Limited Supply

What happens when a shipment shows up late right before Q4 and you have to rethink your entire offer?

This week’s episode comes from the Ecom Founders Q4 Summit, where Andrew Silberstein, co-founder of Solawave, sat down for a fireside chat moderated by Dan Pantello of Marpipe.

Solawave is one of the fastest growing performance marketing driven consumer brands out there, and Andrew was once a client of Nik’s back at Sharma Brands. Nik shares the conversation here because it covers everything Solawave has learned about Q4: what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently.

Andrew breaks down the 2022 Q4 where a late shipment pushed the team to test buy one, get one free instead of a straight discount, and how it lowered CAC by about $40 and roughly doubled revenue that year.

He also gets into why he isn’t worried about training customers to wait for deals (Solawave is on track for 150% year over year growth), how the brand built an ecosystem of serums and tools to keep customers coming back, and why upselling in the cart beat putting everything on the same page.

Plus: the email mistake that spiked unsubscribes, how Solawave tackles gifting attribution with an unboxing experience people actually scan, and why men are a lot cheaper to reach on Meta.

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Triple Whale is the AI operating system built for modern commerce.

We help you see what's actually working in your business, what's not, and what to do next. Then we take action for you — pausing the underperforming ad, generating the next batch of creative, flagging the inventory risk before it hurts your bottom line.

Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://triplewhale.com/limitedsupply⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Want more DTC advice? Check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply YouTube page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more insider tips.

And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply Slack Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts.

Check out the Nik’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DTC newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Follow Nik on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma⁠⁠

Most AI landing pages look like slop. Here's how to build ones that actually convert.

This week, Nik goes all in on landing pages with a presentation from the recent Ecom Founders Q4 Summit. He's been building pages with AI for a while now, and he's turned his whole process into a skill you can copy and use for free.

Nik also shares example pages he built for Caraway and Love Wellness, with no brand files and no inside access, just to prove it works on a brand he had zero context on.

Inside the talk, Nik covers why untrained AI produces generic pages, his five question rule that every page has to answer, and the 30 or so modules he recommends including, from the promotion bar to social proof to the comparison table.

He also walks through his exact process (product, persona, and problem, then evidence, past alternatives, and your angle), plus two shortcuts for when you need a page fast: tally up what customers mention most in reviews and turn the top five into a listicle, or find your weakest performing ad and build a challenger page for it.

You'll also get his full tool stack (Codex, GitHub, Vercel, HQ for memory, and Microsoft Clarity), a live look at how a Love Wellness page came together in about 45 minutes, and a Q&A covering brand kits, landing page versus homepage, on-site chatbots, and conversion benchmarks (including a 10% landing page versus 2 to 3.5% on a collections page).

Grab the free landing page skill here: https://lp-skill.nik.co/ (Password: Q4).

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Triple Whale is the AI operating system built for modern commerce.

We help you see what's actually working in your business, what's not, and what to do next. Then we take action for you — pausing the underperforming ad, generating the next batch of creative, flagging the inventory risk before it hurts your bottom line.

Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://triplewhale.com/limitedsupply⁠⁠⁠

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Want more DTC advice? Check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply YouTube page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more insider tips.

And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply Slack Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts.

Check out the Nik’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DTC newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Follow Nik on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma⁠⁠

What does it actually take to win BFCM?

This week's episode comes straight from last week's Ecom Founders Q4 Summit in New York City, where Nik sat down with Cody Plofker, former CEO of Jones Road Beauty, for a live fireside chat.

Cody recently stepped down as CEO after years running the brand at Jones Road Beauty, and he's now building something new while staying on Jones Road's board. In this conversation, he gets refreshingly honest about what actually works heading into Black Friday, and what he'd do differently.

Cody breaks down why almost nobody discovering your brand on Black Friday is a first time visitor, which means the real work happens all year, not just in November.

He walks through how Jones Road used moments like Memorial Day and Labor Day as tune ups before their biggest offers, why he treats the whole Q4 calendar as a season instead of a single weekend, and the mistakes he's made on both sides of inventory planning (overbuying and underbuying both suck, just in different ways).

