Goodbye, 2024. Hey there, 2025.

But before the ball drops, we’ve got just enough time for the best-of-the-(absolute)-best …

Five newsletters you chose as our most valuable — by voting with your opens, clicks & replies.

1️⃣ How to Take Your Holiday Work Home
2️⃣ Your 7 → 8 Figure Organic Playbook
3️⃣ Brand Health Checklist: 7 Factors
4️⃣ Tornadoes > Funnels: 3 Strategies
5️⃣ Not Predictions: 5 Data Lies & 1 Truth

Plus, an epic wrap of this year’s 10 biggest stories in consumer + ecommerce news with extended summaries.

Katy Mimari Founder & CEO, Caden Lane

#1. How to Take Your Holiday Work Home​

Easily our most heartfelt newsletter of the year, Katy’s ode to “not being OOO” smashed.

On top of being our most-read segment — sans Sean-Frank clickbait for his long-awaited “s*** list” …

“As we lean into our busiest time of year, I’m reminded what we do out of office matters far more than what we do within.”

Since few of us truly get away during Black Friday to Cyber Monday, the CEO of baby-brand juggernaut Caden Land shared how to bring the best of our holiday work home.

• Communication
• Gratitude
• Grace

Drew Arciuolo VP of Marketing, VKTRY

#2. Your 7 → 8 Figure Organic Playbook​

The longest freaking email we sent was (thankfully) our second most popular.

Drew unleashed 2,177 words + countless examples from VKTRY’s two-year journey — an unprofitable seven-figure business in 2022 … profitable eight-figures today.

And Drew did not let up on the gas.

Matthew Bertulli CEO, Lomi & Pela Case

#3. Your Brand Health Checklist ✅​

What makes a brand great?

That was the question Matthew opened with for his exclusive, unabridged, never-before-seen book excerpt:

Equal parts tactics and storytelling, the Brand Health Checklist worked through seven critical factors:

1. High Gross Margin
2. Low OpEx: <15%
3. Cash Conversion Cycle
4. First-Order Profitability
5. High Lifetime Value
6. Strong Organic Demand
7. Great Product
8. Large TAM

Cherene Aubert VP Digital & Ecommerce ILIA

#4. Tornadoes > Funnels: 3 Principles​

“I have news for you,” wrote Cherene, in all her usual snarky gusto. “we’re not building funnels anymore.”

After a whirlwind social lead-up (pun intended), she exposed how ILIA Beauty has been increasing traffic and conversion rates … at the same time.

How? Through a three-part strategy:

1. Content that builds desirability at each stage
2. Ease of navigation and onsite relevancy
3. Cart incentives from consideration to decision

London Spilker Sr. Growth Manager, HexClad

#5. ❌ Predictions: 5 Data Lies & 1 Truth​

In lieu of typical end-of-year predictions, HexClad’s Sr. Growth Manager rolled out the first in our new series:

 Plans for 2025 + lessons from 2024. 

Looking forward, London revealed how to build a warehouse of “micro” creators for unlocking macro growth. Looking back, five ways to avoid f***’d up data …

1. Lock-In & Lock-Down Naming Conventions
2. Troubleshoot Like Your Data is Lying to You
3. Go Deep on Validating Incremental Success
4. Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Reports
5. If It Feels Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is

Mike Beckham President, Simple Modern

🔥 How to Launch a Brand + 2 Giveaways​

Honorable mention → Most. Clicks. EVER!

Having been an entrepreneur for 15 years, Mike pulled back the curtain on “the biggest swing of my career.”

Simple Modern’s brand new brand: Trevi.

• The Decision
• The Opportunity
• The Structure

True to character, Mike ended the newsletter with our first-ever giveaway. In the interest of full disclosure … that’s for sure where all the clicks came from!

THE FEED

Thrive in 2025: Reflections & Plans

• ​YouTube​
• ​Apple​
• ​Spotify​

Scaling to $20M+ in Two Years With Dan McCormick of Create Wellness

• ​YouTube​
• ​Apple​
• ​Spotify​

The Trends

Curated by the editor of CPG Wire, 2024’s 10 biggest consumer-news headlines.

1. AppLovin Becomes a Go-To Marketing Platform, Stock Surges Over 700%: Twitter​

AppLovin, the tech darling that helps mobile app developers monetize their apps via targeted ads, was a major bright spot for DTC marketers in 2024. Though there’s still some skepticism about scalability, DTC marketers spent significantly more on the platform and generated (near) Meta level results.

According to Nick Shackelford, they spent $219K on AppLovin in month one, which was about half of what they spent on Meta.

 BONUS  🤬 Sean Frank’s bull case for AppLovin didn’t make our best-of list, but you can blame me for a bad subject line.

