The 4 E-Commerce Channels That Get You to $2M (Pick One)

The 4 E-Commerce Channels That Get You to $2M (Pick One)

Book a call with John: https://www.thedivenewsletter.com/squeeze-page1712742970440 Most founders dabble in all four marketing channels and wonder why they're stuck under $2M. There are only four channels that get an e-commerce brand from zero to $2M. Pick one and ride it all the way before you think about a second. In this solo episode, John walks through the framework live with Casey, mapping every brand into one of four buckets based on what you have (time or money) and what your product is (differentiated or not). He covers real examples across SSDs, Jacklings chili, bandages, and Neurogum, then closes with the 100-day rule: commit hard, or move on. Topics discussed: 00:00 - Why dabbling in four channels keeps you stuck 01:43 - The only four channels that get you to $2M 02:00 - The matrix: time vs money, differentiated vs not 03:39 - Time and a non-differentiated product: TikTok Shop influencers 12:18 - Money and a differentiated product: Meta ads 16:24 - Money and a non-differentiated product: Google ads 20:15 - Time and a differentiated product: organic content on TikTok 22:55 - Why now is the golden window for organic 30:30 - The fashion exception: when clothing is differentiated and when it isn't 36:38 - The 100-day rule: commit hard or move on Learn more about our sponsors: https://www.attentive.com/ https://fuego.io/ https://www.socialsnowball.io/ https://redo.com/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH RYAN DEISS: https://scalable.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial 🔗 CONNECT WITH JOHN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/ https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle 🔗 CONNECT WITH BART : https://szaniewski.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theszef/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/

How We Actually Use AI to Make Money in Our E-Commerce Brands — Bart Szaniewski

Book a call with John: https://www.thedivenewsletter.com/squeeze-page1712742970440 Most of what you see people doing with AI online doesn't make them money. It just looks cool. In this episode, John and Bart show the AI workflows they actually use across Dad Gang and Solus Bands - the ones that ship emails, build product pages, find collabs, and surface breakthrough ad ideas. Bart designs full Dad Gang launch emails in Manus in about 22 minutes of real time with two minutes of focused attention, then builds the matching PDP and homepage banner from the same project. John walks through his Banger Builder skill that feeds creative humans information in stages so the breakthrough idea actually shows up, and a 10-minute Claude app called Creator Scout that filters for comedians and collab partners by niche, follower count, and follower overlap. The take: don't use AI to generate the work. Use it to prompt the humans who can. Topics discussed: 00:00 - Why most AI demos don't make you any money 02:25 - Dad Gang's lean team and what AI actually unlocks 03:06 - Designing a launch email in Manus in 22 minutes 08:00 - Why multitasking finally works now 16:29 - Building project instructions over time instead of upfront 19:29 - The Banger Builder: using AI to prompt creative humans 22:12 - Why AI won't generate your banger but can set it up 26:28 - Avatars, pain vs moment buying, and format mapping 46:29 - Building a full PDP in Manus, pasting it into Gem Pages 51:34 - Spinning a homepage banner from the same project 55:36 - Why Claude wins for interactive MVPs 56:36 - Creator Scout: a 10-minute app to find collab partners 58:36 - The Dad Gang collab play using follower overlap 65:39 - Automating influencer seeding with computer use Learn more about our sponsors: https://www.attentive.com/ https://fuego.io/ https://www.socialsnowball.io/ https://redo.com/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH RYAN DEISS: https://scalable.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial 🔗 CONNECT WITH JOHN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/ https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle 🔗 CONNECT WITH BART : https://szaniewski.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theszef/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/

How to Build a Banger Ad for Your E-Commerce Brand (Live on Camera) — Kyle Reho

Book a call with John: https://www.thedivenewsletter.com/squeeze-page1712742970440 You're one banger ad away from changing your business. Under $2M, it's almost always one creative that resets the trajectory of a brand. The problem is the system every DTC brand builds for paid social is built for more, not better. More UGC, more creators, more volume. That works until it doesn't. In this episode, John builds a real ad from scratch with comedian Kyle Reho for Dad Gang. Brand brief to customer avatars to concepts to a full mockumentary script. The process surfaces five or six low-lift ideas and one bigger swing worth shooting, all in about 40 minutes. The takeaway: you don't need the agency that made the Purple Mattress ads. You need one funny person, $100 to $200 an hour, and a brief that feeds them information in stages instead of all at once. Topics discussed: 00:00 - Why one banger ad is worth more than 100 UGC pieces 01:24 - Why more volume stops working 02:38 - Building an ad live for Dad Gang 03:00 - Starting with brand ethos, not the product 10:43 - How customer avatars actually unlock ideas 17:08 - The still-cool-dad angle and where it leads 20:11 - Reframing dad as a league you want to play in 23:13 - The jealous-wife skit concept 27:24 - Picking the right avatar with pain vs moment buying 34:29 - Choosing the format: skits, pod clips, green screen, reactions 37:31 - Building the mockumentary script beat by beat 50:08 - The hat as a uniform - landing the punchline 55:10 - How to actually run this with comedians for $100 to $200 an hour Learn more about our sponsors: https://www.attentive.com/ https://fuego.io/ https://www.socialsnowball.io/ https://redo.com/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH RYAN DEISS: https://scalable.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial 🔗 CONNECT WITH JOHN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/ https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle 🔗 CONNECT WITH BART : https://szaniewski.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theszef/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/

