E131: Two $100M+ Operators Get Honest About Launching a New Brand

“There’s so much that I took for granted. It’s such a different playbook.”

What happens when two operators who’ve helped build nine-figure brands start again at zero? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road) compare notes on two new launches: Ridge’s Gut Culture and Cody’s Winks.

They get into six hard lessons from the early days.

(1) Building with a lean team. (2) Earning credibility when nobody knows the brand. (3) Finding a message that gets clicks. (4) Testing offers before the data is conclusive. (5) Making subscription economics work. (6) Dealing with high ad costs. Cody shares what’s happening at Winks just weeks after launch; Connor explains what Ridge learned from six months of building Gut Culture.

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Chapters

00:00:00 Nine Figures To Zero

00:01:04 Why Ridge Shelved It

00:03:58 All AI, No Photography

00:06:34 Two Person Team

00:14:58 Sixteen Reviews Only

00:20:43 Marques & Best Buy

00:26:39 The Pixel Skews Male

00:30:50 No Traffic & No Tests

00:40:09 Chase the Clicks

00:47:03 Live Cohort Math

00:56:47 First Repeat Buyer

00:58:45 New-Account “Tax”