The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan Foundr Media

Listener favorite Gretta van Riel returns to the podcast to share the influencer strategies that helped her scale three million-dollar ecommerce brands. Van Riel chats with Nathan Chan about her early days with SkinnyMeTea and ecommerce milestones, including being featured on Oprah’s “Favorite Things” and winning Shopify’s “Build a Business” contest. Then, she reveals the strategies behind her influencer marketing agency, Hey Influencers, and offers practical advice for early-stage founders on using influencer marketing to scale effectively on a lean budget.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What happened during the first 60 days of SkinnyMeTea

To conduct a product-for-post campaign

How to negotiate with influencers

The tiered micro influencer approach

To track conversions through personalized codes and cost-per-click

How to do a return for gifting through Instagram Stories

Van Riel’s definition of creator vs. influencer

Why working with an influencer co-founder is the fastest way to grow

The “3 Rs” of finding quality influencers

Why Twitch is an influencer gold mine

The importance of direct-to-camera selling

Why post-purchase surveys help track influencer impact

And more influencer marketing tips…



Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.

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When Kanye calls you on a Sunday night, you pick up. That was Eric Liedtke’s life for years as the head of global brands at Adidas, where he was instrumental in building the Yeezy brand and scaling the Adidas ecommerce platform to a multi-billion dollar business. After a 26-year corporate career, Liedtke gave it up and started from scratch as the CEO and co-founder of UNLESS Collective, a plant-based streetwear brand designed to leave zero plastic waste. Nathan Chan and Liedtke go deep into his war stories from Adidas, working with celebrity talent like Kanye, and why starting UNLESS was a humbling experience.
In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Liedtke climbed from a sweeper to a board member at Adidas

The origins of Yeezy, its growth, and what went wrong

That Adidas built Kanye a sample room in Calabasas

What Kanye taught him about branding

Why UNLESS partnered with skate, surf, and snow influencers

The different skills between a corporate leader and an entrepreneur

Why he thought starting a business would be easier

Why Kanye almost bought UNLESS

Why you always need to have a Plan B

Supplying t-shirts for Robert Downey Jr.

And much more product branding advice…


Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.
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Nick Shackelford wants to get soccer moms buzzed. His brand, BRĒZ, targets consumers who want to relax without a hangover in the morning. The challenge is getting BRĒZ sold online to soccer moms when selling the product isn’t fully legal. Shackelford is a managing partner at Structured Social and is Foundr’s How to Run Facebook Ads course instructor. But in this episode, Nathan Chan talks to a different Nick–a partner of the THC beverage brand BRĒZ. He started the business in 2023 to show his clients that Facebook ads work. What happened next is truly extraordinary.
In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Shackelford started over with a THC beverage product

How BRĒZ earned $2.8M in sales in the first 10 months

Why BRĒZ came at the highest price point in the market

Why did they target soccer moms trying to get a buzz

About Shackelford’s sympathy for his advertising clients

Competing against the massive alcohol market

How Shackelford structures his ad campaigns

The grey area around THC product advertising

Why they spend $25K on ad per day

And much more CBD and THC product advice…


Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.
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When Alex Elias started Qloo, “artificial intelligence” was a dirty word. A decade later, Qloo is a pioneer in AI. Qloo is an AI decision-making platform that helps corporate clients predict audience tastes and preferences. Elias says that we’re still in “the Napster era of AI” and that the hype will eventually become a subtle integration into our lives. In this episode, Elias shares about being an early adopter of AI and how he’s endured the hype to build a trusted business that Twitter once rejected.
In this interview, you’ll learn:

Why AI brings more problems for entrepreneurs to solve

The advantages and disadvantages of being an early adopter

When Qloo landed and lost Twitter as a client

How not to lose your identity in your business

How to develop long-term stamina as a founder

Why Elias biked commuted in NYC for years

How to use AI for your business beyond generative tools

Why AI will become more subtle in the future

And much more AI and founder mindset advice…


Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.
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Shay Mitchell loves it when people approach her in public and ask about her luggage instead of a selfie. The multi-hyphenate founder never wanted her brand to be BÉIS by Shay Mitchell; she wanted her business to stand alone as a solution for customers. Mitchell is an actress, producer, entrepreneur, activist, mother, and author. She’s best known for her work on the hit show "Pretty Little Liars,” but has transitioned the Hollywood glitz for the boardroom blitz. Since 2017, she’s founded three companies: Amore & Vita Productions, BÉIS travel wear, and Onda canned sparkling tequila.
In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why the name play a huge part in BÉIS development

Mitchell’s philosophy of learning

Why she’s still a consumer first

About the lengthy sampling and design process for BÉIS

How BÉIS turned negative publicity into a viral pop-up event

Four ways to partner with talent for your business.

How Drake became Onda’s first and best customer

About Mitchell’s new upcoming travel show Thirst


If she’s ever returning to YouTube

And much more brand, business, and founder advice…


Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.
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Ezra Firestone’s businesses generated $70M in revenue last year, but he says he’s just “some guy.” He started his first ecommerce store in 2006, selling Marge Simpson wigs. Despite being a high school dropout with no experience or education, he was determined to make his business work. Two decades later, he’s invested and co-founded five successful businesses, including Smart Marketer, an ecom education platform that helps entrepreneurs run stores that generate over $20 million in yearly revenue. In this episode, Firestone leans on his decades of experience to outline the fundamentals of a revenue-generating ecom business.
In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why you don’t have to be “book smart” to be successful

Firestone’s step-by-step sales funnel

Why you need a basket-building product at the beginning

The benefit of a merchandising strategy

The three core aspects of business

What conversion-based commerce means

A TikTok Shop secret

How he almost went broke selling 8,000 Marge Simpson wigs

Why having fun helps you win in business

And much more ecom strategies and advice…


Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.
If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode.
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