Field notes
What we’re learning from building and scaling direct-to-consumer eCommerce brands: creative, paid media, AI and growth.
What makes a brand worth coming back to
Paid media can buy a first order. It can’t buy a second one. What we focus on after the checkout, and why it decides how far a brand can scale.
ReadBeyond Meta, Google and TikTok: AppLovin, native ads and what comes next
Once the core channels are working, growth eventually needs new audiences. When we add AppLovin, native ads and other channels, and how we judge whether they’re genuinely adding sales.
ReadAn always-on agent: what we’re learning from Hermes
Most AI tools wait for you to ask. We’ve been testing Hermes, the open-source agent from Nous Research, as a persistent assistant for the growth team. What works, and where we keep it on a short leash.
ReadMeta, Google and TikTok each have a different job
Judging every channel by the same last-click number is how good channels get cut. How we assign each platform a role, and measure it accordingly.
ReadThe MCP servers we actually use
A year and a half into the Model Context Protocol, here’s the set of connections that earn their place in our day-to-day work, and the security rules that come with them.
ReadUsing Higgsfield for AI video in paid social
AI video has become good enough to use in real ads, with the right workflow. Where Higgsfield fits in our production, what it’s good at, and where we still use real footage.
ReadClaude Code for creative ops: automating the unglamorous parts
Practical examples of how we use Claude Code to handle asset admin, copy variants, QA checks and reporting, and how we keep a human in charge of everything that matters.
ReadPaying creators for performance: how we run creator programs on Trybe
Flat-fee UGC buys content. Performance-based creator programs buy outcomes and a steady supply of ads. How the model works, where Trybe fits, and what to watch out for.
ReadGrowing a brand beyond a single channel
Many great brands were built on Amazon. Here’s what changes when an Amazon-native brand builds its own store and its own paid growth engine.
ReadAI creative that doesn’t look like AI
Audiences are getting very good at spotting generated content, and scrolling past it. The principles we follow so AI makes our ads better rather than more artificial.
ReadBuilding a creative team with Claude Code and MCP
How we use Claude Code and the Model Context Protocol to give a small creative team the research, briefing and reporting capacity of a much larger one.
ReadCreative at the speed of paid media
Paid growth runs on fresh creative. How we build a content system that keeps up with the algorithm instead of falling behind it.
ReadTariffs, landed cost and pricing when the rules keep changing
This spring’s tariff changes reset the economics of many imported products overnight. How we think about landed cost, pricing and supply chain decisions in a less predictable trade environment.
ReadHow AI changed the creative testing loop
When making an ad takes hours instead of weeks, the bottleneck moves. Here’s how we rebuilt our testing rhythm around that.
ReadHow we structure Meta ad campaigns
Fewer campaigns, broader targeting, more creative. The account structure we use for consumer brands on Meta, and the reasoning behind it.
ReadMER over ROAS: the number we actually manage to
Every ad platform claims credit for the same sale. Why we run brands on blended efficiency, and use platform numbers for direction rather than decisions.
ReadThe brief is the bottleneck
Creators and AI can now produce almost anything quickly. What they can’t do is decide what’s worth making. That job belongs to the brief.
ReadWhat we look for in a manufacturing partner
The cheapest quote is rarely the best partner. The questions we ask, the checks we run and the habits that keep product quality consistent as a brand grows.
ReadTest the offer before you test the ad
Many “creative problems” are really offer problems in disguise. How we check that the thing we’re selling is worth buying before we scale anything.
ReadWhy founder-led content still sells
In a feed full of polished ads, the person who built the product is one of a brand’s most persuasive assets. How we help founders show up without it becoming a second job.
ReadYour product page is your best salesperson
Ads bring people to the door. The product page decides whether they buy. A walk through what we put on a page, and in what order.
ReadUGC is a format, not a strategy
Creator content works because it feels real, not because it’s cheap or trendy. How we brief, source and use UGC so it actually sells.
ReadWhat a venture studio actually does
Not an agency, not a fund, not an aggregator. A plain explanation of the studio model, and why we think it fits consumer brands.
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