Understanding Warby Parker and the Power of Customer-Based Valuation with special guest Daniel McCarthy

As pioneering digitally-native brands Warby Parker and Allbirds prepare to go public--and the fortunes of other highflying disruptor retailers like Peloton and Chewy ebb and flow--we get the chance to dissect how to make sense of key customer metrics with Daniel McCarthy, professor of marketing at Emory's Goizueta Business School, co-founder of Theta Equity Partners and pioneering thought leader on customer-based corporate valuation. It's a fast-paced MasterClass on how the cost of acquisition, retention rates and other customer cohort data provide valuable insight on the long-term prospects of any brand. We also learn whether Dan is bullish on Warby Parker, why we may not work so hard to chase "shifty" customers (or as Steve likes to call them "promiscuous" shoppers) and drop more than a few puns.

But first we open up the episode with our quick takes on recent retail news that caught out attention, starting first with even more Amazon news than usual, including their new line of private brand televisions, plans to hire 125,000 distribution center staff, raise hourly wages and pay college tuition for their workers. We also dig into spending per trip information from NPD, monthly US Commerce data that shows consumers continue to shop like crazy, troubles at Casper, Walmart+ hitting 32 million members and the sad story of Sears closing its last Illinois store.

NOTE: We're now back to regular weekly episodes.

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Daniel McCarthy is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta School of Business. His research specialty is the application of leading-edge statistical methodology to contemporary empirical marketing problems. His research interests include customer lifetime value, limited data problems, and the marketing/finance interface.

He popularized “customer-based corporate valuation” (CBCV), a methodology that drives any traditional valuation model off of the underlying behaviors of the target company's customers. His work has been featured in major media outlets such as the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, FT, Fortune, Barron’s, Inc Magazine, the Economist, and CNBC. His research has been accepted and published in top-tier academic journals and has won numerous research awards.

In addition to his roles and responsibilities at Emory, Dan co-founded and was Chief Statistician for Zodiac, a predictive customer analytics SaaS firm. Nike acquired Zodiac in March 2018. Dan has since co-founded Theta Equity Partners to revolutionize how firms (e.g., private equity, venture capital, and operating companies directly) value companies through CBCV

Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his       website.    The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book  Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a      Forbes senior contributor and on       Twitter and       LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel      here.

Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus        Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

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About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google.  He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer.  If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.