Struggling?

You’re not alone.

From one CEO facing a $20M cost to another’s stomach sinking — wondering if his company just got “destroyed” — today’s newsletter is a tactical, honest, and (I sincerely hope) …

🔥 Matthew Bertulli on how + why you should run into the fire

📉 Mike Beckham on what to do when life isn’t up & to the right

🤝 Special invitation so you don’t have to go through it alone

Along with this week’s five biggest headlines in consumer news with executive summaries.

And three  bonus  pick-you-ups!

Connor MacDonald CMO, Ridge

How Custom Post-Purchase Funnels Help With Product Discovery & More

Sure, post-purchase upsells boost AOV and revenue. But even beyond revenue, they can help you …

• Move slower inventory
• Increase product discovery
• Improve sell-through on core SKUs

For example, when someone buys a wallet, they find out that Ridge also sells luggage.

How often do customers buy a suitcase right after purchasing a wallet? Not very often. However, if every single customer who buys a wallet finds out they could also buy a suitcase from Ridge, that’s product discovery.

And that’s immensely valuable to us.

For rings, on the other hand, my team’s created more tightly aligned upsells that match different uses.

As soon as I tried upsell funnels, I immediately thought — this is so much easier to set up and configure. You simply create rules that catch different customers based on selected criteria.

This powerful customization helps you serve each customer best. No more generic upsells that everybody ignores.

Matthew Bertulli CEO, Pela Case x Lomi

Run Into the Fire

On Feb. 1, President Trump announced a 25% tariff on all goods out of Mexico and Canada.

The kicker? He also closed Section 321 (de minimis).

Just like that, my stomach sank.

Did this guy destroy my company in one executive order? Seriously, of all the shit to take me out.

I immediately messaged my Chief of Staff to make sure the team was mobilizing and figuring out what solutions we could implement. We knew something was coming, so we had done some contingency scenario planning in the previous months.

We didn’t expect the tariffs and the changes to US imports to be so sweeping and broad. Nobody did. This is one of those “cut off your nose to spite your face” moments.

Alas, this is where we are.

I have a bit of a pattern with crisis, especially the kind that threatens my business.

How? We began thinking about how to take advantage of this situation. What’s the win here? Clearly, there are going to be changes that work in our favor, right?

After about 24 hours of little to no sleep, it hit me.

This is a gift. Trump is going to force a decision among consumers single-handedly. The thing with movements like this is there’s always two sides to them.

We came up with two campaigns and got to work.

The first was easy.

In Canada, we’d launch a full-on assault of “Made in Canada” and appeal to the anger many Canadians were feeling.

We recorded a fresh video of me talking to the camera. I wrote the script myself. You can watch the original cut here.

We have multiple versions of this running on Meta and YouTube and we’ve scaled it into the many, many millions of views.

The second was trickier.

How do we handle the US? We started asking questions, going right back to first principles on the problem at hand.

• Do Americans hate Canadians?
• Are we really the enemy?
• Or is it only some Americans?

There’s no way the whole country thinks Canada is a trade enemy. That makes no sense.

Of course, we couldn’t just run the Made in Canada campaign in the US. That made no sense. And we couldn’t say “Made in America,” even though Canada is part of North America.

Instead, we came up with “Made in Ameri…close by.”

We turned this headline into a video script for me to record and built a ton of other assets out to support it.

You can watch the main video for this campaign here.

We fired it up. And boom. Turns out, there’s a lot of Americans who really don’t think Canada is the enemy here.

As for its impact on pricing, we’re also running a “Tariff-Free Shopping” campaign integrated into both our email marketing and even our US-based homepage — with the “Made in Ameri…close by” messaging front and center.

My point in sharing all of this process shit is …

There’s this relatively famous trope about two shoe salespeople who returned from a trip to Africa to asses the opportunity. The first salesperson came back and said, “Nobody here wears shoes. This is a waste of time.”

The second salesperson came back and said, “Nobody here wears shoes. What a huge opportunity.”

This is how I try to look at every problem we face.

When COVID hit, we saw our sales on Pela Case drop by 70% within 48 hours of it going national.

We had to figure out what the win was.

We created a “Wear one, wash one” campaign all because we read every customer comment on every post + ad. We saw a nurse comment that she would wash her Pela Case every night when she got home from work.

Our answer? Buy a case, get a second one free. Wear one, wash one. It was our message to people who were concerned about the virus. We met the moment and turned this rather shit time into a huge win for our brand.

My journey as an entrepreneur is full of these stories.

Whenever we get hit with a curveball, there’s always an upside.

I’ve had what I thought were irreplaceable employees leave, only to be replaced by even better. I’ve also had employees leave only to find out that we didn’t need that role anymore.

Whatever you think is a bad thing, I promise you this …

It’s happening for you, not to you.

Mike Beckham CEO, Simple Modern

Life Isn’t Always “Up and to the Right”

Social media feeds a sense that others must have it more together than we do.

It seems like others are always being promoted, going on a great vacation, or celebrating an accomplishment.

The reason is a central tendency we all share. We talk freely about the things going well, and we do not broadcast our challenges. I’d like to change that …

Back in Feb, on a special episode of the podcast, I described how: “When you run a business, you have to make long-term decisions about inventory, about CapEx, about people. It’s really difficult to make long-term decisions when you have no idea what the long term looks like.”

