007: Marketing, Memes and Making 8-Figure eCommerce Exits with Vigilance Co-Founder, Dennis Hegstad
Release Date: 01/05/2023
031: Helping DTC Brands Boost Conversions & Improve Customer Experience with Oren Harnevo
Ten Years In The Making
As AI dominates headlines, eCommerce brands are hard at work trying to figure out how to employ cutting-edge technology to improve their bottom line. For Oren Harnevo’s Feel, however, human touch has been the secret to driving incremental revenue for eCommerce companies. Feel builds 24/7 live sales teams for online businesses, allowing customers to connect with experts at all hours of the day. On average, Feel has increased AOVs by 50% and conversions by 35%, while decreasing product returns by 11x for its consumers. Today, I’m sitting down with Oren to discuss how Feel is able...
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030: Surviving the Third-Party Cookie Apocalypse
Ten Years In The Making
We’re doing things a little differently in this episode as I join Drew Sanocki and Michael Epstein on the Nerd Marketing Ecommerce podcast to discuss what life will look like for DTC companies in a cookieless future. As giants like Google and Apple relay their plans to limit the collection of third-party cookies, eCommerce companies will be forced to tap dance to come up with ways to continue personalized ad targeting. But while some people think these changes will be fatal for DTC companies, I see a few ways companies can adjust to the new normal. As the founder and CEO of...
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029: How Bloom’s Greg LaVecchia Built a 9-Figure Supplement Brand
Ten Years In The Making
For many DTC brands, cracking the big-box retailer code can be a challenge. But for Greg LaVecchia and Bloom, placement on Target and Walmart shelves has been rocket fuel on their way to 9-figure sales in just their 4th year of business. Greg is a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and the CEO of Bloom, a DTC supplement company. Along with his wife and co-founder Mari, Greg has grown Bloom to become Target’s top-selling SKU in the wellness OTC vitamins, minerals and supplement department over the past 12 months. Today, Greg sits down with me to share how he solved the...
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028: How Saatva Disrupted the Mattress Industry and Built a $400M Brand with Ricky Joshi
Ten Years In The Making
Entrepreneurs often follow a simple code: zig while others zag. So while the DTC mattress industry adopted the online “bed-in-a-box” model, Saatva co-founder Ricky Joshi took a different approach, prioritizing white glove delivery, 24/7 customer service and brick-and-mortar storefronts to build a $400M mattress giant. In this episode, Ricky tells the story of how Saatva became the seventh-fastest-growing privately held retailer in the U.S. by branching beyond e-commerce and embracing physical retail. In addition to the story behind Saatva’s growth, you’ll hear Ricky...
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027: The Viral TikTok Strategy WaterBoy Used to Scale to $10M with Mike Xhaxho
Ten Years In The Making
For Mike Xhaxho, building an audience of 25,000 followers for his DTC brand WaterBoy means doing one thing: making a few videos. With just seven TikTok videos, Mike grew WaterBoy’s following from 0 to 25,000, earning millions of views on its way to hitting $10M in sales in the brand’s first two years. Today, Mike sits down with me to talk about WaterBoy’s TikTok-led marketing strategy, including the story behind his first brand-building videos, the factors he considers when creating content, and why trying to create viral videos might actually stop creators from going viral....
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026: Unveiling the Secrets to Remarkable Valuations with Santosh Sharan
Ten Years In The Making
When B2B companies find themselves trapped in a cycle of stagnation, one name stands out: Santosh Sharan. Santosh is the president & COO of Apollo.io, the Co-CEO of ContactOut and a current consultant and advisor for me at Retention.com. He has worked with more than 15 B2B companies in major operating roles, including helping ZoomInfo grow from $8M ARR to $100M ARR and helping Apollo.io grow from $10M ARR to a $1B valuation. Today, Santosh is here to unveil the invaluable lessons entrepreneurs can glean from his extraordinary journey, including the transformative mindsets that...
