Champions, Chocolates & Chess

“Ladies & gentlemen. We got him. - Paul Bremmer” - Cael Schwartz

I’m sure you’ve all been wondering if I’ve come to a solution regarding the loud TV noise coming from my new neighbor’s apartment. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can catch up here.

TLDR version… My new neighbor plays MSNBC very loudly 24/7 & we’ve got thin walls & I’m the world’s lightest sleeper.

I’d like to first thank everyone for their suggestions on how to solve this potentially catastrophic issue. Though I was definitely (mostly) kidding, those who persuaded me NOT to pretend to be a maintenance guy & go into their apartment & break their television, thank you. That most definitely would not have ended well & most likely would’ve been the end of me & this newsletter altogether.

Instead, my girlfriend and I took the high road (Forrest Gump style) & bought them a very nice box of chocolate, wrote a kind note, & knocked on their door to introduce ourselves. I know… what an absolute championship performance.

And let me just say… I now believe that all conflicts can be solved with chocolate. She (yes, SHE is an incredibly sweet lady) answered the door & was thrilled to meet us. She also LOVES chocolate. I self-proclaimed “chocolate addict.” And low & behold, she also had no idea that we could hear the radio (turns out, it wasn’t a TV), and she immediately shut it off. She is incredibly kind & chatty and has been invited over for coffee.

Feels so good to stack a win. We haven’t heard the radio since & we now have a new friend right down the hall.

Welcome to week 20 of Trust Fun. Wow. 20 of these things? Damn. Anyways, let’s get into it.

Chess not Checkers

People who are running successful businesses are typically utilizing good data. Very very rarely is someone some kind of savant who can make strategic business decisions solely with their gut. Not saying no one has successfully done it, but 9 out of 10 times, we need data.

I’ve always tried to get as much data as possible, because, as you probably realized from me wanting to break this old lady’s television… My gut is usually wrong. So I’ve always opted for asking for help. No matter what business you’re in, the saying remains true- "The customer is always right.” Whether it’s surveying customers on color choices, cold calling people to hear about their experience with your brand, or meeting people in-person give feedback on potential new products, I always try and get the data I need to make the most hedged decision.

I’ve been obsessed with data lately. Obsessed. You ever wanna just be able to log into one of your competitors’ Shopify dashboard & see what the heck is working for them & steal all their good ideas? Same.

Well… maybe you sorta can? Legally of course. Let me explain… Let’s say I was thinking about launching a stretchy pair of jeans for men (random idea)- what are some critical pieces of information I would need to know?

1) What are the best selling jeans colors that guys buy?

2) What size jeans should I buy the most of?

99% of the ways I could get to some answers are SOO outdated & absurdly expensive. Sure I could spend $40k & purchase some dinosaur era Nielsen data. Real question: Does anyone actually buy Nielsen data anymore? Also, who is “Nielsen” & why does his data cost so much?

I could also send surveys. But to who? And how much is that gonna cost? And how much time is that gonna take? And is it gonna be accurate?

The RIGHT way to go about this is oh so obvious. And so simple. It’s 2024, folks. Use Particl.

Particl is a data company that provides ACTUAL sales and inventory numbers for e-commerce companies. They essentially allow you to look into the backend of a brand’s dashboard & see what products, colors & styles are selling the best, and then use that data to help you make the most educated decisions humanly possible.

Let’s look at a random jeans brand, say Mugsy, and see what colors and sizes are selling the best for them, then, when I go to launch my jeans, my size distributions & color choices on my first POs are hedged on REAL data.

I can see their sales volume, expected revenue, rate sold & WAY WAY more. This is actually insane data & can save sku heavy companies massively on new product launches. Big shout out to Particl. True pioneers in this wild west of ecomm. If you want access to ESSENTIAL data, sign up for a demo with Particl here.

Stop playing checkers & start playing chess.

Big week this week.

Have a stellar Monday, friends.

Thanks for reading 20 of these silly things.