Hey Cowboys,
Happy Thursday! We’re bringing you a fresh round of DTC, retail, tech, and ecommerce news to unpack this week.
Today’s lineup 👇 and stories.
The New DTC Playbook: Audience, AI & What’s Working Now
From turning content into commerce to building brands with agentic AI, plus the latest performance marketing trends from Northbeam.
Jimmy Kim - Co-Founder & CEO, eCom Email Marketer
Phil Kyprianou — Founder & CEO, Hubbvee; Founder & CEO, GothRider Coffee
Kevin Espiritu — Founder & CEO, Epic Gardening
Bryan Bumgardner — Northbeam Weather Report
Goodles Acquired by Barilla
Barilla to Acquire Goodles, the Mac and Cheese Brand That Took Share From Kraft Italian pasta giant Barilla has agreed to acquire Goodles, the Santa Cruz-based better-for-you mac and cheese brand, in a deal announced Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed. Goodles will operate as a standalone brand with co-founder and CEO Jen Zeszut staying on and all 73 employees retained.
The Rundown:
Goodles launched in 2021 and grew its share of U.S. shelf-stable mac and cheese from 0.8% to 7.8% in three years, while Kraft fell from 42.2% to 36.6%.
About 80% of its sales come from consumers new to the category or buying more of it.
The company was valued at $88 million in 2023, turned profitable in 2024, and was approached by Barilla in June.
Zeszut said Barilla enables international expansion while Goodles keeps control of product, recipes, and marketing. Over 90% of Americans have never tried the brand.
The deal remains subject to regulatory approval.
The acquisition gives Barilla a foothold in a U.S. category it did not previously own, anchored by a brand that grew almost entirely at Kraft's expense. Goodles gets the manufacturing and distribution muscle to reach the rest of the market.
Top Stories: GoPro Pivots to Defense, Temu's Fake Creators, Jake Paul Backs Archive
GoPro Merges With Starman Optical in $285 Million Deal, Pivots to AI and Defense GoPro announced a definitive merger with Starman Optical, a privately held U.S. optical-photonics company, in a deal paying shareholders $285 million in cash, or $1.14 per share, while they retain about 10% of the combined company. The 24-year-old camera maker will expand into AI data centers, government, defense, and aerospace while keeping its consumer camera and subscription business.
Research Claims 73 of Temu's Top 100 Meta Creators Are Likely Fake Temu spent as much as $962 million boosting creator content on Facebook and Instagram in the UK and EU over 16 months, and 73 of its top 100 partner creators are likely fake accounts, according to research from Czech nonprofit Online Risk Labs reported by Fortune. Temu and Meta did not comment; two independent ad experts told Fortune the data was plausible.
Jake Paul's Anti Fund Leads Funding Round in Creator Marketing Platform Archive Anti Fund, the venture firm run by Jake Paul, Logan Paul, and Geoffrey Woo, co-led a strategic funding round in Archive, the AI-native creator marketing platform, alongside Florida Funders. The round, announced Tuesday for an undisclosed amount, included Battery Ventures, Stripe, Tiger Global, Lux Capital, Human Capital, and more than 50 founders and executives.
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See you on the stream,
Ecomm Cowboy Team