Operators

Are you running your ecommerce brand on gut instinct while your competitors build AI-powered data machines?  Sean Frank (CEO of Ridge) and Jason Panzer (President of HexClad) sit down with Krishna Poda, the CEO of Saras Analytics, to unpack why a clean data foundation isn’t optional. And what you can build on top of it with AI right now.  They cover the rise of agentic workflows and what it means...

“95% of AI pilots fail. I lived that, full stop.” Craig Foldes (Founder of ChatWalrus, fmr. Global Head of AI at Crocs) and Matt Kruer (CIO at Bissell) join host Sean Frank to explore the state of AI within enterprise versus DTC brands.  The conversation covers how to find + celebrate the 10% of employees who are AI power users, what it looks like when adoption works, and why this is “for the rebe...

How did a married couple with $30k in savings and no business plan build one of the biggest beauty and accessories brands in America?  Cassandra Thurswell (Founder & CEO of Kitsch) and Jeremy Thurswell (COO), join hosts Mike Beckham and Matt Bertulli for their first-ever joint podcast interview.  Together, they unpack the full story of building a bootstrapped empire from a living room apartmen...

Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits. https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case and Lomi, and Mike Beckham, CEO of Simple Modern, sit down with Kat Cole...

Is your brand built to survive the next five years or just the next quarter? Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, and co-host Katy Mimari, Founder and CEO of Caden Lane, sit down with Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective, to reflect on the wild ride from 2020 to 2025 and what it means for the road ahead. Together, they unpack what worked, what failed, and what they'd do differently as operator...

Leadership isn’t about being liked. It’s about making hard decisions, living with the consequences, and still winning. Mike Beckham, Matt Bertulli, and Jason Panzer sit down to talk honestly about what leadership really costs when the stakes are high. They dig into hiring and firing decisions, culture trade-offs, growth versus profitability, and the personal pressure that comes with running large,...

How does a bootstrapped brand go from $0 to $600 million in three years — without raising a single dollar?  Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, and Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case, break down the explosive rise of COMFRT, the anti-anxiety travel brand founded by Hudson Leogrande that has shattered every assumption about what’s possible in ecommerce.  They unpack the tactics, the mindset, and the cashflow me...

More than the incredible (true) story of one founder’s journey to turn around the company he created, this is a public coaching session on what it takes to win as a 6–7 figure brand. Sean Frank and Matt Bertulli sit down with Ben Leonard, founder of Beast Gear, a strength and conditioning brand he built from scratch in Scotland, sold to Thrasio in 2019, and bought back after watching it decline fo...

Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits. https://www.9operators.com/applovin Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators What does it take to build a ~$300M apparel brand from scratch? Matt Bertulli and Mike Beckham sit down wit...

What separates billion-dollar celebrity brands from total flops Sean, Matt, and Katy Mimari (CEO of Caden Lane) break down why some partnerships become massive exits like Rhode and Skims, while others like The Honest Company and Kylie Cosmetics struggle to survive. They dive deep into deal structures, red flags to watch for, and the real math behind putting famous names into your brand. The crew d...

What’s the one thing holding your business back? Sean Frank, Jason Panzer, Mike Beckham, and Matt Bertulli reunite for part two of their 2026 predictions to deliver actionable money-making tips for ecommerce brands. The full squad shares why entrepreneurs have more opportunity than ever, then dives into tactics you can implement today: a corporate gifting platform generating thousands in daily pas...

What does it take to go from high-school dropout to building a $100M+ brand with David Beckham? Brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits (terms apply). https://9operators.com/applovin Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators M...

What do the real numbers from 1,000+ DTC brands reveal about who actually won? Find out by downloading the full report. https://www.northbeam.io/ebook/2025-year-in-review-data-report Sean Frank and Mike Beckham sit down with Austin Harrison, CEO of Northbeam, and Andrew Kaszuba, Northbeam’s media strategist, to break down exclusive 2025 ecommerce data that nobody else has access to. Spend trends,...

