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Elevator Talks

Elevator Goods

Elevator is the home for modern e-commerce. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community.

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#16
September 25 · 1 hr
How He Helped 50+ Brands Reach $100K a Day
Shaun Eng has helped more than 50 online brand owners reach $100K days. He works with founders on their ads and teams. In this episode, he joins Monish Sabnani in Hong Kong to unpack the decisions behind that growth. What do you change when making more ads stops working? How do you turn a failed test into a useful next move? And why does hiring more people sometimes leave you with just as much work? We work through how to learn from a failed ad, when to hire your best creator full time, and how to develop a team that can make decisions without bringing every edit back to you. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/shaun-eng Follow Shaun: X: https://x.com/shauneng Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shauneng/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@shauneng_ Offers & resources: https://offers.shauneng.com/ Evolve, a community for growing online brands: https://www.skool.com/evolve-8484/about Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Elevatorgoods LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elevator-goods/ Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1fCirPyNlzTxT4hOOH0tVC Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elevator-talks/id1896325680 Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Subscribe for more conversations about growing brands. #ecommerce #elevatorgoods #elevatortalks #creativestrategy #metaads
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#15
August 15 · 57 min
How to Build Retail Demand Before You're On a Single Shelf
Kiki Couchman left private equity to build Sourmilk - a gut-health yogurt brand that sold 8,000 yogurts hand-to-hand before landing on a single retail shelf. We break down how Sourmilk built demand before distribution, used building in public as a growth channel, turned customers into leverage with retail buyers, and why Kiki is choosing to dominate New York before scaling nationally. Follow Kiki & Sourmilk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/couchwoman/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getsourmilk/ Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Follow Monish: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:00 Leaving private equity to build Sourmilk 04:30 Why yogurt was the opportunity 12:27 Why Sourmilk is retail-first 14:21 The economics of a perishable product 17:26 Customers before retail buyers 18:10 Building demand before distribution 18:31 Selling 8,000 yogurts on the streets of NYC 20:00 Turning customers into retail leverage 23:04 Bootstrapping Sourmilk with two founders 24:52 The real value of trade shows 28:00 Why they’re not going national yet 30:21 When to raise institutional capital 33:30 Learning social media from zero 36:44 The inspiration behind building in public 39:47 Should every founder build in public? 41:56 Why content alone isn’t enough 46:24 The first hire Sourmilk needs 47:57 A day in the life building Sourmilk
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#14
July 31 · 56 min
Lukas Pakter: The Trybe Creator Growth Playbook
Lukas is the co-founder of Trybe, the platform powering the creator sales forces behind the fastest-scaling DTC brands right now. He's uploading over 5,500 ads a month and turning everyday creators into a sales force that outsells traditional UGC, influencers, and agencies combined. In this episode he gives the unfiltered playbook: - Why you don't find great creators, you train them - How to structure retainers and commissions so creators actually work harder (and the one ratio most brands get wrong) - How he ran 3,500 ads a month by himself in two hours a day - How to protect your ad account while testing thousands of videos - Why creator retention, not recruitment, is the real moat If TikTok Shop or Meta is anywhere on your roadmap, this is the one to watch. Lukas: https://www.instagram.com/lukaspakter/ Trybe: https://jointrybe.com/ Elevator Goods: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ Host (Monish Sabnani): https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ Timestamps: 00:00 The Creator Sales Force Playbook 01:13 Trybe: TikTok Shop for Meta 09:08 Is Your Brand Ready? 13:15 You Train Great Creators 19:51 The Creator Retainer Framework 24:50 Shift UGC From “I” to “You” 31:54 Why 5,500 Ads a Month Works 34:17 Build the Team From Your Creators 38:30 Why Waiting Will Cost You 42:14 Why 1,000 Ads Still Failed 45:55 From $0 to $79K a Month 51:08 Founder-Led Creator Retention 58:31 How to Test 40,000 Ads on Meta
