Welcome to the Operators Newsletter!

Yeah, we know: Another newsletter? Does the world need another newsletter?

Short answer, no. The last thing you need is another distraction — more noise, less signal. Long answer, yes … but only if it lives up to why we’re launching it.

We’re grateful to have you join us.

We want your feedback. We want your questions. And we want your contributions.

Above all, we want you to hold us accountable for this being anything but “another” newsletter.

Mike Beckham, CEO of Simple Modern

I have two simple reasons for launching the Operators Newsletter: (1) I’m selfish, and (2) I want to help others. Sounds like two contradictory statements, but they’re both true.

First and foremost, I want to write more because it helps me to clarify my thinking.

The more I write, the more I understand. It makes me a better communicator, leader, and CEO. Writing about the things I am learning helps me to internalize and process them at a deeper level. Forcing myself to exercise this muscle is good for me.

Paradoxically, I am also very motivated to help other operators be successful.

Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from failure. I want to share my mistakes and failures with others in the community so that they can be more successful.

This has always been the best part of the podcast and our community — helping each other win.

Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge

I had my own newsletter before the podcast. Sometimes, you want to write something that doesn’t belong on Twitter. Twitter is for memes, not word vomit.

But sometimes I have word vomit, too.

The podcast filled that void. An hour unstructured to say whatever. But sometimes I need to yap for 3, 4, 5 hours at a time.

The newsletter is once again becoming an outlet for that. I look forward to going hard on random topics like …

Private equity
When to sell
How to hire

And what SaaS is full of s***.

I am also excited to have it as a platform to bring more talented operators into the fold.

There are great minds and voices out there, doing great work, but aren’t crazy enough to tweet. We will cram them in between my insane rants to make me look like I have friends.

Jason Panzer, President of HexClad

I wanted to launch a newsletter for the same reason I love doing the pod …

To share the perspectives and the insights I’ve learned as an operator.

Writing down thoughts is a great way to work through an idea or problem. It forces the writer to see their thoughts from another perspective.

However, this newsletter will be more than fresh or even deeper reflections on the topics we discuss on the pod.

It will be a place to explore new topics with the breadth and depth they deserve. And a place to correct old topics when new insights emerge.

Ultimately, my aim is to help fellow operators apply our hard-won lessons to their own organizations and lives.

Matt Bertulli, CEO Pela & Lomi

Going from the pod to a newsletter just felt like the next best step in helping our audience become better operators.

Selfishly, I write a lot already — so it seemed like a pretty easy next step.

I believe reading and writing to be essential tools in a CEO’s kit. Without them, it’s hard to ever think deeply and refine your ideas. It’s nearly impossible to go from strategy to tactical without reading and writing.

My hope is that this newsletter turns into the most valuable piece of business real estate in your inbox.

Aaron Orendorff, Editor in Chief Operators Newsletter

Without exaggeration, getting tapped to lead the Operators Newsletter is the greatest compliment of my marketing career.

It’s also the scariest.

There are few voices I respect more than those behind the microphones on 9 Operators and Marketing Operators. Having prepared over the last two months — assigning, reviewing, and finalizing — a single truth has emerged.

No one is going to grow more than me as a result of this endeavor. But don’t let that stop you from trying.

We’ve got so much coming up …

Exclusive “Addendums” to previous podcasts that have haunted the hosts
Behind-the-scenes “Operations” revealing real problems + solutions from their businesses
Weekly resources and tools, executive summaries of trending news, AMAs, plus (surprise) guest contributions

Let’s f****** go!

SPOTLIGHT

Mirella Crespi’s System for Shipping 2,000 Ads Per Month

Connor MacDonald, CMO of Ridge

Last week, the creative analytics platform Motion wrapped up its epic five-week creative strategy series, Make Ads That Convert.

In the live series, the Avengers of Advertising — Mirella Crespi, Dara Denney, Jess Bachman, and Savannah Sanchez — all went deep into the mechanics of making TikTok & Facebook ads.

