Beyond ROAS - Insights From the Ecommerce Trenches

Terry Whalen, Founder of Sum Digital
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The Beyond ROAS Podcast is produced to arm ecommerce brand operators with insightful and actionable information. The podcast is produced by Sum Digital, a digital ad agency focused on scaling Meta, Google and TikTok Ads for ecommerce. We've been doing this for over 10 years, and we're getting better and better each year.

Episodes

  1. 10/03/2025

    Bootstrapping to Breakthrough: The Kindred Bravely Story

    Terry sits down with Garret Akerson, co-founder and former CEO of Kindred Bravely, to unpack how a single nursing-friendly product (2015) scaled to a PE-backed brand—and the hard lessons along the way. They cover today’s “cautiously optimistic” e-comm climate, cashflow-first operating, a no-resume group interview hiring model, and proving CTV with geo holdouts.

    40 min

  2. 07/24/2025

    Get Better Performance from Google Ads with Standard Campaigns

    Google is evil to advertisers. But there's a way to gain transparency, control, and better performance from Google Ads. I'm here to lead the way.

    10 min

  3. 07/24/2025

    Managing Multiple Ecommerce Brands - And More! - with Sam Mendelsohn of Workspace6

    In this episode of the Beyond ROAS podcast, Terry Whalen and Joey Muller engage in a deep conversation with Sam Mendelson, exploring his extensive journey in e-commerce. Sam shares insights from his family's business, Sivana, and how he transitioned into launching new brands like Sozi and Tiny Rituals. The discussion covers the challenges of scaling businesses, the importance of community in e-commerce, and the role of AI in modern marketing strategies. They also delve into affiliate marketing, loyalty programs, and the innovative use of AI tools like Knobi in enhancing business operations. In this conversation, the speakers discuss the evolving landscape of advertising, particularly on platforms like Meta, where creative targeting has become essential. They emphasize the importance of crafting ad copy that resonates with specific personas and the challenges brands face in scaling due to manufacturing constraints and market fit. The discussion also highlights the role of AI in analyzing customer perceptions and optimizing product offerings to enhance conversion rates.

    1h 3m

  4. 07/24/2025

    Scaling a Vertically Integrated Brand, with Abhi Lokesh, founder and ex-CEO of Fracture

    In this episode of the Beyond ROAS podcast, Terry Whalen interviews Abhi Lokesh, founder and former CEO of Fracture, a unique photo decor brand. They discuss the journey of building Fracture from its inception, the challenges faced in funding and marketing, the importance of vertical integration, and the impact of advertising strategies. Abhi shares insights on customer acquisition versus brand building, the role of AI in business, and his aspirations for future roles in the industry.

    32 min

  5. 07/24/2025

    The Evolution of Celebrity Commerce with Jeff Eynon, Head of Growth, Nocta

    In this conversation, Jeff and Terry discuss the evolution of celebrity commerce, the challenges of measurement and attribution in direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, and the effectiveness of various advertising channels like TikTok and YouTube. They share insights on the importance of celebrity involvement in brand success, the tools they use for data analysis, and the complexities of incrementality testing. The discussion highlights the need for a strategic approach to marketing and the integration of technology in optimizing advertising efforts. Takeaways Celebrity commerce is still thriving despite market changes.The success of a DTC brand often hinges on the celebrity's involvement.Measurement and attribution in advertising are increasingly complex.Tools like Daasity help in creating comprehensive dashboards for data analysis.Incrementality testing can provide valuable insights but comes with challenges.TikTok offers a unique advertising opportunity, often at a lower cost than Meta.YouTube reaches different audiences but measurement remains a challenge.Effective communication with customers can drive revenue, even with limited product launches.Using data enrichment tools can enhance user identification and attribution accuracy.Setting benchmarks for notifications can streamline inventory management.

    27 min

  6. 06/19/2025

    Unlocking the Power of User Data with Yiqi Wu, founder of Aimerce

    In this episode of the Beyond ROAS podcast, Terry Whalen interviews Yiqi Wu, founder of Aimerce and Meta ex-engineer and product manager. Yiqi shares insights from her extensive experience building at Meta and discusses the importance of user data for (DTC) brands. She explains how Facebook's algorithms have evolved and the significance of user data in advertising. She also delves into Aimerce's new AI-based email marketing offering.

    21 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

The Beyond ROAS Podcast is produced to arm ecommerce brand operators with insightful and actionable information. The podcast is produced by Sum Digital, a digital ad agency focused on scaling Meta, Google and TikTok Ads for ecommerce. We've been doing this for over 10 years, and we're getting better and better each year.

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