Podcast
Limited Supply
Hosted by Nik Sharma · EN
So many DTC brands think nice PR is more important than honesty. But that’s not us.
I'm Nik, and I'm tired of all the hot air in our industry. This podcast is the behind-the-scenes conversation that gets to the heart of what DTC is really like.
Nik Sharma founded Sharma Brands - and has no reason not to call people out, and share his spicy takes. Joined by the most experienced names in the industry, these are the conversations you won’t hear anywhere else.
We’ll be diving deep into industry moves, autopsies on failed brands, and why we’re investing in certain companies.
Episodes drop every Wednesday. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
170episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
S16 E8: Your Retention Strategy Is Probably Broken
Today00:56:07Summary readyWhat actually keeps customers coming back? In this episode of Limited Supply, Nik sits down with retention expert Joseph Siegel to break down the systems behind high-retention ecommerce brands. From his time leading growth and retention at Feastables to building retention programs for some of the fastest-growing supplement brands in the world, Joseph shares how modern retention goes far beyond email marketing. They dive into onboarding flows, product inserts, gifting strategies, subscriber psychology, and why the best brands obsess over customer experience at every touchpoint. They also explore how AI is changing ecommerce operations from CRO systems and generative email workflows to building smarter customer insights with tools like Claude, Manus, Fireflies, and OpenAI voice models. If you run a subscription brand, consumable product, or ecommerce company focused on long-term growth, this episode is packed with actionable retention strategies. --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter Follow Nik on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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S16 E7: How Brands Are Winning on Reddit Right Now
1w ago00:44:17Summary readyThe internet’s most trusted product reviews aren’t coming from brands anymore…and most companies still haven’t caught on. Nik Sharma sits down with Vinay Sridhar from Reddit, Inc. to unpack one of the biggest shifts in commerce right now: why Reddit has quietly become the most influential product research layer on the internet…and how brands are massively underutilizing it. Vinay breaks down how the platform went from “memes and karma” to a high-intent decision engine where real purchase decisions happen daily. They explore how AI has actually increased the value of human conversation, why Reddit threads are now baked into everything from Google results to AI recommendations, and what that means for the future of marketing. They also dive into the biggest mistake brands make on Reddit: showing up like a brand. If you’re a brand trying to win in a world flooded with AI-generated content, this episode is your guide to tapping into the last truly human corner of the internet. --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter Follow Nik on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma --- Connect with Vinay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinay-sridhar/ Learn more about Reddit Pro: https://nik.co/reddit-pro Explore Reddit Dynamic Product Ads: https://nik.co/dpa
Summary
S16 E6: The Funnel Strategy Driving Brands Right Now
2w ago00:23:31Summary readyMost brands don’t fail because of bad products…they fail because their funnels don’t convert. In this solo episode, Nik breaks down the exact funnel strategies behind today’s fastest-growing brands and introduces his concept of performance branding: building brand and driving conversions at the same time. He shares a practical playbook for testing angles, finding winning audiences, and turning one idea into a high-converting funnel using listicles, landing pages, and creators. Plus, he breaks down how AI is making it faster than ever to build and scale. If you want to improve conversion and scale smarter, this episode gives you strategies you can start using immediately. --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter Follow Nik on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
Summary
S16 E5: What $100M E-Commerce Brands Know That The Others Don’t
3w ago01:22:51Summary readyWhat actually separates a $2M brand from a $100M one? Nik Sharma joins John and Bart of The Checkout Podcast to break down what the fastest-growing e-commerce brands are doing differently, from product and brand to execution, hiring, and marketing strategy. The conversation goes beyond surface-level tactics and gets into the real drivers of scale: timing, talent, product quality, and relentless execution. Nik explains why most brands don’t fail because of marketing…they fail because they never build a true brand or a product good enough to scale. You’ll learn: - Why “right place, right time” still matters more than you think - The difference between a product business vs. a real brand - How top brands win with better execution, faster iteration, and more creative output If you’ve ever wondered why some brands explode while others plateau, this episode gives you the real answer! What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ Follow Nik on X: https://x.com/mrsharma Also, be sure to check out the Checkout Podcast at their YouTube channel
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S16 E4: 7 Strategies Behind Today’s Fastest Growing Brands
4w ago00:45:25Summary readyWhat are the fastest-growing DTC brands actually doing right now? In this solo deep dive, Nik breaks down the exact playbook behind today’s highest-performing consumer companies, especially in supplements, telemedicine, and subscription-driven businesses. After studying dozens of breakout brands and compiling 40+ pages of notes, Nik shares the 7 core strategies driving modern DTC growth, from acquisition to retention to product page optimization. At the center of it all is a major shift: the best brands aren’t optimizing for quick conversions anymore, they’re building for long-term value (LTV). Straight from the operators behind today’s fastest-growing companies—If you’re building, scaling, or optimizing a DTC brand, this episode is for you! --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ Follow Nik on X: https://x.com/mrsharma
