The Secret to Building a Subscription Empire – Insights from Fab Fit Fun Co-Founder Daniel Broukhim

Summary

Living The Red Life: Episode Summary

Title: The Secret to Building a Subscription Empire – Insights from FabFitFun Co-Founder Daniel Broukhim
Host: Rudy Mawer
Release Date: January 9, 2025

In this compelling episode of Living The Red Life, host Rudy Mawer engages in an insightful conversation with Daniel Broukhim, the co-founder and co-CEO of FabFitFun. Daniel shares his journey from launching a simple blog to building one of the most successful subscription-based e-commerce platforms. This summary encapsulates their in-depth discussion, highlighting key points, strategies, and personal insights that entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts can apply to their ventures.

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1. Introduction to Daniel Broukhim and FabFitFun

Rudy Mawer opens the episode by introducing Daniel Broukhim, acknowledging his pivotal role in creating FabFitFun, a powerhouse in the subscription e-commerce space. Daniel's background is thoroughly explored, providing listeners with a foundational understanding of his entrepreneurial journey.

Notable Quote:

[01:14] Daniel Broukhim: "I launched FabFitFun initially as a newsletter and blog, evolving it into a broader retail e-commerce platform."

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2. Evolution of FabFitFun

Daniel chronicles the transformation of FabFitFun from its inception as a blog to a multifaceted business encompassing subscription boxes, owned brands, and B2B services. He elaborates on how the company expanded its offerings to include exclusive products and services like fulfillment, product development, and packaging for other brands.

Key Points:

• Origin: Started as a newsletter and blog before transitioning to a subscription box model.
• Expansion: Integration of a permanent e-commerce store and diversification into owned brands such as Our Place, Unhide, and Pup Box.
• B2B Services: Offering fulfillment, product development, sourcing, and packaging to other brands.

Notable Quote:

[03:06] Daniel Broukhim: "There’s the core retail business, the owned and operated brands, and the B2B side where we work with brands to enable their operations."

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3. Building a Subscription Empire

The discussion delves into the strategic advantages of the subscription model. Daniel explains how a stable subscription base allows FabFitFun to negotiate deep discounts with suppliers, leading to significant cost savings passed on to customers.

Key Points:

• Customer Confidence: Predictable customer returns enable large-scale purchasing.
• Cost Efficiency: Ability to place substantial orders reduces costs, benefiting both the business and customers.
• Enhanced Experience: Subscriptions enhance customer experience by providing curated, high-value selections.

Notable Quote:

[07:01] Daniel Broukhim: "The way we’re able to drive such deep discounts for our members is because we have the subscription base and we know with certainty that we’re going to have this many customers coming back."

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4. Marketing Strategies for Growth

Rudy and Daniel explore various marketing channels FabFitFun has employed to acquire and grow its customer base. Daniel highlights the effectiveness of Meta (Facebook and Instagram) advertising, the evolving role of influencer marketing, and the potential of emerging platforms like TikTok and Snapchat.

Key Points:

• Primary Channels: Meta advertising remains the most consistent and effective channel.
• Influencer Marketing: Initially successful but faced saturation; now adapting strategies to maintain impact.
• Emerging Platforms: Optimistic about Snapchat’s ad platform and cautious yet hopeful about TikTok Shop.
• CRM Efforts: Transition from primarily email marketing to incorporating SMS and push notifications for better customer engagement.

Notable Quote:

[08:45] Daniel Broukhim: "Meta has always been the biggest for us. Paid Instagram and Facebook are our most consistent channels."

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5. Lessons on Building a Subscription Business

Daniel shares invaluable insights into what makes a subscription model successful. He emphasizes the importance of offering flexibility, such as easy cancellation, and integrating digital components and community features that enhance the membership experience.

Key Points:

• Not Every Product Fits: Assessing whether a subscription model suits the product type.
• Member Benefits: Providing a curated selection and exclusive discounts enhances value.
• Community Engagement: Building a community around the subscription fosters loyalty and engagement.
• Adaptability: Continuously evolving the subscription offerings to meet customer needs and market trends.

