Legos, Lists & Launches

What a productive weekend. Just absolute efficiency at it’s finest. Got to spend most of yesterday doing some home improvements. Nothing better than getting your hands dirty with some elbow grease.

Boy are my knees sore from sitting criss-cross apple sauce for a few hours. But hey, that’s just the price you gotta pay after some manual labor. Someones gotta do it.

Next, I was able to see all my hard work watching movies this year come to fruition at the Oscars (To be clear, I didn’t go to the Oscars, I watched from my couch). Anyways, not to brag, but a few months ago I recently joined one of the most exclusive clubs in all of America… The AMCs Stubs A-List. A very elite list. Unlimited free movies for $25/month. Probably the best deal in modern day aside from 99 cent Arizona Iced Teas & the Costco Hot Dog Deal.

And boy oh boy have I been taking advantage of it. I’m averaging a movie per week. Those are Hall of Fame numbers.

It has definitely been slightly detrimental to my overall butter consumption, but I’ve never been so prepared for the Oscars in my entire life. So obviously it’s been a sacrifice worth making.

Here are my favorite movies from this year in no particular order:

The Holdovers, American Fiction, Theater Camp, Oppenheimer, Dumb Money

I love going to the movies. It’s pretty much impossible for me to 100% focus on a good show or movie these days cuz of my phone. But at the theater, I’m locked in. No distractions. Highly recommend going back if you haven’t been lately. And as the GOAT Nicole Kidman once said, “Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.”

If you know, you know.

Welcome to week 21 of Trust Fun.

Building Bigger

I know I mentioned Particl last week, but every day I realize more & more why people are obsessed with it. I can honestly say I do not think I would ever start an ecommerce brand without using Particl. Like ever again.

Let’s talk launching new products for example.

Well actually, let’s take a step back. How important do you think Hero Products are? First, let me Merriam Webster that shit for ya. Hero products (or MVPs) are THE products that truly define your brand. They are (usually) the OG product / sku you create. The one that carries your business. The product that you go to market with. They’re the one that people think of when they see or hear your brand.

Starbucks sold coffee. McDonald’s sold hamburgers. Amazon sold books.

All of these companies are WILDLY successful. Why? Well 1) because they were able to launch seriously bad-ass hero products. Yes that’s true. But really what happened was 2) they were able to launch logical sku extensions of their hero products, and 3) launched equally bad-ass, entirely new products that were as successful or even more successful than their original hero products.

Starbucks sells lattes & cake pops. McDonald’s sells Big Macs & McNuggets. Amazon sells, well, everything.

But, the sad reality is, 99% of companies will NEVER successfully launch new products after their MVPs. Most companies are 1 hit wonders.

That’s cuz most of ‘em guess on what to make & create next. They think.. “hmm this makes sense” without truly diving into the data, seeing what is selling well for other brands, & making the most hedged decision possible. But that’s exactly what you can do with Particl. If I was thinking about launching Polo Shirts, I can go look at Vuori’s polo sales by color, style & sku.

Boom it’s so easy. Ok let’s have some fun. Here are some of my favorite new product fails of all time.

Colgate Kitchen Entrees: Back in '82, Colgate thought, "Why not spice things up in the frozen food aisle?" But folks were like, "Toothpaste in my pasta?" and the whole kitchen entrees idea just went down the drain. 

Bic Disposable Underwear: Remember when Bic, the pen and lighter peeps, decided undies should be disposable too? Turns out, folks weren't ready to wear something from a brand best known for doodling and sparking flames. 

Harley-Davidson Perfume: So, Harley-Davidson decided to dive into the perfume game in the '90s. Bikers revving engines and smelling like roses? Nah, folks couldn't wrap their heads around it, and the perfume venture hit the brakes real quick.

This was a near impossible task without Particl. Now, any operator can access the best data out there. If you’re interested in learning more, DM me. Or just sign up to talk to Particl here. You WILL NOT regret it.

I’ll never forget when we launched Birddogs lip balm. What a wildly horrible decision.

Thanks for reading. See you next week. Carpe diem.