Obvi

When we started Obvi, Facebook was the golden ticket. Today? You need multiple platforms just to survive. Nick Shackelford dropped a bombshell on our podcast - BRĒZ spent over $500K on AppLovin last month alone. Not because they wanted to test a new channel. Because they HAD to. This is the brutal reality of building in 2025. Platform dependency can be a death sentence at scale. Diversification isn't just a "nice-to-have". No founder wants to hear this, but the platforms you've mastered today might restrict you tomorrow. Are you prepared? Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel, Chew on This!

Last year our US business grew 13%, while our international markets grew 7X faster 🚀 That’s why we were able to hit $40M in annual revenue in 2024. But it almost never happened… A few months ago, I shared a $12M mistake I made at Obvi - waiting too long to expand beyond the US. I initially saw international as a "we'll get to it eventually" revenue stream, but the numbers don't lie—like I said, our international markets grew at nearly 7 times the rate of our domestic business. 🤯 Looking at Q4 alone: 🇨🇦 Canada: $2.45M in total sales, up 40% YoY 🇦🇺 Australia: $1.63M in total sales, up 69% YoY 🇬🇧 UK: $1.31M in total sales, up 45% YoY I recently sat down with Darwish Gani and the OpenBorder team, and they confirmed this isn't just an Obvi thing—most of the top brands they work with are seeing international markets outpace domestic ones. 📈 In fact, their data shows their top brands saw 5x the growth in markets outside of the US in Q4 of 2024. That’s why this year we're doubling down on international in ways we hadn't even considered before: ✅ Expanding into new channels – launching on Amazon and TikTok Shop in our top international markets  ✅ Onsite CRO for international shoppers – shipping price testing by region, delivery promises for fast shipping regions, and localized upsell flows to boost AOV  ✅ Better post-purchase experience – leveraging OpenBorder's upcoming Gorgias integration to streamline international customer support Our partnership with OpenBorder isn't just moving our products beyond our borders. They help us think strategically about global growth, market by market, channel by channel. So if you're still thinking international is a "someday" strategy, don't wait months and lose millions like I did. The opportunity isn't just theoretical.  It's showing up in our P&L RIGHT NOW and will take our brand to a new level in 2025.

One of the best strategies I’ve learned during my career is a simple but powerful one… I take every call, and reply to every LinkedIn message. It doesn’t matter if it’s an unfamiliar number, a small opportunity, or a connection that seems unrelated at first. I will ALWAYS pick up or respond. Why? Because relationships are the foundation of everything. I think I answer, on average, 45 spam calls a week! You wouldn’t believe how many “random” calls have turned into meaningful conversations, valuable partnerships, and game-changing opportunities. Three years ago, I got a cold call from a manufacturer. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Now, moving forward to today, they’re our #1 manufacturer, producing hundreds of thousands of units for us annually. All because I answered the phone. I know spam calls can make it easy to hit decline. But for me, every call is a chance to connect and grow. What about you? How do you approach networking?

One small change we made in Q4 just showed up in our metrics review. I say “small”, but the impact stopped our entire planning meeting. “That can’t be right, can it?” Like most DTC brands, we're constantly optimizing our tech stack. A few months ago, we decided to switch our onsite popup management to a new tool called Alia. We didn't have big expectations. I've seen dozens of popup tools and most of them do the same thing. But we implemented it at the end of the year to see if it could move the needle. Then I saw December's numbers → - 45,000+ popup views - 24.6% email signup rate (nearly 1 in 4 visitors) - Almost 10% conversion on those signups - $97k in directly attributed revenue Had to do a double-take. So here's the benefit of testing stuff and not being satisfied with the status quo. Sometimes you try something thinking it's just another A/B test, then months later the data shows you it was actually a pivotal decision. Quick backstory: I met the founder Shaan Arora at an event last year. We got talking about conversion optimization (you know how founders are - we can't help ourselves). He mentioned what they were building at Alia. Like every CEO, I get pitched tools constantly. A lot of them I reject, because they don’t fit or we don’t need them. But we try to test things that might move the needle. And I really liked what Shaan had to say about his vision for Alia. Glad he convinced me. This crushed our previous popup, so now we’re thinking of all sorts of ways to lean in and leverage it moving forward. This is what fascinates me about building - your biggest wins sometimes come from the places you least expect. While everyone's chasing the next big innovation, sometimes it's the small optimizations - those “why not, let’s try it” moments - that compound into real impact. One of those moments that reminds me why we're so obsessive about testing and measuring everything. Never assume you know where your next breakthrough will come from.

