Dave Rekuc

You've probably heard people say that DTC businesses are bad cash businesses. Many operators badly misunderstand this when they start out. I certainly did. I've been working hard to get a better understanding of it and wrap my head around why and how. Here's what I've learned

Uninstalled social media apps from my phone. Happiness +20% Smug superiority +40%

I really think the tech platforms have underestimated the cost of allowing rampant IP infringement and counterfeiting. Amazon, Google, TikTok. This blows back by some combination of: - Eroded customer trust - Eventual regulation Risking dollars to make pennies.

pitching my wife on a morning strategy

My controversial take is: this kind of financial instrument is actually very cool. They're buying the rights to tariff refunds at 20-30 cents on the dollar. I'm dead certain there are DTC brands who should take this all day.

I honestly cannot remember the last time the sort function for ad spend worked. Ad level across multiple campaigns, it's just broken and has been for idk a year+.

One reason I still say "the ad does the targeting" even though further interactions can matter a lot is pure signal volume. Assume these metrics: 40% hook 10% thruplay 2% CTR 10% ATC 3% CVR For 20,000 impressions, here's the data you get Meta: - 8,000 3-second views - 2,000…

Would unironically play Flexport Video Game.

Really enjoying drinking my coffee out of a tumbler so it stays hot the whole time. Such a SIMPLE upgrade to your routine to MODERNize coffee consumption.

When you launch a new creative to a tried-and-true destination URL. CPA, not ROAS is your best success metric. People underestimate just how much data is necessary to update on AOV. It's much more commonly driven by the destination rather than the ad content.

2025: We may be on the cusp of an intelligence explosion that transforms the world and renders work optional Also 2025: You can't answer the phone, it's all spam

Prime Day revenue down 37% YoY on a same-seller comp for Day 1 and 2. 2k merchant sample and 9-figures revenue in both years.

Interesting observation: if you ask AI to write prompts for AI, they start out by stating the Role, then the Task. Example output from Gemini. ROLE: You are a Brand Safety Analyst for Bambu Earth, a natural skincare company that values wellness, authenticity, sustainability,…

"ELI5" is one of the most annoying comments to get on this website. Business is hard. Winning is hard. Sustaining that over a long period is ridiculously hard. You need to learn things that a 5-year-old can't.

This is madness

New manufacturing job numbers are in. I've annotated on the chart where the US manufacturing explosion begins.

One really interesting thing about influencer research on LLMs is that they are blocked from accessing things like IG videos directly. So, instead, they evaluate what's written about influencers. It's a second-hand account of the influencer. And it's still surprisingly decent.

Sometimes I run out of @dwarkesh_sp podcast episodes and I'm thinking "what's taking so long to get the next world class guest and ask incredibly insightful questions?"

Consumer spending power was well below normal in June with it coming in at 76.6% of an average month's spending power. Woof.