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#13
July 24 · 1 hr 17 min
Moiz Ali’s $100M Exit Playbook & What’s Next For Him
Moiz Ali built Native and sold it to P&G for $100M in just two and a half years. Today, he spends his time investing in, advising, and studying e-commerce businesses, giving him a unique view into what separates long lasting brands from businesses that are simply growing fast. In this conversation, Moiz shares what he is seeing across the space in 2026, including why most founders should focus on building a strong product before trying to manufacture a brand, why repeat purchase rate is one of the most important numbers in e-commerce, how to stay lean while scaling, and what makes a business genuinely investable. We also talk about Meta volatility, healthy profit margins, testing products before committing too much time or capital, hiring exceptional people, and what life looks like after a major exit. Download the free Moiz Ali playbook here, the entire episode distilled into one PDF: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/moiz-ali We are hiring. View open positions at: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/careers Connect with Moiz: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moiz.r.ali/ X: https://x.com/moizali Connect with Monish: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Connect with Elevator Goods: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Subscribe for bi-weekly conversations with operators building real brands. What we cover in this episode: 00:05:30 — Life After the Exit 00:11:00 — The Power of Having a Chip on Your Shoulder 00:18:45 — Inside Meta and Why It's So Volatile 00:22:10 — What Makes a Brand Truly Investable? 00:26:45 — What Is a Healthy Profit Margin? 00:30:00 — Brand vs. Product: What Matters More? 00:38:30 — How to Test Products Before Scaling 00:51:00 — What's the End Game? 01:00:30 — Hiring Exceptional People 01:05:30 — What Keeps You Up at Night? 01:11:30 — Rapid-Fire Questions
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#12
July 10 · 1 hr 18 min
How Sabrina Sade (4AM) Cracked TikTok Shop, Retail, and VC Funding
Sabrina is the co-founder of 4AM, the skincare brand that built an entire routine into a single wipe. She built it while still in medical school - performing surgeries by day and posting on TikTok at night - and grew it all with a 2-3 person team into Target nationwide. In this episode she breaks down: - How she spotted the hero product that became 95% of her sales - The TikTok Shop strategy that turns 5,000 organic views into 500,000 - Why brand story beats the discount game every time - How they kept investors on the hook and went nationwide on a tiny team If you're building a brand from nothing, with limited capital, this is the playbook for you. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/sabrina-sade Connect with Sabrina & 4AM: 4AM: https://4amskin.com/ Sabrina on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sabsade Sabrina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabsade/ Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Chapters: 00:00 Intro 06:00 Why starting skincare felt delusional 08:00 The whiteboard: an entire routine in one wipe 08:30 Going all in on a $300 bank account 20:00 The accidental pivot (and Target's call) 27:30 The TikTok that hit 3M views 32:00 Why TikTok Shop is still whitespace 40:00 Brand story beats the discount game 43:00 How to keep VCs on the hook 1:00:00 Does a VC actually add value? 1:05:00 Ecommerce vs wholesale 1:10:00 Demand planning in retail 1:13:00 Surgeries by day, TikTok at 1AM 1:20:00 Advice: there's no formula
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#11
June 27 · 1 hr 9 min
The CEO of Northbeam Sees $31B in Ad Spend - Here’s What Actually Grows a Brand
Austin Harrison is the CEO of Northbeam, the marketing analytics platform that measures over $31 billion in ad spend across the top DTC brands in the world. He doesn't see what works for one brand. He sees what works across the entire industry. In this episode he breaks down: - What the brands that explode do to grow this fast - The one metric most operators completely ignore (and why it predicts your next three months) - How small founders can beat big ad budgets with authentic content If you run or want to build an e-commerce brand, this is the closest you'll get to seeing the whole game from above. Connect with Austin & Northbeam: Northbeam: https://www.northbeam.io/ Austin on X: https://x.com/MAustinHarrison Austin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maustinharrison/ Follow Elevator: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Elevatorgoods Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1fCirPyNlzTxT4hOOH0tVC Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elevator-talks/ Website: https://elevatorgoods.com/ Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:10 What Northbeam actually does 04:30 The origin story 06:08 Building with AI before ChatGPT 11:10 Has AI killed the moat? 16:46 The tailwind behind clean data 24:47 What winning brands do differently 29:31 How small brands can win too 31:28 Spending big on ads without going broke 35:44 The metric most operators ignore 43:00 Early signs of a slowdown 46:00 The new breed of founder 55:04 The most overrated metric in e-commerce 57:35 Why hiring fast is a trap 59:10 The channel everyone underrates 1:02:14 The truth about being a founder 1:03:58 The real job of a CEO #ecommerce #elevatorgoods #dtc
