Elevator Talks

Elevator Goods
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Elevator is the home for modern e-commerce. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community.

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  1. How to Avoid Digital Burnout in 2026

    9 h fa ·  Video

    How to Avoid Digital Burnout in 2026

    Most founders burn out chasing more. Alex Ikonn did the opposite. He built Luxy Hair into one of the first ecommerce brands built almost entirely on YouTube: 500M+ views, 3M subscribers, millions in annual cash flow, two employees. Then he sold it, because the success left him empty. He went on to build Intelligent Change, the company behind the Five Minute Journal, into a business he's run for over a decade without burning out. His whole approach comes down to one idea: stop doing the work that drains you, and protect your peace in a world built to keep you anxious and online. In this episode he breaks down:   - Why working on something you don't love is what actually burns you out   - How he stays calm while everyone else drowns in productivity anxiety   - The morning system he uses to start the day on offense, not on his phone   - Why he plays long-term games and leaves money on the table on purpose   - How he sold the business without selling himself Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/alex-ikonn Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Alex Ikonn: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexikonn/ X: https://x.com/AlexIkonn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexikonn/ Intelligent Change: https://www.instagram.com/intelligentchange/   Chapters   00:00 Intro   00:24 Selling flowers at 11, then getting fired from the bank in 2008   02:28 Gary Vee, Tim Ferriss, and starting Luxy Hair in 2010   03:07 Why hair extensions, and doubling the product the factories said was crazy   05:00 Building a DTC brand on YouTube before Instagram existed   06:51 The void after success, and deciding to exit   09:34 How Intelligent Change and the Five Minute Journal began   13:33 Selling the system, not the founder (Traction / EOS)   15:30 Visionary vs integrator   17:10 Be careful with your bankers   18:26 Patience, leverage, and a 40% higher offer   19:07 Starting a business today vs 16 years ago   21:25 Knowing your number and the productivity-anxiety bubble   27:46 The Intelligent Change system: a toothbrush for your mind   33:21 Eat the frog: the one task that matters   35:05 Why he's optimistic about AI and being more human   37:39 Burnout, ikigai, and working on something you love   41:59 His full morning routine   51:15 Running the Five Minute Journal as a business   54:00 Leaving money on the table on purpose   56:00 Prompt yourself: the Life Designer   59:16 Why he named the company Intelligent Change   01:00:00 The next big market: real-world community   01:01:00 The loneliness epidemic and the return to being human   01:02:19 On kids, time, and being present   ---   #ecommerce #dtc #brandbuilding #entrepreneurship #burnout #fiveminutejournal #intelligentchange  #mentalhealth

    1h 6m
  2. How Alvaro Gellings Built an 8-Figure Brand in Public

    13 giu ·  Video

    How Alvaro Gellings Built an 8-Figure Brand in Public

    Alvaro Gellings co-founded Day One with Arda Saatci, Germany's largest creator, 2.5 years ago. They launched with the Cyborg Season campaign: Arda ran 3,000 km from Berlin to New York, generated over 1 billion organic views, and hit seven-figure revenue on launch day. No paid media at launch. Day One is now an 8-figure business growing 400-500% year over year. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/alvaro-gellings Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Alvaro Gellings: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alvaro.gellings/ X: https://x.com/GellingsAlvaro YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alvarogellings LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaro-gellings-495692230/ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:47 What is Day One and the Cyborg Season launch 04:55 Why Alvaro started building in public 09:00 How he started 14:10 What building in public actually gave Day One 16:39 500-2,000 job applications from a single Instagram Story 17:30 Network effects: founders and billionaires reaching out 20:28 The satisfaction of showing what it actually takes 28:09 Where Day One is now: 8 figures, 400-500% YoY 33:13 International expansion and the athlete partnership model 37:25 The 43,000-person WhatsApp community 39:37 Org chart, key hires, and the COO hire 44:39 The three hires Alvaro would make today 47:51 Leadership style and who he wants to become 51:33 Advice for new entrepreneurs in 2026 1:01:29 How to start with almost nothing: the ad validation tactic 1:06:53 Rapid fire round 1:13:56 The building in public trap: the biggest mistake first-time founders make 1:17:08 Best investment ever made in the company #ecommerce #dtc #brandbuilding #entrepreneurship #dayone #sportswear #buildingbrands

