerce.com37:02 Book a demo with firmatcommerce.com37:10 Follow Nate Lagos37:36 Original Grain watches and closing remarks

SponsorShow is sponsored by Fermat Commerce. Helping you transform clicks into conversions using customized shopping experiences.GuestCaleb Ulferrs, Co-Founder & CEO of Haven Atheltic.SummaryThe conversation covers topics such as naming the company, finding co-founders, balancing life and work, creating a personal routine, Black Friday success, partnership with CrossFit, influencer marketing, expanding the TAM, and an unusual skill or hobby. In this conversation, Caleb Ulffers discusses his love for music, his thoughts on being stranded on a desert island, his beliefs about the future, and his favorite CrossFit workout. He also shares information about Haven and how to get involved.TakeawaysFinding the right co-founders can make the entrepreneurial journey easier and more successful.Creating a balanced life and personal routine can lead to improved mental and physical well-being.Black Friday can be a significant revenue driver for businesses, especially in the gifting vertical.Partnerships with influential organizations like CrossFit can provide valuable exposure and credibility.Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for brand promotion and growth.Expanding the total addressable market (TAM) requires product variants and potentially entering new product categories.Having a conversation with historical figures like Steve Jobs can provide insights into their mindset and approach to success.Unusual skills or hobbies can add depth and uniqueness to an individual's personality and interests. Caleb Ulffers enjoys all forms of music and finds them interesting.When asked about being stranded on a desert island, Caleb ponders the idea of preserving his life and suggests bringing something that allows for a spectacular exit.Caleb is curious about the future and believes that human ingenuity will solve the problems we face.Caleb's favorite CrossFit workout is Fran because he enjoys quick and intense workouts.Chapters00:00 Naming the Company01:42 Finding Co-founders04:14 Balancing Life and Work05:07 Creating a Personal Routine08:53 Pursuing a Balanced Life11:57 Black Friday Success17:47 Partnership with CrossFit22:16 Influencer Marketing27:15 Expanding the TAM29:18 Conversation with Steve Jobs31:58 Unusual Skill or Hobby32:47 Exploring Music and Personal Preferences33:15 Stranded on a Desert Island34:12 Time Travel and the Future35:40 Favorite CrossFit WOD36:31 Wrap-up and How to Get Involved with Haven