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What's Working

What's Working

Real strategies. Real results. What's actually working right now.

Hosted by Isaac Medeiros and Zain Ali, What's Working Pod is a weekly business podcast dedicated to one question: what's actually working right now?

Isaac Medeiros is the founder of Mini Katana and Content Forge.
Zain Ali is the co-founder of Zainith Agency and Etta Maison

Each episode covers the strategies, tools, and business models that are producing real results for founders and entrepreneurs.

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  • 16 episodes
  • Avg 44 min
  • English

Episodes 16

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  • S1 · E16
    Wednesday · 38 min

    How they Built an 8-Figure Brand on iMessage | Calvin Klaski

    Calvin Klaski and the founders of NOBS waited until they were generating $1 million a month in revenue before quitting their corporate day jobs. Now, they run a massive oral care empire with just a 3% operating expense, managing the entire business from an iMessage group chat. In this episode of What's Working, Calvin pulls back the curtain on how NOBS disrupted the legacy toothpaste industry without taking a single dollar of VC funding. He explains their backdoor strategy to get into 960 Target stores, landing in the beauty minis section and quickly becoming the number one seller in dollars per store. Calvin also breaks down their brilliant TikTok Shop strategy, paying 20 to 40 creators and running aggressive retargeting ads to artificially engineer a viral trend before organic affiliates jumped on board. Plus, he shares why Nano Hydroxyapatite (nHA) is replacing fluoride, why you should never buy programmatic podcast ads, and how they funded their Mexican manufacturer's machinery to scale production. Key Takeaways: The iMessage OpEx Hack: NOBS operates with a staggering 3% OpEx by running the entire company through a three-person founder group chat, eliminating corporate meetings and communication bottlenecks. Engineering TikTok Shop Virality: After failing at short-form video for six months, Calvin manufactured a trend by commissioning 20 to 40 creators simultaneously and hammering retargeting ads to make affiliates think the brand was already exploding. The Target Backdoor Play: When brokers failed to secure a meeting, the NOBS team passed a message to a Target executive offering free product, eventually landing them discovery-focused space in the beauty minis section of nearly 1,000 stores. Connect with Calvin: Follow Calvin on X: https://x.com/CalvinandNOBS Check out NOBS Routines: https://x.com/nobsroutines Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The 1,000 Store Target Launch 02:25 - Driving Digital Traffic to Physical Retail 04:06 - Why NOBS Uses nHA and Xylitol Instead of Fluoride 06:59 - Hacking the TikTok Shop Algorithm with 40 Creators 10:14 - Staying Anonymous Until Hitting $1M/Month 12:47 - Calvin's Background: From Bow-Fishing to Corporate Retail 16:17 - Why NOBS Rejected VC Money & Investors 18:03 - Running a 3% OpEx Business from an iMessage Chat 21:40 - When You Should (and Shouldn't) Hire a Marketing Agency 22:30 - Training AI to Write Product Descriptions 24:01 - Retail Expansion & The Danger of Over-Storing 26:12 - Building the "Down to Health" Podcast 28:42 - The Power of Focus: Don't Quit After 60 Days 31:14 - Why Programmatic Podcast Ads Are a Waste of Money 35:00 - Moving Manufacturing to Mexico & Iterating on the Fly 37:59 - Outro & Where to Find Calvin

  • S1 · E15
    August 17 · 42 min

    The GLP-1 Effect: Why The Beauty Industry is Crashing

    Cody Plofker took Jones Road Beauty to $160 million in revenue without a VP of Finance or a VP of Marketing. Now, he’s stepping down as CEO to stop the burnout and build the future of lean, AI-powered e-commerce. In this episode of What's Working, Cody breaks down the reality of running a 9-figure family business, why he stepped down to focus on high-level strategy, and his unapologetic take on why "AI UGC" is a complete oxymoron. He also pulls back the curtain on his exact AI tech stack (including Claude, Codex, and multiplayer AI tools like HQ) and explains how he is building a brand new sleep supplement company in public with near-zero operating expenses. If you want to know what the next era of DTC looks like, this is the episode. Key Takeaways: The Reality of Scaling Too Fast: Cody sped-ran Jones Road Beauty to nine figures but suffered from burnout due to a lack of proper organizational structure and executive support. Cody is extremely bearish on AI-generated creative, noting that true UGC relies on authenticity, while AI should be reserved for data analysis, web design, and administrative workflows. The DTC Twitter Bubble: Performance marketing isn't everything. Cody argues that real-world, larger brands invest heavily in brand health and tracking upper-funnel metrics, contrary to the hyper-performance bias of "DTC Twitter". The 1-Person Brand Era: As part of the new "Operators Build" podcast, Cody is helping launch a sleep supplement brand in public, aiming to use AI to replace entire agency functions for just a few hundred dollars a month in token costs. Retail Leverage: Jones Road Beauty opted to build its own brick-and-mortar stores rather than rely on Sephora, allowing them to control their own product trends and avoid being dictated by massive retailers. Connect with Cody: Follow Cody on X: https://x.com/codyplof Listen to the Marketing Operators: https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9 Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & Why Cody Stepped Down as CEO of Jones Road Beauty 02:35 - Running a Brand Without Industry "Passion" 04:16 - Transitioning to AI Consulting & CRO Bounties 06:06 - Why "AI UGC" is a Complete Oxymoron 08:11 - Cody's AI Stack: Claude, Codex, Hermes, and HQ 10:19 - How to Actually Implement AI in Creative Teams 13:23 - The State of the Beauty Industry & K-Beauty Trends 17:23 - Retail Strategy: Why Jones Road Avoids Sephora 20:21 - The "DTC Twitter" Bubble & Investing in Brand Health 25:30 - The Death of Non-Subscription DTC Brands 29:23 - Announcing "Operators Build" & The Sleep Supplement Brand 34:11 - Building a Brand Skeleton on a $200/Month Token Budget 39:37 - The Power of Building in Public & Networking 41:42 - Outro & Where to Find Cody

