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DTC POD
#338 - Growth Strategies from Co-founder of Unicorn Ro
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Blaine Bolus
Speaker
Rob Schutz
Speaker
Ramon Berrios
00:00 Rob Schutz, experienced in DTC, joins discussion. 06:17 Passionate about domain names, working with big names.
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“This is a space exclusively for D two C founders and operators to connect, share ideas, ask questions and support each other. You'll be able to engage with the best minds and operators and consumer.”
“I've always loved domain names, social handles, they feel like the original nfts, and have had the great opportunity to work with smaller companies that are being incubated, coming out of Y combinator, all the way up to public companies, and really experienced founders who just have only had a couple reps on, trying to figure out, how do I get this domain name?”
“I've gotten to work with really cool people I work with. Just finished deals with Ben Silverman, one of the co founders of Pinterest. Parag, the ex CEO of Twitter, John Zimmer, he's one of the co founders at Lyft.”
“I see this as, like, digital assets. You're. You're. You're a negotiator. You're the doing research.”
“We can't be solely dependent on two channels or three channels... try to balance that pressure with taking advantage of a channel that's actually working because it could be so rare to get a channel that works that you can scale." "Startup Insights: I think especially for earlier stage companies, you kind of earn the right to go diversify into other stuff, but when dinner served, you eat." "Knowing When to Adapt: Everyone goes through that process, but I should have just put pedal to metal on paid social and spent as much time and money as I could there, versus trying to figure out Pinterest ads, right?" "Importance of Diversification Strategies: We really spread across a bunch of different channels as we got up and running. Email was a big channel for us, as well as social.”
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Visit HubSpot.com sales to start selling with sales hub what is going on? DTC pod today we are joined by Rob Schutz. Today's conversation is going to be really epic because Rob has served across D two C in a variety of growth and co founder related roles. He was the vp of growth at Barkbox before joining as co founder and chief growth, the officer at Roe, and now he is the founder of Snag. So, Rob, you've kind of had a lot of experience and success over some of the most popular brands in the d to C space. So why don't maybe we start with your personal background and kind of how you got involved with Barkbox, which is known as bark these days. But yeah, why don't you just kick us off there?
Awesome. Yeah, thanks for having me, Blaine, everyone, it's awesome to awesome to be on the pod. Yeah. Excited to chat. DTC. I mean, when I kind of got my feet wet in this space, there wasn't really like a DTC mafia, if you will. I got my start, actually started in healthcare consulting out of college. I did that for about five years and we'd work with like, big hospitals and I would help sell them systems and it was a very long sales cycle and became very boring.
And I think that's actually what pushed me more into like d two C is like it takes a year to sell a deal versus as you learn more about the Internet and you get into this world, it's like, I could spin something up today and see someone buy it later today. Like, that's pretty addicting when you come from a world of long sale cycles. So I wound up starting a daily deal company that was my first foray into the marketing world. When daily deals were hot, Groupon was like riding high. Living social launched. Groupon like turned down a $5 billion acquisition offer from Google. And I started like a little tiny deal site. It was called what's the deal? We get funding from my parents who I begged for twenty k.
And it was really just figuring out the Internet. It was like Newsfeed ads weren't live yet. We had to put a lot of sweat in to figure out how to grow. And so we did a lot of non traditional growth on the deal side to build up our list. And then the deal space got super hot. Groupon said, hey, we're going to go public. And I really didn't know what I was doing. Like, I had been in healthcare and I was like, okay, I'm kind of doing this deals thing.
But then things got really like hot to a point. I was like, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Like am I supposed to hire more people? Am I supposed to like meet investors? That's when I got some good advice and I wound up selling the company kind of at the peak, which was really, really fortunate. I sold to a competitor in New York and kind of worked there for a year and then did a bunch of different projects, kind of thinking I was the smart entrepreneur that could like build all sorts of cool stuff that people had won that they did not, and then got married. I was like, I need to get a job. And so I wound up, you know, re, I would say, reformatting my experience and resume to be more marketing centric. I was a general asset at the deal website. You know, it was like four of us, you have to do whatever.
But I kind of went down the marketing path and I had the good fortune of meeting up with the founders of the bark box team at a career fair, actually. And my wife and I, big dog fans and really enjoyed getting to know that team. It was so early, they didn't really know what is user acquisition marketing? What are channels? What is your growth plan? I put something that was good enough together and tricked them into hiring me. I got to be the first marketing hire at bark. I was employee seven and got the good fortune of timing where Newsfeed ads actually launched soon after I got going. And so that was a big boon for the company and also for me, because it looked like I knew what I was doing. I was like, oh, let's put a $1,000 on this. I'm like, hey, it's converting really well.
And that was pretty amazing. So many lessons learned there, but got the opportunity to build out that team, got more specialists on board who could really run Google, who could run email, who could run influencer, who's going to herd all the dogs on Instagram together and get them to post about barkbox. And so that was amazing. And then I was there for about five years and wound up teaming up with who became my co founders, Zia and Simon, who I'd met through kind of the bark universe, and decided to make the leap into the co founder role. And we launched a row. It was Halloween of 2017, actually, October 31, 2017, and a wild ride. Incredible growth and learnings there. And fast forward six years, and now I've stepped back from day to day.
I'm still on the board, still talk to the team, and very bullish on the company long term. But I've been taking a bit of a breath trying to see if I can become a real person again, which has had, I would say, mixed results. But the one thing I've really let myself kind of go deep in is I've always loved domain names, social handles, they feel like the original nfts, and have had the great opportunity to work with smaller companies that are being incubated, coming out of Y combinator, all the way up to public companies, and really experienced founders who just have only had a couple reps on, trying to figure out, how do I get this domain name? And I know, Ramon, you were even saying before, like, hey, let's talk about a specific domain name afterwards. It's complicated and it's opaque. And I now have the benefit of having hundreds of reps of like, how do you actually do this? So it's been awesome. And I've gotten to work with really cool people I work with. Just finished deals with Ben Silverman, one of the co founders of Pinterest. Parag, the ex CEO of Twitter, John Zimmer, he's one of the co founders at Lyft.
So wide range of people just starting out, very experienced entrepreneurs have found this little nerdy niche that I really enjoy, people who need help getting access in these assets.
Well, I think that's actually a great place to start domains because it just so happens that two of the companies that we just talked about, bark box or bark and row, those are like pretty solid domain names as they would have it. So why don't you just maybe walk us a little bit through the landscape? What does the domain name landscape look like? What does it look like acquiring some of these domain names, especially that are bigger? Right? At what stage are companies, like coming to you and what does that whole process look like?
Yeah, it's a really wide range of people. You kind of get known as someone who understands how to navigate this space and that anyone who has any sort of question about domain names, they wind up coming to me, which is fun. A lot of it's not even paid work. I'm just like, I like talking to people about this stuff, but yeah, it can be a wide range. So part of the benefit of, again, getting so many reps in space is really knowing how the system works. There are some domain names that are for sale you can just go and buy. There are very few good domain names that are available to be registered. And even the ones that are owned, there's a very small subset of those that are active labor sale.
So sometimes people say like, hey, this is for sale for 100k. Like, help me negotiate it and get a really good price. And so I've gotten really good at negotiation and the strategies there. And I will give away like my, my secret sauce. But I just closed one last week where this guy was set on it. Like, how do we 65k for this AI domain name? And we close at $3,500. So I was like, pretty proud, pretty proud of that one. And other times, just understanding, like how to do the research, how to follow the breadcrumbs across the Internet to understand who owned this at what time, how do I follow up with them, how do I get in contact with them? And so a fair bit of it is research kind of going down the rabbit hole, which is just something I naturally enjoy.
It's like a little puzzle. And so then eventually, God forbid, you get a hold of the owner, you open the dialogue, start negotiation. There's all sorts of creative ways you can structure deals. A lot of times it's just about how much money. But other times, like, you know, I've had deals where the owner was post economic. They didn't really care about money, and I had to figure out like, what is a motivator for this person. So I remember one deal. I actually found out this.
The owner was the board chair for nonprofit that built water wells in Senegal and Brazil. And so I told him, like, we'll build a water well for your organization. Like, we'll raise the funds, we'll help logistics, et cetera. And so he's like, all right, as long as you do that, I'll gift you the asset. And so we did it. He sends me updates. It's, like, pretty hilarious and also amazing. Then it can, like, be making an impact while doing these deals, too.
So it's pretty cool. And all sorts of different techniques result in different outcomes. Like, I had one deal where it was with a hospital system, and I was just. I'm always very polite and kind to my outreach, and they just gave it to me. They just, like, gave me that. They're like, oh, we're not using it. You can have it. I was like, that's great news.
So the client was very happy and bonus me pretty well for that. But it's like every flavor of company, whether it's. They have a name in mind, whether it's. They want to go down the rabbit hole with list building, and let's come up with a brand based on what domains, social assets are available. It's kind of the whole gamut.
Yeah, because sometimes that's a good point. The brand isn't even created until you find out what domains are available. So, Rob, I'm curious why domains, like, is this. Is this the beginning of a bigger vision? I see this as, like, digital assets. You're. You're. You're a negotiator. You're the doing research.
And so there's, like, this bigger underlying theme of these sort of, like, services powered by AI that could really scale. And so I'm just wondering if there's something bigger at play here and why domains?
Yeah, it's really. It's a good question and one that I don't, like, have a great answer to. I think the way that I rationalize it with myself is I don't know if this is, like, a big thing that I'm building. I've actually. I've actively not hired anyone. Like, I wanted to just be me right now. I've built companies and managed people and love that. But this is kind of just like a, hey, can I create a cool lifestyle business on the side? I also do consulting and advising.
I'm also the board chair for homeless shelter in New Jersey. So, like, it's flexible enough when it's just me where I've been, like, trying to make sure it doesn't become too big. But to your question, Ron, like, I think there's a lot of opportunity in the space. As I learn more about how a lot of this has worked, a lot of it is still based on, like, how things worked in 1995 when a bunch of people bought really great domain names and they, you know, you have domain name investors, and you have people that want access to them. There's a lot of unused inventory, like, great names where people are waiting to get an amazing offer, and companies that are building incredible products that want to get access to these. So there's definitely opportunities there. I'm still kind of figuring out how deep I want to go. I already feel like I'm in one rabbit hole.
I'm just questioning how many want to go down. But I love learning about the space. I've met a ton of really cool, interesting people. I went to a domain name conference a couple months ago. Name's Khan in Austin, which was awesome. Just meeting so many people who are, like, so passionate about this space and kind of just feeling comfortable that this is something I enjoy and I'm adding value and want to learn more about. But I don't have, like, IPo plans for snack right now, unless you want to take it. If you guys want to take us public, we'd have to.
It's funny because I used to buy, like, names of Instagram accounts, popular names, and I used to buy them and hold them and sell them. Not sure if that's very friendly with Instagram's terms, but, I mean, you know.
