Retail is not dead people. It's actually very alive. If 20% of sales are happening across ecommerce, where do you think the rest of those purchases are happening? Yes, it's in an actual store. Brands in the DTC space have had a ton of growth but as those brands mature, retail is the way they can really build legs. 1REC CEO Andrew Neelon joins us on Episode 9 of The Longer Game to talk just that. Community is at the core of retail and Andrew is helping us better understand how to rebuild communities within the retail space. Looking to grow your brand into retail? This is your episode.

Consumer research one way legacy brands have iterated more intuitively with product and won in the past but ecommerce brands have been able to iterate quicker in the past decade, which is one reason growth has soared. John Li, Co-Founder of PickFu, has created a tool that has allowed both types of brands to get to the yes, no, or maybe much quicker with consumers, and it was sort of an accident. Moving fast is a necessity of retail today, especially with the volume of information available and speed at which we can access that info, so buckle up and get ready to move at the speed of 1.2 gigawatts on this week's episode.

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.