  • S1 · E14
    August 10 · 38 min

    Going ALL in on TikTok doubled their Sales (Beauty By Earth CEO interview)

    In Episode 14 of the What's Working Pod, we sit down with Prudence Millsap, co-founder of Beauty by Earth, to unpack the exact strategies she used to build one of the most successful bootstrapped beauty brands on the internet. Prudence pulls back the curtain on how taking TikTok Shop in-house catapulted them to $700k/month, and how that external traffic miraculously slashed their Amazon ad spend by 34% while increasing top-line revenue. We dive deep into the gritty reality of bootstrapping with just $20,000, why she insists on US manufacturing, and how she maintains a shockingly low 4-7% OpEx using an in-house Texas warehouse and Latin American offshore talent. Beyond the business, Prudence shares her refreshing philosophy on personal branding, how she balances entrepreneurship with family life, and why she recently sold off a brick-and-mortar business to stay hyper-focused on DTC. Key Takeaways: The TikTok Shop "All-In" Strategy: After burning $20k/month on agency retainers with zero growth, Prudence brought TikTok in-house and cracked the algorithm by aggressively seeding 30-40 product units a day. The Amazon Halo Effect is Real: Generating external demand on TikTok allowed Beauty by Earth to lower their Amazon ad spend by 34.2% year-over-year while actually growing their top-line revenue by 33.3%. Ruthless Financial Discipline: Prudence built the brand off an initial $20,000 investment. She took zero distributions in year one, lived exclusively off her husband's income, and ran the business purely on credit cards for the first 6-7 years. US Manufacturing: Manufacturing 100% of their formulas in the US is more expensive upfront, but it is exactly what their consumer wants and protects them from high finished-goods tariffs. Hyper-Lean Operations: Beauty by Earth operates on a 4-7% OpEx. They achieve this by running their own warehouse in Texas and heavily leveraging offshore talent in Latin America for their growth team. Connect with Prudence: Follow Prudence on X: https://x.com/MillPrue Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The TikTok Shop Strategy Hook 00:39 - Cracking TikTok Shop & Seeding Strategy 01:45 - The Amazon Halo Effect 02:35 - Why Expensive TikTok Agencies Failed 06:45 - Dialing in Amazon PPC & Slashing Ad Spend 09:36 - Bootstrapping from $20k 11:41 - Standing Out in the Beauty Market & K-Beauty 17:49 - Navigating Business with a Co-Founder 19:14 - Why They Avoid Retail (Sephora, Ulta) 21:51 - The Anti-Personal Brand Philosophy 26:37 - Quitting the 9-to-5 & Building While Parenting 29:04 - Using AI (Claude) for Market Research 30:53 - US Manufacturing vs. China 33:13 - Running a 4-7% OpEx with Offshore Talent 34:57 - The ROI of Hiring a Fractional CFO 37:58 - Killing Distractions: Selling a Brick & Mortar Business #tiktokshop #AmazonSeller #Ecommerce #BeautyBrand #WhatsWorkingPod

  • S1 · E13
    July 7 · 32 min

    This 9-Figure Founder Replaced His Whole Creative Team with AI | Nik Sharma

    Nik Sharma sold his agency Sharma Brands for a reason most people miss, and now he's building entire DTC brands using only AI, from ads to assets. In this episode of What's Working Podcast, Nik breaks down the exact move that led him to sell Sharma Brands through a reverse RFP process, why he wanted a blank slate going into January, and how he went from running one of the most recognized DTC agencies to becoming Chief Growth Officer at Lunar Solar while quietly launching an AI first brand holdco on the side. He walks through launching a health and wellness brand using nothing but AI, covering static ads, UGC, copywriting, and design briefs, including what happened when they finally commissioned a real photo shoot. Nik introduces the concept of the creative supply chain, the idea that brands don't fail because of bad products or poor media buying, but because they run out of creative to feed the machine. He explains every format of creative a brand needs, how to build an endless supply behind it, and what most agencies get wrong. The conversation also covers whether services still have a real moat in an AI world, why taste is the only durable advantage left, how he's validating new brands for under $150K before scaling, and what he learned from watching brand incubators raise millions and still fail. Nik also shares his personal brand strategy, why he's most bullish on Twitter and YouTube, and what he'd do differently building a personal brand from scratch today. If you're running an agency, building a DTC brand, or figuring out where AI fits in your business in 2025, this episode is essential. Nik Sharma is a DTC operator and former founder of Sharma Brands, now Chief Growth Officer at Lunar Solar. Key Takeaways: AI is a tool, not a replacement for "taste": While AI is democratizing software and automating lower-level tasks, human taste and strategic direction are becoming the ultimate moats for both brands and agencies. The "Creative Supply Chain" is the biggest growth bottleneck: Brands trying to scale from $50M to $100M usually don't fail because of a bad product or bad media buying—they fail because they haven't built a system to constantly generate a diverse, never-ending supply of ad creatives. Connect with Nik: Follow Nik on X: https://x.com/mrsharma Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Who Is Nik Sharma? 01:31 - Why He Sold His Agency 04:17 - His AI Wake-Up Call 05:13 - Do Services Still Have a Moat? 07:42 - Launching a Brand With Just AI 08:39 - What Categories He's Building In 12:10 - The 70% Ads Budget Future 13:06 - AI Video Ads That Actually Work 15:12 - The Creative Supply Chain Explained 18:01 - Will AI Kill Jobs? 21:29 - How to Build a Personal Brand Today 23:47 - Twitter vs YouTube vs LinkedIn 27:31 - The Holdco Model 32:35 - Where to Follow Nik #NikSharma #Ecommerce #WhatsWorkingPodcast