He also gets into his TV strategy and media mix, why he's skeptical of free ad credits even when they're tempting, how he thinks about the creative supply chain and budgeting around fifteen percent of spend toward creative, and why Q1 might actually be the real Q4 for wellness and subscription brands.

Whether you're deep in Black Friday planning right now or already thinking ahead to Q1, this one is packed with tactical, no fluff advice.

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Triple Whale is the AI operating system built for modern commerce.

We help you see what's actually working in your business, what's not, and what to do next. Then we take action for you — pausing the underperforming ad, generating the next batch of creative, flagging the inventory risk before it hurts your bottom line.

Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠https://triplewhale.com/limitedsupply⁠⁠

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Want more DTC advice? Check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply YouTube page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more insider tips.

And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply Slack Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts.

Check out the Nik’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DTC newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Follow Nik on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma⁠

Follow Cody Plofker on his website (https://codyplofker.com/) and on X (https://x.com/codyplof), and be sure to check out his podcast, Marketing Operators (https://codyplofker.com/podcast).

What does it actually take to turn cookware into a billion dollar brand?

With the Ecom Founders Q4 Summit taking place this week, we are taking you back to a past Q4 Summit conversation where Nik sat down with Danny Winer, co-founder and CEO of HexClad. Danny built HexClad into a unicorn in about a decade, and in this conversation he gets into exactly how he did it.

Danny walks through why he leaned into storytelling from day one (HexClad is badass cookware, not just cookware), the humbling lesson he learned from a juicer business that failed almost overnight, and why he was told cookware was too competitive and DTC cookware would never work.

He breaks down HexClad's approach to novelty, either reinvent the product completely or make it look incredible in your kitchen, how the brand became a media company before it became a bigger cookware company, and the real story behind how Gordon Ramsay got involved.

He also shares why HexClad treats promotions differently from discounts, how the brand keeps finding new customers at scale, and his best Q4 advice: treat it as a twelve month project, not a fourth quarter scramble.

Whether you're building a product brand or trying to figure out your own Q4 strategy, this one is full of lessons you can actually use.

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Triple Whale is the AI operating system built for modern commerce.

We help you see what's actually working in your business, what's not, and what to do next. Then we take action for you — pausing the underperforming ad, generating the next batch of creative, flagging the inventory risk before it hurts your bottom line.

Learn more at ⁠⁠https://triplewhale.com/limitedsupply⁠

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Want more DTC advice? Check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply YouTube page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more insider tips.

And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply Slack Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts.

Check out the Nik’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DTC newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Nik on Twitter/X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma⁠

This week on Limited Supply, we're bringing you a special crossover episode.

Nik recently sat down with David Vanderveen and Peter Griskum from Verified, The Social Commerce Podcast, and the conversation was too good not to share here too.

They get into what is actually working in social commerce right now, starting with the Hudson method: building a network of thousands of micro creators who each represent a specific persona, so the brand gets a constant stream of content without ever running its own production.

Nik breaks down how AI has changed the economics of creative, from landing pages built in Codex or Claude Code and shipped in 30 minutes, to why creative costs have collapsed while Meta's ad costs keep climbing. He also digs into the difference between celebrity brands that work and the ones that flop (hint: it usually comes down to team, product, and whether the celebrity actually shows up).

If you want to see the ad swipe file Nik mentions, head over to ads.nik.co to check that out.

And a big thanks to the team at the Verified, The Social Commerce Podcast.

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Triple Whale is the AI operating system built for modern commerce.

We help you see what's actually working in your business, what's not, and what to do next. Then we take action for you — pausing the underperforming ad, generating the next batch of creative, flagging the inventory risk before it hurts your bottom line.

Learn more at ⁠https://triplewhale.com/limitedsupply

---

Want more DTC advice? Check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply YouTube page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more insider tips.

And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Limited Supply Slack Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts.

Check out the Nik’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DTC newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Nik on Twitter/X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma⁠