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#10
June 20 · 1 hr 5 min
How to Avoid Digital Burnout in 2026
Most founders burn out chasing more. Alex Ikonn did the opposite. He built Luxy Hair into one of the first ecommerce brands built almost entirely on YouTube: 500M+ views, 3M subscribers, millions in annual cash flow, two employees. Then he sold it, because the success left him empty. He went on to build Intelligent Change, the company behind the Five Minute Journal, into a business he's run for over a decade without burning out. His whole approach comes down to one idea: stop doing the work that drains you, and protect your peace in a world built to keep you anxious and online. In this episode he breaks down: - Why working on something you don't love is what actually burns you out - How he stays calm while everyone else drowns in productivity anxiety - The morning system he uses to start the day on offense, not on his phone - Why he plays long-term games and leaves money on the table on purpose - How he sold the business without selling himself Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/alex-ikonn Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Alex Ikonn: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexikonn/ X: https://x.com/AlexIkonn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexikonn/ Intelligent Change: https://www.instagram.com/intelligentchange/ Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:24 Selling flowers at 11, then getting fired from the bank in 2008 02:28 Gary Vee, Tim Ferriss, and starting Luxy Hair in 2010 03:07 Why hair extensions, and doubling the product the factories said was crazy 05:00 Building a DTC brand on YouTube before Instagram existed 06:51 The void after success, and deciding to exit 09:34 How Intelligent Change and the Five Minute Journal began 13:33 Selling the system, not the founder (Traction / EOS) 15:30 Visionary vs integrator 17:10 Be careful with your bankers 18:26 Patience, leverage, and a 40% higher offer 19:07 Starting a business today vs 16 years ago 21:25 Knowing your number and the productivity-anxiety bubble 27:46 The Intelligent Change system: a toothbrush for your mind 33:21 Eat the frog: the one task that matters 35:05 Why he's optimistic about AI and being more human 37:39 Burnout, ikigai, and working on something you love 41:59 His full morning routine 51:15 Running the Five Minute Journal as a business 54:00 Leaving money on the table on purpose 56:00 Prompt yourself: the Life Designer 59:16 Why he named the company Intelligent Change 01:00:00 The next big market: real-world community 01:01:00 The loneliness epidemic and the return to being human 01:02:19 On kids, time, and being present --- #ecommerce #dtc #brandbuilding #entrepreneurship #burnout #fiveminutejournal #intelligentchange #mentalhealth
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#9
June 13 · 1 hr 14 min
How Alvaro Gellings Built an 8-Figure Brand in Public
Alvaro Gellings co-founded Day One with Arda Saatci, Germany's largest creator, 2.5 years ago. They launched with the Cyborg Season campaign: Arda ran 3,000 km from Berlin to New York, generated over 1 billion organic views, and hit seven-figure revenue on launch day. No paid media at launch. Day One is now an 8-figure business growing 400-500% year over year. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/alvaro-gellings Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Alvaro Gellings: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alvaro.gellings/ X: https://x.com/GellingsAlvaro YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alvarogellings LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaro-gellings-495692230/ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:47 What is Day One and the Cyborg Season launch 04:55 Why Alvaro started building in public 09:00 How he started 14:10 What building in public actually gave Day One 16:39 500-2,000 job applications from a single Instagram Story 17:30 Network effects: founders and billionaires reaching out 20:28 The satisfaction of showing what it actually takes 28:09 Where Day One is now: 8 figures, 400-500% YoY 33:13 International expansion and the athlete partnership model 37:25 The 43,000-person WhatsApp community 39:37 Org chart, key hires, and the COO hire 44:39 The three hires Alvaro would make today 47:51 Leadership style and who he wants to become 51:33 Advice for new entrepreneurs in 2026 1:01:29 How to start with almost nothing: the ad validation tactic 1:06:53 Rapid fire round 1:13:56 The building in public trap: the biggest mistake first-time founders make 1:17:08 Best investment ever made in the company #ecommerce #dtc #brandbuilding #entrepreneurship #dayone #sportswear #buildingbrands