  • S1 · E12
    June 24 · 46 min

    How Apple made him $100m | Roman Khan

    Roman Khan has spent the last decade building, scaling, and acquiring e-commerce brands, taking his portfolio to nine figures in revenue. From nearly going bankrupt to achieving a 3% OpEx and netting eight figures in EBITDA, Roman has mastered the mechanics of highly profitable DTC businesses. Now, he’s shifting his focus from private equity to the highly inefficient public markets. In Episode 12 of What's Working, Roman breaks down his tactical playbooks for scaling massive e-commerce brands. He explains how to spot a winning product category using Google Trends, why the "Bryan Johnson" strategy is crucial for brand awareness, and how to use his PC1, PC2, and PC3 framework to maximize cash distributions. Plus, discover why he believes TikTok fundamentally changed the influencer game and why he thinks Hong Kong is the ultimate home base for any serious e-commerce entrepreneur. Key Takeaways: Spotting the Mega-Trend: A successful brand requires the right category at the right time. Roman explains how to use search volume data and find the "whale" in a market to guarantee your product has massive tailwinds. Public vs. Private M&A: Roman is shifting his focus to public micro-cap companies, explaining that public markets are often mispriced. You can sometimes buy companies for less than their cash on hand or cut excess bloat to massively multiply your returns. The TikTok Shift: TikTok completely removed the "S-curve" of follower dependency, bringing a true merit-based culture to influencer marketing and top-of-funnel brand awareness. The Profit Contribution (PC) Framework: Roman breaks down how he achieves eight figures in EBITDA by meticulously tracking three levels of profit contribution (PC1, PC2, PC3) and driving revenue per employee to over $3 million. Cash Flow & Float: Why negotiating net-90 payment terms and shrinking production lead times is the ultimate secret to taking actual cash distributions off the table every single month. Connect with Roman: Follow Roman on X: https://x.com/RomanEcom Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & Roman's 9-Figure E-com Journey 03:32 - First Principles: What Makes a Good E-commerce Brand? 08:12 - The "Whale" Strategy & Scaling Raycon 09:51 - Tracking Google Keyword Trends for Product Validation 15:26 - Why Public E-com Markets Are Undervalued Right Now 24:26 - TikTok Shop vs. Meta Ads: Margins & Conversions 27:48 - Hitting a 3% OpEx & $3M Revenue per Employee 31:30 - Slashing Logistics & Packaging Costs by 20% 35:00 - The PC1, PC2, PC3 Profit Framework Explained 37:46 - Maximizing Cash Flow & Managing Payment Terms 44:25 - Why Hong Kong is Still the Best Base for E-commerce 46:13 - Outro & Where to Find Roman #BusinessStrategy #EcommerceTips #WealthBuilding

  • S1 · E11
    June 3 · 35 min

    Chris Meade | Why I Quit a 8-Fig D2C Brand for Brick & Mortar | What's Working Podcast

    Chris Meade took the ultimate leap of faith, pulling his $7,000 life savings from a 401k to build Crossnet. By age 27, he had grown the invented sport into a massive $10 million business netting $2 million in EBITDA. Today, he has moved away from the brutal grind of physical products to focus on high-cash-flow brick-and-mortar Pilates studios and the ultra-exclusive Founders Club. In Episode 11 of What's Working, Chris breaks down his incredibly diverse entrepreneurial journey. He reveals the harsh realities of seasonal, heavy-product e-commerce businesses, how he made $60k a month writing a newsletter, and why he eventually walked away from lucrative sponsorships to protect the integrity of his community. Plus, discover how he's scaling his Pilates studios to a 4-month payback period with zero paid marketing, and exactly how Founders Club uses Claude AI to run customer service and match members. Key Takeaways: Brick & Mortar vs. E-com: Physical businesses with great margin profiles generate real cash every single day without the inventory tax traps of DTC. Chris's Pilates studios are seeing a 4-month payback period with $0 in paid marketing, smashing the industry standard of 18 months. The Problem with Sponsors: Chris built a newsletter that generated up to $60,000 a month in sponsorships. However, he realized that relying on sponsor money compromises your integrity when making recommendations and eventually "sucks the soul out of everything". AI for Unified Brand Voice: To keep customer interactions consistent across 40 employees, Chris exported five years of newsletters and customer service data into Claude to create a master "brand voice". AI-Curated Community Matching: Founders Club uses proprietary AI tools to analyze 200 minutes of entry interviews alongside Slack data, perfectly matching founders based on shared experiences and interests. Connect with Chris: Follow Chris on X: https://x.com/thechrismeade Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Crossnet Origin Story 01:31 - The Brutal Reality of Seasonal E-com Businesses 04:48 - Writing a Newsletter & Making $60k/Month from Sponsors 06:38 - Hosting Dinners for 4,000 Founders Around the World 08:03 - Why Sponsorships Destroy Community Integrity 09:15 - Pivoting to Brick & Mortar: The Pilates Studio Empire 12:29 - Achieving a 4-Month Payback Period with $0 Paid Ads 15:48 - The Launch & Explosive Growth of Founders Club 21:48 - Rejecting E-com Grifters & Fake "Gurus" 23:31 - Taking the Leap: Funding a Startup with a $7k 401k 27:46 - AI-Powered "Curated Connections" for Founders 30:05 - Using Claude to Build a Unified Brand Voice for 40 Employees 32:50 - Why the Average Age of Founders Club is 40 34:59 - Outro & Where to Find Chris

