663: (Solo) More SKUs, More Problems — The Case for Going Deeper, Not Wider

About this episode

Nathan Chan discusses the pitfalls of launching multiple products and the benefits of focusing on a single hero product for business success.

When I started getting serious about e-commerce, I genuinely believed the more products you had, the more successful you'd be. More SKUs meant scaling. I was completely wrong. Here's the problem: most founders launch a hero product, get early traction, and then the anxiety kicks in. What if it runs out of steam? What if a competitor copies me? So they launch a second product, then a third — and suddenly they're mediocre at five things instead of exceptional at one. In this episode, I share how I built and sold a seven-figure brand off a single water bottle, and break down how IM8 — co-founded by David Beckham — hit $120 million in annualised revenue in under a year on essentially one product, and what both stories mean for how you should be thinking about your brand right now. Here's what you'll take away: Why the urge to launch a second product is almost always driven by fear — and how to reframe it The three questions to ask yourself before you add a single new SKU How AG1, Liquid IV, and IM8 all built empires off one hero product — and what that blueprint looks like for a smaller brand Why going deeper on your hero product is a stronger competitive defence than launching more…

People in this episode

Host: Nathan Chan

Topics covered

• e-commerce
• product strategy
• business growth
• branding
• SKU management

Keywords

• SKUs
• hero product
• e-commerce strategy
• business scaling
• product lineup

Mentioned in this episode

Products: AG1, Liquid IV, IM8, Healthish

More episodes of The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

• 672: From Broke College Student to $20M Brand in 10,000 Stores | ESW Beauty · June 11, 2026 · 40 min
• 671: Tori Quit The Barber Shop, Built a Brand In Her Spare Room, and Hit $1M In Under 2 Years · June 10, 2026 · 44 min
• 670: (Solo) Why Great Products Lose to Better Offers - and How to Fix Yours · June 8, 2026 · 8 min
• 669: They Built a Luxury Beauty Brand in Year One — With a Team of Two | Brunel · June 4, 2026 · 53 min
• 668: (Solo) The One Marketing Concept Behind the Fastest Growing DTC Brands Right Now · June 1, 2026 · 10 min
• 667: He Built a $300M Men's Grooming Brand in JUST Three Years | MANSCAPED · May 28, 2026 · 48 min