Operators Titans E005: Peak 21 (with President Roman Khan)
Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits.https://9operators.com/applovinFounder anxiety. Sleepless nights. Standing on the brink of bankruptcy. Anyone who’s put their own chip on the table knows just how painful leading a brand can be. What if it wasn’t just one brand, but a portfolio of companies?Join hosts Matthew Bertulli and Jason Panzer as they explore Roman Khan’s journey from staring into the abyss to building a holdco of multiple +$100M brands as the president of Peak 21.Discover the challenges + triumphs of entrepreneurship, the importance of distribution over product, and Roman’s unique approach to scaling brands like Raycon, Linjer, Nutrition Kitchen, and more. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned business leader, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and brutally honest inspiration.00:00 – The Titanic Moment: Facing Bankruptcy02:46 – Learning From Failure and Founder Anxiety04:20 – From Finance to Rocket Internet06:09 – Starting Linjer: The $20K Kickstarter Gamble07:56 – Pivoting to Jewelry and Early Wins11:25 – Turning 40: Wealth, Purpose & Gratitude15:26 – The Raycon Story: A $14M Playbook for Growth25:55 – How to Buy and Scale Companies the Smart Way39:00 – Leading Teams: Radical Accountability & Execution47:00 – Marketing Deep Dive: Meta, AppLovin & the Future of Growth01:05:00 – AI, Creativity & The Next Era of E-commerce01:22:00 – TITANS 10: Rapid-Fire Founder Insights
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E136: What Top CEOs Do When They Miss Their Numbers
In this episode, the Operators dive deep into the realities of business planning and what happens when things inevitably go off track. They discuss the necessity of formalizing operations as you scale, using frameworks like EOS for quarterly planning and setting OKRs. The hosts share tough lessons on why forecasts are always wrong , the three main reasons plans fail (bad goals, poor execution, or market forces), and the critical growth levers for scaling: brand awareness, new products, and international expansion. They also cover the intense financial discipline required when taking on bank debt and managing covenants , the importance of managing shareholder expectations versus reality , and the best strategies for communicating bad news to your team—like "going ugly early" while always providing hope.Chapters:00:00:00 Introduction00:19:49 Breaking Down Our Quarterly Planning Process00:33:40 Top Down vs Bottoms Up Strategy00:49:09 A Tough Lesson in Tripping Bank Covenants01:03:53 How to Deliver Bad NewsPowered By:Fulfil.io.https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands. Northbeam.https://www.northbeam.io/Postscript.https://postscript.io/Richpanel.https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescSaras.https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_moreSubscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperatorsSubscribe to The Finance Operators here:https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPSSign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here:https://9operators.com/
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E135: Operators X Baseball Lifestyle
In this episode, we sit down with Bill and Josh from Baseball Lifestyle to unpack their incredible growth story, from a high school Instagram account to a projected $150 million business. They share the secrets behind their success, including the power of niching down in a passionate community and the relentless consistency of posting content for years to build an audience. We dive deep into their bootstrapped financing strategy, leveraging first-order profitability and revenue-based financing to scale inventory and marketing. Bill and Josh also discuss the critical operational challenges of hyper-growth, the importance of their unique founder partnership, and how their high-frequency product drop model fuels an impressive customer LTV. Discover how they successfully balanced their DTC roots with a massive wholesale expansion into retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods, turning their brand into a nine-figure behemoth.Chapters:00:03:50 - Introduction00:22:35 - Power of a Great Business Duo00:41:44 - North Star Metric for Your Business00:57:21 - Painful Reality of Hyper-Growth01:18:15 - How to Balance Wholesale and E-commercePowered By:Fulfil.io.https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands. Northbeam.https://www.northbeam.io/Postscript.https://postscript.io/Richpanel.https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescSaras.https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_moreSubscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperatorsSubscribe to The Finance Operators here:https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPSSign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here:https://9operators.com/
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Operators Titans E003: Musely (with CEO Jack Jia)
Brought to you by Applovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits.https://9operators.com/applovinJack Gia shares his expansive journey from enterprise technology to investing to founding Muesly, a prescription skincare brand with over one million customers and $100M in annual revenue.Along with hosts Matt Bertulli and Mike Beckham, they discuss the importance of innovation, learning from failures, and the challenges of building a telehealth platform. Jack emphasizes the significance of community engagement and real customer stories in marketing, as well as the core ethos of DIY. He offers valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs — a calculated yet action-oriented approach to business.
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E134: Thrasio: The Truth, with co-founder John Hefter
What's it like to build the fastest-growing company in American history... and then watch it all come crashing down? We sat down with John Hefter, co-founder of the legendary Amazon aggregator Thrasio, for a brutally honest conversation about the company's wild ride from a multi-billion dollar unicorn to bankruptcy.John takes us from the very beginning, launching from a co-founder's basement with a simple Google search to raising nearly $3.5 billion and reaching a staggering $9 billion valuation. He shares the incredible inside story of "Angry Orange," the pet deodorizer brand that became the "smell of gold" and proved their model could work on a massive scale.But with insane growth came chaos. John pulls back the curtain on the dark side of the Amazon marketplace, battling black-hat sellers and the operational nightmare of acquiring four companies in a single week. He reveals the surreal moment he knew the dream was over, standing at a lavish party in Cabo when he got the call about a single, catastrophic $450 million inventory mistake.This isn't just a business story; it's a cautionary tale about the real cost of moving too fast. Tune in to hear John's unfiltered take on the future of Amazon FBA, his hard-won advice for founders, and what comes after surviving the unicorn rollercoaster.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction00:05:10 - How Thrasio Started in a Basement00:19:11 - Insane Pre-COVID Growth00:23:18 - Beginning of the End00:41:39 - The Moment It All Blew Up00:53:57 - Future of Amazon FBAPowered By:Fulfil.io.https://bit.ly/3pAp2vuThe Only Cloud ERP Designed to Efficiently Scale 8 and 9-Figure Brands. Northbeam.https://www.northbeam.io/Postscript.https://postscript.io/Richpanel.https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=9O&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescSaras.https://saras-analytics.typeform.com/to/T8jpuAEb?utm_source=9operator_lp&utm_medium=find_out_moreSubscribe to The Marketing Operators Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@MarketingOperatorsSubscribe to The Finance Operators here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPS Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/
In the world of eCommerce, a legendary WhatsApp group is rumoured to hold the secrets to unimaginable success. The catch? You must have nine figures in revenue to gain entry. The worlds biggest brands have denied its existence for years, until now. Three titans known as "Operators" are leaking the secret contents in an effort to share its wealth of knowledge with people like you.
Australia