“I’m building memories, not sales.” What if everything you thought you knew about creating a consumer brand was wrong? Matt Bertulli and Sean Frank sit down with Sean Riley, Co-Founder and Chief DUDE (CEO) of DUDE Wipes, to discuss how he and his co-founders grew to hundreds of millions in revenue — without relying on traditional ads. From going viral through gorilla marketing to landing a deal wi...

“What do you do when you stop winning?” In this episode, Sean and Matt drop the highlight reel and talk candidly about what it actually feels like when a once high-flying brand stalls, hits flat revenue, or even starts shrinking. They unpack why every business has a “natural size,” why top-line obsession is the laziest definition of winning, and how to think more clearly about margin compression,...

How do you build one of the top-five Amazon businesses in the world? Matt and Mike sit down with Jabran Niaz, co-founder of Utopia Deals and Utopia Industries. From packing boxes by hand for less than $15 an hour to running a global manufacturing operation with $770M in annual revenue and +15k employees, all without outside capital or taking on debt. This is the largest brand we’ve ever had on the...

“You make your money on the customer, not the acquisition.” In this episode, Sean sits down with Jordan, the media-buyer-turned-founder behind Instant Hydration, to unpack how he went from affiliate marketer—only eating what he killed—to helping scale multiple 8‑figure CPG brands into 9‑figure powerhouses using Meta ads, tight payback models, and a true growth engine mindset. They talk about why r...

The operators discuss the critical balance between executing a high-stakes Q4 and planning for the upcoming fiscal year. They debate structured versus unstructured planning methodologies, with Sean and Matt favoring quarterly rocks and 18-month outlooks, while Jason relies on continuous, fluid strategic discussions driven by financial models. The conversation covers the specific role of the CEO du...

In this episode the operators break down their actual results from Black Friday and Cyber Monday, analyzing why some brands experienced record growth while others saw shifts in consumer behavior between the US and Canadian markets. They debate critical holiday strategies, such as the benefits of starting sales early versus maximizing profit during high-intent windows, and explore the theory that i...

The operators talk about the complexities of channel expansion, debating the strategic trade-offs between doubling down on digital ads versus pushing into physical retail. They discuss how pricing power acts as a form of marketing and why a $30 customer acquisition cost is becoming the floor for most brands. The conversation also explores the nuances of brand versus performance marketing, the hidd...

In this episode, the operators discuss the financial realities of scaling an e-commerce brand, discussing the discipline required to manage cash flow and the strategic decision-making behind reinvesting profits versus taking distributions. They explore the critical timeline for when a business can realistically generate free cash flow, debating the merits of allocating capital toward inventory, pr...

In this episode, the operators dive deep into the current holiday shopping landscape, analyzing Black Friday Cyber Monday strategies and the shifting behavior of consumers in a soft economy. They debate the merits of starting sales early versus waiting for the "Cyber Five," discuss the complexities of inventory management, and share insights on forecasting growth for 2025 and 2026. The c...

Jon Buscemi joins the podcast to discuss his journey from trend forecasting at DC Shoes to founding his iconic luxury sneaker brand. He shares the inside story of selling his brand to private equity and how their strategy to create an attainable luxury diffusion line was the "kiss of death", violating the rules of luxury pricing. Buscemi argues that fashion's monoculture is dead, rep...

Cash is king, period. In this episode, the operators get real about why cash flow matters more than your P&L, EBITDA, or vanity revenue numbers. They share their worst "cash crunch" war stories, like pushing payroll or having to choose between buying inventory and paying taxes. To prove a hard lesson: even profitable businesses go bankrupt all the time. You'll learn the backward-...

Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits. https://9ops.co/channels Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://applovin.com/9operators Join hosts Matt Bertulli and Jason Panzer to experience the journey of Yariv Citron, Co-Founder & CMO of MAËLYS. A...