    1h 15m
  3. How Jolie's Co-Founder Built $50M Betting Against Meta

    6 giu ·  Video

    How Jolie's Co-Founder Built $50M Betting Against Meta

    Ryan Babenzien sold Greats, the first D2C footwear brand, to Steve Madden. Then he built Jolie into the #1 filtering shower brand in the world. $50M in revenue, profitable for 15 of 17 quarters, with Meta at just 25% of the total marketing budget. This is the full anti-paid playbook. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/ryan-babenzien In this episode: - How to set a hard cap on Meta spend before it owns your margin, and what to put in the rest of the mix instead - Why Ryan's North Star is first purchase profitability, not ROAS, and how that one decision changed every other number in the business - The pre-launch brand playbook: how Jolie seeded brand in New York before the product existed, using curated events, oysters, and zero paid media - The question every founder must answer before launch: what do you actually want out of this business, and what does the exit look like? --- Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93 X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Ryan Babenzien: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanbbabenzien LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanbabenzien/ Follow Jolie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jolieskinco Website: https://jolieskinco.com/

    49 min
  4. How Nick Shackelford Picks Products After $200M on Meta Ads

    31 mag ·  Video

    How Nick Shackelford Picks Products After $200M on Meta Ads

    Nick Shackelford has spent over $200M on Meta ads and runs paid for 7 DTC brands that all share one thing: a subscription engine underneath them. His agency, Structured, spends north of $15M a month. He flew to Hong Kong and sat down with us to break down how he actually picks products and runs brands in 2026. We’ve consolidated everything from this episode, into one playbook. Download it for free: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/nick-shackelford In this episode you will learn: - How to know if a product is worth backing before you spend a dollar, and the five traits that make scaling easy - Why the best products sell themselves on repeat, and the simple math that tells you if your business will ever flow - How to run ad tests that teach you something even when they fail, and why patience is what most founders run out of first - Why anyone can copy your entire brand overnight now, and the only two things that still protect you - How to decide what to keep and what to walk away from, using the framework Nick runs across 7 brands - Why equity is usually the wrong trade early in your career, and what actually keeps great people around Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Nick Shackelford: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamnickshackelford X: https://x.com/iamshackelford LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickshackelford Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:00 From soccer coach to $100M on Facebook ads 04:00 Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and getting close to the manufacturer 08:30 The state of e-commerce in 2026 13:00 Smoke testing and the bath bomb that flipped overnight 23:00 The Easy-Win product filter 24:00 The seasons of subscription 30:00 The real moat in e-commerce 40:00 Reasons, seasons, lifetimes 44:00 Hire the young gun, Batman and Robin teams 52:00 Why equity is a trap 58:00 Telehealth, GLP-1, and the next wave 1:18:00 Recession-proof DTC #ecommerce #dtc #paidmedia #subscription #shackelford

    1h 22m
  5. Bob Verlaat's Guide to Building a Brand

    23 mag ·  Video

    Bob Verlaat's Guide to Building a Brand

    Most e-commerce brands are boring. They copy each other, lead with product specs, and wonder why nothing sticks. Bob Verlaat, co-founder of Hears and Dore & Rose (OOAK Brands), has spent two years doing the opposite, building brands that people talk about without being paid to. Everything from this episode, structured into a free playbook: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/bob-verlaat In this episode: - How to define your brand's reason for existence and use it as a filter for every event, partnership, and content decision you make - Why Bob argues that 5K on an offline event returns faster than 5K on a Meta awareness campaign, and the logic behind it - Why most brands are boring, and the specific mistake Bob says operators make when they try to stand out - The one signal Bob looks for to know his brand is working, and why it has nothing to do with followers, ROAS, or engagement Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Follow Bob Verlaat: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobverlaat X: https://x.com/bobverlaat Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 What brand actually means, and what it is not 06:00 Product first or vision first: how Bob thinks about launching 10:00 Why a worryless life became Hears' north star 14:00 Events vs. Meta ads: which one returns more 20:00 How to know when your brand is working 26:00 Most brands are boring. Here is why. 30:00 LTV, post-purchase surveys, and the retention play most operators ignore 34:00 Rebrands: when they are worth it, when they are not 38:00 Rapid fire: Pinterest, new project, micromanaging, and freedom Mentioned in this episode: - Hears - https://hears.com/ - Dore & Rose - https://doreandrose.com/ - OOAK Brands - https://ooakbrands.com/ #ecommerce #dtc #brandbuilding #dtcmarketing #elevatortalks #operatormindset #ecommercebrand