Notable Quote:

[13:18] Daniel Broukhim: "For most products, you should allow people the opportunity for ours. Like, you can cancel any time."

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6. Product Selection and Merchandising

The episode highlights the extensive efforts behind product selection at FabFitFun. Daniel describes the robust merchandising team dedicated to sourcing, evaluating thousands of products, and ensuring compliance for large-scale orders. This meticulous process ensures that only high-quality, trending products make it into the subscription boxes.

Key Points:

• Team Size: A large team (30-40 people) focused solely on merchandising.
• Process: Rigorous evaluation, sampling, and compliance checks for each product.
• Innovation: Continuously researching and introducing new products to stay ahead of trends.

Notable Quote:

[15:02] Daniel Broukhim: "We have a pretty robust merchandising team… combing through thousands of products, talking lots, getting samples."

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7. Business Lessons and Entrepreneurship Advice

Daniel offers profound lessons drawn from his entrepreneurial experiences. He discusses the importance of hiring the right talent, balancing between experienced professionals and motivated newcomers, and the value of attitude over resumes. His approach emphasizes building a dedicated team that aligns with the company's vision and culture.

Key Points:

• Hiring Friends: Leveraging trusted relationships to build a loyal and competent team.
• Attitude Over Experience: Prioritizing candidates' motivation and ability to learn over their current experience level.
• Team Dynamics: Maintaining a balance between seasoned professionals and entrepreneurial spirits to foster innovation and growth.

Notable Quote:

[17:02] Daniel Broukhim: "Hiring for attitude is a big plus… smart, hungry individuals who are capable and want to learn can grow into their roles over time."

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8. Handling Setbacks and Failure

The conversation takes a personal turn as Daniel shares his resilience in the face of challenges, including his battle with cancer. His perspective on setbacks is shaped by his experiences, leading to a healthier outlook on business risks and financial fluctuations.

Key Points:

• Resilience: Personal health battles have instilled a strong sense of perseverance.
• Perspective on Money: Understanding that money is a tool, not a measure of personal worth.
• Business Cycles: Acknowledging that economic ups and downs are inevitable and maintaining a balanced outlook.

Notable Quote:

[19:49] Daniel Broukhim: "I have my health now… I enjoy what I do, and business has ups and downs. Money comes and money goes."

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9. Advice to Entrepreneurs: Starting Early and Delegation

Daniel advises aspiring entrepreneurs on the benefits of starting their ventures early, harnessing their youthful energy, and embracing the learning curve. He also emphasizes the importance of delegation and building a capable team to manage operations, allowing founders to focus on strategic growth and innovation.

Key Points:

• Starting Early: Leveraging energy and willingness to take risks in the early stages of entrepreneurship.
• Learning Curve: Embracing each "at bat" as an opportunity to increase the chances of success.
• Delegation: Building a team that can handle day-to-day operations, enabling founders to focus on larger strategic initiatives.

Notable Quote:

[22:36] Daniel Broukhim: "The more at bats, the more likelihood that you’ll succeed. Your energy at a younger age is insane... You get smarter."

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10. Conclusion and Connecting with Daniel

As the episode wraps up, Daniel provides listeners with ways to connect and learn more about him and FabFitFun. He encourages reaching out via email or social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

Key Points:

• Contact Information: Listeners can email Daniel at FabFitFun.com or find him on X and Instagram.
• Continued Engagement: Daniel expresses enthusiasm for future interactions and staying connected with the audience.

Notable Quote:

[25:13] Daniel Broukhim: "Anyone wants to reach out to me, they can find me on those platforms as well as email. And love to stay in touch."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Living The Red Life offers a wealth of knowledge from Daniel Broukhim on building a subscription-based business empire. From strategic marketing and product selection to personal resilience and team building, Daniel's insights provide a comprehensive guide for entrepreneurs aiming to scale their businesses and create lasting legacies. Rudy Mawer's engaging hosting brings out the depth of Daniel's experiences, making this a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricacies of successful e-commerce ventures.