  • S1 · E10
    May 20 · 37 min

    How Memes Made Him a Multi Million Founder

    Jason Levin went from ghostwriting for tech founders to going undercover in the meme world, ultimately raising a $3 million seed round from industry giants like Balaji Srinivasan to build Meme Lord an AI-powered SaaS platform combining Google Trends and Canva for marketers. In Episode 10 of What's Working, Jason breaks down why "Memes Make Millions" isn't just a catchy book title, but a billion-dollar reality. He pulls back the curtain on "memetic warfare," explaining how everyone from massive crypto exchanges to the Ukrainian government relies on memes to control the narrative. Jason also rips into the current state of "AI slop," explains why e-commerce founders need to stop hosting lazy networking dinners, and reveals why LinkedIn is currently the greatest humor arbitrage opportunity on the internet. Key Takeaways: The LinkedIn Humor Arbitrage: LinkedIn is starved for entertainment because users are terrified of getting fired. Posting unhinged, humorous content on a hyper-professional platform creates a massive opportunity to stand out and go viral. Stop Hosting Lazy Networking Dinners: Founder dinners are overplayed and lazy, especially for bootstrapped DTC brands trying to copy cash-rich SaaS companies. To actually generate ROI, create bizarre, non-eating experiences or public stunts (like renting a movie theater to watch Instagram Reels). The "AI Founder" Fallacy: While automated, faceless AI marketing sounds genius to introverted software engineers, it entirely misses the human element required to build trust, ultimately resulting in massive customer churn. Memes Are the Oldest Marketing Form: Humor isn't a new internet trend; it's the oldest form of marketing. Memes (image + text) are simply the most information-dense, modern evolution of classic advertising. Connect with Jason & Meme Lord: Follow Jason on X: https://x.com/iamjasonlevin Check out the software: https://memelord.com/ Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Power of Memes 00:55 - What is Meme Lord? 02:43 - "Memetic Warfare" & Government Memes 04:00 - Raising $3M from Balaji & Sam Lessin 04:26 - Why Boring Enterprise Companies Need Humor 07:44 - Will Social Platforms Ban Memes? 09:37 - The Problem with Introverted "AI Founders" 11:27 - Renting a Movie Theater for Instagram Reels 13:14 - Why E-com Founders Need to Stop Hosting Dinners 18:34 - Should Luxury Brands Use Memes? 20:41 - The LinkedIn Humor Arbitrage 21:56 - Why Reddit is the Worst Platform on the Internet 23:54 - Becoming Un-Cancelable 25:03 - The NY Governor Race Hit Pieces 26:34 - How Record Labels Use Memes to Break Indie Music 27:22 - Outro & Where to Find Jason #WhatsWorkingPodcast #JasonLevin #MemeLord #MemeMarketing #B2BMarketing #EcommerceGrowth #AI

  • S1 · E8
    May 14 · 43 min

    How Clean Girl Took Over the Entire Internet

    Maxwell Maher went from owning a failing moving company to building "Clean Girl" a media juggernaut that racked up 18 billion views and 27 million followers in under two years. Now, his products are sitting on the shelves of 5,000 stores across the country, including Target and Walmart. In this episode of What's Working, Maxwell breaks down his insane entrepreneurial journey: from knocking on doors at age 13 for landscaping gigs to scaling a massive blue-collar moving company. He reveals why he eventually pivoted to content creation, how he engineered viral success for the Clean Girl brand, and the exact AI-powered feedback loop his team uses to optimize every single upload. Plus, Maxwell drops contrarian advice on why you should strictly use an iPhone to shoot videos and why high-production value might actually be hurting your brand's reach. Key Takeaways: The "Cost Per Million Watch Hours" Metric: Views are a vanity metric. To build a sustainable media empire, you must optimize for watch time efficiency and track exactly what it costs your business to acquire a million hours of human attention. Expensive Cameras Hurt Virality: Data analysis across billions of views shows that craft elements (perfect lighting, 4K cameras, color grading) account for less than 1% of a video's success. An iPhone workflow feels more native to the feed and significantly reduces production bottlenecks. Don't Enter "Broke" Industries: Maxwell built a moving company netting $170k/year in pure profit but struggled to exit because his competitors couldn't afford to buy him out. Ensure your industry has well-capitalized strategic buyers before diving in. Connect with Maxwell & Clean Girl: Follow Maxwell on X: https://x.com/Maxwell_Maher Check out the Clean Girl YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@_The_Clean_Girl Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The 18 Billion View Empire 01:59 - The Secret to 20 Million YouTube Subscribers 04:31 - Quality vs. Quantity in Content Creation 06:02 - Building an AI Feedback Loop for Viral Videos 08:05 - The Ultimate Metric: Cost Per Million Watch Hours 10:40 - Why YouTube Shorts Don't Convert (And What Does) 12:00 - The Red Bull Strategy for Target & Walmart Retail 18:23 - From $15/hr Landscaping to Scaling a Moving Company 23:09 - The Danger of Building Businesses in "Broke" Industries 27:23 - The Future of Crypto & Meme Coins 31:06 - How to Start a Viral Brand from Scratch Today 34:32 - Will AI Content Replace Real Creators? 37:25 - Why iPhone Workflows Destroy Expensive Cameras 42:53 - Outro & Where to Find Maxwell #WhatsWorkingPodcast #MaxwellMaher #CleanGirl #YouTubeShorts #ViralContent #EcommerceGrowth #RetailStrategy #CreatorEconomy

