Ryan Rouse

MALK Organics

President

Self Employed

Growth Advisor

HighKey 

Chief Executive Officer (acquired)

Board Member

Chief Marketing & Ecommerce Officer

Tasseo Consumer Ecosystem

Operating Partner

Serenity Kids

Head of Growth

Factor_

Co-Founder (Acquired by Hello Fresh)

Chief Marketing Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Merrill Lynch

Vice President of Sales

Growth advisor to consumer businesses with a focus on every line of the P&L | Previously, Co-Founder at Factor Meals (acquired), CEO at Highkey

Growth-minded CPG leader with deep experience across finance, brand building, and operational leadership.

After more than a decade in finance—culminating in an eight-year tenure at Merrill Lynch—I co-founded Factor_, a ready-to-eat meal delivery company that went on to be acquired by HelloFresh for $277M in 2020.

I joined HighKey Snacks as Chief Marketing Officer and later CEO, guiding the low-sugar snack brand through rapid expansion and an acquisition in 2024.

I'm currently the President of MALK Organics, a fast-growing, near nine-figure brand redefining the plant-based milk category with its commitment to clean, organic ingredients and uncompromising quality.

And I write a newsletter about what it really takes to grow—your company, your mindset, your tolerance for chaos:
​
​• The unfiltered truth about building a brand
• Why “strategy” isn’t always strategic
• What to do when everything feels on fire
• Mindset shifts that keep you sane(ish)​
• Founder mistakes, market moves, and lessons I’m still learning​
​
​Part playbook, part perspective shift.
For anyone trying to grow something—and keep their head on straight.

Sign up using the link here (or below my profile pic above): https://ryanrouse.me/

Vice President | Partner

Data driven investors in early stage consumer brands. 

I don't know a single truly successful person with a scarcity mindset.

Not one.

The ones who make it big? They're cheering everyone on, even their competitors. 

Sounds backwards. 

But the pie's not fixed. When the category grows, everyone grows. So their success doesn't shrink yours.

And when you operate from that place, you stop playing defense and start playing offense.

That's when you really win.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Never Been on a Forbes List | President at MALK Organics | Daddy at Rouse House | Previously: Co-Founder & CMO at Factor_, CEO at Highkey

The most expensive person in your company isn't your highest-paid employee.

It's the one who loses their shit when things don't go their way.

The person who stays calm when shit hits the fan doesn't just solve problems faster.

They become the anchor everyone else holds onto.

When you're the one not freaking out, something magical happens.

People think clearer around you.
They bring solutions instead of panic.
They match your energy, not your emotions.

Being offended is a choice.
Getting emotional is a choice.
Losing your cool is a choice.

And every time you make that choice, you're choosing to make your team weaker.

The competitive advantage isn't in being right when everyone's wrong.

It's in being calm when everyone's not.

Because emotions are contagious.

Choose which ones you're spreading.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Everyone thinks they're ready for their boss's job.

Until they get promoted.

And realize the job they thought they understood was maybe 30% of it.

The other 70%? 

Managing up while managing down.
Making decisions with incomplete data.
Taking heat for choices they didn't make.
Navigating politics they didn't know existed.

As well as the additional context. 

Board dynamics.
Investor relationships.
Internal politics.
Historical baggage.

All the shit you can't see from one level down.

Instead of assuming you know the role, assume you don't and seek to understand. 

Ask questions.
- Why'd you phrase it that way?
- What aren't you saying in this email?
- Who are you really managing here?

Not just in meetings - in the prep. In the follow-ups. In the calls that "weren't important enough to mention."

The real education isn't in the meetings you're invited to.

It's in the ones you're not.

Want that next role? Stop assuming you're ready for it.

Start learning what it actually is.

Because the gap between where you are and where you want to be isn't about skills.

It's about context you don't have yet.

And, likely, soft skills you need to refine. 

Get curious about what you can't see.

That's how you get ready.

Not by waiting.

By studying.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Stop trying to motivate people.

You can't.

I wasted years at Factor_ thinking I could inspire people to care about our mission. Gave passionate speeches. Shared the vision until I was blue in the face.

Know what I learned?

Everyone's already motivated. Just not by what you think.

So your job isn't to motivate them.

It's to figure out what already drives them.

Then connect the dots.

I thought I was a shitty motivator at Factor_.

Turns out I was just a shitty listener.

Once I started asking "What matters to you?" instead of assuming everyone wanted what I wanted?

Everything changed.

People started crushing goals. Not because I motivated them.

Because I finally understood what motivated them.

And showed them how to get it.

Stop pushing your agenda.

Start pulling theirs.