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025: How BRUCE BOLT Uses AI Marketing to 2x Conversions with Chris Hall
Ten Years In The Making
For eCommerce founders, the idea of doubling conversion rates without offering a discount sounds too good to be true. But for Chris Hall, it actually happened. Chris is the Senior Marketing Manager at BRUCE BOLT, a batting glove company that went from the brainchild of its 16-year-old founder to outfitting big names in the MLB. One of the keys to BRUCE BOLT’s success? Adding AI to its marketing stack. Today, Chris sits down with me to share a detailed look at the benefits of implementing AI marketing into eCommerce, including how he used Maverick’s AI personalized video...
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024: How EBOOST Disrupted the Functional Energy Drink Market with Josh Taekman
Ten Years In The Making
Josh Taekman began his career co-founding Bad Boy Entertainment. He served as VP of Marketing, spearheading endorsements, cross-promotional opportunities, and partnerships with outside artists (Jay Z, Lauren Hill, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, and others). Josh also worked closely with P. Diddy and orchestrated his non-music oriented ventures, including co-creating and producing the infamous Sean John Clothing, which he helped grow into a $100M brand. Today he focuses on EBOOST, the first-of-its-kind natural energy and recovery ready-to-drink beverage named “Best New Product” of...
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023: Ekster: The Most Successful Smart Wallet Brand in the World with Olivier Momma
Ten Years In The Making
Olivier Momma is the co-founder of Ekster, a D2C brand that makes “better gear for life on the go.” Think wallets, bags and accessories that aim to save customers time, so they can get back to living life. They’re best known for their breakthrough trackable smart wallets and Forbes named them “The Most Successful Smart Wallet Brand in the World.” Olivier and his partner started their first Kickstarter campaign with just an idea and a shoestring budget. They paid his sister $500 to shoot a video, which went on to raise a whopping $350,000 for the brand. Today, Ekster is on pace...
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022: How Portland Leather Goods Scaled a 9-Figure DTC Bag Brand with Curtis Matsko
Ten Years In The Making
Just over a decade ago, Curtis Matsko told his wife, “Quit your job and I will start up a company selling things on the Internet and we’ll make $100 million.” Today, that proclamation has manifested into reality, with Curtis’s Portland Leather Goods growing from a garage operation to a $120M+ business on pace to make more than 2 million bags in 2023. In this episode, Curtis tells the story of how he went from a lofty idea to a concrete success story in just over a decade, including tips on people, product and process. You’ll also hear Curtis share the principles of...
info_outlineWhether it’s scaling businesses to $100+ million valuations or growing Twitter accounts to millions of followers, Dennis Hegstad has built life-changing income streams across the eCommerce ecosystem.
Dennis founded and exited both LiveRecover and OrderBump — companies focused on the Shopify merchant market. In today’s episode, Dennis shares insights from his 14-year eCommerce journey, including how he came up with the ideas for his businesses, why he decided to bootstrap growth instead of raise with VCs, and how offer positioning can affect your perceived value.
You’ll also hear about how Dennis incorporates his Twitter success into his business, including his growth to making $10,000 per day, building more than a dozen accounts to 800,000+ followers, and how he used Twitter to sell a business.
Key Takeaways with Dennis Hegstad
- How Dennis looks at the value of bootstrapping vs. raising money with VCs.
- Tips for positioning your commissions to potential customers.
- Is growing on Twitter worth it for every founder?
- Why Dennis chose not to raise at a potential valuation of $100 million.
- What Dennis would do differently with his SMS marketing business if he could go back in time.
- How Dennis built and monetized a network of 12.5 million followers through Twitter meme accounts.
- Dennis’s eCommerce journey, moving from MySpace in 2008 to earning arbitrage ad revenue to selling two businesses in the Shopify merchant space.
- How other companies in his niche helped Dennis determine his product-market fit.
- The pros and cons of outsourcing work to the Philippines.
- The drawbacks of using Twitter ghostwriters to promote your personal brand.
Want the Full Show Notes?
To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit Retention.com/7
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