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#8
June 6 · 49 min
How Jolie's Co-Founder Built $50M Betting Against Meta
Ryan Babenzien sold Greats, the first D2C footwear brand, to Steve Madden. Then he built Jolie into the #1 filtering shower brand in the world. $50M in revenue, profitable for 15 of 17 quarters, with Meta at just 25% of the total marketing budget. This is the full anti-paid playbook. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/ryan-babenzien In this episode: - How to set a hard cap on Meta spend before it owns your margin, and what to put in the rest of the mix instead - Why Ryan's North Star is first purchase profitability, not ROAS, and how that one decision changed every other number in the business - The pre-launch brand playbook: how Jolie seeded brand in New York before the product existed, using curated events, oysters, and zero paid media - The question every founder must answer before launch: what do you actually want out of this business, and what does the exit look like? --- Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93 X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Ryan Babenzien: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanbbabenzien LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanbabenzien/ Follow Jolie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jolieskinco Website: https://jolieskinco.com/
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#7
May 31 · 1 hr 22 min
How Nick Shackelford Picks Products After $200M on Meta Ads
Nick Shackelford has spent over $200M on Meta ads and runs paid for 7 DTC brands that all share one thing: a subscription engine underneath them. His agency, Structured, spends north of $15M a month. He flew to Hong Kong and sat down with us to break down how he actually picks products and runs brands in 2026. We’ve consolidated everything from this episode, into one playbook. Download it for free: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/nick-shackelford In this episode you will learn: - How to know if a product is worth backing before you spend a dollar, and the five traits that make scaling easy - Why the best products sell themselves on repeat, and the simple math that tells you if your business will ever flow - How to run ad tests that teach you something even when they fail, and why patience is what most founders run out of first - Why anyone can copy your entire brand overnight now, and the only two things that still protect you - How to decide what to keep and what to walk away from, using the framework Nick runs across 7 brands - Why equity is usually the wrong trade early in your career, and what actually keeps great people around Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Nick Shackelford: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamnickshackelford X: https://x.com/iamshackelford LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickshackelford Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:00 From soccer coach to $100M on Facebook ads 04:00 Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and getting close to the manufacturer 08:30 The state of e-commerce in 2026 13:00 Smoke testing and the bath bomb that flipped overnight 23:00 The Easy-Win product filter 24:00 The seasons of subscription 30:00 The real moat in e-commerce 40:00 Reasons, seasons, lifetimes 44:00 Hire the young gun, Batman and Robin teams 52:00 Why equity is a trap 58:00 Telehealth, GLP-1, and the next wave 1:18:00 Recession-proof DTC #ecommerce #dtc #paidmedia #subscription #shackelford
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#6
May 23 · 37 min
Bob Verlaat's Guide to Building a Brand
