The Andrew Faris Podcast

Bill D'Alessandro is back! A couple months ago, Bill wrote a post that blew up in the Ecommerce Fuel forums titled "This Is An Intervention: Stop Taking Fixed Fee Loans" where he explained why the quick & easy revenue-based loans from folks like Wayflyer, ClearCo, and Shopify Capital are so much worse than they look. I'll be honest: I myself realized how poorly I had been thinking about this kind of debt, and I knew I needed to have Bill back on the show to explain more to the rest of us, especially after his episode on contribution margin had been one of my most popular ever. Bill is the CEO of Elements Brands, has a finance degree, and has personally borrowed millions of dollars of debt and equity to finance his businesses. He knows what he's talking about and is an incredible guide to revenue-based ("fixed fee") loans, credit cards, asset-based loans, SBA loans, and more. It's a great chance for you to think through the financial stack at the center of your business. Want to take Bill up on his offer to audit your financial stack? Reach out to him by heading to https://billda.com/debt. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS [2:44] Bill's e-commerce debt background [3:33] Stop taking predatory, fixed fee loans [8:05] Interest rate calculation [13:35] Bill's opinion on when to take fixed fee loans [15:19] Good finance tech start for businesses [19:46] The importance of the "personal guarantee" [22:52] The pluses & minuses of Parker cards [28:38] Key advice about loans [39:18] Bill's e-commerce plans & vision Read Bill's full article (and work with him on your financial stack!) by clicking here. Follow Bill on Twitter at @BillDA. Listen to Bill's podcast, Acquisitions Anonymous on Apple or Spotify. Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Music Intro: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Music Outro: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

You didn't become an entrepreneur because you think, "Nothing will work out and I won't even try." Quite the opposite. But if you're the CEO of your company now, it's your job to flip that instinct around and start asking, "How will this go wrong?" For optimists like many of us, that's not intuitive. But it's necessary. In this episode I'll explain why. TIMESTAMPS [00:34]: Andrew’s "CEO's should be pessimistic" advice [03:33]: Planning for the worst case scenario in a business [04:54]: Challenges in an e-commerce business [06:21]: Inventory problems [06:46]: Losing a team member [09:05]: A CEO’s job [09:58]: The 13 week cash flow forecast Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Music Intro: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Music Outro: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

If you gave me a list of 100 businesses and asked me to rank which ones were most likely to die in the next 5 years, I'd be shocked if you found me 5 I'd rank higher than the national retailer I'm talking about in this episode. But here's the thing: I'd be wrong. Not only is this business still around; it's growing. And the story is full of great lessons even for those of us running very different types of businesses. Today we're talking about the basics of how customers interact with products, and how getting that right goes a long, long, long way for your success. TIMESTAMPS [0:48]: The surprising turnaround of a national brick-and-mortar retailer [05:27]: James Daunt's business implementations [07:30]: James Daunt’s books discount theory [08:30]: What do you really need to have a good business? [09:29]: Born Primitive LTV strategy [10:24]: Customers & products [11:58]: The reason your business isn't working Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Music Intro: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Music Outro: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

Bear Handlon isn't on Twitter, and if you aren't a CrossFitter you might not have heard much about Born Primitive. But I've seen them up close for years now and I can tell you for certain: it's one of the best ecommerce businesses you don't know. BP is a mid-8-figure brand, punctuated by putting up $1.2M in two hours to kickoff BFCM. Bear is a remarkable guy who started BP with his then-wife, Mallory, while being active duty in the Navy. Oh: and he's only now getting to Amazon and brick-and-mortar retail. So there's lots of growth left. Bear joined the podcast to breakdown the journey with me, including what he attributes BP's success to, the true driver of LTV, and how they think about the centrality of brand-building in apparel in particular. You WILL learn a lot from this episode. Give it a look, then go buy yourself the most comfortable activewear in the game.  TIMESTAMPS [02:02]: The journey and highlights of Born Primitive [06:24]: The scope of Born Primitive in 2022 [08:22]: Mechanisms for a profitable business [15:42]: Differences in Born Primitive's target customer [19:08]: How to scale your business [21:27]: Born Primitive success growth process [24:39]: Business and supporting community [29:23]: Born Primitive Product development for acquisition of retention [38:15]: Next year’s goals and visions Visit Born Primitive at www.bornprimitive.com. Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Music Intro: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Music Outro: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

