The Unofficial Shopify Podcast A Mushroom Brand's Bet Against Booze
Jan 20, 2026
Jake Mellman, the founder of Troop and Silly Goose, shares his journey in creating functional mushroom gummies and non-alcoholic beverages. He unveils the critical lessons from Troop's launch, emphasizing the necessity of smart marketing and using Meta ads for success. The discussion dives into KPIs that drive growth, the complexities of THC regulations, and scaling challenges. Jake explores how he positions Silly Goose to appeal to drinkers looking for healthier options and reveals aggressive revenue targets while navigating operational hurdles.
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Make LTV Your North Star
- Track CAC, LTV, orders per customer, and AOV as your primary KPIs and work backwards from them.
- Use bundling, intro offers, and retention gifts to boost AOV and orders per customer and improve LTV.
Contribution Margin Drives Marketing Capacity
- Contribution margin reveals how much revenue remains to fund marketing and operations.
- Troop increased contribution margin to 76% by lowering product costs while keeping quality.
Default To Longer Subscriptions
- Improve landing pages and default customers to multi-month subscriptions to raise AOV and long-term profitability.
- That shift turned previously unprofitable Meta acquisition into profitable LTV.