Transcript

[A]

Not everything is meant to be a subscription, though you can leverage it. There's reasons why it makes the experience better for the customer and the business better. And so for us, the way we're able to drive such deep discounts for our members is because we have the subscription base and we know with certainty that we're going to have this many customers coming back. So we're able to place extremely large purchase orders on products that otherwise, you know, we'd be buying much smaller ones without that kind of confidence. And we're able to pass those savings on to our customers.

[B]

My name is Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, Take the red pill. Join me in wonderland and change your life. What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. We're joined today by my friend Daniel. Built a very big, successful business that we're going to dive into. FabFitFun. You've probably heard of it. One of the probably most successful subscription econ models that I've ever seen. Daniel, welcome to the show.

[A]

Thank you. Great to be here.

[B]

Yeah. So let's dive in. If someone doesn't know, you know, most people probably know the brand, right? But they might not know you're one of the geniuses behind it. Can you just give a couple of minutes on kind of yourself and what you do?

[A]

Yeah, sure. So I'm Daniel Brakeim. I am the co founder and co CEO of fabitfun. I was born and raised in L. A. Grew up there most of my life before going to Berkeley for undergrad and then UCLA for law school. When I was in law school, I decided I didn't want to practice and so started working on some of my own entrepreneurial initiatives, starting with the digital agency out of which I launched FabFitFun initially as actually a newsletter and blog. And then, you know, from there we evolved it into a broader retail e commerce platform where, you know, as. As part of FabFitFun, the core kind of offering is a subscription box. But, you know, now that offering has really evolved into discount retail shopping club. So as part of the. The membership that you get, you basically get a curated menu of about 50 to 60 items every season where you pick six and you get about $300 in value and you're paying $70 a season or $220 a year. So really effectively, it's $55 a season if you are buying an annual membership. And then you also get access to sales where you get the lowest price on the Internet. Yeah. And a lot of proprietary and exclusive products. So, you know, business has really evolved. There's like that core kind of consumer offering, which is the retail piece of it. But we also own and operate some brands. You know, some of them we own wholly, some we own jointly, and we help people launch brands through our platform. A couple people may know. One is called Our Place, which is a direct to consumer kitchenware company. And another one's called Unhide, which is a direct to consumer blanket company. And another one's called Pup Box, which is the subscription box for dogs. Yes. So we have that. We also have also forwarded it forward into, like the B2B side of things. We do fulfillment, product development, sourcing, and now starting to do some packaging for other brands as well. So it's really.

[B]

Yeah, it's like changed over the years, right?

[A]

Yeah. It started off literally as a blog.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then became a newsletter. Then we launched the subscription box and then we customized that. So it became a very personalized shopping platform. We could pick all the products and we started adding sales throughout the year. We have sales every single week. And now we have a more permanent e commerce store. We have actually a ton of products you can subscribe and save to, as well as more of that permanent store. So that's really evolved. And then on top of that, now we start, you know, if you want to break down. So there's like the core retail business.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There's the owned and operated brands, and then there's like the B2B side where we really work with brands and partner with them and help enable their operations.

[B]

Yeah. I'd love to dive in, like, you know, in a minute how that all came about because, like, you know, I've seen the same in my businesses. It's kind of like you launch with one thing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then you're like, wow, I'm crushing it here. And then it's sometimes like, I'm making these brands a bunch of money. Maybe I should start owning the brands or owning a piece of it. Right. And then sometimes it's like, you know, I guess for you, you get so good at maybe an area or you master it from doing it yourself that it's like. And there's a gap in the marketplace.

