Ten Years In The Making
Welcome to Ten Years Years In The Making - a podcast for operating founders who want to learn how to successfully build and scale a direct-to-consumer e-commerce business.
I’m your host, Adam Robinson, Founder and CEO of Retention.com. Over the past 2.5 years, my company has gone from $0-$14M ARR with 6 people and zero funding. Prior to that, I bootstrapped Robly Email Marketing to an 8 figure exit.
For over 10 years, I’ve been starting, scaling, and selling companies, and through this podcast, I plan to help others do the same.
Join me, as I interview operating Founders of high-growth direct-to-consumer eCommerce companies, mainly in the Shopify Plus ecosystem, about how they got to where they are today, what their endgame is, and how YOU can model their success.
In each interview, we’ll discuss origin stories, bootstrapping vs VC funding, acquisition strategy, deal structure, and how to successfully lead an eCommerce business to a future exit.
For more information, visit https://retention.com/
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 45 minutes
- Episodes
- 32
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2023
031: Helping DTC Brands Boost Conversions & Improve Customer Experience with Oren Harnevo
As AI dominates headlines, eCommerce brands are hard at work trying to figure out how to employ cutting-edge technology to improve their bottom line.
For Oren Harnevo’s Feel, however, human touch ha…
030: Surviving the Third-Party Cookie Apocalypse
We’re doing things a little differently in this episode as I join Drew Sanocki and Michael Epstein on the Nerd Marketing Ecommerce podcast to discuss what life will look like for DTC companies in a c…
029: How Bloom’s Greg LaVecchia Built a 9-Figure Supplement Brand
For many DTC brands, cracking the big-box retailer code can be a challenge.
But for Greg LaVecchia and Bloom, placement on Target and Walmart shelves has been rocket fuel on their way to 9-figure sa…
028: How Saatva Disrupted the Mattress Industry and Built a $400M Brand with Ricky Joshi
Entrepreneurs often follow a simple code: zig while others zag.
So while the DTC mattress industry adopted the online “bed-in-a-box” model, Saatva co-founder Ricky Joshi took a different approach, p…
027: The Viral TikTok Strategy WaterBoy Used to Scale to $10M with Mike Xhaxho
For Mike Xhaxho, building an audience of 25,000 followers for his DTC brand WaterBoy means doing one thing: making a few videos.
With just seven TikTok videos, Mike grew WaterBoy’s following from 0 …
026: Unveiling the Secrets to Remarkable Valuations with Santosh Sharan
When B2B companies find themselves trapped in a cycle of stagnation, one name stands out: Santosh Sharan.
Santosh is the president & COO of Apollo.io, the Co-CEO of ContactOut and a current consulta…
025: How BRUCE BOLT Uses AI Marketing to 2x Conversions with Chris Hall
For eCommerce founders, the idea of doubling conversion rates without offering a discount sounds too good to be true. But for Chris Hall, it actually happened.
Chris is the Senior Marketing Manager …
024: How EBOOST Disrupted the Functional Energy Drink Market with Josh Taekman
Josh Taekman began his career co-founding Bad Boy Entertainment. He served as VP of Marketing, spearheading endorsements, cross-promotional opportunities, and partnerships with outside artists (Jay Z…
023: Ekster: The Most Successful Smart Wallet Brand in the World with Olivier Momma
Olivier Momma is the co-founder of Ekster, a D2C brand that makes “better gear for life on the go.” Think wallets, bags and accessories that aim to save customers time, so they can get back to livi…
022: How Portland Leather Goods Scaled a 9-Figure DTC Bag Brand with Curtis Matsko
Just over a decade ago, Curtis Matsko told his wife, “Quit your job and I will start up a company selling things on the Internet and we’ll make $100 million.”
Today, that proclamation has manifested …
021: Disrupting an Antiquated Industry & Scaling to $150M with Erik Huberman
Meet Erik Huberman – serial entrepreneur, marketing whiz, and the brain behind Hawke Media—the fastest-growing marketing agency in the US, now valued at more than $150 million!
Driven to fill a much …
020: How Postie Digitized the $50 Billion Direct Mail Market with Dave Fink
In a world of social media, programmatic advertising and digital-first marketing, the direct mail market carries an old-school feel. But did you know that U.S. direct mail is a $50 billion market?
T…
019: Ettitude: The Bamboo Bedding Brand for Eco-Friendly Sleepers
Creating an eco-friendly product checks boxes for environmentally conscious consumers. But how do you do it in a way that doesn’t compromise your product?
In today’s episode, I sit down with Phoebe …
018: From a 10-Figure Aviation Business to eComm Agency Owner with Lolita Petrossov
After growing up in Uzbekistan and playing Division 1 collegiate tennis, Lolita Petrossov had never worked a job.
So for her first gig, she co-founded JetSmarter, an on-demand private jet charter com…
017: How a $2B Brand Used Community to Drive Growth with Jonathan Cronstedt — Part II
In Part two of my interview with Jonathan Cronstedt, we dive into how he built the “Kajabi Heroes” program to supercharge growth for what would eventually become a company that’s valued at $2B.
In a…
016: Building a $100M Brand by Nailing Product-Market Fit with Jonathan Cronstedt — Part I
With questions around product-market fit, deciding when it’s time to scale, and keeping competitors at bay, the billion-dollar bullseye can often feel tiny to entrepreneurs.
Today, Jonathan Cronstedt…
015: From Arrested by FBI to Building a $50M Roofing Business with Moises Sanchez
You’ve undoubtedly heard the term “From Rags to Riches,” but today’s guest has a story that will blow your mind. This might be one of the most insane “American Dream” success stories I’ve ever heard.…
014: Creating Content and Scaling DTC Brands with Ari Murray
As the concept of personal branding continues to explode, many creators have the same question: Where do I start?
Today, I’m sitting down with Ari Murray, the VP of Growth at Sharma Brands and creato…
013: Building a $40M Company in Public with Obvi Founder Ronak Shah
After working for a marketing agency and helping many companies scale to 7 and 8-figures, Ronak Shah realized he had the blueprint to building a successful brand. So, he decided to launch a company o…
012: Scaling Kajabi to a $2B Valuation with Jonathan Cronstedt
Today, I’m talking with Jonathan Cronstedt, who took the e-learning software giant, Kajabi, from a $6M revenue business to $100M+ and a $2B valuation in just 5 years.
In this episode of Ten Years In …