~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you'll love my emails. No BS observations and advice from 12+ years in the trenches building brands. 

Link in the comments 👇

The best deals happen when you're willing to lose them.

The best partnerships form when you're not desperate for them.

The best opportunities find you when you're not frantically searching.

I can't explain the mechanics of it.

But I've lived it.

The tighter you squeeze, the less you hold.

The more you relax, the more flows to you.

Sounds backwards.

Works forwards.

The difference between good leaders and great ones?

Good leaders hit their numbers.

Great leaders make everyone believe they can hit theirs.

Leadership isn't about being the hero of your own story.

It's about making everyone else the hero of theirs.

Your job isn't to cross the finish line first.

It's to make sure everyone believes they belong in the race.

Don't create followers.

Create more leaders.

Do it by making every single person feel like they're writing the story, not just reading it.

Your victories should feel like their victories.

Because they are.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Nobody wants your advice.

They want to know what you did when you were in their shoes.

Huge difference. Took me years to learn it.

When I was at Merrill Lynch, an employee came to me. Struggling with a toxic coworker. Asked what to do.

I launched into this whole speech about "professional communication" and "setting boundaries."

Watched their eyes glaze over.

Know why?

Because I was talking like a management textbook. Not like someone who'd actually been there.

So I stopped. Started over.

"Had the same thing happen to me years ago. Guy constantly undermined me in meetings. Here's what I did: Started documenting everything. Every interaction. Every slight. Not to be petty - to see the pattern. After two weeks, I realized he only did it when the CEO was around. Insecurity. So I started praising his ideas publicly before meetings. Killed him with recognition. Stopped within a month."

Their whole posture changed.

Not because my story was brilliant.

Because it was real.

When someone asks for advice, they're not asking for wisdom.

They're asking for proof that someone survived what they're facing.

Your theoretical framework means nothing.
Your "5 steps to success" means nothing.
Your generic best practices mean nothing.

But that time you royally screwed up a product launch and recovered?
That matters.

That time you had to resolve an issue with your co-founder?
That matters.

That time you lost your biggest client and rebuilt?
That matters.

Stop playing guru.

Start sharing scars.

People don't need another expert.

They need someone who's been in the mud and made it out.

Next time someone asks for advice, skip the lecture.

Tell them about the time you faced the same shit.

What you tried. What failed. What finally worked.

That's the only advice worth giving.

Everything else is just noise.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Stop writing novels before you get to the point.

• Slack messages with 2 paragraphs of context before asking if you can move a meeting.
• Emails that bury the budget approval request in paragraph 4.
• A "quick update" that takes 5 minutes to find the actual update.

You think you're being thorough. But you're burying the lead. 

Every second someone spends hunting for your point increases the chances that they miss it. 

Always. Lead. With. The. Ask. 

"Need budget approval for X. Details below."

"Meeting conflict - can we move to 3pm? Here's why..."

"Update: We're 2 weeks behind. Here's what happened..."

When you do that, speed of decision making increases.

People actually read the context because they know why they are reading it. 

Your high school English teacher was wrong.

Don't build to the conclusion. Start with it.

Don't provide context first. Give them the point, then explain.

People aren't reading your messages like novels. They're scanning for what you need.

Make it easy for them.

Or watch them start ignoring you.

I've never met a successful founder who was in a hurry to be happy.

But I've met plenty who were in a hurry to be successful.

And most were miserable.

Here's the thing about hurrying... 

Every time you rush through now to get to later, you're telling yourself this moment doesn't count.

That happiness is waiting for you somewhere else.

Spoiler: It's not.

The disease isn't being busy.

The disease is believing that busy gets you somewhere better than here.

Your next meeting isn't more important than this moment.
Your next milestone won't make you happier than you can be right now.
Your future success won't fix your current inability to be present.

Happiness isn't waiting at your next revenue or income threshold. Or an exit. 

It's sitting right here. Right now.

Even if here isn't where you thought you'd be.

Especially if it isn't.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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One of the biggest turning points in an early stage business is when you stop thinking it's cute that the business "flies by the seat of its pants."

And start realizing that it's limiting growth.

"We're scrappy."
"We move fast."
"We figure it out as we go."

All code for: We don't have our shit together.

And it works. Until it doesn't.

Process is not about control. It's about freedom.

Freedom from:
- Solving the same problem 47 times
- Having every decision escalate to you
- Losing your best people to preventable burnout
- Watching quality tank because "everyone does it differently"

There's a fine line between startup energy and startup chaos.

But one you have to be on the lookout for. 

Because chaos doesn't scale.

Doing things that are hard will change how you see yourself.

They don't just build skills. They rebuild identity.

