DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

Apoorva Govind is the founder and CEO of Bestever, a platform that helps brands analyze and generate ad creatives using AI. With a deep technical background from her previous roles at Uber, Apple, and Nvidia, Apoorva brings a data-driven approach to creative strategy and performance marketing. In this episode of DTC Pod, Apoorva discusses how AI is reshaping the creative process for e-commerce brands. She explains the importance of strategy and data in generating ads that convert, offers advice for early-stage brands on scaling creative, and shares her vision for the future of AI-powered content and workflow automation in marketing.

Aaron Nosbisch is the founder and CEO of BRĒZ, one of the fastest-scaling CPG cannabis beverage brands, generating over $50 million in annual revenue—80% of that through DTC. In this episode of DTC Pod, Aaron unpacks everything from finding product-market fit, to assembling the right team, creative launch strategies, understanding unit economics for food and beverage DTC, leveraging organic and paid media, and building a durable flywheel by combining DTC and retail.

Justin Sherlock is the co-founder and CEO of Caspian, an AI-native duty drawback platform designed to help brands navigate complex global trade and tariff environments. Prior to Caspian, Justin led Flexport Capital. In this episode, Justin breaks down the rapidly changing landscape of tariffs, duties, and global supply chains—especially relevant amid recent policy moves and volatile trade relations.

Irene Chen and Matthew Grenby are the married co-founders of the luxury handbag and accessories brand Parker Thatch. In this episode of DTC Pod, Irene and Matt share their 20+ year entrepreneurial journey of bootstrapping their business to 8 figures in revenue. They discuss the ups and downs, key decisions, and lessons learned along the way that helped them achieve sustainable growth and longevity.

Ben Matthews is a general partner at Night Ventures, a seed fund focused on consumer, creator, and culture sectors. In this episode of DTC Pod, Ben shares his approach to incubating successful creator-led brands. He discusses key considerations when selecting talent, identifying market opportunities, and executing effectively. Ben also shares insights on the future of TikTok, the potential of "dark data" for creators, and the evolving landscape of the creator economy.

John Sampogna is the co-founder and CEO of the modern advertising agency Wondersauce. In this episode of DTC Pod, John shares strategic insights on impactful brand storytelling. He highlights the importance of audience understanding, the 3-3-3 rule of content, balancing brand-building with performance marketing, and the potential of undervalued channels like connected TV for modern ad campaigns.

Ismail Salhi is the co-founder and CEO of Wildgrain, a DTC bread, pasta, and pastry subscription box company. In this episode of DTC Pod, Ismail shares how Wildgrain rapidly scaled to over 80,000 subscribers by focusing on product quality, customer experience, and efficient operations. He discusses key decisions like outsourcing to local bakeries, investing in logistics tech, and using education marketing strategies to acquire customers.

Zach Ranen is the co-founder of David, a protein bar brand with products containing the highest protein-to-calorie ratio in the market. In this episode of DTC Pod, Zach shares insights on David’s R&D process, the importance of product-led growth, their pre-launch and launch strategies, their plans for retail expansion, and more.