Most e-commerce brands are boring. They copy each other, lead with product specs, and wonder why nothing sticks. Bob Verlaat, co-founder of Hears and Dore & Rose (OOAK Brands), has spent two years doing the opposite, building brands that people talk about without being paid to. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/bob-verlaat In this episode: - How to define your brand's reason for existence and use it as a filter for every event, partnership, and content decision you make - Why Bob argues that 5K on an offline event returns faster than 5K on a Meta awareness campaign, and the logic behind it - Why most brands are boring, and the specific mistake Bob says operators make when they try to stand out - The one signal Bob looks for to know his brand is working, and why it has nothing to do with followers, ROAS, or engagement Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Bob Verlaat: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobverlaat X: https://x.com/bobverlaat Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 What brand actually means, and what it is not 06:00 Product first or vision first: how Bob thinks about launching 10:00 Why a worryless life became Hears' north star 14:00 Events vs. Meta ads: which one returns more 20:00 How to know when your brand is working 26:00 Most brands are boring. Here is why. 30:00 LTV, post-purchase surveys, and the retention play most operators ignore 34:00 Rebrands: when they are worth it, when they are not 38:00 Rapid fire: Pinterest, new project, micromanaging, and freedom Mentioned in this episode: - Hears - https://hears.com/ - Dore & Rose - https://doreandrose.com/ - OOAK Brands - https://ooakbrands.com/ #ecommerce #dtc #brandbuilding #dtcmarketing #elevatortalks #operatormindset #ecommercebrand
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#5
May 16 · 43 min
Sam Posthuma's Guide to Growing a Brand from Zero
HiStrips launched in summer 2024 with one product and no creator budget. Eighteen months later, their affiliate channel is bigger than paid media. 1,500+ creators. $0 upfront spend. One person whose only job is managing the army. Sam Posthuma breaks down the full system: how they built it, how it feeds the ad account with 100-200 pieces of creative per week, and how it unlocked a partnership with Juan LeBron, the #1 padel player in the world, without a pitch deck or a budget. Get the free playbook for this episode here: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/sam-posthuma In this episode: - How HiStrips recruited 1,500 creators without paying anyone upfront - The three-bucket system: proactive seeding, inbound interest, direct outreach - Why they never script their creators and what happens when you do - How organic UGC becomes paid ad creative and how the weekly feedback loop works - Why their AI creative performed well on every metric and sold nothing - How social proof at scale brought Juan LeBron's team to them Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/[MonishHandle] X: https://x.com/[MonishHandle] Follow Sam Posthuma: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samposthuma/ X: https://x.com/samposthuma Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - What HiStrips is today and where it's going 03:00 - Why creative sits above media buying 05:30 - Keeping creative inside the founding team 08:00 - How the creator army was built from day one 09:40 - The army structure and how it actually runs 13:00 - The three-bucket creator outreach system 17:00 - Why HiStrips never pays creators upfront 21:00 - From organic UGC to paid ad creative 24:00 - The weekly feedback loop between media buying and creative 27:00 - AI UGC: what the data said vs. what the comments showed 30:00 - What the creator army has unlocked beyond paid ads 34:00 - The two moats in e-commerce in 2026 38:00 - Rapid fire #ecommerce #dtc #contentmarketing #creatoreconomy #histrips #brandbuilding
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#4
May 8 · 1 hr 53 min
Vince Nijhof's $100M+ Ecom Playbook
Vince Nijhof co-founded OOAK Brands. In this episode he sits down with Monish at Elevator Talks and breaks down every system behind it. If you sell online - whether you're just starting out or already scaling - this is the most practical conversation on ecom we've ever recorded. Download the free Vince Nijhof operator playbook here: https://links.elevatorgoods.com/episodes/vince-nijhof Connect with Vince: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vincevn/ X: https://x.com/VinceNijhof Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Elevator Talks: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods ! Work with the founders of OOAK Brands: https://ooakbrands.com/advisory Subscribe for bi-weekly conversations with operators building real brands. What we cover: 00:02:52 - Intro 00:03:32 - Who is Vince Nijhof and OOAK Brands 00:07:59 - The $20M/month reveal 00:11:01 - How to pick a product 00:14:48 - The 9-figure product filter 00:16:00 - Unit economics and ROAS targets 00:23:45 - Creative strategy and awareness stages 00:28:54 - The 7-pod creative team and leaderboard 00:32:37 - Intent over volume: the one-shot-kill doctrine 00:35:04 - Ad channel breakdown: Meta, Google/YouTube, TikTok 00:37:21 - The Amazon effect: how channels feed each other 00:41:13 - Funnel strategy: pre-landers and listicles 00:47:00 - Upsells and AOV 00:50:36 - Brand building vs performance marketing 00:54:07 - Long-term brand building and R&D 00:55:59 - Cash flow and scaling infrastructure 00:59:07 - Where ecom is heading 01:01:00 - Emotional marketing: angles as emotions 01:04:45 - The AI stack 01:10:57 - Omnichannel strategy 01:17:33 - Building a brand holding: the long-term vision 01:23:49 - The real moat in ecom 01:28:34 - The foundation for scale