Oh, you were buying that? You were buying the domain names, or.
You, like, the actual username, the actual account?
Yeah, yeah. There's. There's. There's some trip wires there. But everyone, like, in tech, I feel, like, has a interesting domain name story, too, where they're like, oh, I used to buy domain names. I had this one that I, like let go or whatever. It's really fun. It's really interesting.
Not to pitch my own media, but I'm starting a new kind of, like, video interview series called Master your domain, which is just like, founders tell, like, stories about how they got their domain names because I've just found there's so many cool, interesting, weird, quirky stories. I just want to, like, capture some of this.
I want to dive into. When you started out with Bart box as, like, your first role of vp of growth, did you know what you were getting into? Did you have a playbook for implementing into Bart box. And was it like a straight run up from the very beginning? Can you walk us through what that experience was like?
Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, I joined as, like, a user acquisition manager, so I was first marketing hire, but I was kind of a hands on keyboard kind of, let's figure out how this works. And, yeah, I mean, I put together. I remember I put together a plan back in 2011, 2012, like how I was going to grow the company. You know, a lot of the standard channels that you try, but you really like any business, you don't really know what works and what doesn't until you do it. And then you see what doesn't work and cut that. You spend more time on the stuff that is working and optimize that. But with the benefit of hindsight, like, it was so early. It was like, so early in this world.
We had such amazing opportunities that you certainly don't have now and you didn't even have, like, when we launched Rogue 2017, but you don't even realize that at the time. It's like, hey, CPM's on Facebook. It was called Facebook back then, or like, so cheap. And we should scale that. And we're going to try this bark pack affiliate program on Instagram with all these famous dogs. It was a lot of seed planning and then seeing what worked, we had the real benefit of using creative. That was dogs, videos and pictures of dogs, which is cheating in a lot of cases. That's what people are looking at anyway.
But, yeah, had some initial ideas going in, but then, just like any good growth marketer knows, you owe in. You test, you optimize, you cut the fat, and you spend the time and energy and resources against what's kind of working and see if you can get that really to work. No different with bark in the early days, it was just, I say different orders of magnitude on, on the cost side.
And what did you see, like, as you guys scale? Why don't you just take us through that journey? Because, like, where, where the company, you said you were 7th employee, kind of the first person, you know, having full responsibility for growth, and then why don't you just walk us through what the growth journey of the company looked like and what it looked like towards the end before you started row.
Yeah, well, you know, we started out. We started out on Facebook and daily deals. I think one of the first big things we did that brought people in was actually a big groupon. And then as we got cooking on Facebook, that was big initial channel. And I'm still continue to be big channel. But I think one of the things I learned through that process was I started with really running, like learning and running Facebook campaigns and then moved on to try to find the next big channel and pass that off to someone else. I think what I really learned in retrospect is, like, should have spent all time and money on that channel that was working. I think it's something a lot of, like, growth marketers and performance oriented folks understand, but there's a lot of pressure, right? Like, we got to diversify.
We can't be solely dependent on two channels or three channels. And it's an advice I give to earlier stage companies, too, which is like, try to balance that pressure with taking advantage of a channel that's actually working because it could be so rare to get a channel that works that you can scale. So, like, in my case, I should have just put pedal to metal on paid social and spent as much time and money as I could there, versus trying to figure out Pinterest ads, right? Everyone goes through that process, but I think especially for earlier stage companies, you kind of earn the right to go diversify into other stuff, but when dinner served, you eat. Don't assume that just because something is working right now, it's going to work forever. Take advantage. It might not be there in three months, but load up while you can. And so, again, some hindsight there, but we really spread across a bunch of different channels as we got up and running. Email was a big channel for us, as well as social.
As I alluded to before, we had this really cool kind of hybrid affiliate program called Barkpack, which was like literally 500 really popular dogs on Instagram. And I initially reached out to them. They had no real way to monetize. They have like 200,000 followers, but no real way to monetize. It is like, hey, we'll send you free bark boxes every month. Just use hash barkboxbae and post about it. If they use your code, you'll get whatever, $10. And so we had a ton of dogs on Instagram just kind of hitting people up with that hashtag.
That was definitely very powerful from a brand perspective and a growth perspective, too. Then as we grew and we got mature, got into tv, we did our first tv spot, which was not very good. It was our co, one of the co founders, Henrik, who I love, dear Layton as a dear friend, but he wanted to do like a let's get people talking tv spot. And I was like, let's get people to buy things tv spot. He's like, we're going to start with mine and then we'll do yours. So the first spot we did was just 30 seconds of a dog's butt. And it was like voiceover. It was like, hey, because we can't teleport a box of treats and toys through the tv, we're gonna give all the dogs in the room the next best thing, you know, another dog's butt.
And then it was just like, bark box, and it was hilarious. Old people did not like that commercial. We got a lot of calls about that, but it wasn't great for conversion. So then we did, like, the next one was we ran a contest, like an unboxing contest, and we had, like, thousands of people submitting excited dogs. We just kind of mashed that together and put like a CTA, you know, an incentive, which did a bit better. But, yeah, really explored into a bunch of the higher funnel channels to understand what could help continue to pace growth. And that was about the time where, when I hit five years, that I transitioned over to ro.
Yeah, I mean, clearly there was, like, a creative component to it besides just performance. And so sometimes you will notice that a company is very performance driven, but is missing the creative. Or you have the other end where, like, they're super creative, but they don't like performance. And so I have a question in the scenario for you, because it's always, you know, the internal battle is like, should we just quadruple down on this channel or, like, be diversified? And so, as you mentioned, in hindsight, when you focus on one channel, what will often happen is, okay, you maximize that channel, you run it as fast as possible, but then by the time that channel starts stalling out, well, now you, like, missed the clutch to shift gears, and now you need to, like, sprint as fast as possible to find the next channel, or you're going to spend two, three months completely flattened out because the next channel might have operational hurdles. You might be testing a bunch of different stuff. So how do you suggest marketing teams or orgs to find their next channel? Do you have an approach of trying to find the next channel as fast as possible?
Yeah. Yeah. That was a great question. I think experienced marketers know that, you know, even if your month over month numbers are, like, going up, the reality is there's, like, so much that has gone into that, like, one channel popping one month, another the other month, you're just like, frantically, you know, trying to put it together so that the overall numbers look good. But the way I always thought about it is kind of splitting those into two, right. Where you have like your core channels that are kind of your more consistent. These are things that month over month we can improve on. Right.
It's likely your paid search, your paid social, could be email, could be affiliate, depending on what space you're in. But those are like the core channels or the engine's already moving on those. And of course you can optimize them. We could do landing page tests, new creative tests. We can test with syntax, etcetera. And you're hoping that that continues to go up over time, right? Maybe it's, I don't know, 5%, 20%, whatever it is that'll go up over time. And then you've got kind of your test slash moonshots bucket that ideally you are thinking about that a little bit differently from a budget perspective, you should combine that all into one. What is my customer acquisition cost at the end of the month but having more leniency to try things and test out, does it work or not? I think that is a challenge that a lot of folks run into, which is, hey, we want to test some stuff, but also we've got these really tough targets to hit.
If we test too much or put too much budget, it's going to blow out our CAC tolerance for the month. And so I think that was also the benefit, especially as I got to Ro, is truly understanding how we'd approach these things and making sure that we've set the expectation of, like, we're going to take some swings. Most of them probably won't work. It will make CAC look big. But the caveat is we're actually learning a lot and we're learning that we're not going to do those things anymore, which is valuable. Like learning what not to spend time and money on is incredibly valuable. And there's sometimes this perception of like, that was a waste. Like, that was wasted time and money, like, we should be spending more on the things that are working versus viewing that as you paid for education.
You know, that maybe that's something, maybe, or revisit tv in a year or two, but right now that's not it. And so we're going to move on to other things. And so I'm dancing around your question a little bit, but like, I do think there needs to be enough budget put against some of these test channels to feel confident that you've got a clean read on it. Because the worst, the worst actual scenario is you kind of dip your toe in. I like, I did this with tv at bark, actually, you dip your toe in. We're going to spend 25 grand a month, right? And then you run it for three months or six months and then you're kind of like, and like, I don't know, maybe it's working, maybe it's not. And then you're chasing that. You chase that for another six months.
You don't have a real read versus spend 200 grand in three months. Get a read. If it doesn't work, you're not going to waste your time on that channel again. And you're not kind of chasing these questions where every quarter you're like, oh, what about tv? Should we try? You know, that's a big one where it's just like, no, we did it. Put a full effort into it and then we're crossing it off our list. And that can be the challenge when you're getting into channel exploration is too many, right? Just like we're doing Pinterest, we're doing Reddit, we're doing affiliate, we're doing tv, we're doing radio, we're doing Anaphone. It's like you can't do all those things really, really well, especially with a small team and limited resources, which everyone has. So picking and choosing, what are our bets for the quarter? We're going to really lean into those and give them a solid try.
Maybe none of them work. Hopefully one of them shows some signs of life, but maybe none of them work. But then feel confident you can move on to the next set of channels. You have conviction around and you're having that separated into your like test slash moonshot bucket. At the same time you have the team cranking on core and making sure those are continued to improve over time as well.
Makes sense. So moving on to Roe. So Barkbox was kind of like a blue ocean where you were really early in DTC, there weren't many dominant brands selling to dogs. But in terms of Roe, what was that transition into Roe and what was the thesis behind why go after the supplement space specifically?
Yeah, well, it was interesting because when I started talking with Z and Saman about starting something, I think I was much less convinced that it had to be in any specific area. Wasn't like it has to be healthcare. It was. It was actually that they had really complementary skills and I felt like the three of us could do anything. Like we could run the whole company to start. And that was honestly the most important thing to me. We then started talking about healthcare and we wound up settling on erectile dysfunction. And I'll talk about why that was a strategic move in a second.
But for me, the big and most important piece was getting to work with the two of that. Like, Z had started company and Y combinator. He had investor relationships. He had a health story he was willing to talk about on tv. His dad is a well known sexual health doctor that was going to work with us. Saman is like a design and product and tech guy. He'd started a company out of New York called managed by Q, which is a smart office cleaning company. It was acquired by WeWork, and they had all these amazing skills.
They didn't know a lot about marketing or how, like, performance worked. And I felt like, I can cover off on that. If you guys can actually, like, build the product and help us raise money, that sounds. That sounds like a good combo. So once we feel like we had all three legs of the stool, started talking about different opportunities Z had is a very personal story about his challenges with erectile dysfunction growing up due to medication that he was taking. And the more we talked about, the more we loved the idea of, like, leaning into taboo. Like, this is a behind the counter at a 711 type of product that just felt, like, snake oily. And we're like, we could make this legit.
