The DTC Revenue Rocket
Zak Cassady-Dorion, CEO of ECD Digital Strategy, hosts the DTC Revenue Rocket Podcast—where founders, operators, and top eCommerce software companies reveal what’s really driving growth today. From retention and SMS to lifecycle performance, each episode breaks down the systems and strategies behind real, scalable revenue.
Episodes
Ep.19 - Ben Rudman: From Meat Sticks to Sea Salt — Building Brands Around Demand That Already Exists
Ben Rudman has spent two decades in consumer packaged goods — first as an investment banker advising food and pet-treat companies, then as the operator who built Western Smokehouse Partners into the largest meat stick manufacturer in the United States between 2018 and 2023. After selling that business and a coffee company along the way, he partnered with Selina Delangre in early 2025 to become CEO
Ep. 18 - The Channel Your Customers Can't Unsubscribe From — Ben Walter, PostPilot
Fresh off the K:BOS stage, where PostPilot won Klaviyo Technology Partner of the Year and ECD won Agency Partner of the Year, Zak returns the favor from Ep. 14 and puts Ben Walter, PostPilot's Head of Partnerships, in the guest seat.Ben tells his path from Indochino to scaling and selling a fintech startup to Deloitte to building PostPilot's 800-plus partner program from scratch. He also shares th
Ep. 17 - Jeff Beacher: From Vegas Showman to Hollywood's AI Chief of Staff
Before he was building AI tools for Hollywood, Jeff Beacher was Vegas's youngest headliner — the self-described "modern day PT Barnum" behind Beacher's Madhouse, the variety show that helped invent the modern Vegas nightlife playbook. Then, at over 400 pounds and running on no sleep, he walked away from the spotlight to rebuild his health from scratch, eventually losing more than 240 pounds and tu
Ep. 16 - Sold It. Bought It Back. — John Roman on Twelve Years of BattlBox
BattlBox has survived nearly twelve years in DTC — a lifetime in an industry built on five-year hype cycles. In this episode, founder John Roman joins Zak to unpack how the outdoor adventure and preparedness brand built its business around content and community long before that was a common playbook, and how that same conviction shaped one of the wildest founder stories on the show: selling the co
Ep. 15 - Confidently Wrong: Why AI Needs More Context Before It Runs Your CRO Program
Nick Selman, Head of Growth at Shoplift, joins Zak to unpack why Shopify Plus certified his conversion-rate optimization platform, how AI should augment — not replace — the humans running CRO programs, and why "confidently wrong" is the most dangerous phrase in e-commerce. They dig into why A/B testing's "all other things equal" premise breaks down in modern e-commerce, Shoplift's new "campaigns"
Ep. 14 - The Lifecycle AI Orchestration Layer — Zak Cassady-Dorion on ECD's Breakout Year
In a role-reversal episode, Ben Walters of PostPilot turns the mic on Zak Cassady-Dorion to unpack ECD's breakout year — from a Colombia team offsite and a wild Vegas party to becoming one of Klaviyo's most visible agency partners. Zak talks through his philosophy on partnerships (give before you get), how his twenties spent traveling and running an import business out of Thailand and Nepal shaped
Ep. 13 - Klaviyo's Gil Hsu, Inside Klaviyo Composer: The AI That Writes (Not Just Reads) Your Mkting
Klaviyo's Gil Hsu (yes, he used to be the architect who designed Klaviyo's own HQ) takes us behind Composer — Klaviyo's first-party AI. Three layers of context, the "no-notes" campaign metric, and why agencies' real value was never the buttons. Plus, three roadmap previews you're hearing here first. E-comm brands and agencies, this one's for you.