2. PepsiCo Acquires Siete Foods For $1.2B: Food Dive​

PepsiCo made its largest acquisition in four years by purchasing Siete Foods for $1.2B. Siete hit the market in 2014 with grain-free tortillas then quickly expanded into other categories like tortilla chips, beans, cookies, hot sauces, and seasonings.

Today, Siete boasts over 60 SKUs, over 35,000 retail doors, and over $500M in annual revenue. In addition to Siete Foods, PepsiCo also acquired the remaining 50% stake in Sabra, a hummus brand with nearly $400M in retail sales in the U.S.

3. HexClad Scores $100M Investment From Gordon Ramsay: Business Wire​

Premium kitchenware brand HexClad landed a $100M strategic investment from Studio Ramsay Global, a joint venture between chef Gordon Ramsay and FOX Entertainment.

HexClad was founded in 2016 and hit unicorn status in 2023. Gordon Ramsay first invested in HexClad in 2021 and has been a key strategic partner for the brand since then.

 BONUS  🍳 HexClad’s president, Jason Panzer, took us behind the scenes — complete with Panzerisms.

4. Athletic Brewing Raises $50M as Valuation Hits $800M: CNBC​

In July, leading non-alc beer producer Athletic Brewing raised $50M in fresh equity funding from General Atlantic. The company, which sold over one hundred million cans in 2023, is now valued at $800M. To meet rising demand for its products, Athletic Brewing also acquired a 107,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in San Diego from Ballast Point Brewery. The newly acquired facility effectively doubles its capacity.

5. The Return of the (Protein Bar) King: Food Dive​

Peter Rahal is best known for co-founding RXBAR in 2014 and selling it to Kellogg in 2017 for $600M. In 2024, Rahal partnered with Zach Ranen to launch David, a protein bar with impressive macros (28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar).

In addition to launching in September, David did $1M in its first week of operations and then raised $10M in seed funding — Rahal led the round.

6. Create Hits Major Milestones in 2024: FoodBev​

Create, a leading purveyor of innovative creatine products, had an impressive 2024. The company was on pace for $22M in revenue, raised $5M from Unilever Ventures, and became an omnichannel brand by launching at GNC and Wegmans.

Create also expanded beyond creatine gummies with two new product lines: Single-Serve Creatine Stick Packs and Daily Performance Gummies.

 BONUS  🎁 Last week, the Marketing Operators sat down with Create’s founder to get the whole story.

7. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) Buys GHOST: PR Newswire​

KDP filled a major void in its beverage portfolio by acquiring a majority stake in GHOST, a sports nutrition brand and one of the fastest-growing brands in the energy drink category. KDP paid $990M for 60% of GHOST and will buy the remainder of the company in 2028.

GHOST was founded in 2016 by Dan Lourenco and Ryan Hughes. KDP also owns 30% of Nutrabolt, the maker of C4 Energy, but GHOST gives them a dedicated energy drink brand that they can plug into their formidable distribution network.

8. Mars Acquires Kellanova For $36B: Reuters​

Mars, the global confectionery giant that owns M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, and KIND, acquired snack maker Kellanova for nearly $36B in cash. Kellanova, which was spun off from Kellogg in 2023, is home to a number of massive snack brands like Cheez-It, Eggo, RXBAR, Pop-Tarts, Pringles, and Nutri-Grain.

Last year, Kellanova generated over $13B in revenue and nearly $1B in net income. The deal brings together seventeen $1B+ brands under one roof. Wild

9. Clean Skin Club Grabs $32M: Global Cosmetics News​

Clean Skin Club, a leading purveyor of facial hygiene products, secured $32M in funding from Amberstone and Astō Consumer Partners. Founded in Weston, Florida in 2019, Clean Skin Club is best known for its single-use face towels, which are a top seller on Amazon and at Target. Clean Skin Club expects to finish 2024 with $107M in sales, up from $47M in 2023.

10. Simply Good Foods Bets on Protein Shakes: Food Business News​

Simply Good Foods shelled out $280M in cash to acquire OWYN, a leading ready-to-drink protein shake brand. Simply Good Foods, which trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker SMPL, owns two popular nutrition brands: Atkins and Quest. Despite only owning two brands, Simply Good Foods is a large business with over $1.2B in annual revenue and $133M in net income.

OWYN is expected to finish 2024 with net sales of $120M, so SMPL is only paying 2.3x net sales for a fast-growing asset in a complementary category.

On a more personal note … 

Getting tapped back in July to launch this newsletter was one of the most thrilling and terrifying experiences of my career.

I’ve learned more about ecommerce, business, and leadership in the last six months than the previous six years.

I owe that to the Operators themselves.

But especially to you — our readers.

With thanks and anticipation,
Aaron Orendorff 🤓 Executive Editor

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