  • S1 · E9
    May 11 · 28 min

    Launching Nationwide in Target Destroyed then Saved His Business

    Colin McGuire acquired a dormant Australian hair care brand and scaled it to $7 million in just 18 months. His DTC growth was so explosive that Target's lead retail buyer actually filled out a customer service form on his website begging to stock the product. In this episode of What's Working, Colin breaks down his incredible e-commerce journey, starting from running Facebook's earliest "Dark Post" ads in 2010 to building an agency that acquired a brand portfolio doing $84 million in top-line revenue. He reveals the exact playbook he used to revive Glimmr, how to successfully finance a mass retail launch, and the shocking data behind the "Retail Halo" effect. Key Takeaways: The Retail Halo Effect: A 37-week tracking study proved that $0.32 of every single dollar spent on Meta ads flowed directly through to Target in-store sales. Mass Retail Cash Flow: Launching into mass retail requires serious financial engineering; Colin utilized a $350,000 line of credit from HighBeam and leveraged JP Morgan's Target program to secure 72-hour payment terms. Go DTC First to Win Retail: Retailers like Target aren't trying to compete with Walmart on value, they want digitally native brands that already have engineered cultural relevance on TikTok and Instagram. Track Your Numbers Manually: Instead of over-automating dashboards early on, manually updating blended retail metrics in a spreadsheet forces you to "feel" your numbers, allowing for highly confident ad scaling decisions. The 3-Pronged Social Affiliate Playbook: Glimmr engineered virality by coordinating massive volumes of micro-affiliates, B-tier creators, and A-list influencers to post in waves, forcing the algorithm to recognize their relevance. Connect with Colin & Glimmr: Follow Colin on X: https://x.com/colinvmcguire Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Glimmr Target Story 00:54 - Accidentally Becoming an Early Facebook Advertiser in 2010 04:00 - From Agency Owner to Acquiring an $84M Brand Portfolio 05:52 - Acquiring a Dormant Australian Brand (Glimmr) 08:18 - Scaling to $7 Million in 18 Months via Meta & TikTok Shop 09:09 - The 3-Pronged Social Affiliate Strategy 13:30 - How Target's Lead Buyer Begged to Stock Glimmr 18:43 - Financing Mass Retail (HighBeam & JP Morgan) 20:04 - The "Retail Halo" Study: $0.32 of Every Meta Dollar Goes to Target 23:44 - Why You Should Track Retail Metrics Manually 24:49 - Expanding Full-Chain & Raising a Seed Round 28:27 - Outro & Where to Find Colin #WhatsWorkingPodcast #ColinMcGuire #EcommerceGrowth #RetailStrategy #MetaAds #TikTokShop #DTCBrands

  • S1 · E7
    April 29 · 51 min

    $200m a year by just selling wallets?

    Connor MacDonald helped scale Ridge from a couple million in revenue to over $200 million a year. How? By ditching the traditional agency model, going in-house, and ruthlessly optimizing everything from growth-hacking subreddits to coining brand-new e-commerce metrics. In Episode 7 of What's Working, Connor (CMO of Ridge and host of the Marketing Operators podcast) breaks down his wild origin story of buying Ethereum at $12 just to pay for Reddit upvotes. He reveals Ridge's exact strategy for unlocking TikTok Shop, explaining why you don't need thousands of winning creators to drive massive GMV. Connor also steps onto a soapbox to deliver a reality check on AI: stop building messy Zapier automations and start fixing your core data infrastructure. Finally, he coins a brilliant new e-commerce metric the "Attention Value of Inventory." Key Takeaways: The Attention Value of Inventory (AVI): Drops and flashy new products generate disproportionate top-of-funnel clicks. Even if customers ultimately buy your standard core products, you need that flashy inventory to run ads against. Don't soft-launch and quietly sell out of your most attention-grabbing SKUs. The TikTok Shop Creator Math: You don't need thousands of winning affiliates. Connor reveals that for some of the biggest brands on the platform, just 12 creators are driving up to 60% of their total TikTok Shop GMV. Repurposing TikTok for Meta: Ridge’s main goal for TikTok Shop isn't just native platform revenue it's building a massive creator army to generate high-performing UGC, securing the usage rights, and scaling those winning videos on Meta and YouTube Shorts. Fix Your Data Before Adding AI: The real AI unlock comes from having pristine naming conventions and clean data infrastructure (like local transcripts and MCPs) that LLMs like Claude can easily query, not from chaining together fragile automation tools. Connect with Connor & Ridge: Follow Connor on X: https://x.com/couuor Listen to the Marketing Operators Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Ridge: https://ridge.com/ Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Ridge Growth Story 01:24 - Buying Ethereum at $12 for Reddit Growth Hacks 03:52 - Why Connor & Sean Frank Left the Agency World for Ridge 05:59 - The Value of Hiring Marketers with Agency Experience 09:00 - Ridge's Big Bet on TikTok Shop & Creator Activation 11:31 - Structuring an Affiliate Program (Retainers vs. Commission) 14:40 - Getting Usage Rights to Scale TikTok Ads on Meta 18:38 - Will Instagram Shops Finally Beat TikTok? 27:32 - The Insane Creator Math: 12 Creators, 60% of GMV 33:53 - Connor's Soapbox: Why Clean Data Beats Shiny AI Tools 37:29 - The AI Tech Stack: Local LLMs, MCPs & Querying Transcripts 44:03 - How Ridge Achieved Its Biggest Q1 Ever 47:33 - Coining a New E-com Metric: "Attention Value of Inventory" 50:48 - Outro & Where to Find Connor #WhatsWorkingPodcast #ConnorMacDonald #RidgeWallet #EcommerceGrowth #TikTokShop #MarketingStrategy #ArtificialIntelligence #DTC