What I discussed then as potential changes have become our stark reality. The initial shock has evolved into a complex new reality that we’re all forced to navigate — a multi-faceted trade conflict with Canada, Mexico, and China.

The tariffs will have a cumulative cost of almost $20,000,000 to our company.

For me, it has been particularly challenging to navigate how to lead in such uncertain times.

But I am hopeful. Here’s why.

We are able to more clearly see areas for potential and needed change. It helps us to do the important but difficult things we might avoid in easier times.

The truth is, I’ve never chased loopholes in business — it’s just not my style. I’ve mentioned on the podcast that there are all kinds of “international trade zone” tricks for our warehouses in Oklahoma. Ways to get special treatment.

We never pursued those shortcuts. That decision has proven wise as those options are disappearing. The clock has run out; everything’s turned back into pumpkins.

I was recently struck by the difference between sympathy and empathy. Empathy is the ability to imagine what someone is going through and express support. Sympathy is the ability to emotionally support others because you have personally experienced something similar.

When I think about our current business challenges in context with broader social challenges, it gives me perspective. I believe that solutions start at an industry level.

You cannot fix these issues through non-profits. They’re typically downstream, where you’re trying to pick up the pieces.

The more I’ve given to nonprofits, the more I’ve become convinced that to create the world you want to live in …

You have to address issues at their source, on the industry side. Which is where (if you’re reading this) we exist.

On the positive side, despite these challenges and the potential for increased consumer prices, I still believe in the resilience of the US economy and its place on the world stage.

Our ability to adapt and find new solutions in the face of adversity will determine how we emerge from this situation.

If you’re in business, the US economy being well run and growing is the single best thing for you no matter where you live.

That’s the hope.

I think that we might actually get the fastest nominal growth — not percentage, but nominal growth — that we’ve ever seen. If that happens, it is going to be the tide that raises all the ships.

We would never grow into the people we were created to become without failure and challenge.

We would never develop the capacity for love and support that only come from enduring hardship. We would never be capable of leading others through the challenges that life throws our way.

Where are you experiencing adversity right now?

Instead of viewing it as a curse, reframe it as an opportunity. A chance to unlock a better version of yourself.

As we continue to adapt to these new business realities, remember that these challenges are forcing us to become more innovative, more resilient, and ultimately better leaders.

THE FEED

​The 10 Year Overnight Success with David Segal, the President of Highbeam​

​How Digital Product Fuels DTC Growth with Connor Dault, VP of Growth at Caraway​

The Trends

Curated by the editor of CPG Wire, this week’s five biggest consumer-news headlines.

1. Wild Fox Foods Launches at Expo West: Twitter

The founders of Kevin’s Natural Foods — Kevin McCray, Kelsie Costa, and Dan Costa — officially launched clean snack brand Wild Fox Foods. Their products are free of seed oils, GMOs, gluten, and added sugar. Kevin’s Natural Foods launched in 2019 and was acquired by Mars in 2023 for around $800M.

2. GoodSAM Secures $9M: AgFunderNews

Mission-driven food brand GoodSAM raised $9M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by ALIVE Ventures and Desert Bloom. Other investors include Connecticut Innovations, LATAM Impact Fund, and One Small Planet. Founded in 2019 by Heather K. Terry, GoodSAM is entirely focused on regenerative farming and farmer empowerment.

3. Nestlé Bets on Chinese Confectionery: FoodBev

Swiss CPG giant Nestlé has acquired the remainder of Hsu Fu Chi, a Chinese manufacturer of branded candy and snacks. Hsu Fu Chi was founded in 1992 by the Hsu family and quickly became a top-selling candy producer in China. Nestlé previously acquired a 60% stake in the company in 2011 for $1.7B.

4. General Mills Scraps Innovation Arm: Food Dive

General Mills is shutting down G-Works, its in-house innovation unit that developed brands like Carbe Diem and Good Measure. The cereal and snack maker is also pausing investments via 301 Inc., its early-stage venture arm. Both moves reflect cutting costs measures across industries as consumers pull back spend.

5. Silas Capital Backs Business & Pleasure: PR Newswire

Business & Pleasure Co. — a purveyor of luxury outdoor furniture — secured $16M in fresh funding in a round led by Silas Capital. Ollie Edwards & Lachlan Leckie launched the Laguna Beach-based brand in 2017. Silas Capital is an investor in Boll & Branch, ILIA Beauty, Vacation, Wonderbelly, and a number of others.

 BONUSES: Need a Pick Me Up? 

How about three? (1) Friend of the newsletter, Emmett Naughton created the only affirmational dashboard you’ll ever need. Turn your camera on and send me a screenshot. (2) David Baker just shared the release of Beekman 1802’s baby-goat cam — it’s live, baby! And (3) Zoe Kahn is hosting a launch party in Scottsdale, AZ for her new podcast titled Let’s Laugh About It. If you are anywhere close by, get over there.

Finally, about that special invitation to not go through your struggles alone.

The Operators Slack is a closed community of nearly 800 ecommerce and retail leaders.

If you would like to join us …

There are no dues or payments. No pitches. Just a growing group of operators only in it together.

With thanks and anticipation,
Aaron Orendorff 🤓 Executive Editor

PS (Disclaimer): Special thanks to AfterSell for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

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