Episodes

  • S14 E3: Inside Comfrt’s $700 Million TikTok Playbook (with Hudson Leogrande, Founder of Comfrt)

    S14 E3: Inside Comfrt’s $700 Million TikTok Playbook (with Hudson Leogrande, Founder of Comfrt)
    Oct 16 2025
    Most brands dream of cracking social commerce. Hudson Leogrande, founder of Comfrt, mastered it. Nik and Hudson break down how Hudson built TikTok Shop’s fastest-growing apparel brand, turning a bootstrapped idea into a $700 million powerhouse driven by community, authenticity, and lots of sweatshirts. Hudson reveals his full Q4 playbook that includes dynamic pricing, pre-order strategies, and content formulas that consistently go viral. He also shares his story of resilience: going from homelessness to building a brand with purpose, donating a portion of every sale to mental health causes.If you’re a founder, operator, or marketer who’s ready to build a product with purpose and scale on a huge level, this is the episode for you. What’s Instant? They’re the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows. Instead of blasting the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant ensure every shopper gets a unique email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment that shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows live in minutes. Book a demo by Oct 31 to get 50% off your first 60 days. Make this BFCM your biggest one yet: ⁠⁠instant.one/limited⁠ Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    38 mins
  • S14 E2: 5 Tactics to Make Your Brand Unforgettable (with Jerel Blades, Head of Growth at TUSHY)

    S14 E2: 5 Tactics to Make Your Brand Unforgettable (with Jerel Blades, Head of Growth at TUSHY)
    Oct 8 2025
    Everyone says they want to build a brand people talk about. Jerel from Tushy actually did it.Nik sits down with Jerel, Tushy’s Head of Growth, to unpack how the brand turned a taboo topic into a $100M success story and a household name. From truck ads in Times Square to bidet memes that break the internet, Jerel reveals the creative, operational, and strategic playbook behind one of the most iconic DTC brands in the game.They dig into the real numbers behind out-of-home marketing, how to measure what “brand lift” actually means, and why balancing performance with creativity is the ultimate growth hack. And, what vibes do you need for BFCM this year? Jerel breaks down his Black Friday mindset: how to scale profitably, keep your head cool, and crush Q4 without burning out.If you’re a founder, operator, or marketer who’s tired of playing small, Nik and Jerel are here to remind you: sometimes the boldest brands win big AND have a lot of fun doing it. What’s Instant? They’re the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows. Instead of blasting the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant ensure every shopper gets a unique email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment that shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows live in minutes. Book a demo by Oct 31 to get 50% off your first 60 days. Make this BFCM your biggest one yet: ⁠instant.one/limited Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    43 mins
  • S14 E1: How Affiliates and Creators Are Redefining Brand Marketing (with Aaron Paul, Co-founder of Paul Street)

    S14 E1: How Affiliates and Creators Are Redefining Brand Marketing (with Aaron Paul, Co-founder of Paul Street)
    Oct 1 2025
    What if the secret to scaling your brand wasn’t Facebook ads or a viral TikTok—but an underground network of affiliates driving thousands of sales a day? Nik sits down with Aaron Paul, co-founder of Paul Street, to pull back the curtain on the hidden world of affiliates, PR, and media buyers that power some of today’s fastest-growing consumer brands. They explore how Aaron helped generate over $500M in affiliate revenue, why old-school PR is dying, and how social proof has become the new currency of growth. Plus, Nik and Aaron break down when brands should launch affiliate programs and the deal structures that keep top partners loyal. Why is PR now a sprint-based tool for credibility rather than discovery? Aaron breaks it down from an agency standpoint. From TikTok Shop to celebrity partnerships, listicles, and the secret funnels that scaled brands like Goalie and Onnit, this conversation is packed with insights on building trust, driving sales, and mastering the future of performance marketing. Whether you’re new to Brand, Performance, and Affiliate, or a seasoned marketer, this episode is for YOU. What’s Instant? They’re the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows. Instead of blasting the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant ensure every shopper gets a unique email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment that shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows live in minutes. Book a demo by Oct 31 to get 50% off your first 60 days. Make this BFCM your biggest one yet: instant.one/limited Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    35 mins
  • S13 E12: From 4/20 Launch to $70M: BRĒZ’s Bootstrapped Playbook (with Aaron Nosbisch, Founder and CEO of BRĒZ)