When you do the shit that scares you, you stop being the person who's scared of it.

When you tackle what you suck at, you stop being the person who sucks at it.

Each hard thing I've tackled in business changed the story I tell myself.

From "I'm not a numbers guy" to "I can figure this out."

From "I don't do operations" to "I'll handle it."

From "That's not my strength" to "Not yet."

The hard things you're avoiding?

They're not obstacles.

They're identity upgrades waiting to happen.

You think you know who you are.

But you're just who you've been so far.

Do the hard thing.

Meet who you could be.

This is cliche as hell. 

It's also true.


~~~~~~~~~~~~

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There are two types of people at startups.

The ones waiting for their manager to tell them what to do.

And the ones who've already done it.

Take two employees side by side. 
Same title. 
Same experience. 
Completely different trajectories.

One keeps asking "What should I work on next?"

The other is already shipping solutions to problems nobody had assigned yet.

Guess which one has a steeper trajectory?

At early stage companies, your task list is a suggestion.

The real work? It's everything that's not on it yet.

The stuff nobody's noticed is broken.
The process that takes 10 steps but could take 2.
The customer complaint that "isn't your department."

Everyone's busy at startups. That's not special.

What's special is being busy with the right shit.

The ones who wait for permission to level up never do.
The ones who just start fixing things become indispensable.

I used to think initiative was about working harder.

Wrong.

It's about working on what matters before someone tells you it matters.

Your boss isn't your career GPS.

Stop waiting for directions.

Start building the map.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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The biggest sales job you'll ever make isn't to your customers.

It's to yourself.

Because it's the stories in your head determine the stories you tell the world.

If you're telling yourself you're an imposter, that's exactly what you'll project in every meeting.

If you're telling yourself you're not a "numbers person," guess what? You won't be.

If you're telling yourself you need one more certification, one more mentor, one more anything before you're ready...

You're right. You'll never be ready.

Because readiness isn't something you acquire.

It's something you decide.

The most successful people I know aren't the ones with the best credentials or the smoothest pitch.

They're the ones who changed their internal narrative first.

From "I'm figuring it out" to "I know my shit."
From "I hope this works" to "Watch me make this work."
From "I'm not that type of person" to "I'm becoming that type of person right now."

Your business can only grow as fast as your self-concept allows.

Change the story. Change everything.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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When emotions run high, intellect runs low.

Your IQ literally drops when you're heated. The part of your brain that handles logic? It checks out. 

Leaves you with the part that wants to fight or flee.

That's when we make our worst decisions.

Break trust with a team member.
Send the relationship-ending text.
Make the deal-killing move.

Now when I feel that heat rising, I do nothing.

No emails. No calls. No Slack messages. No decisions.

Just breathe. Stand up. Walk away.

The problem will still be there in the morning.

But I'll have my full brain back to solve it.

Because I now know that the most expensive words are the ones you say when you're emotional.

In those times, the most powerful thing you can do is absolutely nothing.

At least not until tomorrow.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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You can't be friends with people who work for you. 

I don't buy into this philosophy. 

I think you can. And believe it can an advantage in leadership. 

You just have to be willing to piss off your friends (who are also team members) more often then you do with people who are just friends.

We all want to be in good standing with our friends at all times. There's a weight that comes with being in conflict with people we care about that we'd rather not carry. 

But if you are going to be friends with people you lead, you have to get comfortable with that weight. 

Because you won't be in good standing with them all the time. 

Not if you're doing it right.

The best operators aren't the ones who can take the most punishment.

They're the ones who refuse to.

I used to pride myself on being the guy who could handle anything. Any timeline. Any ask. Any amount of chaos.

Until I realized I wasn't scaling the business.

I was enabling its dysfunction.

Real scaling happens when you make heroes unnecessary.

When you build processes that work without someone sacrificing their weekends.
When you invest in infrastructure before you're drowning.
When you say "this timeline isn't realistic" instead of "I'll figure it out."

Being irreplaceable isn't job security.

It's a trap.

The constraint of limited capital forces clarity.

When you can't throw money at problems, you have to actually solve them.