Let's bring in the best doctors in the world who help patients with this. And I love that. It was already one of the most profitable popular drugs of all time. Vagrant and cialis at one point were spending half a billion dollars on just NFL ads every year. Just NFL ads. And it's like, I could see a path to victory, being able to connect with a doctor online versus having to go talk to one person. So, like, the marketing side of my brain is like, this feels like it will probably work, but we have to be comfortable talking about something a lot of people aren't comfortable with. And so that's kind of how we settled there.
But then getting up and running had the playbook from bark. I kind of knew the different channels, and we were able to execute on that really quickly. We were up on tv, I think, at month three, and we were just running. But the challenge actually wound up being more of the digital performance platforms, like Facebook and Google. They had no idea what to do with us. They were like, you don't seem. You don't look like a pharmacy. You don't smell like a doctor's office.
You know, you don't. You know, you don't look like a health system. So we just kept getting suspended all the time on these platforms, so. And we couldn't get reps. We weren't quite spending enough yet. So I was, like, going over the Facebook office and meeting with people, waiting for the BarC days. I was like, could you just, like, help us out? And they're like, yeah, we're trying to get you a rep. But I remember, like, having to hop off the train, randomly taking the train back to New Jersey.
And I got a notification that her Facebook account was suspended and shut down. So I, like, hopped off the train in some random stop and tethered to my phone, set up a brand new account, copied everything over back up and running. We had to do that with Google multiple times or actually registered new domain names because it was tied to the actual URL and mirrored site and got back up and running. So it was a constant game of cat mouse until finally got in. Like, we got to sit down with those teams. We got to explain what we were building. We brought the doctors with us, and, like, it helped that we were also starting to spend a lot of money to bring them on board with, like, okay, this is like a legit operation because, like, all of our keywords were spam keywords. You know, it's like we're bidding on Viagra and, like, penis.
And that is generally not something that most legitimate brands are bidding on. So it was a lot of work to bring them along and, like, podcast. Like, no one wanted to touch this early on. They're like, I'm not going to read. I'm not going to do a read about erectile dysfunction. Like, what are you talking about? But eventually, we got people to, we got people on board. Like, Bill Simmons was one of our first ones that picked up on the podcast side. Conan did some amazing, hilarious reads back in 2018, and it was just like building on top of each other to kind of open up these doors until we got well known enough and bigger.
Big enough that we were able to, you know, expanded some of these different channels.
And then, Rob, from a business perspective, what did it look like? I know you guys got set up. You had, like, three co founders that all complemented each other, but from a capital raising perspective. And then also, like, when you guys rolled out the product, was it just rolling out the erectile dysfunction product to begin with before you stacked on other ones? Or what did it look like in the early days?
Yeah. So one of the early things I learned moving from, like, selling treats and toys to dogs to now moving into healthcare is just how much more complex it is, right? There's the FDA, there's 50 state medical boards. There's the need for licensed doctors in all states and licensed firms in all states. So we actually had to roll out state by state. I think we launched three states, and then as we got licenses in each of those, we could open those up. But yeah, it was a challenge to get up and running and took a lot of bringing the team along, bringing doctors on board, meeting with the meeting with different platforms, et cetera, to get up and running on some of that.
We are really excited to announce that DTC pod is officially part of the HubSpot podcast network. The HubSpot podcast network is the audio destination for business professionals. And we're really excited about being part of the network because we're going to be able to keep growing the show, bringing you guys amazing guests, and obviously helping you guys learn from the best founders, marketers, and builders of the most successful consumer brands. So anyway, keep listening to DTC pod and more shows like us on the HubSpot podcast network@HubSpot.com. podcastnetwork. And then, so my other question was going to be when you guys, like, actually started to grow. Talk to me a little bit about like, once you got approval to sell in other states, like, what did product rollout look like in terms of. Because like, when you're marketing, right, you have you, you can start with one product and you can market that to an audience, and then you can roll out more skus and then, you know, kind of go niche on different things.
So what did that look like as the company started to scale?
Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, to your question, the question before, I think, like part of what we had to do early on was just set up all that infrastructure, right? And we built the product so that it could be, we built a technical product so that it could expand into different areas. We did, right? We started with erectile dysfunction. The second product we actually launched about a year later was called Zero, and it's for smoking cessation. And we did that for a couple of reasons. One was because 18% of MEC were signing for Ed medication smoked. And that was a big influence of why they're big challenges, intimacy. And the second was just kind of from a brand perspective, we liked moving into something that was like universally acknowledged, just helpful, that did not do well, that did very poorly, actually, to our surprise.
And I think what we learned in retrospect is just how hard it is to get someone to stop doing something, even if they know it is bad for them. If they enjoy it, like taking away somebody's smoke break, they know it's bad, but they look forward to it every day, and so they're not, like, proactively looking side up. Next product we launched was Rory, which was a menopause brand, which was we loved, and we brought really good, smart team members in, and they had a good product suite there. The challenge was the efficacy of a lot of those products for hot flashes and night sweats and different things, like the efficacy of taking those supplements or medications was just low. And so it's hard to scale when your product is not terribly effective. I think there's been some really good advancements in that more recently, but in 2018, that wasn't as available. So, yeah, I think we took an approach of trying to see what was connected to the existing members. Like, the thought with Rory was like, this is the partners of men who are coming in with erectile dysfunction, somebody who's getting ed medication for rumen.
Maybe they tell their partner about it and they'll sign up. So we tried to keep that close, and I think what we learned over time was just leaning into areas that had really good efficacy can sometimes outweigh whitespace.
So, Rob, I want to set the stage for the audience as well. You guys grew row to eight figures, made nine figures in revenue. You raised nine figures in venture capital. This must have been like, breakneck speed growth. What happens? What breaks? Like, what breaks at what stages? When you're moving this fast in a place where, like, not only are you growing that fast, but you're also innovating and having to find these loopholes and launching a bunch of different products, what typically tends to break when you are growing not only a team, but also a company and even deploying that much capital at that pace.
Yeah, no, it's a great point. I think something we are very mindful of early on and we over invested in was planning for scale around quality of care and knowing that, like, our differentiator and something we wanted to be known for was high quality of care and conservative both in the way that we speak about our products and making sure delivering what we say. And I think there's a lot of folks that popped up in the space that wound up on the other end of that spectrum. And we just wanted to make sure we always very clear that, like, we were a good actor and we were taking things very seriously. And so I think that has the potential as you scale to fall apart. Like, even just thinking about d to c or e commerce. Right? Like, what does customer service look like? You know, what's response time? Like, what's your unsub rate look like on email. Just it can be hard to keep track of that because there are so many things going on and growth a lot of times smooths everything over.
Like everything is great but focusing on some of those fundamental things that ideally result in good NP's and people talking positively about you as well. And so yeah, I think there's that piece and then I think even from a team perspective, a lot of lessons learned. But I think we went through a bunch of different iterations around how to structure the team. As we launched weed management and dermatology and mental health and we had a women's line of fertility and men's health, we thought about do we put a GM structure in place where there's a GM and a full team under each one of those? Or should we go more like functional areas that each dotted line is that back and forth a couple times on that? I think it's every company that grows and scales and has more than one product line struggles with that. I think it's very, there's no silver bullet. It's very much dependent on who you got on the team and like what the internal culture is and where you have some of those strengths built in. But yeah, I think plenty of opportunities for, for cracks to start showing as you grow. But I think the, the big thing for us that we tried to really spend time on Washington building out a strategy and clarity around goals as well and having that come from the top and then spending time with our direct reports who are senior folks at the company, having them buy in and understand and then presenting it more broadly to the company, that can get lost sometimes when you're moving so fast, which is like the senior execs, the founders know what's going on.
But then like your junior designer is like, what the heck? Like I'm reorged for the 10th time this month, or like my boss is now working on this other thing or I got pulled into that. Giving as much context as you can around the decision making buys you a lot more credibility, even if it's still chaotic. You know, it's like, here's the reason we're making these decisions. And I'm happy to talk to anybody who disagrees with them or has other thoughts or feedback, but like there's going to be some changes. And this is why I think that bought us a fair amount of credibility with the team.
Yeah, I 100% agree too that like it depends. There's so silver bullet. It's a depending on like what is culturally your DNA. It's whatever will be right for your company. And you need, that comes from the top. You need to really understand your DNA to know what your gut like. That's just not going to work for us. And things are going to break if we go in that direction, because that's just not how we've operated from day one.
I wanted to ask on the specific products that you guys have that are named Ro, like your own products. Did you guys launch as a marketplace initially, or did you always have the raw products from the beginning, or was that layered on later in the journey of the business?
So, no, it was never a marketplace. And it's a mix, right? Like, any prescription medication that a doctor might recommend is not ro branded. It's not ro making medication. It's the same medication that you would get if you sent it to Walgreens or a local pharmacy. But other things are more formulations, like the dermatology line, I believe is still essentially 100% ro, you know, incubated and customized. So, yeah, it's a progression. We went through the same thing actually on the bark side, which was initially was all just buying from other people, just buying, you know, a thousand treats here, a thousand toys there, and then over time, built up a lot of internal, like, product development chops and started creating own toys, own treats, et cetera, which is great from like, you know, now they do all sorts of crazy fun themes, like the 420 box, or like, they'll do like a licensed deal and do like a Harry Potter box or something. It can all be toys that they create, and it's like curated experience that all fits together really nicely.
But it's also great from a margin perspective and just being vertically integrated and be able to kind of control your own destiny.
Rob, one question that I had for you is, like you were saying earlier in the conversation you work with, you advise some other companies, like, having worked through BarC and Ro, like, what are some of the main lessons that you see other founders maybe either messing up on Orlando when you kind of chat with them, you're like, this is kind of what you call out and what you see and advise on.
I'll cheat a little bit. Cause I had one today, so I'm just gonna regurgitate some of what I told him after we spoke. But I think it's a pretty common theme that, like, especially when you're a bit earlier and you're trying to do so many different things, like prioritization is so important, and prioritization and then the communication of that prioritization wherever you know you're going to kind of get what you pay for. If you're trying to do ten different things at once with a small team, you're going to do a bunch of things, okay? Versus being very clear, debate it, argue it, write a doc, whatever, but then come out of it and say, here are the things for this quarter that are our top priorities. Here are things that we would love to do but we're not going to do because we are prioritizing these other things and really calling out the, the nose there, I think is incredibly important because inevitably somebody is going to slack, somebody else. Could you help put together this thing for this new launch or whatever? Everyone needs to know, like, hey, that's on ice until next quarter because we've got to nail this stuff. And you only really get that visibility at the executive level. When you're looking at the p and l, you're looking at growth.