    S13 E12: From 4/20 Launch to $70M: BRĒZ’s Bootstrapped Playbook (with Aaron Nosbisch, Founder and CEO of BRĒZ)
    Sep 24 2025
    How do you scale a DTC beverage when 90% of customers still prefer buying in retail? Nik sits down with Aaron Nosbisch while Aaron shares how he built BRĒZ, a hemp THC drink brand, from a fitting 4/20 launch to nearly $70M bootstrapped revenue. He breaks down why DTC was the demand engine but retail became the scale, how a raw $560 “coin-flip refund” video turned into one of their best ads, and why rotating offers beats running discounts for months. He also cover TikTok Shop arbitrage, founder-led creative that actually converts, and what BRĒZ learned from messing up BFCM. If you’re serious about scaling a CPG brand, this episode is packed with ideas you can use right away. AppLovin Ecommerce Newsletter Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    31 mins
  • S13 E11: Marketing, Mega-Catalogs, Mattresses, and More (with Jared Brody, EVP Marketing at Resident + Ashley Furniture)

    S13 E11: Marketing, Mega-Catalogs, Mattresses, and More (with Jared Brody, EVP Marketing at Resident + Ashley Furniture)
    Sep 17 2025
    What does it take to sell millions of mattresses and furniture pieces while reinventing how big brands market online? Nik sits down with Jared Brody, the marketing leader driving explosive growth at Resident and Ashley Home. Jared traces his path from old-school direct marketing to managing massive ad budgets and leading a team that thrives on data, creativity, and speed. He shares how he created an in-house agency for Ashley and improved media spending. Jared also breaks down how his team links online ads to real store sales and gets ready for big events like Black Friday. And, how does he leverage AI? Turns out, you can use it to parse predictions and for creative generation. Whether you’re new to DTC or a seasoned pro, this episode is for YOU. AppLovin is the fastest growing ad platform for DTC brands. It enables brands to run ads in a variety of mobile games, reaching over 150M daily active users in the US and driving measurable performance at scale. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AppLovin Ecommerce Newsletter Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    44 mins
  • S13 E10: How to Maximize Your Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales

    S13 E10: How to Maximize Your Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales
    Sep 10 2025
    Do you have a plan for BFCM? Or are you just flying blind? Nik walks through his complete Black Friday Playbook: a detailed, 15 page, step-by-step breakdown designed to help brands maximize revenue while avoiding the common pitfalls of BFCM, including: > Crafting compelling promotions without undercutting your own offers > Website optimizations that boost conversions (and pass the “grandma test”) > Smart approaches to bundles, discounts, and subscriber loyalty > Email & SMS capture strategies that actually work > The one thing most brands overlook: terms & disclaimers that save you headaches later Nik also shares insider examples from brands like Jones Road, Jolie, and Ridge, plus clever UX tweaks and founder-driven emails that help build brand trust during the busiest shopping season of the year. Whether you’ve already mapped out your BFCM campaigns or you’re scrambling to finalize the details, this episode is for YOU. AppLovin is the fastest growing ad platform for DTC brands. It enables brands to run ads in a variety of mobile games, reaching over 150M daily active users in the US and driving measurable performance at scale. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AppLovin Ecommerce Newsletter Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    30 mins
  • S13 E9: Real DTC Stories to Learn From

    S13 E9: Real DTC Stories to Learn From
    Sep 3 2025
    Nik’s known as the DTC Guy…and for good reason. He and Scot Chisholm, founder of Highland Community, break down some success stories, mishaps, and more of his career in the business. Nik’s helped scale some of the most recognizable consumer brands—from Hint Water, Rare Beauty to Taco Bell and Brightland—and in this conversation he opens the playbook on what actually works in modern marketing. What IS the drunk grandma test? It’s Nik’s favorite tactic: a simple framework that forces brands to strip away jargon and make their value instantly understandable. Plus, hear about the balance between organic and paid growth, the role of creative testing, and the mistakes brands make when scaling too quickly. If you’re looking to capture attention and build trust this is the episode for you. AppLovin is the fastest growing ad platform for DTC brands. It enables brands to run ads in a variety of mobile games, reaching over 150M daily active users in the US and driving measurable performance at scale. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AppLovin Ecommerce Newsletter Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • S13 E8: What the Best Brands Are Doing (And You Should Do It, Too)

    S13 E8: What the Best Brands Are Doing (And You Should Do It, Too)
    Aug 27 2025
    Nik gets real about what it takes to build a brand that actually works in 2025. The so-called “meta decline” isn’t killing ads, but bad creative and weak messaging are. The brands winning today? They know how to turn customers into clients, build community, and create content that people actually care about. Is a $2,500 budget enough? If you use it wisely, yes. Plus, learn how to crack organic growth before spending a dime on ads and spot product-market fit problems before they sink you. And, Nik explains why whitelisting still crushes, how to test landing pages without wasting money, and what founder-led content should really look like. If you’re looking to scale (or even stop burning cash), this is the episode for you. AppLovin is the fastest growing ad platform for DTC brands. It enables brands to run ads in a variety of mobile games, reaching over 150M daily active users in the US and driving measurable performance at scale. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AppLovin Ecommerce Newsletter Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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    1 hr and 6 mins