Denial, Delusion & Doomsday

March Madness. Golf is back. My big sis got engaged. Spring has sprung. Let’s go! What a week. Just an absolute sprint. I blinked & Monday turned into… another Monday. Here’s what’s been going on…

First & foremost, my big sister got engaged. Pretty crazy. Couldn’t be happier for her. Moments like this are true reminders that I’m not a kid anymore. Not even close. Though I’m still in denial, it’s really exciting & beautiful to see life progress for you & the people around you. On the contrary, it seems like every day I have a new injury or soreness somewhere. I pulled a muscle in my hand last week opening a window. The fact that I’m even typing right now is pure grit. Credit to me.

I couldn’t be more into golf right now. I just finished watching Full Swing Season 2 on Netflix and it had me near tears. Not sure why, but something about a bunch of guys flying in private jets every weekend to play on the world’s best golf courses to win millions & millions of dollars really pulls at my heartstrings. I spent all day Saturday at the range. The thing about me is I am delusional in a lot of ways. Like, I truly believe if I really lock in, I could make the tour. I wish I was kidding, but I’m not.

I think delusionality (is that a word?) is a top trait for good entrepreneurs. I’m the best 14-handicap golfer in world.

Anyways, this week is gonna be whacky. Let me explain. Welcome to week 22 of Trust Fun. Proud as heck to be back at the keyboard this week.

Miserable Meta

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve seen what’s been happening in the world of e-commerce regarding the Facebook & Instagram (aka Meta) advertising landscape over the last couple of weeks. It’s very spooky. Morbid, if you will. It feels like doomsday is coming (or… here?). Why? Well, Meta CPMs are up astronomically. The cost of getting eyeballs on your content is incoherently high, which in turn means the cost of getting someone to your site is equally ridiculously expensive. And no, not just like post-IOS 14 absurdity… But rather, “what the actual fuck is happening, this might be the end of Meta” type scary. It’s rough out there.

Hug a marketer today, they need it.

For better or for worse, DTC brands spend a large portion of their marketing dollars on Meta. Anywhere from 50-95% of it. So, when the cost to market your product on Meta goes up, like a lot, these companies are, for lack of a better word, fucked. It’s a double edged sword. Tho Facebook is the platform that aloud DTC brands to exist & flourish, it is also the platform that can take it all away. We are all just eternally kissing Zuck’s feet.

Not only is Meta costs going up, it is also just generally a massive, disorganized shit show. Can we blame it on the fact it’s an election year? Idk maybe.

So where does that leave us? The golden age of building DTC is over according to many. Zuckerberg’s machine was once so simple. Put a product online, spend marketing dollars on Facebook, and boom, sell it. You no longer can just sell anything. Without a true, competitive advantage with your product, you will undoubtedly fail. It needs to be different & better than whatever is out there.

How do you do this? Well, it takes time. When I was at birddogs, it took me probably 10-15 months to launch a product from concept to full POs hitting our warehouse. Half that time was spent gathering data, & the other half was production time. Production time, unfortunately, you cannot control. That is fixed. But data gathering, well, there’s some flexibility there. In the olden days (2019ish, lol) this took AWHILE. Surveys, in-person testing, pretending I am a NYU student doing a research project & setting up phone calls with the head of production of one of our biggest competitors (yup, I actually did that)… This takes REAL time.

But now at Mugsy, we’re launching products in 6-8 months. How?

1) We’ve cut that data gathering timeline by 75% using Particl. We’re looking into the backend of some of our biggest competitors, seeing what skus, colors, & sizes are selling the fastest.

2) We’re effectively optimizing prices. With Particl, we’re also getting real competitor’s pricing data which is allowing us to knowledgeably raise our prices without the risk of hurting conversion.

The golden age of DTC may be over according to some… But the golden age of data is just beginning. Use it & don’t get left behind. Control what you can control. If acquiring new customers is crazy expensive right now, focus on LTV. Launch good products for your existing audience. Send ‘em emails. Send ‘em texts. Stay alive. And Particl enables you to do it 2x faster. Their running some deals for Trust Fun readers, so sign up for a demo here or just DM me for an intro to the founder. Either work. Help me help you.

If you do, let me know. I’ll send you a Trust Fun Baby hat to anyone who does a demo with Particl.

Let’s crush it this week. Treat yourself to a latté & a breakfast sandwich, you deserve it.