    38 min
  6. Sam Posthuma's Guide to Growing a Brand from Zero

    16 mag ·  Video

    Sam Posthuma's Guide to Growing a Brand from Zero

    HiStrips launched in summer 2024 with one product and no creator budget. Eighteen months later, their affiliate channel is bigger than paid media. 1,500+ creators. $0 upfront spend. One person whose only job is managing the army. Sam Posthuma breaks down the full system: how they built it, how it feeds the ad account with 100-200 pieces of creative per week, and how it unlocked a partnership with Juan LeBron, the #1 padel player in the world, without a pitch deck or a budget. Get the free playbook for this episode here: https://www.elevatorgoods.com/talks/sam-posthuma In this episode: - How HiStrips recruited 1,500 creators without paying anyone upfront - The three-bucket system: proactive seeding, inbound interest, direct outreach - Why they never script their creators and what happens when you do - How organic UGC becomes paid ad creative and how the weekly feedback loop works - Why their AI creative performed well on every metric and sold nothing - How social proof at scale brought Juan LeBron's team to them Follow Elevator: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Website: https://www.elevatorgoods.com Follow Monish (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/[MonishHandle] X: https://x.com/[MonishHandle] Follow Sam Posthuma: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samposthuma/ X: https://x.com/samposthuma Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - What HiStrips is today and where it's going 03:00 - Why creative sits above media buying 05:30 - Keeping creative inside the founding team 08:00 - How the creator army was built from day one 09:40 - The army structure and how it actually runs 13:00 - The three-bucket creator outreach system 17:00 - Why HiStrips never pays creators upfront 21:00 - From organic UGC to paid ad creative 24:00 - The weekly feedback loop between media buying and creative 27:00 - AI UGC: what the data said vs. what the comments showed 30:00 - What the creator army has unlocked beyond paid ads 34:00 - The two moats in e-commerce in 2026 38:00 - Rapid fire #ecommerce #dtc #contentmarketing #creatoreconomy #histrips #brandbuilding

    44 min
  7. Vince Nijhof's $100M+ Ecom Playbook

    8 mag ·  Video

    Vince Nijhof's $100M+ Ecom Playbook

    Vince Nijhof co-founded OOAK Brands. In this episode he sits down with Monish at Elevator Talks and breaks down every system behind it. If you sell online - whether you're just starting out or already scaling - this is the most practical conversation on ecom we've ever recorded. Download the free Vince Nijhof operator playbook here: https://links.elevatorgoods.com/episodes/vince-nijhof Connect with Vince: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vincevn/ X: https://x.com/VinceNijhof Monish Sabnani (Host): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msabnani93/ X: https://x.com/msabnani93 Elevator Talks: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods !  Work with the founders of OOAK Brands: https://ooakbrands.com/advisory Subscribe for bi-weekly conversations with operators building real brands. What we cover: 00:02:52 - Intro 00:03:32 - Who is Vince Nijhof and OOAK Brands 00:07:59 - The $20M/month reveal 00:11:01 - How to pick a product 00:14:48 - The 9-figure product filter 00:16:00 - Unit economics and ROAS targets 00:23:45 - Creative strategy and awareness stages 00:28:54 - The 7-pod creative team and leaderboard 00:32:37 - Intent over volume: the one-shot-kill doctrine 00:35:04 - Ad channel breakdown: Meta, Google/YouTube, TikTok 00:37:21 - The Amazon effect: how channels feed each other 00:41:13 - Funnel strategy: pre-landers and listicles 00:47:00 - Upsells and AOV 00:50:36 - Brand building vs performance marketing 00:54:07 - Long-term brand building and R&D 00:55:59 - Cash flow and scaling infrastructure 00:59:07 - Where ecom is heading 01:01:00 - Emotional marketing: angles as emotions 01:04:45 - The AI stack 01:10:57 - Omnichannel strategy 01:17:33 - Building a brand holding: the long-term vision 01:23:49 - The real moat in ecom 01:28:34 - The foundation for scale