When you can't hire your way out, you have to execute your way through.

When every dollar matters, bullshit dies fast.

But at some point that constraint is a net negative on the business.

Because the "bootstrappers mindset" is established but company growth is stunted by a lack of cash.

When you can't invest in proper infrastructure, you pay in time.
When you can't hire the right people, you pay in mistakes.
When you can't test at scale, you pay in missed opportunities.

This is why experienced operators raise money differently. 

Not because they're greedy. Because they've lived through the hidden cost of being too lean.

They know when to be scrappy and when to invest.
They know which constraints sharpen you and which ones slow you down.
They know that sometimes the most expensive thing is being cheap.

Investors get this. That's why experienced operators raise bigger rounds sooner and often times operate in the red for longer.

Not because they have better pitch decks.

Because they've already paid the tuition on when capital constraint stops being an asset and starts being a liability.

The impact of your ability to connect with other human beings cannot be understated.

That skill alone unlocks more opportunities than everything else combined. 

This has nothing to do with the number of social media followers you have. Follower count is a terrible measure of the skill. 

I'm talking about your ability to find common ground with other people below all the surface level shit.

Which lives and dies with how early in a conversation you're willing to take off your mask and be honest about things. 

When I am real with people, I can literally see their face and body relax.  

The type of relief that only comes with the realization that you're in a conversation with someone you don't have to fake it with. 

Because faking it is exhausting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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When it comes to brand, positioning matters the most.

There are many positioning frameworks out there. 

I personally like one from McKinsey consultant Victor Cheng.

Cheng says that the best positioning makes a “Unique Compelling Credible Promise to a potential buyer”.


1. Your promise must be unique. 

The first step in winning a customer is being unique in a field of sameness. 

To achieve uniqueness, riff on the Who / What / Where / Why / When / How of your offering:

- Who do you serve?
- What do you offer?
- Where are your sales happening?
- Why do you do what you do?
- When do you fulfill?
- How do you do what you do?

All can be unique and differentiators in the market relative to your competition.


2. Your promise must be compelling.

Whatever you are promising has to solve a customer problem in an overwhelmingly compelling way. 

Review your customer feedback. What are their searing problems? 

Not their surface level problems.

Do they want to be healthier? (Surface level)

Or are they disgusted by how they feel and can't play with their kids because they are low on energy. (Searing problem)

Make your promise compelling. Address the searing problem head-on. 

Use the language your customers use. Mirror your solution back at them. 

Take this approach in all your sales copy, your ads, and your site.


3. Your promise must be credible. 

A unique and compelling offer means nothing if your potential customer doesn't believe you. 

It is asking a lot for a brand-spanking new visitor to take out her credit card and buy from you on the first visit to your site. 

This lack-of-trust is a big reason why conversion rates are so low.

You have to build credibility around your brand, fast. Here are some ways to do it:

- Customer testimonials
- Specificity
- Guarantees
- Research reports / Trials

Credibility is king. Without it, the first two don’t go very far.


You're gonna have a really tough time building and scaling a business without solid positioning. 

I love the approach above, but there are others. 

Pick one and do the thinking involved to carve out your own positioning. 

Every other aspect of running your business will become easier.

Action is the great equalizer.

It doesn’t care about your background, where you went to school, or how old you are. 

While everyone has things they want to do, significantly fewer people take action on them. 

Which presents an opportunity for those who do. 

Here's a simple formula for taking action on something new:

1/  Determine what the absolute smallest first step you can take looks like. 

2/  Take that step.

That’s it.

That one baby step will do a few important things for you. 

First, it will reveal the next step. There’s value in mapping out a step by step plan, but the step you actually take is the only thing will bring the next one into focus.

It will also help you decide if you want to take the next step. You don't have to.

Lastly, it will build momentum and internal belief. 

There’s nothing more powerful in the universe than the combination of these two things. 

This works for everything from a new business idea to a new hobby. 

Taking action, as imperfect as it may be, wins every time.

Jake Abrams

Odyssey

The lean DTC growth marketing partner that I wish existed when I was an in-house marketing lead. 

At Odyssey, we help 7-9 figure DTC brands increase revenue & ROAS by finding the right combination of:

- Messaging
- Audience targeting
- Media channel allocation
- Creative

https://www.odysseyagency.com/

Founder

Stealth Startup

Connecting brands with the top 1% of creative talent, always on your timezone.

Strategic Advisor

Embr Labs

- Took a pre-revenue product named Wristify and renamed it within 4 weeks of start date. 
- Launched a Kickstarter 1 month later.
- Raised $630k in funding. 
- Kept growing. 
- Got featured on Most Expensivest with 2Chainz and Good Morning America in the same year. 
- Succeeded. 
- Failed. 
- Sold over 50,000 units with a team of contractors. 
- Learned so much about selling things online that I had the privilege to launch a DTC agency. 
- Now helping other brands navigate their growth journey.

VP Marketing

Head Of Marketing

Firehose Project

Firehose is an Immersive Online Coding Bootcamp designed to help people become professional developers or launch their own ideas. 

Accomplishments:

- Grew monthly site traffic 2.5x
- Grew monthly leads 8.5x
- Grew monthly organic leads 4.1x
- Grew Facebook audience 7.3x
- Scaled Quora to largest source of traffic
- Built paid acquisition engine from scratch across FB, Adwords, Quora, and coding platforms
- Led RFP and integration of Kissmetrics to solve attribution problem
- Grew prep course engagement 3x
- Generated 37 media mentions / syndicated pieces in publications like Forbes, Quartz, and Inc

Head of Marketing & Growth

Arnold Worldwide

- Led cross-functional team responsible for New Balance's Global Baseball business
- Oversaw end to end execution of launch campaign for New Balance's signature 2015 baseball product, exceeding sales goals by 30%
- Pitched for and won New Balance's Global Men's Training business
- Played key role in launch of New Balance's $5MM+ Always in Beta global rebrand
- Wrote winning 2016 Effie case in the David vs Goliath category for launch of New Balance's 4040v3 baseball cleat

Marketing Manager

Associate Marketing Producer

Streetwise Media

- Worked with channel partners to develop relevant, site-worthy content
- Offered full-time position in DC office upon completion of internship

Marketing Intern

Boston College

- Turned 1 year of high school tennis experience into the best paying job on campus

Tennis Instructor

SnapApp

My first experience in the startup world.

Learned a lot about the Internet, product development, and making sure the fridge was stocked with soda.

Marketing & Sales Intern

FunnyAthleteTweets.com

In college, I started a website detailing the absurdities of "athlete twitter" years before it was part of the mainstream sports conversation. 

Generated enough AdSense revenue to pay for a few college textbooks.

- Refereed high-level intramural basketball games
- Gave out technical fouls as necessary, even to football players
- Successfully learned and enforced the notoriously complicated over-and-back rule
- Selected as Intramural Basketball Supervisor based on high performance

Intramural Referee

I help 7-9 figure DTC brands with revenue & CAC | I write The Process, a newsletter about modern growth marketing | Sold 100K+ personal cooling devices

Consumer Marketing & Growth Leader.  

Brands I've worked with:

Caraway
Jones Road Beauty
Skylight
Canopy
Insurify
Naked Wines
Rugiet
Sundays For Dogs
Momofuku
Sunday Lawn Care

100+ others

Book a discovery call in the featured section below 👇

The lean DTC growth marketing partner that I wish existed when I was an in-house marketing lead. 

At Odyssey, we help 7 & 8-figure DTC brands increase revenue & ROAS by finding the right combination of:

- Messaging
- Audience targeting
- Media channel allocation
- Creative

https://www.growodyssey.com/

294 hook templates to help you crush Q4 2025. 

This is not another stupid "hook swipe file." 

This is a curated collection based on:
→ High-performing ads we made last Q4
→ High-performing ads we made this year, with gifting / BFCM versions
→ Hand-selected organic videos from TikTok & IG reels

Each hook template has 3 versions: 
→ Original version
→ AI-generated gifting
→ AI-generated Black Friday / Holiday version 

Thanks to Claude, I organized everything by category:
→ POV Scenarios
→ Question Hooks
→ Gift Templates
→ Authority / Expert
→ Urgency / Time-Sensitive

PROBLEM THIS SOLVES:
Most brands recycle the same tired "Black Friday Sale!" hooks that everyone else is using. Your audience is in scan mode the next 2.5 months. They're looking for specific reasons to buy, but drowning in identical messaging.

WHY THIS IS CRITICAL:
During peak shopping season, your hook isn't just competing for attention. It's competing against every other brand trying to get into someone's cart. The psychology shifts from "maybe I need this" to "give me a reason to buy this RIGHT NOW."

Here's What You Get: 
✅ 294 hook templates
✅ Organized by category, type, and use case
✅ Black Friday urgency hooks that don't sound desperate
✅ Peer authority hooks to establish common ground
 ✅ PSA-style announcement frameworks

All categorized. All battle-tested or hand-selected. All ready for the videos you should be shooting in October to launch in November.

Want the full spreadsheet?

1. Comment "HOOKS" below
2. Like this post
3. Make sure we're connected so I can send the link Jake Abrams

P.S. I'm sending the link to anyone who comments by Tuesday.