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#3
April 6 · 1 hr 17 min
Notorious Foodie's 6-Stream Revenue Playbook Behind 20M+ Followers
📘 Full playbook from this episode (free): https://links.elevatorgoods.com/episodes/notorious-foodie Every framework Notorious broke down - the 6 revenue streams, the creator-to-brand launch sequence, the content flywheel behind Notorious Cookware. Bookmark it. 20M+ followers. Instead of maxing out brand deals, he built a real business. Monish sits down with Notorious Foodie to break down how. 00:00 Intro 00:47 The anonymous food diary — 5 years, zero monetization 04:38 Steak 101: the TikTok video that hit 10M overnight 10:49 When the first brand deals came in 20:22 One-man-band era: editing, negotiating, pricing on intuition 22:11 The 6 pillars of a creator business 27:28 The delegation mistake every creator makes 32:05 Notorious Cookware: why start with a chopping board 35:42 Designing the chef's knife in Japan 37:36 The affiliate-driven content flywheel 39:07 Why creator product launches flop — and why his didn't 42:03 Zero paid ads, zero CAC 44:52 Short-term drop vs. long-term brand 52:21 The fastest way to kill your creator brand 01:02:44 The face reveal 01:06:44 How creators should actually use AI in 2026 01:18:22 The 6 pillars, recapped 🔗 ELEVATOR Website: https://links.elevatorgoods.com/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/100218103/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mXtIpIq4driEruAccEqkL 🎙️ GUEST Notorious Foodie: https://www.instagram.com/notorious_foodie/ MODERATOR Monish Sabnani is a Managing Partner at Elevator Goods. X: https://x.com/msabnani93 LinkedIn: / monishsabnani #ElevatorTalks #NotoriousFoodie #CreatorEconomy #dtc
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#3
February 28 · 1 hr 10 min
Danny Yeung's $0 to $120M ARR Playbook (IM8)
Danny Yeung turned a dinner with David Beckham into the fastest-growing supplement brand on record. In 12 months. We break down exactly how - the product, the partnerships, the unit economics, and what most DTC brands get completely wrong. — 0:00 Intro 0:03 The David Beckham dinner 3:31 Building the formula 13:53 Month one: $581K 15:46 Why 98% D2C 20:38 Paid ads at scale 25:18 The unit economics 34:54 Operations at hypergrowth 42:13 Running a public company 45:36 Stock drop from $1B to $50M 53:37 Eating problems for breakfast 58:00 The moment that stands out 1:02:13 Advice for founders About Elevator Goods: Elevator Goods is the home for modern DTC. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community. Learn More: https://links.elevatorgoods.com/ About the Moderator: Monish Sabnani is a Managing Partner at Elevator Goods. X: https://x.com/msabnani93 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monishsabnani/
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#1
January 31 · 1 hr 38 min
Roman Khan's Frameworks Behind $200M/Year in E-commerce
Roman Khan runs $200M+/year in ecommerce across multiple brands. In 2018, he nearly went bankrupt. That moment changed everything. In this conversation, he shares: → The supplier framework that protects your cash flow → Why world-class operators run single digit opex → His hiring philosophy (and why he avoids US talent) → The micromanagement system he swears by → How to budget when you can't predict supply chain → Where he's putting his time and money in 2025 No surface-level advice. We share the frameworks that scale. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:30 Q4 Learnings and What Went Wrong 6:51 Building for Exit vs Quick Cash 11:55 Planning the Next 5 Years 20:03 Origin Story 31:01 From Rocket Internet to Peak 21 38:00 Inventory Management Framework 53:29 Day in the Life at $200M/Year 1:04:17 The Micromanagement System 1:10:04 Why You Should Avoid Hiring in America 1:18:41 Company Culture and Retention 1:26:00 Investment Strategy 1:31:13 Where the Alpha is Going: SEO, Reddit, TikTok 1:35:42 Rapid Fire Questions About Elevator Goods: Elevator Goods is the home for modern DTC. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community. Learn More: https://elevatorgoods.com/ About the Moderator: Monish Sabnani is a Managing Partner at Elevator Goods. X: https://x.com/msabnani93 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monishsabnani/
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