  • S1 · E6
    April 15 · 55 min

    Pastor to Media CEO

    Aaron Orendorff went from an infantry soldier and pastor to burning his life to the ground, only to rebuild it into becoming the Chief Content Officer for The Operators and former Editor in Chief at Shopify Plus. In Episode 6 of What's Working, dive into his wild journey of faking Wix blogs to land bylines in the NYT, shaping the early days of Shopify Plus enterprise, and building the DTC Index at Common Thread Collective. Aaron drops pure alpha on why agencies fail when trying to launch their own brands, the difference between personalization and segmentation, and why AI will never replace writers with actual "skin in the game." Key Takeaways: The Agency Trap: Why an agency launching its own DTC brand is usually a massive mismanagement of resources. It rarely works, though it does give you "skin in the game" to sell to clients. AI is a Multiplier, Not a Creator: AI will not supplant the subject matter expert with real-world expertise and empathy. Use AI as a multiplier to repurpose your best ideas, not to generate them from scratch. The SEO Mention Strategy: Aaron finessed his way into a career at Shopify by aggressively writing high-value content and tagging the exact decision-makers he wanted to work with on social media. Problem-First Marketing: Discover the difference between simply segmenting an audience and finding the true emotional resonance that actually solves a customer's problem. Connect with Aaron & The Operators: Follow Aaron on X: https://x.com/AaronOrendorff Follow Aaron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronorendorff Check out the new AI Operators Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuGneytUApsb7SEynqoZ0ug Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Content Forge Shoutout 04:43 - Aaron's Wild Background: Infantry & Pastor 12:33 - Burning His Life Down & Rebuilding in Content 16:12 - Faking Wix Blogs & Pitching the NYT 18:21 - The Cold Pitch That Landed Shopify Plus 23:01 - Marketing First Principles: Personalization vs. Segmentation 29:06 - Joining CTC & Building the DTC Index 36:59 - Why Agencies Should NEVER Start E-com Brands 42:03 - Will AI Supplant Real Writers? 48:56 - Announcing the AI Operators Podcast 55:04 - Outro & Where to Find Aaron #WhatsWorkingPodcast #AaronOrendorff #TheOperators #ShopifyPlus #EcommerceMarketing #ContentStrategy #AIWriters

  • S1 · E5
    March 25 · 48 min

    The Truth About AI Adoption in 9-Figure Brands

    What if your best employee wasn't human? Meet "Liam", the autonomous Open Claude AI agent fully integrated into Asana and Slack, actively running data analysis, generating action items, and doing meeting prep for an elite agency. In Episode 5 of What's Working, Cherene and Jacob from Growth Capital Co. pull back the curtain on building a truly AI-native growth agency. They share their journey from Common Thread Collective and Ilia Beauty to creating an infrastructure where AI agents act as primary software users. Cherene and Jacob drop massive reality checks on the state of AI in e-commerce, explaining why AI creative completely lacks "taste," why forcing your current employees to learn AI will fail, and why organic social is still the most vital hire for a new brand. Key Takeaways: The "Liam" Infrastructure: To make an AI agent actually useful, you need a flawless data warehouse. An agent is only as powerful as the quantitative and qualitative data it can seamlessly access. AI Creative Lacks "Taste": Despite the hype, fully AI-generated UGC is flopping for premium brands because it lacks the psychological triggers and intimate brand knowledge needed to convert. The Top-Down AI Rule: You cannot expect employees with full-time jobs to figure out AI on their own. AI adoption will only work if the CEO leads by example and forces a top-down workflow shift. Hire for Organic Social First: If starting a brand today, skip the "AI Strategist". Hire someone who can create natively entertaining organic social content, as algorithms are starting to penalize AI "slop". Connect with Cherene, Jacob & Growth Capital Co: Follow Cherene on X: https://x.com/ChereneAubert Follow Jacob on X: https://x.com/jacob_posel Check out the agency: Growth Capital Co Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Highest Leverage Activity 00:24 - Meet "Liam" the Autonomous AI Agent 03:20 - Building "Oasis" & Data Infrastructure for AI 05:25 - Cherene’s Career: From Shark Tank Brands to Ilia Beauty 07:31 - Jacob's Career: Why Logistics AI Failed & Moving to CTC 11:57 - The Launch of Growth Capital Co. 15:49 - Where Should E-com Brands Install AI First? 19:32 - Why Software Adoption is So Hard for Employees 21:17 - Will AI Actually Replace Labor? 28:59 - The Hidden P&L Costs of Managing People 32:36 - Start with Organic Social, Not AI Strategists 35:21 - Is "CEO Coding" a High-Leverage Activity? 41:42 - Why AI Creative Agencies Are Flopping 46:29 - Cherene’s TikTok Shop Hair Secrets 47:27 - Outro & Where to Find Growth Capital Co. #WhatsWorkingPodcast #GrowthCapitalCo #EcomGrowth #AIAgents #EcommerceMarketing #AIAdoption #ClaudeAI