Creative-led growth for 8-9 figure consumer brands | Writing about AI & advertising | Sold 100k+ personal cooling devices

Okay, I think i'm finally understanding Andromeda…

Basically it's just: avoid visual similarity at all costs.  

"But Jake, I need to craft 20 ads this week. How is that possible if nothing can look the same?"

Don't try to brainstorm 20 completely unique concepts. Impossible. 

Instead, use the Format Multiplication strategy. 

Go deep on the research. 
Have AI scrape TikTok and customer reviews
Craft the hero ad for 1 specific micropersona. 

A micropersona consists of:
- A specific person
- With specific problems
- Who wants specific outcomes
- Who sits at a specific stage of awareness

So, go write that amazing hero ad. 
Now you're in the mindspace of this customer.
You have all your messaging organized. 

So go write the alt formats:

1. Podcast 
2. Street interview 
3. Faceless UGC 
4. Staged organic moment
5. Listicle
6. Trending sound
7. Reaction video
8. Advertorial
9. Word wall
10. Elevated native
11. Elevated talking to camera
12. ASMR
13. In-car authentic explainer
14. In-store explainer
15. Native walk & talk
16. Skit
17. Green-Screen
18. Whiteboard explainer
19. Unhinged scenario
20. Vertical split screen

The insight is the same. 
The visual action is completely different. 
The narrative will be different enough because of the nature of each format.  

You don't need to be brilliant 20 times. 

Be brilliant once, then multiply the formats.

Sales Navigator

li_at

JSESSIONID

linkedin.com/in/glitusquen/

Talks about #dtc, #careeradvice, #growthmarketing, and #digitalmarketing

Andromeda hates ads that look the same.

So use the Format Multiplication strategy. 

You don't need to be brilliant 20 times.

Be brilliant once, then multiply the formats.

The Iterative Creative Era died in 2025, and I couldn't be more excited about it.

Here's what I used to hate about winning on Meta:

→ Making 10 versions of the first 3 seconds 
→ Frankensteining together different winning sequences
→ Treating creativity like a science experiment

For me, it was the worst part of growth marketing. A necessary evil, but not something I enjoyed. 

But here's what's actually happening in 2025:

Andromeda sees all those tiny variations as the EXACT same ad.

Honestly, I couldn't be more excited.

Because now we're back to what actually matters, and why I got into growth marketing in the first place. 

We now live in the Intuitive Velocity era, which rewards humans who:

→ Understand the fundamentals of good marketing
→ Create systems that pump out new, well-intentioned ideas 
→ Leverage AI to scrape data sources for deep insights 
→ Actually have the taste for good ads vs bad ads
→ Build ecosystems of incentivized creators
→ Operate like a psychopath

This isn't gamification anymore.
It's systematic creative intelligence.

The iterative era is dead.

Long live the era of Intuitive Velocity.

You're wasting $100k+ / month b/c you don't understand creative diversity.

Meta's own product team is now talking publicly about this, but most brands and agencies aren't changing fast enough. 

Andromeda sees two ads as "identical" if they feel similar in the first 3 seconds.

These things don't count as creative diversity:
- Different outfit, same story
- Different headline angles, similar design
- Same visuals, different narrative

The entire algorithm is now built around micropersonas. 

Take car insurance. 

You cannot settle for trying to scale one "save money" concept.

Instead, you need to hit all of these personas + probably 50 more:

→ First-time buyers: 
"Just got your license and freaking out about insurance?" 

→ Florida residents: 
Hurricane prep context, palm trees in background 

→ College commuters: 
Dorm parking lot, "driving 2 hours to campus every day" 

→ Young families:
Car seat visible, baby-on-board energy 

→ Empty nesters: 
"Kids moved out but you're still paying for their coverage?" 

→ Ride-share drivers: 
Airport pickup zone, city street context

Each micropersona unlocks a completely new audience segment.

Different people. 
Different contexts. 
Different pain points. 
Different visual cues.

While your competitors light money on fire testing "Save 15%" vs "Save up to 15%" with identical setups...

You're scaling with authentic creative that the algorithm actually rewards.

The agencies that max out micropersonas will dominate the rest of 2025 and beyond. 

Everyone else will hit creative fatigue walls and see their CPM's skyrocket.

Stop wasting money on a fake creative diversity strategy..
Start building real micropersona-driven creative.

Now is the single greatest time in history to be a solo creative strategist.

You have more leverage than ever.

5 signs you're not actually a creative strategist ↓

1. You can talk about creative strategy, but you can't analyze data

A creative strategist can: 
→ Look at a Motion (Creative Analytics) report or Google sheet
 → Identify meaningful patterns within 15 minutes
 → Suggest 5 new ad concepts based on what the data shows

2. You can write a script, but you can't give actionable feedback

A creative strategist can: 
→ Take a video from 70% to 100% with specific, actionable direction
→ Identify exactly what's missing from a creative
→ Provide feedback that an editor / creator can immediately act on