It's the "very special episode" time of year and I'm doing my part. To round out 2022, I joined up with The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast for a colab episode where Taylor Holiday (CEO of Common Thread Collective), Richard Gaffin (Senior Copywriter & Podcast Cohost at CTC) and I reflected on the unique ability of failure to form us and teach us for the long term. Whether it's been a great or terrible year for you in 2022, there's something here for you to chew on. Places to follow up with Taylor, Richard, CTC, & The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast: Listen to The Ecommerce Playbook. Explore working with CTC. Follow Taylor on Twitter: @taylorholiday Follow Richard on Twitter: @richardgaffin Places to follow up with me: Follow me on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email me: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with me: www.ajfgrowth.com Intro Music: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Outro Music: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

There's one really simple way to make certain that your DTC business simply cannot be successful at scale: lacking any organic revenue. In this episode, I'll walk through the foudnational design of a scalable ecommerce business, including the two main ways to generate organic revenue on the back of your paid acquisition. TIMESTAMPS [01:10]: Importance of growing organic revenue [06:26]: Ways of growing organic revenue [15:51]: The word of mouth effect [23:22]: Overstated fact about product quality [25:02]: Ways that customers can relate to your next products [25:44]: The underrated element called sales Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Music Intro: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Music Outro: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

Is there anything more certain in digital advertising than the importance of regularly testing new ad creative? Most people (including me!) would usually tell you that the answer is a resounding "no." But this week on the podcast, I lay out the case for when and why you should quit the creative testing if you really want to get the most out of your ad account. Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Intro Music: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Outro Music: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

Bill D'Alessandro is the founder and CEO of Elements Brands, an aggregator that includes the rapidly growing Natural Dog Co. And while it's always too much to talk about "the secret" to someone's success, it's not an accident that Bill's success comes alongside his obsession with tracking & optimizing for contribution margin. In this episode we start by defining "contribution margin," talk about why and how Bill's team ruthlessly reports on it, and how it helps you get away from the deceiving ubiquity of revenue metrics. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS [1:39] Bill's personal background [3:24] About Natural Dog Co. [4:51] What do you mean by contribution margin? [9:31] Contribution margin metrics [9:24] Peet's climate tech funding opinion [12:24] What Bill's digital marketers report on: contribution margin vs revenue [13:45] How do you report contribution margin in the organization? [18:40] Revenue is not how you value a business! [20:40] LTV impact in the Facebook dashboard [22:12] Other operational opportunities for contribution margin conversation in the business [26:37] Why are you making a move to 3PL? Places to follow up with Bill: Follow Bill on Twitter: @BillDA Bill’s Podcast: Acquisitions Anonymous (Apple, Spotify) Work with Bill: www.elementsbrands.com Places to follow up with me: Follow me on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email me: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with me: www.ajfgrowth.com Intro Music: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Outro Music: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

Creative is the key to success on Facebook Ads, right? Right. But lots of brands aren't thinking strategically about the foundation underneath creative testing that makes it possible–which means they're REALLY not thinking about how to operationalize it into their business. That means they're leaving a lot of customers and profit on the table. In this episode I walk through what drives great creative testing, and therefore profitable customer acquisition. It's obvious once I say it, but the implications are massive. Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email Andrew: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with Andrew: www.ajfgrowth.com Intro Music: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Outro Music: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means

Andrew Campbell sits in a unique position: he's the Head of Data Science at the most ambitious project in all of ecommerce, OpenStore, which means he's thinking about ecommerce data & how to automate operational processes from a perspective that no one else is. So I grabbed 40 minutes of his time to talk about what's happening at OpenStore, what it's like to row in the Olympics, and why you should be at least trying Bid Caps for your Facebook Ads. Follow Andrew Campbell on Twitter: @TheAndyCamps Sell your business to OpenStore: https://open.store Follow me on Twitter: @andrewjfaris Email me: podcast@ajfgrowth.com Work with me: www.ajfgrowth.com Intro Music: "Tell Me Mama" by The Devious Means Outro Music: "Rusty Little Scissors" by The Devious Means