OPERATORS
OPERATORS
In the world of eCommerce, a legendary WhatsApp group is rumoured to hold the secrets to unimaginable success. The catch? You must have nine figures in revenue to gain entry. The worlds biggest brands have denied its existence for years, until now. Three titans known as "Operators" are leaking the secret contents in an effort to share its wealth of knowledge with people like you.
- 58 minutes 20 secondsHow to Make AI Work for Your Brand With Two (Enterprise) Insiders
“95% of AI pilots fail. I lived that, full stop.” Craig Foldes (Founder of ChatWalrus, fmr. Global Head of AI at Crocs) and Matt Kruer (CIO at Bissell) join host Sean Frank to explore the state of AI within enterprise versus DTC brands.
The conversation covers how to find + celebrate the 10% of employees who are AI power users, what it looks like when adoption works, and why this is “for the rebels.”
They debate whether AI is the great equalizer or a quiet advantage, unpack which parts of the AI hype cycle are overblown, and make the case that the people who learn to master these tools now are the ones who will win, in their careers and in their companies.
Craig Foldes
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-foldes-1b949b96/
Matt Kruer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kruer-9a90b716/
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4 March 2026, 1:27 pm - 1 hour 36 minutes8 Failed Businesses Before Kitsch’s Beauty Empire
How did a married couple with $30k in savings and no business plan build one of the biggest beauty and accessories brands in America?
Cassandra Thurswell (Founder & CEO of Kitsch) and Jeremy Thurswell (COO), join hosts Mike Beckham and Matt Bertulli for their first-ever joint podcast interview.
Together, they unpack the full story of building a bootstrapped empire from a living room apartment to over 30,000 retail doors and more than 10 million ecommerce orders.
Cassandra and Jeremy open up about eight failed businesses before Kitsch, catching their manufacturer stealing IP on their “honeymoon” in China, and navigating a terrifying pivot that led to 70 million face masks. They share how they’ve protected their marriage while running a company together, the reality of balancing motherhood with being a CEO, and why scarcity — not funding — created the focus that made Kitsch unstoppable.
Learn more about Latinas in Beauty, where Cassandra serves on the Advisory Board: https://latinasinbeauty.org
Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the our channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://9ops.co/channels
3 March 2026, 12:49 am - 1 hour 31 minutesKat Cole: From Hostess to AG1’s CEO With +$500M in Revenue
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Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case and Lomi, and Mike Beckham, CEO of Simple Modern, sit down with Kat Cole, CEO of AG1, to trace one of the most unconventional executive careers in consumer. From hostess at Hooters at 17 to vice president by 26, to leading a multi-billion dollar restaurant empire through the pandemic, Kat's path defies every traditional playbook.
The conversation covers how crisis sharpens leadership into an arrow, why Kat’s “Hotshot Rule” has been a weekly practice for nearly two decades, and how AG1 quietly spent two years shoring up operations and clinical science before unleashing a wave of launches — new products, new flavors, a Costco debut, and Hugh Jackman — in a single six-month run. They also dig into the Athletic Greens to AG1 rebrand, what it really means to stay close to your customer when you're fully remote, and why Kat believes product quality is the most underrated growth strategy in the game.
26 February 2026, 2:00 pm - 1 hour 13 minutesPractical Tips on AI, Brand & Growth With Taylor Holiday
Is your brand built to survive the next five years or just the next quarter? Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, and co-host Katy Mimari, Founder and CEO of Caden Lane, sit down with Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective, to reflect on the wild ride from 2020 to 2025 and what it means for the road ahead. Together, they unpack what worked, what failed, and what they'd do differently as operators who've built and scaled brands through one of the most volatile decades in e-commerce history. The conversation covers how AI is quietly reshaping creative production and how unchained AI outperforms humans in head-to-head studies. Taylor breaks down why TikTok Shop is essentially an affiliate Ponzi scheme but still an arbitrage opportunity. Sean reveals his new supplement brand and the logic behind launching new brands every year, while Katy shares how wholesale is really just training wheels for her ultimate goal of owned retail.
Finally, all three dig into the Four Peaks framework — a practical, steal-worthy strategy for engineering conversion spikes and clearing your funnel all year long.
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25 February 2026, 2:00 pm - 54 minutes 27 secondsMastering Leadership Is Mostly Saying No (And Living With It)
Leadership isn’t about being liked. It’s about making hard decisions, living with the consequences, and still winning.
Mike Beckham, Matt Bertulli, and Jason Panzer sit down to talk honestly about what leadership really costs when the stakes are high. They dig into hiring and firing decisions, culture trade-offs, growth versus profitability, and the personal pressure that comes with running large, successful businesses. The conversation avoids motivational clichés and focuses on what actually works when real money and people are involved.
The episode moves beyond strong opinions into the results behind them, including margins, growth trade-offs, enterprise value, and scale. They explore why most people shouldn’t lead, how insecurity quietly damages businesses, and why saying no is often a leader’s most important job. Along the way, they challenge common leadership advice and ask uncomfortable questions about who leadership is really for.
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18 February 2026, 2:00 pm - 59 minutes 36 secondsThe Next $100B “Switch”: Inside COMFRT’s Affiliate Playbook
How does a bootstrapped brand go from $0 to $600 million in three years — without raising a single dollar?
Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, and Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case, break down the explosive rise of COMFRT, the anti-anxiety travel brand founded by Hudson Leogrande that has shattered every assumption about what’s possible in ecommerce.
They unpack the tactics, the mindset, and the cashflow mechanics behind one of the fastest-scaling bootstrapped brands in history.
The conversation dives into COMFRT’s radical affiliate strategy — recruiting thousands of zero-follower creators and turning them into brand missionaries through Discord communities, weekly coaching calls, and a grueling “1,000 videos in a month” challenge.
Sean and Matt debate why TikTok Shop is a top-of-funnel awareness play that no one profits from as a standalone channel, how paying affiliates after the sale creates a massive cashflow advantage, and why having a selfish mission — one that directly helps the buyer — is the secret ingredient most brands are missing.
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11 February 2026, 1:00 pm - 59 minutes 9 secondsThrasio Bought It, Ben Bought It Back: A Founder Who Lived It Tells All
More than the incredible (true) story of one founder’s journey to turn around the company he created, this is a public coaching session on what it takes to win as a 6–7 figure brand.
Sean Frank and Matt Bertulli sit down with Ben Leonard, founder of Beast Gear, a strength and conditioning brand he built from scratch in Scotland, sold to Thrasio in 2019, and bought back after watching it decline for years.
Together, they dig into what went wrong, what Ben is doing to resurrect it, and why he’s launching a new product at the same time. The conversation covers the rise and fall of the Amazon aggregator model and the brutal math of earn-outs when a buyer stops investing in your brand. Ben walks through how Beast Gear went from $6 million in revenue to barely $500k after Thrasio killed the website, email marketing, and social media.
The hosts also guide Ben through their turnaround playbook, from TikTok Shop and founder-led content to reclaiming damaged Amazon listings.
Connect with Ben Leonard
https://www.youtube.com/@benleonardpro
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjleonard/
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4 February 2026, 2:30 pm - 1 hour 46 minutesExecution Monsters: True Classic’s Ryan Bartlett & Ben Diamond
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What does it take to build a ~$300M apparel brand from scratch?
Matt Bertulli and Mike Beckham sit down with Ryan Bartlett, Co-Founder, and Ben Diamond, CEO of True Classic, for their first-ever joint interview. Together, they unpack how a professional poker player and a Meta executive became one of the most formidable partnerships in DTC + built a men’s and women’s wear empire on the back of white t-shirts.
From the early days of consulting on Facebook ads to their obsessive focus on fit, speed, and customer value, Ryan and Ben reveal why they cut 80% of their product catalog, how tariffs forced their most profitable quarter ever, and what it really means to “seek the truth” instead of being right.
Plus, they get into AI-generated creative, why big brand activations are overrated, and the surprising power of giving away $100 poker chips to Uber drivers.
29 January 2026, 2:00 pm - 1 hour 3 minutes“Fame Is Not a Business Model”: Celebrity Brands Exposed
What separates billion-dollar celebrity brands from total flops
Sean, Matt, and Katy Mimari (CEO of Caden Lane) break down why some partnerships become massive exits like Rhode and Skims, while others like The Honest Company and Kylie Cosmetics struggle to survive. They dive deep into deal structures, red flags to watch for, and the real math behind putting famous names into your brand.
The crew debates whether fame equals influence (spoiler: it doesn’t), why alcohol brands have an unfair advantage, and how Gordon Ramsay became the blueprint for celebrity integration. Sean shares the inside story of his MKBHD partnership at Ridge — including how they structured the deal, why YouTubers beat traditional celebrities for DTC brands, and whether Guy Fieri might be showing up in a Ridge ad soon.
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28 January 2026, 3:00 pm - 1 hour 2 minutes8 Practical Money-Making Tips for 2026 (Part 2)
What’s the one thing holding your business back?
Sean Frank, Jason Panzer, Mike Beckham, and Matt Bertulli reunite for part two of their 2026 predictions to deliver actionable money-making tips for ecommerce brands.
The full squad shares why entrepreneurs have more opportunity than ever, then dives into tactics you can implement today: a corporate gifting platform generating thousands in daily passive revenue, the case for getting off Meta sooner than you think, why plain text founder emails crush designed campaigns, and how AI should be exposing the bottleneck in your business.
They also unpack multi-node distribution strategies, why dramatically lowering international prices can increase profits, and the psychology of value when competitors are right next to you on the shelf versus your website.
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21 January 2026, 11:08 pm - 1 hour 19 minutesDanny Yeung, CEO of IM8 & Prenetics: Operators Titans E009
What does it take to go from high-school dropout to building a $100M+ brand with David Beckham?
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Matt Bertulli and Sean Frank sit down with Danny Yeung, co-founder and CEO of IM8. Danny shares his journey from immigrating to San Francisco at age five, to telemarketing at fifteen, to partnering with one of the world’s most famous athletes and building the fastest-growing supplement brand in history.
The conversation covers Danny’s scrappy early ventures in dessert franchises and hotel furniture, his bold move to Hong Kong to build a Groupon competitor that sold within six months, taking Prenetics public as Hong Kong’s largest COVID testing provider, the gut-wrenching decision to cut 2,000 employees down to under 100, and finally landing David Beckham as a co-founder to launch IM8.
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