  • S1 · E4
    March 17 · 44 min

    AI Won’t Take Your Job

    Jared Orkin went from setting up AOL accounts for seniors at age 15 to building Activate Talent, the offshore staffing empire placing hundreds of employees at massive brands like Hexclad , Fashion Nova , and Comfort. On Episode 4 of What's Working, Jared breaks down his wild entrepreneurial journey, from launching a hyperlocal Groupon competitor in college to dominating Amazon FBA. He reveals why Amazon sellers absolutely must leverage TikTok Shop today , how to seamlessly integrate offshore talent into your org chart , and why operating at a "value deficit" is the ultimate networking cheat code. Plus, Jeremy Thurswell drops in to deliver a massive contrarian take on why AI is actually creating more jobs. In This Episode, We Cover: The "Halo Effect": Why you need a TikTok Shop influencer army to drive high-trust conversions back to your Amazon listings. Why customer service is the last place you should remove humans, as AI lacks the tone and judgment needed to save high-LTV customers. The secret to business and life: Operating at a "value deficit" by consistently giving more than you take. How AI tools are lowering the cost of major projects, allowing companies to launch more initiatives and hire more people to execute them. How to start outsourcing by asking your current team to list their biggest bottlenecks. Connect with Jared & Activate Talent: Check out Activate Talent: activatetalent.com Follow Jared on X: https://x.com/Jaredorkin Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The TikTok Shop Halo Effect 00:19 - Welcome to the What's Working Pod 01:46 - Selling AOL Accounts at 15 02:30 - Building a Groupon Competitor in College 03:22 - Scaling Amazon FBA & Affiliate Marketing 04:24 - Building the Innovate Conference 05:14 - The Shift in Amazon: Why You Need TikTok Shop 06:05 - Founding Activate Talent 06:50 - What Brands Do We Outsource For? 07:22 - Why You Shouldn't Be Scared of Outsourcing 08:23 - The Contrarian Take: AI Won't Kill Customer Support 10:14 - How to Buy Your Attention Back 11:00 - Are We Hiring More or Less With AI? 12:00 - The "Value Deficit" Philosophy 12:51 - How to Structure Your Org Chart with Offshore Talent 14:14 - Jeremy Thurswell Drops In 15:10 - Outro #WhatsWorkingPodcast #ActivateTalent #JaredOrkin #OffshoreStaffing #EcommerceGrowth #AmazonFBA #TikTokShop #AI

  • S1 · E3
    March 9 · 54 min

    $1b worth of retail secrets

    Shray Joshi runs Good Peeps, the biggest CPG agency you’ve never heard of, managing up to $25M/month in ad spend and driving over $1.1B in retail sales over the last year. If you want to build a massive physical product brand, this episode is your masterclass. On this episode of What's Working, Shray breaks down his wild origin story, from reversing his own severe autoimmune issues using real food, to becoming a biochemist, and eventually finessing his way into the hottest CPG brands in New York. We dive deep into the massive, hidden world of Retail Media (Instacart, Walmart, Target) and explain why these platforms are the ultimate cheat code for driving in-store velocity. Plus, Shray reveals the "CPG 3.0" framework, why Costco is the ultimate discovery platform, and his exact playbook for rolling out a brand from niche stores to big-box retail. In This Episode, We Cover: Why running ads on Instacart and DoorDash actually drives physical in-store velocity for your brand. The definition of "CPG 3.0" and why real, efficacious ingredients are replacing "dropshipped" junk food. Shray's exact retail playbook: Why you must validate at GNC first before scaling to Whole Foods, Target, and Costco. Why you should leverage debt facilities backed by retail POs instead of giving up precious equity. The hidden truth about Costco: Why it's actually an elite customer acquisition and discovery tool. Connect with Shray & Good Peeps: Check out Good Peeps: https://www.thepeeps.co/ Follow Shray on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shrayvj/ Follow Good Peeps on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thegoodpeeps Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 Intro & Shray's Insane Health Transformation 06:14 Fired from GNC & Running Meta Ads for Apartments 09:23 The Chacha Matcha Hustle & Entering CPG 15:02 Starting Good Peeps & The Shift from DTC to Retail 18:46 What is Retail Media? (Instacart, Target, Walmart) 24:45 Driving $1.1 Billion in Retail Sales 27:28 CPG 3.0: The End of "Dropshipped" Food Brands 34:30 Why You Shouldn't Enter Retail Until $50M 38:22 The Danger of Small Retailers & Bankruptcy 42:49 How to Finance Retail POs (Stop Giving Up Equity!) 44:53 The Exact Retail Launch Playbook for CPG 47:50 Why Costco is the Ultimate Discovery Platform 53:40 How to Connect with Shray #WhatsWorkingPodcast #CPGBrands #RetailMedia #GoodPeeps #ShrayJoshi #EcommerceGrowth #Omnichannel