You're trying to understand what sectors or areas the business need to show growth from a narrative and fundraising perspective, from a prep for IPO perspective, et cetera. So prioritization is, I think, one of the big ones. And just being really clear about that to the team and to the company. Another one is, I think, depending on founder and their experience and their background. I always advocate for building as tight of a relationship as you can with the growth and performance and marketing leader and being on the same page, because that's, it's a really tough job. I'm sure you and all your audience understand. Like you're being asked to land the plane on a, you know, one by one pixel in the middle of the ocean. It's like this number of users at this cat, right? That's really friggin hard.
And so being open and having a good relationship and talking through very frequently how things are going could help mitigate bigger misses. Right? Where it's like, hey, I know we have this goal right now for end of the quarter. This thing has happened. All of a sudden somebody's conquesting us on search. Our conversion metrics are holding, but the CAC has gone up three x. If we stay where we are right now, here's where we're going to end. We might need to pull an emergency lever and say we're going to stop that spend or we're going to protect our brand terms, but it's going to be more costly and we're making a strategic decision, et cetera. If it's like we're having a weekly or a bi weekly and you're only getting an opportunity to update or speak like with that level of frequency there's a lot of opportunity for both miscommunication and misalignment.
So however that's structured, more frequent check ins on just how things are going and why is really, really valuable.
Yeah, I think the prioritization stuff like really jumps out at us. I know this is something Ramona and I have been talking about a lot because like scope creep is real. You want to build everything, you want to do everything all at once and like channels can suffer for it. So I think just finding out the focus and aligning with your team on like the most important initiatives to go after like that. That is so, so massive. As we kind of wrap up here.
Rob, it feels like we're just getting started.
It does, it does. But as we're kind of wrapping up here, you know, I know you're working through snag, but what, what is the rest of the year look like for you? Like what are, what are you really focused on? What, what learnings from, you know, Bart box ro even the stuff that you're doing snagged you like really want to carry forward for the next year and your. Whether it's personal stuff or business.
Yeah. You know, mentioned you guys before but I'm kind of split across three different areas right now. Somebody advising, consulting some board chair for homeless shelter, I say house here, Easter Orange, New Jersey and then snagged. The combination of that is really positive I think has given me more flexibility and I've even seen my children a little bit more, which has its positives. But yeah, I think I'm continuing to go deeper on the domain side. In addition to some interesting consulting projects, I think one that I'll just talk about because I think it's interesting is one of the takeaways I took from I had from Roe, especially when we were spending time on men's health and erectile functions. We did a lot in the sports sponsorship area. So we were the official partners in Major League Baseball for many years.
We sponsored the NHL playoffs, sponsored many basketball leagues or sorry, basketball tournaments. We're the official partner of the third tier NCAA tournament, the CBI, the Roman Invitational for many years. But what I found talking to people, especially folks in DC, the performance space is like that's very much a foreign world where it's like how does sports work? What is that? That's like a brand thing. And the way that we approach it was much more around performance. It was much more of a media buy bundled in as part of a sponsorship. So there's really interesting creative ways you can think about works. And sports sponsorship is a performance channel. So I have a couple of clients I'm working with add on right now.
We're doing cool, actually working with Bark. We're doing a cool integration with Pete Alonso from the Mets, where every time it's a home run or a double, we're making a donation that he hits for the cycle and a game. Barca's donating million dollars, so we're doing that with some integrations around that, but the sports stuff is really cool. And then, yeah, just continue your hammer away on the domain side and see if there's interesting stories you can tell through some content and then find ways to be helpful for folks who are looking to, looking to get access to these assets.
I love it. So, Rob, for the audience, what exactly can snag help someone do right now? What is the exact service that you provide for them?
So I'd say if you're looking to find a domain name that is fitting for your brand, either have that already picked and you figure out how to get in contact, how to make an offer, how to get a con, how to actually engage, or if you're earlier stage and you're more open to different brands based on availability and price and how these digital assets can be acquired, that works too. So it could be early stages looking to make brand decisions based on availability and pricing. And then later, later stage companies who are looking to usually upgrade and from more of like the d two C, I'd say comparison. It's as you move further up the funnel, you start doing radio, you start doing tv, having a tighter domain name can be really helpful. Like if you're doing a radio ad and you're like, go to trypodcast.io, it's like clunky and no one's going to really remember that. Going to be harder, I think, to make that a channel that works.
Same with tv. If you see like, you don't see a ton of people running on tv that have like really long.net domain names, you try and try and keep that tight so that there's recall, there's direct type in traffic and then people are searching for you as well. So yeah, I think anything across the board, but those are definitely some of the areas we anchor to sweet.
And for our listeners who are tuning in, where can we connect with you? Where can we find you? Are you like where, why don't you just shout out your socials?
Shout out to the socials. You can just slide into my DM's. I'm just evrob on Twitter or X. Sorry. Or just email me. I'm hyatt.com.
That makes a lot of sense. I love that. All right, Rob, thanks for coming on.
Thanks for having me guys. Appreciate it.
Thank you.
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DTC Pod Linkedin
@Rob Schutz shares his journey from the early days of marketing at @Barkbox to co-founding @Ro and @Snag on this week's episode of DTC Pod.
Rob joins @blaine and @ramonberrios to discuss the strategies employed at Barkbox, including social media advertising, affiliate programs, and the challenges faced while diversifying marketing channels.
He also dives into the transition from selling dog treats to healthcare products at Ro, navigating FDA regulations, and the importance of planning for scale and quality of care.
Rob's expertise in domain names is also highlighted, as he shares his experiences in researching, negotiating, and structuring domain deals for various clients.
Full episode here: [Spotify Link]
#dtcpod #entrepreneurship #marketingstrategy #domainnames #healthcare #petindustry #brandgrowth
1️⃣ One Sentence Summary
Rob Schutz shares marketing insights from Bark and Ro experiences.
Interview Breakdown
Today, we have a fascinating discussion with Rob Schutz, co-founder of Ro and former Head of Growth at BarkBox. Rob shares his insights on navigating the challenges of growing a business, from marketing strategies to product development and team alignment.
In this episode, we cover:
The evolution of marketing strategies at Bark, from social media advertising to diversifying channels
Balancing creativity and performance in marketing, and allocating resources for testing new strategies
Challenges faced in transitioning from selling dog treats to healthcare products at Ro
The importance of planning for scale and maintaining quality of care during rapid growth
Rob's expertise in domain name negotiation and his new interview series, "Master your domain"
🔑 7 Key Themes
Here are 7 key themes discussed in the episode, with 7 words or less for each theme:
Early marketing strategies at Bark
Balancing diversification and focus in marketing
Challenges in transitioning to healthcare industry
Importance of planning for company growth
Setting expectations when testing marketing channels
Navigating domain name landscape for businesses
Prioritizing and aligning with the team
💬 Keywords
Here are 30 topical keywords covered in the text, separated by commas:
Rob Schutz, Bark, marketing strategies, social media advertising, Facebook, Instagram, affiliate program, email marketing, TV advertising, diversifying marketing channels, balancing creativity and performance, DTC pod, HubSpot podcast network, Ro, healthcare, FDA regulations, licensing requirements, erectile dysfunction, smoking cessation, menopause, rapid growth, venture capital, quality of care, team structure, testing marketing channels, budget allocation, supplement space, digital presence, platform suspensions, influential partnerships, Slack community, DTC founders, Sales Hub, domain names, negotiating deals
📚 Timestamped overview
00:00 Visit HubSpot.com sales for Sales Hub. Interview with Rob Schutz, experienced in DTC space with Barkbox, Roe, and Snag.
06:17 Remains bullish on company, pursuing domain name opportunities, working with notable individuals.
08:43 Skilled negotiator shares strategies and successful deals through research.
12:05 Board chair at homeless shelter discusses potential opportunities in domain name investing.
16:46 Initially focused on Facebook and daily deals, utilized Groupon for customer acquisition. Emphasized the importance of focusing on successful channels.
17:40 Don't rely only on a few channels. Focus on what works, be adaptable.
20:56 Focus on balancing creativity and performance in marketing, and diversify channels to avoid stalling out.
25:01 Focus on testing a few channels thoroughly rather than spreading resources thin across many.
29:52 Facebook account suspended, created new one, struggled with Google, worked with teams, explained legitimate operation.
32:25 DTC pod joins HubSpot podcast network, offering business insights and discussions with successful professionals.
34:14 Hard to stop bad habits, low efficacy in menopause products.
37:37 Focusing on team structure, growth, and strategy for a company with multiple product lines.
42:10 Prioritization and communication vital for productivity. Executive level visibility crucial for decision-making and focus.
46:00 Balancing roles in advising, consulting, and board chair. More flexibility, family time. Deepening focus in domain. Notable consulting projects. Former involvement in sports sponsorship.
48:19 Choose domain name based on brand fit and stage of business. Important for marketing and memorability.
📚 Timestamped overview
00:00 Rob Schutz, experienced in DTC, joins discussion.
06:17 Passionate about domain names, working with big names.
08:43 Skilled negotiator closes deal for AI domain.
12:05 Board chair for homeless shelter in New Jersey.
16:46 Started on Facebook, Groupon brought in people.
17:40 Diversify channels, but capitalize on what works.
20:56 Balancing performance and creativity in marketing strategies.
25:01 Prioritize channels for maximum advertising impact.
29:52 Created new Facebook account after suspension. Constantly reestablished online presence.
32:25 DTC pod joins HubSpot podcast network. Excited!
34:14 Hard to stop bad habits, ineffective menopause products.
37:37 Focusing on fundamentals for positive company growth.
42:10 Prioritization and communication essential for team efficiency.
46:00 Balancing multiple roles brings professional and personal rewards.
48:19 Choosing right domain depends on brand stage.
