INTELLIGEMS

Intelligems brings A/B testing to business decisions beyond copy and design. Test your pricing, shipping charges, free shipping thresholds, offers, SaaS tools, and more by clicking here: https://bit.ly/42DcmFl. Get 20% off the first 3 months with code FARIS20.

RICHPANEL

Cut your support costs by 30% and reduce tickets by 30%—guaranteed—with Richpanel's AI-first Customer Service Platform that will reduce costs, improve agent productivity & delight customers at http://www.richpanel.com/partners/ajf?utm_source=spotify.

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Bill D'Alessandro, founder of Natural Dog Company, just sold his brand to a private equity firm backed by Morgan Stanley. In this episode, Andrew Faris dives deep with Bill to unpack the entire journey—from building the business, to working with an investment bank, to negotiating and closing a deal with a strategic buyer.

If you're running a 7–9 figure eCommerce brand, this episode is pure gold. You'll learn:

- What makes a DTC brand actually attractive to strategic buyers

- The #1 mistake founders make when approaching an exit- Why contribution margin is still king in 2025

- How Bill built operational talent that scaled with the business

- The difference between “just another Shopify brand” vs. a sellable brand

- Why omnichannel distribution is critical to valuation

- Why most subscription businesses are really financing problems in disguise

- The emotional aftermath of exiting your company

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CHAPTER TITLES:

00:01:18 - Who is Bill D'Allessandro?

00:03:00 - The Scope of Natural Dog Co Acquisition

00:09:01 - Investment Banking During A Buyout

00:22:55 - People Management Is The Hardest With Business

00:31:35 - Why Not All Subscription Models Are Great

00:42:46 - How Meta Dependency Could Harm Your Business

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Bill D'Alessandro is the former of CEO of Natural Dog Co and Elements Brand and current Head of M&A at Food Science, a portfolio company backed by Morgan Stanley. Follow Bill on X at https://x.com/billda and listen to Acquisitions Anonymous by visiting https://www.acquanon.com/.

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ADMISSION

Get the best media buying training on the Internet + a free coaching call with Common Thread Collective's media buyers when you sign up for ADmission here: ⁠https://www.youradmission.co/andrew-faris-podcast

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FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREW

X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/andrewjfaris ⁠

Email: podcast@ajfgrowth.com

Work with Andrew: ⁠https://ajfgrowth.com

Monday of Week 4 in Ordinary Time - Mark 5: 1-20