Motion just made all the sessions available as recordings. One of the best I attended was with Mirella Crespi.

Mirella Crespi is the founder of Creative Milkshake, an agency that works for brands such as Amazon, Monday, and True Classic.

Mirella starts sharing straight heat and never stops for a full 60 minutes. She teaches:

The perfect direct-response video structure
Mirella’s ad building block system (so good!)
The five key elements of a powerful hook
Key info to include in your storyboards & briefs

Watch all the sessions from Motion’s series with the link below.

Watch the replays

THE FEED

How to Build Resiliency into Your Business (Part 2)

TL;DR — Building in public, the benefits and drawbacks of sharing company information, finding a community of ambitious people, and how to lead a team during challenging times — productive paranoia versus risk mitigation.

YouTube Deep Dive: Ads, Organic Growth, Partnerships & More

TL;DR — Account structure, creative strategies, and measurement. Allocating your media-mix percentage to YouTube, viewer behavior versus other channels, sponsoring content, as well as storytelling + providing value.

THE RESOURCE

How to Scale Influencer Marketing

Cody Plofker, CMO Jones Road Beauty

Free five-day email course + 32-page PDF guide. Includes case studies on negotiating with Joe Rogan and Tony Hawk. This is a great resource. Josh Durham knows his stuff.

Bonus: Connor Rolain is right there on the landing page; don’t know why I’m not 😂

The Lander Library by PageDeck

Connor Rolain, Head of Growth HexClad

Possibly the best landing page research tool available. Search any brand, get page details (PDPs + collections), and preview on both desktop + mobile.

Bonus: I’m not on the lander. Neither is Cody. But there’s a shortcut for HexClad.

THE TRENDS

This week’s top-five trending news stories, curated by the editor of CPG Wire

1. Saks is Acquiring Rival Neiman Marcus for $2.65B: NYT

The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue has agreed to acquire Neiman Marcus, creating a high-end department store juggernaut in the process. The combined entity will boast 75 department stores along with 100 off-price outlets. Interestingly, Amazon is helping finance the deal by taking a stake in Saks Global.

2. Finnish Long Drink Grabs $24M in Funding: Form Ds

One of the fastest-growing canned cocktail brands in the United States just scored $24M in fresh funding from undisclosed investors. The Finnish Long Drink — which launched in 2018 and is backed by Miles Teller and Marcy Venture Partners — sold nearly 80M cans last year. For the uninitiated, the Finnish Long Drink is basically gin + flavored sparkling water.

3. Unilever Ventures Backs Early-Stage Beauty Firm: Cosmetics Business

Unilever Ventures, the VC & PE arm of Unilever, led a seed investment in Luna Daily, a British body care brand that launched in 2019. Unilever has been a very active venture investor lately. Its recent investments include Perelel Health, a women’s wellness brand; The 7 Virtues, a boutique fragrance brand; and STRAAND, an Australian scalp care brand.

4. Nutrisco Buys LiveMore Superfoods: Just Drinks

LiveMore Superfoods, a purveyor of organic, pre-made smoothie cups, was acquired by Nutrisco, a Chilean food & beverage firm. Newport Beach-based LiveMore Superfoods was founded in 2010. In addition to their DTC bus, LiveMore also retails at Costco, CVS, and Target.

5. MOSH Launches Nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market: Instagram

After revealing a fantastic brand refresh last week, MOSH just announced that it’s launching nationwide at Sprouts. Sprouts has quickly become the go-to retailer for emerging brands due to its Forager Program (basically a 90-day trial period for brands where they either sink or swim).

FEATURED

Enabling Scale: How Fulfil Fuels Ridge’s Growth Journey to Nine Figures and Beyond

Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge

Fulfil is the way to go for us. If you’re DTC and you want control, you want omnichannel, you want your ERP not to be a nightmare experience — then you need to check out Fulfil.

I’m running EDI. I’m running all of it through Fulfil. And it doesn’t cost a million dollars.