❇️ Key topics and bullets
Here is a comprehensive sequence of topics covered in the text, with sub-topic bullets:
Early marketing strategies at Bark (circa 2017)
Social media advertising, particularly on Facebook and Instagram
Affiliate program involving famous dogs on Instagram
Expansion into email marketing and TV advertising with mixed success
Pressure to diversify marketing channels
Balancing focus and diversification in marketing
Focusing resources on consistently successful channels vs. diversifying too quickly
Allocating separate budgets for core channels and testing new strategies/channels
Challenge of balancing creativity and performance in marketing
Challenges in transitioning from pet products to healthcare at Ro
FDA regulations and licensing requirements in all states
Rapid growth leading to challenges in maintaining quality of care and team structure
Importance of planning for scale around quality of care
Testing marketing channels effectively
Setting expectations and acknowledging most approaches may not work
Allocating sufficient budget for conclusive testing to avoid wasting time and money
Strategic decision to move from Barkbox to Roe
Potential for success in the underrepresented and profitable erectile dysfunction market
Challenges in establishing digital presence due to platform suspensions
Efforts to legitimize and promote the brand through partnerships and influential doctors
Launch of DTC POD Slack community
Space for connecting, sharing ideas, asking questions, and support among DTC founders and operators
Goal of reaching 150 members before opening the community
Rob Schutz's background and experiences
Transition from healthcare consulting to founding a daily deal company
Joining Barkbox as a marketing hire and co-founding Roe and Snag
Focus on working with domain names and negotiating deals
Domain name landscape and acquisition process
Rob's expertise in researching, negotiating, and structuring domain name deals
Creative strategies for acquiring domain names at lower prices
Range of clients, from hospital systems to companies seeking brand names based on available domains
Rob's vision and interests in the domain name industry
Building a lifestyle business and exploring opportunities in the domain name space
Attending domain name conferences and meeting passionate professionals
Starting a new video interview series called "Master your domain"
Product development progression at Ro and Bark
Starting with buying from others and later developing internal product expertise
Importance of prioritization and alignment in execution
Clear communication of priorities to the team
Building a strong relationship with the growth and marketing leader
Avoiding scope creep and focusing on the most important initiatives
Rob's current focus and projects
Advising, consulting, and serving as board chair for a homeless shelter
Working at Snag, exploring creative ways to use sports sponsorships as a performance channel
Importance of domain names for brands
Two approaches: picking and contacting, or being open based on availability and price
Early-stage companies consider brand decisions based on availability and pricing
Later-stage companies focus on domain names for radio and TV advertising
Tight domain names aid in recall, direct type-in traffic, and searches
✏️ Custom Newsletter
Subject: New DTC POD Episode Drop! Rob Schutz Shares Insider Marketing Secrets 🎧
Hey there, DTC enthusiasts!
We've got an awesome new episode of the DTC POD ready for your listening pleasure. In this episode, Blaine Bolus and Ramon Berrios sit down with the one and only Rob Schutz, a true marketing mastermind.
Here are 5 key takeaways you'll get from tuning in:
The early days of marketing at Bark and the strategies that drove their success 📈
Balancing creativity and performance in marketing campaigns 🎨
Navigating the challenges of transitioning from selling dog treats to healthcare products 🐶💊
Setting expectations when testing new marketing channels 🎯
The importance of having the perfect domain name for your brand 🌐
Fun Fact Alert! 🚨 Did you know that Rob once negotiated a domain name purchase by offering to build a water well for a nonprofit organization? Talk about creative dealmaking!
So, grab your favorite beverage, pop in those earbuds, and get ready to level up your marketing game with Rob Schutz. Trust us, you won't want to miss this one!
Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the DTC POD. And if you're a DTC founder or operator, be sure to apply to join our exclusive Slack community. It's the perfect place to connect with like-minded individuals and take your business to new heights.
Happy listening!
The DTC POD Team
P.S. Shoutout to our awesome new partner, HubSpot, and their incredible Sales Hub. Check it out and see how it can help your business grow! 📣
🐦 Business Lesson Tweet Thread
🧵 Acquiring the perfect domain name can make or break your brand.
Just ask @RobSchutz. As a master of the domain game, he's helped countless companies - from startups to hospital systems - snag their dream URL.
His secret weapon? Killer negotiation skills. Rob once scored a domain by offering to build a water well for a nonprofit. Talk about creative dealmaking!
But it's not just about the art of the deal. Rob emphasizes the power of a tight domain for recall, type-in traffic, and search.
When you're building a brand, the right domain is worth its weight in gold. It's the foundation of your digital presence.
So before you settle on a name, do your homework. Research what's available and at what price.
In the early stages, you may need to compromise based on budget. But as you grow, investing in that perfect domain can pay serious dividends.
The bottom line? Your domain is more than just an address. It's a key asset in building a memorable, discoverable brand.
And with experts like @RobSchutz leading the charge, the domain game is sure to get even more interesting.
Stay tuned for his new interview series "Master Your Domain" - and maybe pick up a pro tip or two.
🎓 Lessons Learned
Here are 10 key lessons from the DTC POD episode with Rob Schutz, with concise titles and descriptions for each:
Title: Early Bark Marketing Strategies
Description: Bark initially focused on social media advertising, particularly Facebook and Instagram, and leveraged an affiliate program with famous dogs.Title: Balancing Marketing Channel Diversification
Description: As Bark grew, they expanded into email and TV advertising, but faced challenges in diversifying marketing channels effectively.Title: Allocating Resources for Growth
Description: In hindsight, Bark should have focused more on improving successful channels rather than diversifying too quickly.Title: Testing New Marketing Strategies
Description: Allocate a separate budget for experimenting with new marketing channels and strategies while focusing on core channels.Title: Navigating Healthcare Product Challenges
Description: Transitioning from dog treats to healthcare products, Ro faced challenges with regulations, licensing, and product effectiveness.Title: Managing Rapid Company Growth
Description: As Ro grew rapidly, they encountered difficulties in maintaining quality of care and structuring the expanding team.Title: Setting Expectations for Testing
Description: When testing marketing channels, set clear expectations and allocate sufficient budget to obtain conclusive results.Title: Overcoming Marketing Platform Limitations
Description: Ro struggled to establish a digital presence due to suspensions and lack of support from major platforms.Title: Leveraging Domain Name Expertise
Description: Rob Schutz's experience in negotiating and structuring domain name deals has benefited various companies and industries.Title: Prioritizing and Aligning Teams
Description: Clear communication of priorities and alignment between founders and growth leaders is crucial for effective execution.
💎 Maxims
Here are some key maxims and lessons from the discussion with Rob Schutz on the DTC Pod:
Focus your marketing efforts and resources on the channels that are already working well before diversifying too quickly into new channels.
Balance consistent investment in core marketing channels with a separate budget for testing new, experimental strategies and channels.
Set clear expectations when testing new marketing approaches - most won't work out, but the learning is still valuable to understand where not to invest.
Allocate sufficient budget to conclusively test new marketing channels to avoid chasing unclear results and wasting time.
When expanding into new product categories, carefully plan for challenges around regulations, licensing requirements, product effectiveness and quality control.
Structure your team thoughtfully as you scale and expand product lines to maintain quality and navigate complexity.
Explore underserved but potentially profitable market opportunities where you can establish a brand presence.
Be resourceful and persistent in marketing regulated products if key channels restrict promotion, such as enlisting known experts and influential partnerships.
Prioritize ruthlessly and communicate priorities clearly to your team to enable focused and effective execution.
Foster a strong collaborative relationship between founders and marketing leaders to align on goals and strategies.
Avoid scope creep by focusing the team on the most vital initiatives and avoiding distractions.
Consider creative ways to leverage assets like sports sponsorships as effective performance marketing channels.
Recognize the importance of a fitting, memorable domain name for your brand to drive recall, direct traffic and search.
In the early stages, stay open-minded on brand name options based on domain availability and cost. As you grow, invest in the ideal domain.
🌟 3 Fun Facts
Rob Schutz has successfully negotiated domain name purchases for significantly lower prices than initially proposed, once even offering to build a water well for a nonprofit in exchange for a domain name.
Rob is starting a new video interview series called "Master your domain" to capture founders' stories about obtaining their domain names.
Ramon Berrios shared his own experience with buying and selling popular Instagram account names.
📓 Blog Post
Title: Navigating the Landscape of Domain Names and Marketing Strategy with Rob Schutz
Subheader: Insights from the Former Co-Founder of Bark and Current Founder of Snag
Introduction
In a recent episode of the DTC POD, hosts Blaine Bolus and Ramon Berrios sat down with Rob Schutz, former co-founder of Bark and current founder of Snag, to discuss his experiences in the world of domain names and marketing strategy. Throughout the conversation, Schutz shared valuable insights on the importance of prioritization, team alignment, and creative approaches to marketing channels.
The Early Days of Marketing at Bark
Schutz began by discussing the early days of marketing for Bark, circa 2017. The company relied heavily on social media advertising, particularly Facebook and Instagram, as well as an affiliate program involving famous dogs on Instagram. As the company grew, they expanded into email marketing and TV advertising, though with mixed success. In retrospect, Schutz acknowledged that the company should have focused more resources on the channels that were already working well instead of trying to diversify too quickly.
Balancing Core Channels and Experimental Marketing
One of the key challenges faced by marketers is finding the right balance between focusing on core, consistent channels for continued improvement and allocating resources for testing new, experimental marketing strategies. Schutz advises experienced marketers to delineate core channels, such as paid search, paid social, and email, for consistent growth, while setting aside a separate budget for exploring new strategies and channels.
Transitioning from Bark to Ro
Schutz also shared his experience transitioning from selling treats and toys for dogs at Bark to moving into the healthcare space with Ro. This shift presented new challenges, such as navigating FDA regulations and obtaining licensing requirements in all states. Despite these hurdles, Ro experienced rapid growth, reaching eight figures in revenue and raising nine figures in venture capital. However, this rapid expansion led to challenges in maintaining quality of care and structuring the team effectively.
Setting Expectations and Allocating Budget for Testing Marketing Channels
When it comes to testing new marketing channels, Schutz emphasizes the importance of setting expectations and acknowledging that most approaches may not work. However, these tests provide valuable learning experiences about where not to spend time and money in the future. He also stresses the necessity of allocating sufficient budget to test channels thoroughly in order to obtain conclusive results and avoid wasting time chasing unclear outcomes.
The Importance of Domain Names
As an expert in navigating the domain name space, Schutz shared his insights on the importance of having a fitting domain name for a brand. He outlined two approaches to finding the right domain: either picking a specific name and contacting the owner, or being open to options based on availability and price. Early-stage companies often consider brand decisions based on the availability and pricing of domain names, while later-stage companies focus on securing a domain that works well for radio and TV advertising. Schutz highlighted that tight domain names aid in recall, direct type-in traffic, and searches.
Conclusion
Rob Schutz's experiences in marketing and domain names offer valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and marketers alike. By prioritizing effectively, aligning with team members, and setting clear expectations when testing new strategies, companies can navigate the challenges of growth and expansion. Additionally, securing a strong domain name can play a crucial role in building brand recognition and driving traffic. As the DTC POD continues to bring in insightful guests like Schutz, listeners can look forward to learning more from the successes and challenges faced by industry leaders.
🎤 Voiceover Script
Rob Schutz, co-founder of Ro and former marketing lead at Bark, shares valuable insights on leveraging domain names, balancing marketing channels, and prioritizing initiatives for growth. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on core channels while allocating a separate budget for testing new strategies. Rob also highlights the challenges of expanding into new product categories and the need for clear communication and alignment with the team to avoid scope creep. Tune in to learn from his unique experiences in the DTC space and his current ventures in the domain name industry.
🔘 Best Practices Guide
Best Practices for Marketing and Growth:
Focus on core, consistent channels (paid search, paid social, email) for continued improvement while allocating a separate budget for testing new strategies and channels.
Set clear expectations when testing marketing channels, acknowledging that most may not work but provide valuable insights.
Allocate sufficient budget to test channels thoroughly to obtain conclusive results and avoid wasting time on unclear outcomes.