  • S1 · E2
    March 3 · 55 min

    99% of Health Brands Fail. This One Does $50K/day

    Is it possible to scale a supplement brand to $50k/month while still working a corporate 9-to-5? TJ Bongiorno did exactly that, balancing a career in tech startups with the growth of what is now The Outgoing Co. In this episode of What’s Working, Zain Ali sits down with TJ to discuss the gritty details of his recent rebrand—from the logistical nightmare of losing all Amazon and TikTok reviews to using AI to handle 80% of his creative design. TJ pulls back the curtain on his "loss-leader" strategy for TikTok Shop, explaining why he’s willing to burn thousands on free samples to build long-term momentum. We also dive into his unique retail strategy for RTDs and how his background in technical sales became his biggest founder superpower. Key Takeaways: The Corporate Leap: How TJ scaled his brand to $50k/month as a side project before securing investment and quitting his tech job. AI as a Creative Partner: How TJ used AI to design 80% of his packaging and naming, only hiring designers to finalize the technical files for manufacturing. The TikTok Shop Mini-Guide: Why the platform requires a heavy upfront investment in affiliate seeding and live streaming to trigger exponential growth. Rebranding Logistics: The reality of "resetting" a brand, including the difficulty of updating headers, emails, and merchant handles while managing existing loans. Owned Media & Trust: Why TJ is launching a high-production health show to build authority and lower his long-term customer acquisition costs (CAC). Connect with TJ: Follow TJ Bongiorno on X here: https://x.com/tj_bongiorno Find The Outgoing Co here: https://theoutgoing.co Watch Down to Health here: @DTHshow on all platforms Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro: The "D2C Comedian" meets the Startup Founder 01:30 - Leaving the corporate grind and hitting $50k/month 03:10 - The nightmare of rebranding: Amazon, TikTok, and Shopify logistics 05:44 - How to use AI for 80% of your packaging and design 08:16 - Personal Branding on X: The "Halo Effect" on Meta ads 12:10 - The "Honest" MRR Model: Avoiding the "scammer" supplement stigma 14:13 - TikTok Shop failures and burning $50k in two months 17:30 - The Mini-Guide to TikTok Shop success: Lives and Affiliates 22:12 - The cost of "Free" samples: Why you must invest upfront 28:18 - Founder-led content: Quality vs. Quantity 33:08 - Building "Owned Media" and the Down to Health show 39:16 - Why the RTD launch is a Retail-only strategy 42:42 - Why corporate sales is a founder's secret superpower 53:45 - Outro and where to find TJ #WhatsWorkingPodcast #DTC #TikTokShop #TheOutgoingCo #EcommerceGrowth #TJBongiorno #MarketingStrategy #AIinBusiness

  • S1 · E1
    February 26 · 56 min

    95% of Books Fail. He Sold $100M Worth.

    What happens when an elite affiliate marketer enters the old-school publishing industry? He accidentally builds the 10th largest book brand in the country , selling up to 12,000 units a day entirely through Meta ads. On this episode of What's Working, we sit down with legendary affiliate marketer and agency owner Jason Kutasi. Jason shares his wild journey from dominating Yahoo's early ad platform to exiting a massive kids' book business to Scholastic. We dive deep into the brutal reality of the publishing industry, the psychological differences between selling to moms vs. grandmas , and why treating your physical product names like ad thumbnails will save you thousands in inventory. Plus, Jason breaks down his exact Meta Ads testing framework for this year, why "natural CAC" beats relying on cost caps , and why he is aggressively shifting back to ABO testing to force winning data. In This Episode, We Cover: The wild west of Yahoo advertising and getting called out by the CEO. Why you should target grandmas, not moms, for kids' products. The "Thumbnail Test": How to test physical product names and packaging before spending a dime on inventory. Meta Ads Masterclass: Why "natural CAC" works, the problem with scaling cost caps, and ruthlessly cutting ad sets after 3 days. The difference between the volatile highs of affiliate marketing and the steady protection of an agency. Connect with Jason: Follow Jason Kutasi on X here: https://x.com/JasonKutasi Follow Jason Kutasi on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/jasonkutasi Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro & Selling 12,000 Books a Day 01:05 - Meet Jason Kutasi: Affiliate Legend 02:40 - Getting Banned on Meta & The Pivot to Books 05:24 - The Wild West of Yahoo Advertising 10:00 - Getting Called Out by Yahoo's CEO 14:15 - The Truth About Book Publishing Margins 17:38 - Scaling to the 10th Largest Publisher 20:55 - Hitting the Breaking Point & Exiting 27:41 - How to Test Physical Products Like Thumbnails 35:44 - Insane E-com Growth: Comfort & Single-SKU Brands 38:09 - What's Working on Meta Ads Today 47:59 - ABO vs. CBO: The Ultimate Testing Framework 52:08 - The Problem with Cost Caps & Natural CAC

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