
Why Most DTC Brands Get Retail Wrong (and How to Fix It) with Nate Rosen @ Express Checkout
From Unfinished Business by Unfinished Business
March 17, 2026 · 38 min
About this episode
Nate Rosen discusses the challenges DTC brands face in retail and offers practical insights on how to succeed.
He's seen the balance sheets behind the brands your feed tells you are crushing it. And what he's found? The gap between the press release and the spreadsheet is bigger than you think. Nate Rosen is the co-founder of Express Checkout: the media company covering CPG, consumer brands, and retail with the kind of depth and honesty the industry doesn't always love. With a twice-weekly Substack newsletter, a weekly podcast, and an Instagram account he grew to 36k followers in under three months, Nate has built one of the most trusted independent voices in the consumer brand world. Before Express Checkout, he spent years inside CPG. He was watching founders navigate cash flow crises while posting glossy Erewhon launch announcements, watching brands land major retailers without the sell-through infrastructure to support it, and learning what actually separates the brands that compound from the ones that flame out quietly. On this episode of Unfinished Business, Alex and Lee sit down with Nate for one of the most grounded, practical conversations we've had yet. In this episode: - Why you cannot compare yourself to other brands and why doing so is holding you back (the RXBAR lesson is one…
People in this episode
Hosts: Alex, Lee
Guest: Nate Rosen
Topics covered
- DTC brands
- retail strategy
- consumer brands
- packaging
- cash flow
- brand comparison
Keywords
- DTC
- retail
- packaging
- consumer brands
- cash flow
- brand strategy
- Erewhon
- sell-through
- marketing
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Express Checkout
Products: RXBAR
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