Prioritize initiatives and communicate priorities clearly to the team for effective execution and to avoid scope creep.
Build a strong relationship between founders and growth/marketing leaders to align goals and strategies.
Consider the importance of a fitting domain name for your brand, aiding in recall, direct type-in traffic, and searches.
Evaluate domain name decisions based on availability and pricing, depending on the company's stage and advertising needs.
Explore creative ways to leverage sponsorships as a performance channel.
🎆 Social Carousel: Do's/Don'ts
Title slide:
10 Lessons From A Retention Marketing Pro
Slide 1:
Don't Diversify Prematurely
Focus on and maximize core channels before exploring new ones
Slide 2:
Avoid Unclear Tests
Allocate sufficient budget for conclusive channel testing results
Slide 3:
Ditch Creativity Worship
Balance creativity with performance for effective marketing
Slide 4:
Stop Chasing Fads
Delineate core growth channels from experimental tests
Slide 5:
Don't Neglect Foundations
Prioritize quality and team structure while rapidly scaling
Slide 6:
Quit Half-Hearted Efforts
Commit fully to legitimizing and promoting your brand
Slide 7:
Never Assume Alignment
Actively align priorities with your growth and marketing leader
Slide 8:
Resist Scope Creep
Ruthlessly prioritize initiatives and clearly communicate with the team
Slide 9:
Don't Underestimate Domains
Acquire a tight domain name for advertising and traffic
Slide 10:
Avoid Flying Blind
Seek domain expertise and sponsorship insights to excel
How's this? I focused on distilling the key lessons into brief, actionable "do this, not that" insights across the main topics covered, from marketing strategy to team alignment to domain names. Let me know if you would like me to modify anything.
🎠 Social Carousel
10 Marketing Lessons from Rob Schutz
Focus on What Works
Improve core channels before diversifying too quickly. Maximize successful strategies for consistent growth.Test with Purpose
Set expectations and allocate sufficient budget for conclusive results when exploring new marketing channels.Balance Creativity & Performance
Find harmony between innovative marketing and measurable results to drive success.Plan for Scale
Anticipate challenges in maintaining quality and team structure as your company grows.Learn from Failure
Unsuccessful tests provide valuable insights into where not to invest time and money.Legitimize Your Brand
Incorporate experts and influential partnerships to establish credibility and expand reach.Navigate Challenges
Adapt to industry-specific obstacles, such as platform restrictions or regulatory requirements.Prioritize Effectively
Clearly communicate priorities to your team for focused execution and goal alignment.Foster Strong Relationships
Build a solid partnership with your growth and marketing leader to sync strategies.Harness Domain Expertise
Leverage knowledge in niche areas, like domain names or sports sponsorships, for creative marketing solutions.
Subscribe to the DTC POD for more insights from successful founders!
One Off Tweets
Testing new marketing channels is about learning where not to spend time and money. Most will fail, but that's valuable insight.
To really understand if a marketing channel works, you need to allocate enough budget to test it properly. Don't chase unclear results.
Creativity and performance often pull marketing in different directions. Find the right balance for your brand and goals.
As you scale, plan for maintaining quality. Rapid growth can strain your team structure and level of care.
Should you maximize one successful marketing channel or diversify to find the next big thing? Experienced marketers do both.
In hindsight, double down on what's already working well before rushing to diversify your marketing mix. Stick to your strengths.
Prioritize ruthlessly and communicate priorities clearly to your team. Avoid distractions to execute on what matters most.
A strong relationship between founder and marketing leader is key. Align on goals and strategies to unlock growth.
The right domain name is crucial. For early stage, decide based on availability and price. Later, optimize for advertising and recall.
Want to build a lifestyle business? Find a niche you're passionate about and go deep to become the expert. Explore creative angles.
Twitter Post 1
Here's a fun fact from the episode in the requested style and format:
Rob once offered to build a water well for a nonprofit in exchange for a domain name.
Creative negotiation tactics FTW.
Sometimes money isn't the only currency when striking a deal.
Mindsets
Here is a post with 3 mindset shifts based on the recording, matching the tone and style of your example:
If you're looking to level up your marketing skills and build a successful DTC brand, consider making these mindset shifts:
💭 Embrace a test and learn mentality. Most marketing approaches you try won't work - and that's okay! Set clear expectations, allocate sufficient budget to learn conclusively what does and doesn't work, and view "failed" tests as valuable insights that show you where not to waste time and money.
💭 Balance consistency with experimentation. Delineate the majority of your budget to consistently improve and scale the core marketing channels already working for you. But always carve out a separate budget to test new, experimental channels and tactics. Push yourself to uncover the next big growth lever.
💭 Don't shy away from uncharted territory. Is there a nascent market that is underserved and potentially lucrative? Do you have a hunch about an untapped marketing approach? Trust your instincts and don't be afraid to be a trailblazer. The path to success is often unconventional.
For more insights on mindset and marketing from DTC leaders, check out the latest episodes of the DTC Pod, now part of the HubSpot Podcast Network! Subscribe, rate and review to help us continue bringing you valuable content.
And don't forget to apply for the DTC Pod Slack community to connect with other founders and operators: {link}
Tactics
🚀 5 Marketing Tactics from the DTC POD Episode with Rob Schutz 🚀
If you're looking to level up your marketing game, here are some specific strategies and tactics shared in the latest DTC POD episode with Rob Schutz:
1️⃣ Double down on what's working. In the early days of Bark, Rob and his team focused heavily on social media advertising (particularly Facebook and Instagram) and an affiliate program with famous dogs on Instagram. Rather than getting distracted by shiny new channels, consider allocating more resources to the marketing strategies that are already delivering strong results for your business.
2️⃣ Create a distinct budget for experimentation. While it's important to continuously optimize your core marketing channels, Rob also advises setting aside a separate budget specifically for testing new, experimental strategies and channels. This allows you to explore potential growth opportunities without jeopardizing the performance of your proven tactics.
3️⃣ Invest in sufficient testing budgets. When testing a new marketing channel, make sure you allocate enough budget to gain a conclusive understanding of its potential. Underfunding your tests can lead to unclear results and wasted time chasing dead ends. Commit the necessary resources upfront to determine if a channel is truly viable for your business.
4️⃣ Build legitimacy through partnerships. When launching Ro, Rob faced challenges with digital marketing due to platform restrictions. To overcome this, he focused on establishing the brand's credibility by incorporating well-known doctors and forming influential partnerships. Seek out opportunities to collaborate with respected figures or organizations in your industry to enhance your brand's reputation and open up new marketing possibilities.
5️⃣ Prioritize and communicate clearly with your team. As your business grows and takes on new initiatives, it's crucial to maintain focus and avoid scope creep. Rob emphasizes the importance of clearly communicating priorities to your team and building a strong relationship with your growth and marketing leader to ensure alignment on goals and strategies. Regular prioritization exercises can help keep everyone on track and focused on the most impactful work.
By implementing these tactics shared by Rob Schutz, you can optimize your marketing efforts, test new growth opportunities, build brand credibility, and keep your team aligned as you scale your business. 📈
In Depth Thread
Overrated: Trying every shiny new marketing channel.
Throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks is a recipe for wasted time and money.
Underrated: Doubling down on what's already working.
As shared in the DTC POD episode with Rob Schutz, focus on your core, consistent channels:
Core Channels Checklist
Paid search
Paid social
Email marketing
Pour gas on the fire that's already burning. Allocate the majority of your budget to channels delivering reliable results.
Test Budget
Carve out a separate, dedicated budget for testing new, experimental channels and strategies.
Keep this separate from your core channels budget to avoid disrupting proven growth engines.
80/20 Rule
Follow the Pareto Principle:
80% of your marketing budget on core channels.
20% on testing new opportunities.
This ensures you capitalize on what works while still leaving room to discover the next big thing.
Expectation Setting
When testing new channels, set clear expectations internally:
Most tests will fail. That's okay.
Failed tests are valuable - they show you where not to invest time and money.
To reach a conclusive understanding, allocate sufficient budget for a proper test.
Half-hearted tests lead to murky results not worth chasing.
Balancing Priorities
As Rob experienced, there's a delicate balance between creativity and performance in marketing.
Maximize your current winners while diversifying enough to find future stars. But avoid getting distracted by every shiny object.
North Star Metrics
Choose 2-3 core KPIs for your business. Track religiously.
Use these North Stars to ruthlessly prioritize marketing initiatives. If an idea doesn't clearly drive a key metric, shelve it for later.
Laser focus is required for rapid growth, especially in the early days.
Team Alignment
Marketing can't operate in a silo. The entire leadership team needs to be aligned on goals and guardrails.
Build a strong partnership between marketing and other functions, especially product.
Regular check-ins ensure you're rowing in the same direction.
Nimble Operations
As you scale, maintain flexibility to adapt quickly.
Be willing to cut programs that aren't delivering a strong ROI.
Continually evaluate headcount needs to support evolving priorities.
What got you here won't get you there. Stay agile.
New Idea
Idea #1: Balancing Core Marketing Channels with Experimental Strategies
When scaling a business, it's important to strike a balance between focusing on proven marketing channels and allocating resources to test new strategies:
Double Down on What Works: Rob Schutz advises experienced marketers to identify core channels that drive consistent growth, such as paid search, paid social, and email marketing. Continue investing in and optimizing these channels for sustained success.
Set Aside a Testing Budget: Allocate a separate budget specifically for exploring and testing new, experimental marketing channels and strategies. This allows for innovation without detracting from the core channels that are already working well.
Learn from Failures: When testing new marketing approaches, expect that most will not work out. However, these failures provide valuable insights into where not to spend time and money in the future. Embrace the learnings and use them to refine your overall marketing strategy.
Tweet thread on learnings
Tweet 1:
🎙️ Just listened to an insightful episode of the DTC POD with @robschutz, co-founder of Bark and Ro.
Key takeaways on marketing strategies, scaling challenges, and domain name expertise:
🧵 Thread 👇
Tweet 2:
Early marketing success at Bark 📈
In 2017, Bark focused on social media ads (Facebook & Instagram) and an affiliate program with famous dogs on Instagram.
As they grew, they expanded to email marketing and TV ads, but learned to prioritize channels that were already working well.
Tweet 3:
Balancing core channels and experimentation 🎯
Allocate resources to consistently improve core channels (paid search, paid social, email) for growth.
Set aside a separate budget for testing and exploring new, experimental marketing channels and strategies.
Tweet 4:
Challenges of scaling and expanding product lines 🌱→🌳
As Ro grew rapidly, they faced challenges in maintaining quality of care and team structure.
Planning for scale and considering team structure is crucial when expanding product lines.
Tweet 5:
Setting expectations when testing marketing channels 📊
Most new approaches may not work, but they provide valuable learnings.
Allocate sufficient budget to test channels thoroughly to avoid chasing unclear results and wasting time and money.