Ep. 12 - The Therapist Turned Retention Marketer: Connor Cohen on Ditching Fear-Based Marketing
Before Connor Cohen was running retention marketing for Global Healing, he was a licensed master social worker — sitting across from therapy clients ages five to seventy-five. In this episode, Connor tells Zak how that background reshaped the way he thinks about email, SMS, and loyalty: not as touchpoints to extract a purchase, but as a two-way conversation that helps customers become the hero of
Ep. 11 - The Legal Loophole Hiding in Your Website: ADA, AI Agents & the Future of E-Commerce Risk
Michael Bervell, founder and CEO of TestParty, breaks down the ambulance-chasing lawsuit ecosystem targeting e-commerce brands — ADA compliance, CCPA privacy claims, subscription lawsuits — and how his AI-native company fights back. Beyond compliance, Michael shares how accessibility improvements drove a 14.5% average search traffic lift across their first hundred customers, why agent loops are th
Ep. 10 - Loyalty, AI Agents, and the Future of Agencies with Rob Domagala of SMILE
Zak sits down with Rob Domagala of SMILE — the Shopify ecosystem's largest loyalty platform — to talk loyalty mistakes, AI-powered customer agents, and what the agency of the future actually looks like. Zak shares how he used Claude to build a full SMILE + Klaviyo loyalty setup in under 35 minutes, and Rob explains why your agentic tools are only as smart as the loyalty data you feed them. If you'
Ep. 9 - From the Gobi Desert to $100M+: How Matt Scanlan Built Naadam on Radical Fairness
Matt Scanlan didn't plan to start a cashmere company. He planned to take a trip around Asia. Instead, he ended up stranded in Mongolia's Gobi Desert for a month with a herder family — no electricity, no running water, no plan — and came back with $2.5M in cash, 60 tons of raw cashmere, and no idea how to turn any of it into a sweater.On this episode, Naadam co-founder Matt Scanlan joins Zak to tel
Ep. 8 - The AI Secret Nobody's Talking About: Using Your Own Customers to Sell for You
Kendal McMulen, Director of E-Commerce at Global Healing, joins co-hosts Zak and Sam Moorhead (Klaviyo's Director of Customer Growth) for one of the most tactical and honest episodes yet.Kendal built her entire marketing skillset from scratch on a $50/day budget — and now runs one of the most sophisticated AI-driven marketing engines in supplements. She breaks down exactly how her team uses AI acr
Ep. 7 - The Email Truth No One Wants to Hear: Why Sending Less Makes You More Money
Aaron Schwartz — Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Orita, former President of Loop Returns, and co-founder of Passport Shipping — joins Zak to challenge everything you think you know about email marketing.Most brands are so focused on converting attention that they've completely forgotten how to capture it. The result is over-emailed lists, tanking deliverability, and customers who've quietly tuned you o
Ep. 6: From Mascot to MarTech: Building a Modern DTC Retention Machine
This episode dives deep into retention marketing with Zach Scheimer, Head of MarTech at Criquet Shirts, and one of the sharpest operators in the Klaviyo ecosystem. From advanced segmentation and personalization to omnichannel lifecycle strategy, Zach shares how to drive more revenue while sending less. If you want to turn retention into a true growth engine, this is your playbook.
Ep. 5: AI, Retention & The Future of Ecommerce with Sam Moorhead from Klaviyo
Zak sits down with Sam Moorhead, Director of Customer Growth at Klaviyo, to break down how AI is rapidly transforming ecommerce marketing, retention, and customer experience. From AI-powered flows and customer agents to lifecycle strategy and micro influencers, this episode is packed with actionable insights brands can implement today.If you want to understand where ecommerce is heading — and how
Ep. 4 - Inside a CMO’s Playbook: Scaling DTC Brands from $5M to $50M+
This episode is a DTC growth masterclass with Louis Monoudis, CMO of Artware, breaking down the frameworks behind brands that actually scale. From the “3 C’s” (Cash, Customers, Creative) to emotional storytelling, AI, and team building, Louis shares what separates brands stuck at $10M from those that break through. If you’re a founder, operator, or agency, this is your playbook for smarter growth.
Ep. 3: Live from ShopTalk: The AI Playbook for eCommerce Growth
Podcast DescriptionRecorded live from ShopTalk, this special episode brings together some of the sharpest minds in ecommerce for a real, unfiltered conversation on what’s actually driving growth today.Joining the panel:Gina Potenza, KlayvioSebastian Brown Glad, clearer.ioDwayne Doshier, ShopifyMichael Epstein, Post-Pilot From shifting consumer expectations to the realities of retention, lifecycle
Ep. 2: From Product Drop to Revenue Rocket featuring Solgaard
How Adrian Solgaard Built a 10-Year DTC Brand That’s Redefining TravelIn Episode 2 of the DTC Revenue Rocket Podcast, Zak sits down with Founder & CEO Adrian Solgaard to break down the growth story behind one of the most innovative travel brands in DTC.From crowdfunding success and premium product design to retention strategy and sustainability at scale, Adrian shares what it really takes to b
Ep. 1: How a DTC Brand Built a Cult Following featuring goodr
What happens when one of the boldest brands in DTC pulls back the curtain? On this episode of the DTC Revenue Rocket Podcast, Ron and Jared from goodr join Zak to talk brand building, creative that actually converts, and the systems behind serious eCommerce growth. It’s fast, sharp, and full of real lessons for founders and operators looking to scale without losing their edge.Book your free audit
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