Happy Thursday!
Today’s Squad
Nate Rosen (Founder, Express Checkout) → 1:10PM CT
Lauren Huttner (Founder, Pebble) → 1:45PM CT
Top Stories
Meta Paid Subscriptions - Meta is rolling out consumer subscriptions globally for Instagram Plus ($3.99/mo), Facebook Plus ($3.99/mo), and WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/mo), unlocking extras like profile customization, super reactions, and story insights. It's also testing new professional plans for creators and businesses plus AI-focused plans for all users — all branded under a new umbrella called "Meta One."
Reddit x Shopify - Reddit and Shopify announced a partnership, sending $RDDT up 7% and $SHOP up 4%. “Now, the Reddit Shopify integration is widely available to global advertisers. Shopify merchants can start running their first Reddit DPA campaign within minutes.”
Lululemon Ends Proxy Fight with Founder - Lululemon settled its boardroom fight with founder Chip Wilson (8.7% stake), seating two of his director picks in exchange for him halting public criticism for 18 months and capping his stake. The clash kicked off late last year as Wilson called the brand "uncool" with the stock down 60%+ over 12 months — shares are up 3.5% premarket on the news.
Game Selection Beats Skill, Every Time
By Colin Dougherty // 1 min. read
Sometimes founders try for years (better creative, tighter ops, more hustle) and lose anyway.
Will Nitze built IQ Bar from a Kickstarter into a $59M business in 2024, doubled it in 2025, and he's now in multi-nine-figure territory growing 50%+ a year. He didn't open with grit, he opened with the board you choose to play on.
Game selection beats skill.
“The category you pick matters more than how good you are inside it.”
The category has to be worthwhile on its own, and you have to be uniquely built to win it. A party-scene influencer launching alcohol is uniquely suited. But your skill set is one input, not the whole equation.
Protein bars are enormous and growing — but ruthless. Will took that trade on purpose.
When bars began to hit a ceiling, he launched Bytes — basically half a bar, same supply chain, brand-new addressable market. You don't expand TAM by squeezing the game you're in. You add an adjacent one that shares your rails.
Skill is table stakes now. Everyone's working hard. Everyone's pushing creative. The founders who win picked a field where winning was even possible in the first place.
Choose your game like your ceiling depends on it. Because it does.
Highlight Reel: 2x Your Ad Performance by Eliminating Fraudulent Ad Impressions
Timeline: Town Square
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Made Possible By:
Axon by AppLovin - Reach 1B+ new customers; advertise on mobile games.
Seguno - the Shopify-native marketing suite for brands that run it themselves.
Insense - The all-in-one UGC and influencer marketing platform.
Postscript - Make more money from every SMS message.
Proxima - Use real conversion data to power your creative briefs.
Northbeam - Measure the “unmeasurable,” make your marketing profitable.
Rokt Aftersell - More profit from the orders you’re already getting.
Universal Ads - TV ads that deliver for performance marketers.
See you live,
Ecomm Cowboy Team