Tweet 6:
Navigating the domain name landscape 🌐
Rob Schutz is known for his expertise in negotiating and structuring domain name deals.
He has successfully acquired domain names for significantly lower prices using creative strategies and has a wide range of clients.
Tweet 7:
Prioritization and alignment with the team 🎯🤝
Clear communication of priorities to the team is vital for effective execution.
Building a strong relationship with the growth and marketing leader helps align goals and strategies, avoiding scope creep and focusing on the most important initiatives.
Tweet 8:
The DTC POD offers valuable insights from successful founders like @robschutz.
Key learnings:
Prioritize effective channels
Plan for scale
Set expectations when testing
Navigate domain names
Align with the team
Tune in for more! 🎧
Tweet 9:
Want to connect with other DTC founders and operators? 🌐
Join the DTC POD Slack community! 💬
Share ideas, ask questions, and get support from like-minded professionals.
Apply now through the link below! 👇
Future State, 6 reasons post
In 12 months, DTC brands using a multi-channel marketing approach achieved 3x revenue growth, 50% reduction in customer acquisition costs, and 2x improvement in customer lifetime value. As a marketing leader, I've seen the power of a well-executed multi-channel strategy. But many DTC brands are missing out on this opportunity. Here are 6 recommendations that, if applied, can unlock significant growth potential:
BACKGROUND:
Forget relying on a single channel for growth, the future belongs to MCM (Multi-Channel Marketing).
Multi-channel marketing is where brands engage customers across various touchpoints, creating a seamless and personalized experience.
If DTC brands pay attention, they can transform their marketing approach to not only generate demand but also nurture, retain, and grow customer relationships.
Old Marketing:
Heavy reliance on a single channel (e.g., Facebook ads)
One-size-fits-all messaging
Short-term focus on acquisition
Siloed data and insights
New Marketing:
Diversified channel mix (e.g., email, SMS, social, content)
Personalized and targeted communication
Long-term focus on customer lifetime value
Unified data and holistic customer view
At [Company], we've seen a 2x increase in revenue and 30% improvement in customer retention by adopting a multi-channel approach. It's hard to replicate this success with a single-channel strategy.
HOWEVER...
Executing a multi-channel strategy requires careful planning, coordination, and technology investments. DTC brands should consider the following recommendations to unlock the full potential of multi-channel marketing.
Here are my 6 recommendations:
Conduct a channel audit: Evaluate your current channel mix, identify gaps, and prioritize opportunities based on your target audience and business goals.
Develop a unified customer view: Integrate data from various channels to create a single source of truth for customer insights and segmentation.
Invest in marketing automation: Leverage technology to streamline and automate cross-channel campaigns, personalization, and measurement.
Create channel-specific content: Tailor your messaging and creative assets to the unique characteristics and best practices of each channel.
Establish cross-functional alignment: Foster collaboration between marketing, product, and customer service teams to ensure a consistent and seamless customer experience.
Continuously test and optimize: Adopt a data-driven approach to continuously test, measure, and optimize your multi-channel campaigns for maximum impact.
By implementing these recommendations, DTC brands can unlock significant growth potential and build long-term, profitable customer relationships.
Multi-channel marketing is the key to staying competitive and relevant in today's fast-changing digital landscape.
As customer expectations continue to evolve and new channels emerge, DTC brands have the opportunity to differentiate themselves and drive sustainable growth through a well-executed multi-channel strategy.
P.S.
What other recommendations would you add to this list?
Have you seen success with a multi-channel approach in your own business or industry?
About the Episode
Rob Schutz is a seasoned entrepreneur and marketer who has played key roles in the growth of successful DTC brands like Bark and Ro. With a keen eye for identifying market opportunities and a talent for negotiating domain name deals, Rob has helped numerous companies establish strong online presences and navigate the challenges of scaling.
In this episode of the DTC Pod, Rob shares valuable insights from his experiences at Bark and Ro, discussing the evolution of their marketing strategies and the importance of balancing core channels with experimental ones. He emphasizes the need for careful planning and clear communication to maintain quality and alignment as a company grows.
Rob also dives into his expertise in the domain name space, explaining how he helps companies acquire fitting domain names and sharing entertaining stories of his successful negotiations. He touches on his latest venture, Snag, which explores creative ways to leverage sports sponsorships as a performance marketing channel.
Throughout the conversation, Rob offers practical advice for founders and marketers, stressing the significance of setting clear priorities, fostering strong relationships between growth and marketing leaders, and allocating sufficient resources for testing new strategies. His unique blend of experiences and domain knowledge make for an engaging and informative episode.
Episode Summary
Rob Schutz is a seasoned entrepreneur, marketer, and domain name expert. He has co-founded several successful companies, including Bark and Ro, and specializes in helping companies acquire and leverage strategic domain names.
In this episode of DTC Pod, Rob shares his experiences and lessons learned from the early days of marketing at Bark, the challenges of entering the healthcare space with Ro, and his current focus on the domain name industry. He discusses the importance of setting expectations when testing marketing channels, balancing creativity and performance, and prioritizing and communicating effectively with the team. Rob also shares his expertise in researching, negotiating, and structuring domain name deals, and his upcoming video interview series "Master Your Domain".
Success Strategies
Here are 3 strategies for DTC success based on Rob Schutz's insights:
Double down on your core acquisition channels
Rather than rushing to diversify into every new marketing channel, focus your resources on maximizing the potential of the channels that are already delivering results for your brand.
If paid social and search are your key drivers, keep optimizing and scaling those before chasing shiny new opportunities. Master your core channels first, then selectively expand from a position of strength.
Allocate a dedicated budget for experimental marketing
Balancing tried-and-true acquisition with innovative new approaches is key. Structure your marketing budget so you have a stable foundation of proven channels, but also a separate pool of funds earmarked for testing.
This allows you to simultaneously drive consistent growth through your bread-and-butter tactics, while still leaving room to uncover your next big wins. Expect most tests to fail, but know the insights gained are valuable for evolving your marketing mix.
Prioritize quality of care as you scale
Amidst the pressure to grow rapidly, don't lose sight of your core value proposition and the caliber of service that wins customer loyalty.
As you expand your product suite and scale your team, proactively put processes in place to ensure your quality of care keeps pace. Define what the customer experience should be, and build that into your operational roadmap. Let quality lead quantity as you scale.
Castmagic LinkedIn Post
Scaling a DTC business is no easy feat — and the challenge only intensifies as you start to hit 8 and 9 figures.
Rob Schutz, Co-Founder of BarkBox and Ro, joins Blaine Bolus and Ramon Berrios to share hard-earned lessons from rapidly scaling two beloved consumer brands.
In this conversation, we explore the early days of marketing at Bark, the strategic decision to pivot from treats to healthcare, and the challenges faced when expanding Ro's product lines. Rob also shares his unique expertise in navigating the domain name space.
Listen to the full episode for insights on balancing growth and diversification, structuring teams for scale, and creative strategies for acquiring domain names.
Listen here: [link]
#dtcpod #dtcmarketing #consumerbrands #entrepreneurship #growthhacking
Episode Summary
Rob Schutz is the co-founder of Ro and Snag, with extensive experience in the domain name industry and performance marketing. He has helped numerous companies navigate the domain name landscape and execute successful growth strategies.
In this episode of DTC Pod, Rob shares his insights on the early days of marketing at Bark, the transition into healthcare at Ro, and the challenges and opportunities in the domain name space. The discussion covers topics such as balancing marketing channels, setting expectations for testing, structuring domain name deals, and aligning with the team on priorities for effective execution.
About the Episode
Rob Schutz is an experienced marketer and entrepreneur who has played key roles in the growth of successful DTC brands like Bark and Ro. With a background spanning healthcare consulting, daily deals, and pet products, Rob brings a wealth of knowledge and creative strategies to the table.
In this episode of DTC POD, Rob shares valuable insights from his journey at Bark, where he helped drive the company's early growth through strategic use of social media advertising, influencer partnerships, and email marketing. He discusses the challenges of balancing diversification with a focus on core, consistent channels, and the importance of setting clear expectations when testing new marketing strategies.
Rob also dives into his experiences at Ro, a healthcare company that faced unique challenges in establishing a digital presence and legitimizing its brand. He highlights the creative approaches they took, such as partnering with well-known doctors and influencers, to overcome these obstacles and successfully expand their marketing channels.
Throughout the conversation, Rob emphasizes the significance of domain names in building a strong brand and shares his expertise in researching, negotiating, and structuring domain name deals. He also touches on his current ventures, including a new video interview series focused on capturing founders' stories about acquiring their domain names and his work with Snag, exploring innovative ways to leverage sports sponsorships as a performance channel.
About the Episode
Rob Schutz is the co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-consumer healthcare technology company that has achieved unicorn status. He brings extensive experience in marketing and business growth, having previously worked at companies like Bark, where he helped drive significant growth through innovative marketing strategies.
In this episode of DTC Pod, Rob shares valuable insights on the early days of marketing at Bark, highlighting the effectiveness of social media advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as leveraging an affiliate program with famous dogs on Instagram. He discusses the challenges of balancing the focus on core, consistent marketing channels with the need to allocate resources for testing and exploring new, experimental strategies.
Rob also dives into the transition from selling dog treats and toys to entering the healthcare industry with Ro, detailing the regulatory hurdles and the importance of maintaining quality of care while scaling rapidly. He emphasizes the significance of setting clear expectations when testing new marketing channels and the necessity of allocating sufficient budgets to obtain conclusive results.
Throughout the episode, Rob shares his expertise in navigating the domain name landscape, discussing his experiences in researching, negotiating, and structuring deals for domain name acquisitions. He also touches on his current projects, including a new video interview series called "Master your domain" and his work with Snag, exploring creative ways to leverage sports sponsorships as a performance channel.
Episode Summary
Rob Schutz is the co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-patient healthcare technology company that operates digital health clinics for men's and women's health, weight loss, and smoking cessation. Previously, he led growth marketing at Bark, taking the company from launch to over 600,000 subscribers.
In this episode of DTC Pod, Rob shares his insights on developing effective growth strategies for early-stage startups. He discusses the importance of focusing on core marketing channels, setting clear expectations when testing new channels, and structuring teams for rapid scaling. Rob also shares his expertise in the domain name space, including researching, negotiating, and acquiring domain names for businesses.
Castmagic LinkedIn Post
Here's a short and concise LinkedIn post for the episode release, following the format and tone of the provided examples:
Want to scale your DTC brand? This episode is a masterclass on growth from the co-founder of unicorn Ro.
Rob Schutz joins Blaine Bolus and Ramon Berrios to share his journey from Barkbox to Ro, a DTC healthcare company valued at $5B+.
Rob unpacks the early marketing strategies at Barkbox, the challenges of transitioning to healthcare, balancing creativity and performance in marketing, and the importance of prioritization and alignment with the team.