3. You can critique work, but you can't produce your own storyboard

A creative strategist can: 
→ Translate insights into visual concepts
→ Create storyboards that editors and creators can actually follow
→ Think visually, not just verbally about creative execution

4. You have opinions about design, but no visual taste

A creative strategist can: 
→ Instantly identify when visual hierarchy is wrong
→ Tell the difference between on-brand and off-brand 
→ Give specific design direction

5. You're organized, but not operationally aggressive

A creative strategists can
→ Use AI tools to 10x their output and research speed
→ Have a weekly rhythm of what needs to get done and by when
→ Communicate with precision and urgency 

Not saying that creative strategy is about doing everyone else's job.

I am saying that creative strategy is about understanding every part of the process, so that you can drive it effectively. 

That's why the top 1% of creative strategists are generalists who work seamlessly across:

- Data
- Strategy
- Taste
- Design
- Ops

That's your north star.

Motion (Creative Analytics)

11-step process I use to build micro persona-driven creative in 20x less time.

Most creative strategists are still guessing their audience. This leads to creative that's too general and ineffective. 

Here's my exact 11-step process:

1: Run kickoff call with brand to capture all implicit knowledge.
2: Grab the call transcript and throw it into Claude.
3. Add all brand messaging / persona docs into Claude.
4: Scrape all customer reviews using Motion (Creative Analytics) and feed them into Claude.
5: Scrape TikTok for keywords related to their category, feed to Claude.
6. Scrape the rest of the internet with Adology.AI, feed into Claude.

7: Define micro personas for Claude: 
- A specific person
- With specific problems
- With specific desired outcomes
- At a specific stage of awarness

8: Make Claude review all of the content & outline 25 micro personas with citations for each.

"For each micro-persona, tie it back to something that was specifically mentioned in one of the sources I provided"

This is KEY b/c it forces Claude to show to prove where it's pulling info from, which prevents hallucinations & give you more content. 

9: Have Claude sort the personas by priority based on how often they appeared across data sources.

10. Feed Claude my master database of 300+ proven hook templates.
11. Ask Claude to write 20 hooks for each micro persona based on the templates. 

RESULT YOU GET:
A complete creative roadmap of exactly who to write ads for, backed by real data instead of assumptions, with hooks. 

This process used to take weeks of manual analysis. Now it takes an hour.

This is the foundational process every CS should be using for Andromeda.

Adology.AI

Treat your new creative strategist like a rookie quarterback.

The best NFL coaches don't open up the full playbook on day one. 

They script the opening drive with high-percentage plays:

1. Bubble screen
Quick, easy completion to build confidence

2. Quick slant
Simple route, hard to mess up

3. Draw play
Safe running play when things get complicated

4. Screen pass
High success rate, gets playmakers the ball

5. Designed rollout
Simplifies the read, cuts the field in half

The goal? Get them in rhythm. Let them see what success looks like.

Same principle applies to a new creative strategist. You want them on the field immediately, but you need to set them up for success.

Script their first drive:

1. Enemy-Style Explainer Video
- Enemy framework always works
- Use your most reliable creator for guaranteed execution
- Gets them a quick win with familiar structure

2: Us vs. Them Street Interview
- Bottom-of-funnel content has high likelihood of working
- Differentiated format = higher hook rates
- Street interview style feels authentic and engaging

3. Elevated Product Demo
- Pair with your best videographer
- High production value, reliable execution
- Builds confidence in campaign coordination

4. Word Wall Video
- Easiest video format to execute w/ minimal production needed
- Use your #1 performing hook so success is guaranteed
- Gets them comfortable with winning creative concepts

5. Credible Figure Talking Head
- 3rd party validation converts better in most categories
- This format just works - no overthinking required
- Builds confidence in authority-based messaging

Then you start opening up the playbook.
Let them handle more complex campaigns. 
Give them full creative autonomy. 

But not on day one.

First, let them taste success with plays you know will work.

The era of Iterative Creative died in 2025. 

Honestly, I couldn't be more excited.

Long live the era of Intuitive Velocity.

DTC is finally waking up to what we've been practicing for 12 months.

I call it the The Barbell Production Strategy. 

→ Go high-end with cinematic, elevated production 
→ Or go ultra-raw with native, TikTok-y content

Avoid the middle ground at all cost, because it fails at trust & authenticity. 

Nobody is shooting the volume & quality of DR-focused elevated content like we are. Because it's extremely hard. There are barriers to entry. 

We produced our first elevated content back in 2023 when everyone was still obsessing over scripted iPhone UGC, and we've been aggressively iterating on the model since then. We've made mistakes, solved them, and rebuilt the model time and time again. 