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S16 E3: The Step by Step DTC Build Playbook
Apr 1601:30:55Summary readyWhat does it actually take to build a modern DTC brand? In this deep dive, Nik Sharma and David Perell unpack the real playbook behind today’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer companies from first idea to scale. Nik shares how top operators think differently: instead of guessing, they validate everything. From testing fake brands before launch to using Facebook as a real-time messaging lab, he explains how the best brands remove risk and find what actually converts before going all in. They also go deep on brand strategy, from owning a color and standing out on shelves to building real differentiation in crowded markets. Nik explains why most brands fail (they look the same), and how the best ones win by creating a moat across product, story, and distribution. If you’re building (or thinking about building) a consumer brand, this breaks down how to go from idea → traction → scale without guessing. --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ Follow Nik on X: https://x.com/mrsharma
Summary
S16 E2: How to Break Through Your Next Growth Ceiling
Apr 800:31:20Summary readyMost brands don’t fail because ads stop working. They fail because everything around the ads is broken. In this live session, Nik breaks down what actually separates $5–20M brands from the ones that scale to $50M+ and beyond. The answer isn’t “more spend” or “more creative,” it’s building the rest of the machine. He also breaks down the $500 (now ~$5K) “fake brand test” for validating ideas fast, why pre-launch email lists still win (and how to build one properly), and how top brands are using creators and content pre-launch. If you’re stuck between early traction and real scale (or trying to figure out how to actually use AI beyond surface-level tools) this episode is a deep dive into what’s working right now. --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns. Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter Follow Nik on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
Summary
S16 E1: The Real Launch Playbook for Founders
Apr 100:41:16Summary readyMost founders think launching a brand is about logos, packaging, and a Shopify theme. But the ACTUAL hard part? Figuring out why anyone should buy in the first place. In this solo episode, Nik breaks down the bootstrapped zero-to-one playbook for getting a brand off the ground without wasting money on the wrong agencies, bloated tech stacks, or unnecessary complexity. He walks through the real sequence that matters, starting with finding your wedge in a crowded category, then moving into website strategy, landing pages, tech stack, email and SMS, and more. Nik explains how to think about each part of the business in a lean, practical way so you can move faster, learn faster, and avoid expensive mistakes early. If you’re starting a brand from scratch - or trying to figure out why your early setup still feels messier and slower than it should - this episode is for you. --- What’s Instant? It's the secret weapon to triple your email revenue with AI-powered flows and campaigns.Instead of sending the same cart reminders to everyone, Instant gives every shopper a personalized email experience: Copy, products, and offers that adapt to your shopper’s behavior and purchase history in real time. Emails sent at the exact moment each shopper is most likely to buy. 11+ abandonment flows and smart multi-step campaigns live in minutes. Built for DTC marketers. Made for revenue growth. See why brands are replacing their ESP with Instant: instant.one/sharma. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
Summary
S15 E12: How to Actually Start Using AI Agents
Mar 2500:39:10Summary readyMost people are still talking about AI. Nik is building with it.In this solo episode, Nik does a live walkthrough of setting up his own ClawBot from scratch and explains why AI has already moved past the “nice productivity tool” phase into something much bigger. He breaks down how to think about bots as second brains, why every operator should be creating separate AI systems for different functions, and how tools like Claude, Telegram, Google APIs, and Fireflies can all work together to create real leverage. Nik shows exactly how he sets up a new bot, why he keeps accounts and permissions separate, and what kinds of tasks these bots can actually handle across content, reporting, research, creative, and operations. If you’ve been hearing people talk about AI agents but still haven’t built one yourself, this episode gives you a practical look at what the setup actually looks like…and why getting started now matters more than waiting for the tools to get even easier. --- Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Learn more at advertising.roku.com/limitedsupply. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
Summary
S15 E11: How TV is Working for DTC Brands (with Jeff Katz, Head of Emerging Sales at Roku)
Mar 1800:45:48Summary readyMost marketers think of Roku as just another ad platform, but the real opportunity is understanding how streaming is changing the entire media mix. In this episode, Nik sits down with Jeff Katz from Roku to break down what’s actually happening inside one of the biggest platforms in media, how connected TV has evolved, and why more performance brands should be paying attention. Jeff gets into how TV buying has changed from big creative bets and slow measurement cycles to a more flexible, measurable, self-serve world. Nik and Jeff unpack what DSPs actually do, how streaming fits alongside search and social, and what kinds of products tend to win on the biggest screen in the house. If you’ve ever wondered when TV should enter the mix, how Roku actually works, or what the next layer of growth looks like after Meta and Google, this episode is for you. --- Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Learn more at advertising.roku.com/limitedsupply. --- Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips. Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ And if you’re looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik’s most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts. Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma
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