This episode of The Longer Game is a philosophical playground for everyone in the ecommerce industry. Chief Revenue Officer Ali Babul of Trellis, a tech company creating smarter solutions for ecommerce, and Michael talk about the real driver and purpose behind business: people. Hailing from agency life, having worked with a ton of brands, and now being on the tech side, Ali has a really deep and interesting take on the needs of consumers, brands and businesses alike. Get ready to get your hands dirty and dig into meaning and purpose behind the small blip of your existence on this earth. I know. Deep.

How you make your products, when you order them, how much you order, and how you get them to fulfillment centers or the end consumer is a core process in the retail environment and yet it's something that brands routinely struggle with. Do this inefficiently and you've got poor cash flow. Do it well and you maximize sales, while keeping yourself liquid to be flexible as a brand. Richard Prasojo, has a lot to say on why Product Supply Chain should be one of the sexiest things in your business. Nailing the basics never gets old and we lean into that concept on this episode of The Longer Game.

Every business starts with an idea. And it's easy to get jazzed up about that idea, so much so that you've forget to properly plan ahead for what you're going to need to make that happen. We're talking capital and runway. In this episode, the 2nd most popular break dancer off Wall Street, Kenny Jen, and I talk about what brands need to think about when prepping to launch and how you can succeed. Going big isn't necessarily the answer. In fact, in may be the opposite of that. Kenny's vast experience in everything from his current role of providing CFO Services to Consumer & Retail brands to product creation and retail strategy for Cannabis brands in LA give him a unique perspective that's hella fresh.

A common theme among food & beverage entrepreneurs, as well as in almost any industry, is settling on the "Just For Now" branding that gets you by until you make more money. Do you start going to the gym once you lose 10lbs? No! You get your ass in there and start doing the work and the results come later. The other problem with this way of thinking is it gets you "Just For Now" results, i.e. don't expect your brand to be successful if you aren't willing to invest the time and money into it that is necessary. Ainsley Moir, the Founder of Healthy Food & Beverage Group, joins us to share her extensive knowledge of creating successful CPG food & beverage brands and why the struggle to fight off shiny object syndrome and play #thelongergame with your brand is real.