Feel more prepared than ever as we arrive at Walmart HQ in Arkansas to present Obvi’s 2025 plans. . At the same time, feel more anxious than ever because this opportunity potentially sets up Obvi for another major growth year. . Wish Us Luck! Here we go Albert Ankit Ashvin 🚀

Tomorrow is one of the first days I am pretty anxious about...here's why: . We have Sahil Bloom coming on the Chew On This Pod!!! - I've been following Sahil Bloom and his content for years now, and his insights have genuinely shaped the way I think—not only about business but also about personal growth, life, and the power of storytelling. His ability to distill complex topics into actionable takeaways is remarkable. Whether it’s his sharp takes on finance, life lessons, or deep dives into the nuances of entrepreneurship, Sahil has influenced me in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I first came across his content. - Tomorrow’s conversation will be a deep dive into the journey of a man who has built not just a following, but a movement—helping entrepreneurs, creators, and everyday people unlock their potential. We’ll discuss everything from scaling businesses to navigating life’s complexities and how Sahil continues to provide value through every project he touches. For myself, Ashvin and Ankit, this is more than just an interview—it’s a moment to connect with someone whose words have motivated us to push harder, think bigger, and strive for more. If you’re as big a fan of Sahil as I am, you won’t want to miss this one. - We will use some questions from our network and call you out specifically, so if you were meeting Sahil tomorrow, what's one question you have for him? Drop it in the comments below! 👇

I got a lot of DMs from my post yesterday wanting to see how we track cash flow So let’s bring it back to the basics of cash flow management 101 Building a cash window for your business, so you have perfect visibility over the next 13 - 26 weeks If you’re just starting out, utilize Google Sheets to track EVERYTHING (ours attached) All the inflows (D2C revenue, Amazon revenue, Wholesale & Retail revenue, International revenue, etc.) And all your outflows (both fixed and variable). Why not more specific? Remember, you're building a cash window – don’t project out every tiny expense Just make strong assumptions on your major cash outflows Like labor outflows, credit card payments, rent, inventory, debt repayments, and weekly operating expenses that we pay with cash Use data driven assumptions across the board ✅ Expected revenue from existing retailers (include trade spend + product refreshes/expansions) ✅ Variable expense assumptions from historic averages on %’s of revenue ✅ Discount & COGS price assumptions from more recent trends/data Get these locked in and you’ll build out a better cash window. Obviously there’s a lot more that we track that didn’t fit in the screenshot So if you want – I can work on a templated version to send to you guys – let me know!

This one text message completely changed how we run Obvi. Our finance team sends a daily P&L to our execs & board members - it’s changed how we: 1️⃣ View our business daily 2️⃣ Evaluate where to put our efforts 3️⃣ Maintain transparency Keeping the pressure on at all times. It may look like a lot – but let’s dive into how it's given us a magnified look into our business and why you should add this to your daily communication. 1️⃣ First - track ad spend and ecom revenue: ❓Did we launch a different SMS style today? ❓Did we send email on a restocked product? ❓New ad doing well? ❓Meta found pockets to spend more in? This allows us to see what's moving the needle… 2️⃣ But our daily P/L is for AMZN & D2C, so we’re not looking at it and saying we need to work on Walmart We use it to  📈observe trends against changes we’ve made (i.e. ones listed above) 📉see how the numbers get affected ✍️take action where needed 3️⃣ Transparency is the biggest thing, tbh Other than being on the same page, getting your board & execs guidance is key. Founders/operators can get lost in the weeds, or get affected by the volatility in D2C Your board keeps you level headed on expectations/projections/risks. Overall – this has changed everything at Obvi It’s improved communication with our team and allowed us to keep a close pulse on everything so we can improve our efforts ASAP. 🚨 We pull this from our incredible cash flow tracker – lmk if you’d like to see it in a post.

$5000, 2 SKUs and a dream - that’s how we started Obvi 5 years ago Wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. Happy 5th birthday Obvi⚡️

This collagen king is making it easier to look great and feel great. If you enjoyed this: Show Obvi some love. Check out my other 60 Second Pitch episodes. And follow along for more. Ronak Shah - Obvi #60secondpitch