[A]

Well, yeah, actually, so for us, it was. It was actually it started from the customer side where there were certain products that we wanted to bring to our platform that we were un able to ask brands.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And so we're like, okay, well we can't get these at the price points that we want. We know we can make a product that is equivalent if not better. And that's how we launched Unhide initially. And we had tested a few other items actually. Like there was a fruit infuser water bottle that we launched. It was like our first branded product is actually branded under the FabFitFun brand itself. And we did the bottle, we put it in, in, in the boxes. It actually went crazy. We actually listed on Amazon, it was generating a ton of revenue off Amazon and then we started getting all these copycats. So we better if we want to really, you know, do this, like we should probably have some more infrastructure around it. So these were really kind of customer driven things that like we're like, okay, we can't really deliver the products they want so let's go make them. Yeah. But yeah, of course there's an economic benefit to also owning the brands because the brands don't just live on FabFitFun but they go off platform so people can then enjoy them elsewhere.

[B]

Well, and that's I guess a big pull for on the brand side. Right. Because you have such a big customer base and reach a lot of these brands, you know, by getting a partnership with you or getting in with you, they get exposure to thousands or millions of people.

[A]

100% you're getting, it's like we'd like to think about like a Super bowl for cpg. You know, you get in the box which, you know, the people who are buying the box itself are people who are looking for new things, looking to discover, looking to try. And a lot of them also, you know, they're on social media so they're posting, they're doing the unboxing, they're sharing the information. Their friends, they're usually the person, the friend group who is ahead of the trend and like kind of knows what's out there. So like, you know, I think we're like, you know, the kind of the spear for them. Like this is a great way to kind of get your brand out there. And like, you know we have obviously our core customer which is our shopper and like our member and like that's always going to be number one. But we do really think of ourselves as the partners as a brand and them as a second type of customer. So in a way it's a two sided business where we're not just serving the Consumer, but we're also serving these brands and now that we're starting to offer these other ancillary services like fulfillment, product development, sourcing, packaging, trade, finance, like we really help them bring everything to life.

[B]

Yeah, I love that. And, and I think we glanced over it. But you've done it at a big level too, you know, like a million, you know, a million subscribers plus. And I remember like when I had my agency about 10 years ago, subscription boxes were like all the rage. Like I remember at the time, there's so many of them. But what are some lessons for, you know, someone listening. That's an ecom play. Or in general building a subscription business. Do you have some kind of key things that you've learned?

[A]

I think every look, not all. Like subscription is an amazing tool. Right. You know, for us because we're able to, you know, count like in, in. So not everything is meant to be a subscription though. You can leverage it. Right. And there's reasons why it makes the experience better for the customer and the business better. Then you know, it can make a whole lot of sense. And so for us, the able. The way we're able to drive such deep discounts for our members is because we have the subscription base and we know with certainty that we're going to have this many customers coming back. So we're able to place extremely large purchase orders on products that um, otherwise, you know, we'd be buying much smaller ones without that kind of confidence. Uh, and we're able to pass those savings onto our customers. And so like for us, I think it's a tool that's super important to know that these are like members who are repeat and coming back because it allows us to take that confident buy. And then also because you know, we integrate so much marketing into the sort of platform itself, both with our customers, but with influencers who are promoting it and so on and so forth. The brands really benefit from that. So. Yeah, that's one Also, you know, we've added like sort of like a lot of things that we wouldn't otherwise be able to add. Like you know, we have digital components in the membership. A community like that you get as being part of a member that are kind of like these one to many goods.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That otherwise you wouldn't be able to deliver, invest in if you didn't have that sort of like repeat nature of the business.

[B]

Yeah. And how have you, you know, like acquisition and growth of the customer base. Obviously you had a good baseline from the newsletter.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But tried everything. TV ads, social Ads, influencers, like, what are the ones that you tried and stood out?