The secret isn't just a better camera. 

It's working backwards from a repeatable model:

→ 12x 9-hour shoot days every single month with in-house production team
→ Work with a shooter who innately understands performance
→ Small group of trusted actors across different personas
→ Bulk shoot many concepts in single sessions 
→ Keep concepts as simple as possible, focus on what matters
→ Supplement in-house with tight group of cinematic creators who self-shoot

This Xsuit ad is a perfect example ↓

While everyone else scrambles to figure out "elevated content," we were the first to use that term and have been doing this at scale for 12 months.

The teams that can execute both ends of the barbell:
- Truly elevated production 
- AND raw authenticity

Will dominate the rest of 2025 and 2026

Everyone else will be stuck in the decaying middle.

Sora 2 is here, and nobody believes anything online anymore.

Every ad feels fake. 
Every testimonial feels scripted. 
Every "authentic" brand story feels like it was written by a marketing committee.

But there's one type of content that still breaks through: real people doing real things, documented like a reality show.

Here's the 3-part structure:

1. Your Company Is A Reality Show
Your marketing strategy is simple: your company is a reality show, and you are the main character.

2. Pick Your Enemy & Position Yourself As The Hero
The narrative of your show is based around an enemy that you pick, and then you position yourself as the hero fighting that enemy.

3. Document Everything
You document everything: every moment, both good and bad, of you, the hero, on this show on your path to defeating this enemy.

The bottom line:

Stop thinking about some boring content calendar. 

Instead, start thinking:

What is the reality show of my company?
Who's the main character?
Who's the enemy?
What's the heroic journey?
Who are the supporting characters?

Then just document everything and see what takes off.

The first $1B AI marketing company will solve 1 problem. 

It's called The Car Parts Problem. 

Everybody is building car parts. 
But most marketers are not expert mechanics. 
They need a car with automatic transmission / cruise control.

Nobody has come close to building this yet.

13 reasons you'll fail as a DTC operator or agency owner this BFCM ↓

COMMUNICATION & RETENTION:

1. You're not automating the compounding revenue channels

Omnisend data shows that automations account for just 2% of email volume but drive 37% of all email sales. 

87% of those sales come from 3 flows: Welcome, cart abandonment, browse abandonment. Focus there. 

2. You didn't build your email list beforehand

If you didn't do enough of it this year, make it a priority moving forward to be building your email list year-round.

3. You're not segmenting your audience 

1 in 3 people who click an automated email go on to buy. Make sure your automated emails are perfect. 

SYSTEMS & OPERATIONS:

4. You're juggling too many tools 

Every disconnected app adds more work, errors, and headaches.

5. You're not focusing on what's already working

BFCM isn't the time to experiment. It's time to scale what converts.

6. You think you need custom everything. You don't. 

I can't tell you how many times overcomplicated email setups or website themes have killed me with either speed or speed of action during BFCM. 

Most tools work fine out of the box.

CREATIVE & MEDIA STRATEGY:

7. You're not studying last year's spend patterns 

Analyze your performance during: 
Pre-promo → Black Friday weekend → Post-BF period → Holiday season

8. You're not responding to Andromeda

Meta's algorithm now treats visually similar ads as the same creative. Your micro-variations are dead.

9. Your ads aren't written for specific micro-personas 

Write each ad for a specific person with specific desires who is at a specific stage of awareness. Overindex on BOF for BFCM.

10. Your bottom-of-funnel creative hierarchy is wrong 

Offer > Product > Social Proof. In that order.

CONVERSION & SALES:

11. You're forgetting strikethrough pricing

People need to see the discount visually. Needs to be insanely obvious. 

12. You're not communicating when your best offer is live 

If it's your best offer, write "best offer of the year." Otherwise, people will wait around for another offer.

13. You're not preparing for post-purchase 

The sale isn't the end. It's the beginning of LTV. Start turning those new customers into loyal promoters right away.

That's why for many DTC operators and agencies, Omnisend is clutch right now.

→ Email, SMS, and push notifications in one platform 
→ $68 ROI for every $1 spent 
→ Powerful without wasting your time learning complex systems 
→ Experts trust it, but it works even if you're not technical

Remember: 2% of your work (automations) can drive 37% of your sales.

Don't overcomplicate BFCM, especially with email / SMS.

👉 If you want to try Omnisend for 30% off for your first 3 months, go here: https://lnkd.in/epGWWrJP

#omnisendpartner

Omnisend

If you're in the top 1% of branding / packaging designers within DTC, let's chat. 

I know about an interesting project that needs someone with a feel for:

- Wordmarks
- Illustration
- Color palette
- Font systems & hierarchy
- Detailed packaging design

DM's are open.

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