    1h 53m

  8. 6 apr ·  Video

    Notorious Foodie's 6-Stream Revenue Playbook Behind 20M+ Followers

    📘 Full playbook from this episode (free): https://links.elevatorgoods.com/episodes/notorious-foodie  Every framework Notorious broke down - the 6 revenue streams, the creator-to-brand launch sequence, the content flywheel behind Notorious Cookware. Bookmark it. 20M+ followers. Instead of maxing out brand deals, he built a real business. Monish sits down with Notorious Foodie to break down how. 00:00 Intro 00:47 The anonymous food diary — 5 years, zero monetization 04:38 Steak 101: the TikTok video that hit 10M overnight 10:49 When the first brand deals came in 20:22 One-man-band era: editing, negotiating, pricing on intuition 22:11 The 6 pillars of a creator business 27:28 The delegation mistake every creator makes 32:05 Notorious Cookware: why start with a chopping board 35:42 Designing the chef's knife in Japan 37:36 The affiliate-driven content flywheel 39:07 Why creator product launches flop — and why his didn't 42:03 Zero paid ads, zero CAC 44:52 Short-term drop vs. long-term brand 52:21 The fastest way to kill your creator brand 01:02:44 The face reveal 01:06:44 How creators should actually use AI in 2026 01:18:22 The 6 pillars, recapped 🔗 ELEVATOR Website: https://links.elevatorgoods.com/ X: https://x.com/elevatorgoods Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatorgoods/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/100218103/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mXtIpIq4driEruAccEqkL 🎙️ GUEST Notorious Foodie: https://www.instagram.com/notorious_foodie/ MODERATOR Monish Sabnani is a Managing Partner at Elevator Goods.  X: https://x.com/msabnani93 LinkedIn:   / monishsabnani   #ElevatorTalks #NotoriousFoodie #CreatorEconomy #dtc

    1h 17m

  9. 28 feb ·  Video

    Danny Yeung's $0 to $120M ARR Playbook (IM8)

    Danny Yeung turned a dinner with David Beckham into the fastest-growing supplement brand on record. In 12 months. We break down exactly how - the product, the partnerships, the unit economics, and what most DTC brands get completely wrong. — 0:00 Intro 0:03 The David Beckham dinner 3:31 Building the formula 13:53 Month one: $581K 15:46 Why 98% D2C 20:38 Paid ads at scale 25:18 The unit economics 34:54 Operations at hypergrowth 42:13 Running a public company 45:36 Stock drop from $1B to $50M 53:37 Eating problems for breakfast 58:00 The moment that stands out 1:02:13 Advice for founders About Elevator Goods: Elevator Goods is the home for modern DTC. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community. Learn More: https://links.elevatorgoods.com/ About the Moderator: Monish Sabnani is a Managing Partner at Elevator Goods.  X: https://x.com/msabnani93 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monishsabnani/

    1h 10m

  10. 31 gen ·  Video

    Roman Khan's Frameworks Behind $200M/Year in E-commerce

    Roman Khan runs $200M+/year in ecommerce across multiple brands. In 2018, he nearly went bankrupt. That moment changed everything. In this conversation, he shares: → The supplier framework that protects your cash flow → Why world-class operators run single digit opex → His hiring philosophy (and why he avoids US talent) → The micromanagement system he swears by → How to budget when you can't predict supply chain → Where he's putting his time and money in 2025 No surface-level advice. We share the frameworks that scale. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:30 Q4 Learnings and What Went Wrong 6:51 Building for Exit vs Quick Cash 11:55 Planning the Next 5 Years 20:03 Origin Story 31:01 From Rocket Internet to Peak 21 38:00 Inventory Management Framework 53:29 Day in the Life at $200M/Year 1:04:17 The Micromanagement System 1:10:04 Why You Should Avoid Hiring in America 1:18:41 Company Culture and Retention 1:26:00 Investment Strategy 1:31:13 Where the Alpha is Going: SEO, Reddit, TikTok 1:35:42 Rapid Fire Questions About Elevator Goods: Elevator Goods is the home for modern DTC. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community. Learn More: https://elevatorgoods.com/ About the Moderator: Monish Sabnani is a Managing Partner at Elevator Goods.  X: https://x.com/msabnani93 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monishsabnani/

    1h 38m
  • 10 puntate

Descrizione

Elevator is the home for modern e-commerce. We build brands, back creators, and bring founders together through capital, free education, and community.

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Elevator Goods
  • Anni di attività
    2K
  • Puntate
    10
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti espliciti
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Elevator Talks
  • Sito web del podcast
    Elevator Talks

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