[A]

We've definitely tried everything at a different point in time, I'd say, you know, the one consistent has always been like, meta has always been the biggest for us. Paid at Instagram and Facebook. Right. Like the two of those. But like, at different points we've done an influencer. And so, like, and I think influencer for a while got like a little more challenging and there was a certain point in which influencer, it got saturated. Yeah, it was the greatest channel ever.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And now you have, like, new things popping up. Like, people are talking about Applovin all the time. I think, you know, obviously TikTok has been huge and it works for some brands but not for others.

[B]

Yeah, TikTok shop is like all the rage.

[A]

Yeah, TikTok shop is all the rage. I'm actually super optimistic about how Snapchat is going to perform in the next couple years because I think they're really fine tuning their sort of ad platform. Yeah, I think it's still early there, but I'm talking to people who are actually spending on Snap pretty successful. So, like, you know, it all depends. It's also like, you know, we have a slightly older customer, so ours, you know, will be in certain areas, like maybe CTV works for. For our brand and it might not work for another one. And like, I think that's another one where CTV is another one that people are talking about on tip of a lot of people's tongues.

[B]

I mean, you had success with like, old school and like radio, TV and podcast.

[A]

Been super successful radio. I think we tried it lightly, but it's never been a big push for.

[B]

It's visual. A lot of your products, right?

[A]

Yeah, sure.

[B]

The box.

[A]

Well, you could talk about the membership and the pod. The podcasts definitely work. And I guess podcasts now are usually both visual and. Yeah, like, I won. What percentage of podcast listeners are watching the video versus just listening?

[B]

But, like, there's a lot of trust in podcasts though, right? I'm like the influencer or the channel hosts, so.

[A]

Of course. And you know, when you can do podcasts, like, you know, the, the, the ability to target your demo is better than like traditional radio in some ways that, like, you know, it's just. I'm sure we've done some tests because, like, you know, we've done so many things over the course of like, you know, 13 years. Yeah. But like, I'd have to go back and like, so.

[B]

So if you say you started again today and you could only pick one platform forever channel to advertise. What would it be?

[A]

It's, it's meta is where the scale is like, it's like, you know, of course, like it's gotten so much worse over the last year. There's also like the apple changes. So like it's hard to know which is which. Like, because it was always. It's been competitive for a while but then it got super competitive and then all these changes happened and then also the economy softened. So it's like, it's, it's really hard to disaggregate like where things are coming from.

[B]

But like it's a bit of all of them. Right?

[A]

Like, exactly. Yeah. And God knows what's going to happen if TikTok gets banned. Like I don't know how that affects the price of advertising everywhere else.

[B]

It'll probably increase. Yeah. I mean matter and Instagram will become more saturated. And what about email? Like you've done a good job. There is, I guess part of your.

[A]

Email is always fried and true. Like the only thing I would say is like in terms of CRM efforts now, what wasn't big that has become really big is you know, obviously. I mean, I don't want to say they weren't. Well, SMS has become so much bigger.

[B]

Yeah. I was going to say.

[A]

And then push becomes so much bigger for people who have apps. So like, you know, I'd say like it started mostly with email as our CRM strategy and now it's evolved to include both of those.

[B]

Yeah. And I think that's like when I was running big E Com brands I took it biggest one to a million a day in revenue.

[A]

Yeah. And that's crazy.

[B]

Yeah, it's big. Yeah. But like text and push was like to underutilize like ninja things that people ignore still I think and, and, and.

[A]

To people to under understate the complexity in getting those things right. It's like to deliver the right text message clients, the right consumer and like. Yeah, of course there's you know how many letters and cost this and that. It's not cheap either.

[B]

Well, especially. Yeah. We had a list of like 200,000 on text and sometimes if you send like one character extra and it sends two texts, it's like, oh, that cost you another.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. So you have to be really careful. I mean we, we don't make those mistakes but.

[B]

Well, we don't.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No long term.

[A]

Then sometimes I'm like, why is the copy, you know. Well, it's, it's like you Be a little more creative. There's a lot of space here. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I think, yeah, it's. We have a lot of tools at our disposal in a way. So that's good in the sense that, like, there's a lot of opportunity, but it's also more complex than people realize.