You'll also learn about Rob's expertise in negotiating domain name deals, his interest in the domain name industry, and his new video interview series, "Master your domain."
Listen to the full episode here: [link]
#dtc #ecommerce #marketing #growth #domainnames
About the Episode
Rob Schutz is the co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-consumer healthcare company that has achieved unicorn status. He also previously worked at Bark, where he played a key role in the company's early marketing efforts. With a background in healthcare consulting and entrepreneurship, Rob brings a wealth of experience in building and scaling successful businesses.
In this episode of DTC POD, Rob shares valuable insights into the growth strategies that helped propel Bark and Ro to success. He discusses the importance of focusing on core marketing channels, such as paid search, paid social, and email, while also allocating resources for testing new, experimental strategies. Rob emphasizes the need for a balance between creativity and performance in marketing, as well as the challenges of deciding whether to maximize one channel or diversify to find the next successful one.
The conversation also delves into the difficulties Ro faced when transitioning from selling treats and toys to dogs to entering the healthcare space, including navigating FDA regulations and obtaining licenses in all states. Rob highlights the importance of planning for scale, maintaining quality of care, and structuring teams effectively as a company expands its product lines and experiences rapid growth.
Throughout the episode, Rob shares his expertise in the domain name industry, discussing his experiences in negotiating and structuring domain name deals for various clients. He also touches on his current projects, including a new video interview series called "Master your domain" and his work with Snag, exploring creative ways to use sports sponsorships as a performance channel.
About the Episode
Rob Schutz is the co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-consumer healthcare technology company that has become a unicorn, valued at over $1 billion. He has extensive experience in marketing and branding, having previously worked at companies like Bark, where he played a key role in driving growth through various marketing strategies.
In this episode of the DTC POD, Rob shares valuable insights into the growth strategies that have contributed to the success of both Bark and Ro. He discusses the importance of focusing on core, consistent marketing channels such as paid search, paid social, and email, while also allocating a separate budget for testing and exploring new, experimental strategies and channels.
Rob also touches on the challenges faced during Ro's transition from selling erectile dysfunction products to expanding into other healthcare verticals, including navigating FDA regulations and obtaining licenses in multiple states. He emphasizes the need for careful planning to maintain quality of care and adapt team structures as the company scales rapidly.
Throughout the episode, Rob highlights the significance of setting clear expectations when testing marketing channels, allocating sufficient budgets to obtain conclusive results, and the potential benefits of exploring underrepresented yet profitable markets. He also shares his expertise in the domain name industry, discussing strategies for acquiring and negotiating domain names to help build strong brand identities.
❇️ Key topics and bullets
Here is a comprehensive sequence of topics covered in the text, with sub-topic bullets:
Early marketing strategies at Bark (around 2017)
Social media advertising on Facebook and Instagram
Affiliate program with famous dogs on Instagram
Expansion into email marketing and TV advertising with mixed success
Balancing focus on core channels vs. diversifying too quickly
Challenges of transitioning from Bark to Ro
Moving from selling dog treats to healthcare products
FDA regulations and licensing requirements
Rapid growth leading to challenges in quality of care and team structure
Testing and investing in marketing channels
Setting expectations when testing channels
Allocating sufficient budget for conclusive tests
Learning where not to spend time and money
Moving from Barkbox to Roe
Targeting an underrepresented and profitable market (erectile dysfunction)
Challenges in establishing digital presence due to platform suspensions
Efforts to legitimize the brand through doctors and influential partnerships
Successful expansion and raising capital
Launch of DTC Slack community
Connecting DTC founders and operators
Sharing ideas, asking questions, and providing support
Promotion of HubSpot's new Sales Hub
Rob Schutz's background and experiences
Healthcare consulting to founding a daily deal company
Joining Barkbox as a marketing hire
Co-founding Roe and Snag
Rob's expertise in domain names
Negotiating and structuring domain name deals
Creative strategies for acquiring domains at lower prices
Wide range of clients and services
Plans for a new video interview series "Master your domain"
Product development at Ro and Bark
Progression from buying from others to developing in-house products
Importance of prioritization and clear communication with the team
Building a strong relationship between founder and growth/marketing leader
Rob's current focus and ventures
Advising, consulting, and board chair for a homeless shelter
Working at Snag, exploring creative use of sports sponsorships
Importance of having a fitting domain name for a brand
Two approaches to finding a domain name based on stage of company
Wrap-up and call to action
Connect with guest on Twitter or via email
Encouragement to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast
❇️ Key topics and bullets
Early DTC Marketing Strategies
Challenges of Transitioning Business Models
Testing and Investing in Marketing Channels
Targeting Underrepresented and Profitable Markets
Building a DTC Founder Community
Entrepreneurial Journey and Background
Domain Name Expertise and Strategies
Product Development in DTC Companies
Balancing Multiple Ventures and Priorities
Importance of Brand Naming and Domain Selection
❇️ Key topics and bullets
Balancing Creativity and Performance in Marketing
Navigating Platform Regulations and Suspensions
Leveraging Influential Partnerships for Brand Legitimacy
Raising Capital for DTC Startups
Scaling Challenges in Rapidly Growing DTC Companies
Building and Structuring Teams in Expanding Product Lines
Setting Expectations and Budgeting for Marketing Channel Tests
Strategies for Acquiring Domain Names at Lower Prices
Exploring Unconventional Marketing Channels (e.g., Sports Sponsorships)
Fostering Alignment Between Founders and Marketing Leaders
Prioritizing Initiatives and Avoiding Scope Creep
Evolving Role of a Founder in a Growing DTC Company
Sharing Insights and Experiences Through Content Creation
Importance of Memorable and Concise Brand Names
Leveraging Podcast Platforms for DTC Business Insights
❇️ Key topics and bullets
Adapting Marketing Strategies as a DTC Company Grows
Balancing Focus on Core Channels vs. Diversifying Marketing Efforts
Navigating FDA Regulations and Licensing Requirements in Healthcare
Challenges of Maintaining Quality of Care During Rapid Growth
Leveraging Social Media Influencers for Brand Awareness
Utilizing Email Marketing Effectively for DTC Brands
Exploring the Potential of TV Advertising for DTC Companies
Lessons Learned from Unsuccessful Marketing Channel Experiments
Importance of Sufficient Testing Budgets for Conclusive Results
Identifying and Capitalizing on Underserved Market Opportunities
Building Brand Legitimacy Through Expert Endorsements
Networking and Knowledge Sharing Among DTC Founders
Integrating Sales and Marketing Tools for DTC Success
Transitioning from Service-Based to Product-Based Business Models
Developing In-House Product Expertise in DTC Companies
Communicating Priorities Effectively to DTC Teams
Cultivating Strong Founder-Marketing Leader Relationships
Managing Multiple Business Ventures Simultaneously
Exploring the Depth of the Domain Name Industry
Capturing Founder Stories Through Video Content Series
Leveraging Domain Name Scarcity for Branding Advantages
Considering Domain Name Fit for Advertising Channels
Balancing Domain Name Availability and Pricing in Branding Decisions
Driving Brand Recall and Direct Traffic Through Concise Domain Names
Encouraging Audience Engagement and Feedback for Podcast Growth
Success Strategies
Here are 3 key strategies for DTC success based on insights from Rob Schutz:
Double down on what's working, but keep experimenting
While it's tempting to chase the next big thing in marketing, Rob advises focusing resources on the channels that are already delivering consistent results for your brand. Whether that's paid search, paid social, email, or affiliates, keep optimizing and scaling what works.
At the same time, set aside a separate budget specifically for testing new, experimental marketing strategies and channels. This allows you to keep searching for future opportunities without disrupting your core growth engines.
Prioritize quality of care as you scale
Rob emphasizes the importance of planning for how to maintain a high quality of customer care as your DTC business grows rapidly.
Whether you're expanding product lines, raising venture capital, or dealing with increasing regulatory requirements, never lose sight of the customer experience. Everything from your team structure to your processes should be designed to scale quality alongside quantity.
Master your domain (name)
Having the right domain name is critical for any DTC brand, especially as you expand into offline channels like TV and radio where easy recall is key. Rob, an expert in domain name acquisition, recommends prioritizing your domain name early.
For early-stage brands, consider your domain options as you're choosing your brand name. For later-stage brands, Rob suggests being open to creative deal structures to acquire your ideal domain. A short, memorable domain will pay dividends in direct type-in traffic, search rankings, and overall brand recognition.
Success Strategies
Here are 3 key strategies for DTC success based on Rob Schutz's insights from his experiences at Bark and Ro:
Prioritize your proven marketing channels, but always be testing
Rob advises DTC marketers to strike a balance between scaling what's working and exploring new opportunities. Focus the majority of your resources on the core channels delivering consistent growth and profitability for your brand, whether that's paid search, paid social, email marketing, or affiliate partnerships.
But to avoid stagnation, carve out a distinct budget for experimentation. Use this to methodically test new marketing strategies, channels, and tactics that could become your next big wins. The key is to give each experiment enough budget to generate conclusive learnings, while not diverting too much from your bread-and-butter channels.
Bake quality of care into your scaling plan
Whether you're expanding your product offering, securing major funding rounds, or navigating regulatory hurdles, Rob stresses the importance of maintaining quality of care as your DTC brand grows.
Your customer experience can't be an afterthought - it should be central to every decision about team structure, processes, and technology as you scale. Proactively plan for how you'll maintain personalized, responsive, and empathetic customer care, even as your business becomes increasingly complex. Your customer relationships are the foundation of your brand's long-term success.
Treat your domain name as a core strategic asset
Having a short, memorable domain name is a major advantage for DTC brands, especially as you expand into offline channels like TV, radio, and direct mail. But many brands put off domain acquisition until it's too late.
As a domain name expert, Rob advises addressing your domain strategy early. For new brands, consider your domain options in tandem with your brand name. If your brand is established, explore creative deal structures to secure your ideal domain. The perfect domain pays long-term dividends in direct site traffic, SEO, and brand recognition. Treat your domain as a strategic investment, not an afterthought.
Set expectations for experimental marketing channels
Rob cautions that the majority of experimental marketing channels you test won't end up being viable. And that's okay - in fact, it's expected. The goal of these experiments is as much about learning where not to invest further as it is about finding new opportunities.
Align with your team and stakeholders that most tests will result in a "no" - but those "no's" are valuable learnings that help you optimize your overall marketing mix. What's key is defining clear success metrics, setting a realistic test budget, and having a detailed plan for how you'll interpret and act on the results. This mindset shift takes the pressure off any individual experiment and enables more objective decision-making.
By following these strategies - prioritizing proven channels while testing new ones, planning for quality at scale, investing in your domain, and setting expectations for experiments - DTC brands can build sustainable growth engines and lay the foundation for long-term success, as exemplified by Rob's experiences at Bark and Ro.
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