The NBA Banned Their Shoe — How APL Turned It Into an E-Commerce Brand — NJ Falk

Book a call with John: https://www.thedivenewsletter.com/squeeze-page1712742970440 Most ecommerce founders try to build a brand by running better ads to a product page. They obsess over conversion metrics while ignoring the thing that actually makes a brand stick: a story consumers connect to and repeat back to each other. In this episode, NJ Falk, managing partner at Athletic Propulsion Labs (APL), breaks down the six or seven story threads APL uses across every product launch, campaign, and piece of content. From the NBA ban that became the foundation of the brand, to designing sensory language instead of spec sheets, NJ explains why most ecommerce brands hit a scale ceiling and what it actually takes to build a brand customers love saying out loud. Topics discussed: 00:00 - How APL turned an NBA ban into their brand foundation 01:00 - The origin of Athletic Propulsion Labs and the Concept One 03:00 - Never waste a crisis: turning a ban into performance credibility 06:00 - The six story threads APL uses for every product launch 09:00 - Why specs do not sell and sensory language does 11:00 - The Japan pancake trip that inspired a midsole 13:00 - Tongue-in-cheek tech stories like Run Naked 18:00 - How to keep your founder story fresh after telling it 100 times 22:00 - Gym to street to life and the versatility thread 26:00 - Social proof, awards, and editorial validation as a story bucket 30:00 - Should you build the story first or the product first 42:00 - Aspirational identity as the thread in everything you make 46:00 - A simple T-chart framework for brand storytelling 53:00 - How to expand into a new sport or category authentically 01:03:00 - Why brands hit a scale ceiling without a real brand Learn more about our sponsors: https://www.attentive.com/ [https://www.attentive.com/] https://fuego.io/ [https://fuego.io/] https://www.socialsnowball.io/ [https://www.socialsnowball.io/] https://redo.com/ [https://redo.com/] 🔗 CONNECT WITH RYAN DEISS: https://scalable.co/ [https://scalable.co/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/] https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial [https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial] 🔗 CONNECT WITH JOHN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/] https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle [https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle] 🔗 CONNECT WITH BART : https://szaniewski.com/ [https://szaniewski.com/] https://www.instagram.com/theszef/ [https://www.instagram.com/theszef/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/]

Most E-Commerce Brands Use Email Wrong (It Should Lower Your Ad Costs) — Sammy Tran

Book a call with John: https://www.thedivenewsletter.com/squeeze-page1712742970440 [https://www.thedivenewsletter.com/squeeze-page1712742970440] Most ecommerce brands treat email like its own revenue channel. They obsess over campaign metrics while missing the bigger opportunity — using retention to lower acquisition costs, improve customer experience, and increase lifetime value. In this episode, Sammy Tran breaks down what actually drives growth for ecommerce brands today. From subscriptions and retention marketing to AI-generated content and owned audiences, Sammy explains why brands focused only on short-term revenue are falling behind — and what smart operators are doing differently. Topics discussed: 00:00 - Why most ecommerce brands use email wrong 06:24 - Landing pages, pop-ups, and conversion strategy 07:00 - Why ecommerce testing gets complicated fast 14:43 - The reality of running a marketing agency1 5:07 - Agency incentives vs effective marketing 28:44 - Why retention revenue fuels growth 31:51 - Building better subscription experiences 32:05 - Loyalty systems and retention tools 39:51 - Why brands need audiences they own 40:05 - The rise of owned marketing channels 01:11:37 - Using customer feedback to improve products 01:11:50 - Finding patterns in customer responses 01:19:10 - AI-generated content becoming the norm 01:19:18 - Why human creativity will stand out more 01:21:36 - Final thoughts and closing remarks Learn more about our sponsors: https://www.attentive.com/ [https://www.attentive.com/]https://fuego.io/ [https://fuego.io/]https://www.socialsnowball.io/ [https://www.socialsnowball.io/]https://redo.com/ [https://redo.com/] 🔗 CONNECT WITH RYAN DEISS: https://scalable.co/ [https://scalable.co/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/] https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial [https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDeissOfficial] 🔗 CONNECT WITH JOHN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/] https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle [https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjhcoyle] 🔗 CONNECT WITH BART: https://szaniewski.com/ [https://szaniewski.com/] https://www.instagram.com/theszef/ [https://www.instagram.com/theszef/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/]