[B]

Sure. And what about when we talk more about subscription? Like, do you think there's a lot of nuances in, like, how you position the offer and the product? I mean, obviously you are a subscription box. It's in your core. But I see a lot of ecom brands trying to force subscription now because everyone says, oh, it increases valuation and ltv. Like, how would you approach it when you're like, trying to build out?

[A]

I mean, I think to always be part of the offering. Yeah. For most products, I mean, some things may not make sense to subscribe for at all. Right. Like, you know, like a durable good that you're not going to ever replenish or get another one. But like, for the most part, you know, like, you should allow people the opportunity for ours. Like, you can cancel any time. You know, there's a lot of fungibility. I actually think you get a lot of benefits by going into the membership and seeing the other things, because the sales are actually a larger part of our business now.

[B]

Well, you're sound also like you've become a bit of like a Costco for you.

[A]

Right. That's a perfect way to frame it. So, like, we like to think of it, but like, we like to think of it as a Costco, but in the sense that it's. It's for like beauty and lifestyle and wellness and home, but it's also like the sort of the front of the life cycle of a product. It's like the latest products. The hottest.

[B]

Yeah. The newest. The newest stuff.

[A]

It's a lot of that's on our.

[B]

Platform, whereas Costco is just like random stuff.

[A]

Yeah. So it's also bulk. And we're not bulk. Like, you don't have to go buy like a gallon of.

[B]

Well, you're doing the bulk to give.

[A]

We're doing a bulk. But at the end consumer, like, you know, if you go buy a ketchup from Costco, you might buy like ketchup for a year. Yeah. Or us. If you're buying lip gloss, you're buying one. Yeah.

[B]

But you're getting the cost benefit.

[A]

Of course.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The bulk buy.

[B]

Yeah. And I guess it's.

[A]

That's a great way of putting it.

[B]

Yeah. And it's a great it's innovative, too, because you're. If you're a consumer, like, I'm very into, like, you know, my health and biohacking and stuff. So, like, I'm sure you get, you know, a lot of women that they want to stay cutting edge of the latest health gadget. Right. Or beauty gadget. So. And you're doing a lot of that research in advance. So how do you do that? Do you have a product team and their only job is.

[A]

Oh, I pick all the products still.

[B]

You.

[A]

No, I'm kidding. We have a. We have a pretty robust merchandising team. I don't.

[B]

How many do you pick? Do you still pick products?

[A]

I definitely, on occasion. Yeah. Will suggest the product to the merchandising team.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it's not like I, you know, I don't, like, force them to shake anything.

[B]

But you have several staff just sat there all day. That's their only job.

[A]

Oh, yeah. 30, 40 people on the merch team working. Yeah. It's a pretty big team, you know, because they're combing for products. Combing through thousands of products, talking lots.

[B]

Of brands, getting samples.

[A]

Yeah. And also. Yeah. And also, like, the compliance issues with, like, these massive orders where you're ordering a couple hundred thousand units of something. Like, there's a lot involved in the back.

[B]

Yeah, interesting.

[A]

And so, like, there's a sourcing component to it, but I would say that, like, you know, it's kind of like a joke. Like, you know, I want us to go into Food and Bev. And like, I. I sourced, like, our first hot sauce, and I put this hot sauce, this hot sauce called Zabs on there, and it sold out. And I was like, look, you know, who has higher sell through me or the. You guys? Like, they still, like, make fun of me, and I make fun of them. And, like, I have fun with immersion. Yeah. It's probably the most fun part of a. Yeah. Org in some ways.

[B]

Like Marishma's Christmas shopping. Right?

[A]

Exactly. It is like.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So, like, you know, so we're going to Food and Bev now. So that's. Yeah.

[B]

And what let's. You know, we talked a lot about the direct consumer marketing side, but obviously most of my audience are entrepreneurs and founders and CEOs, like me and you. And business isn't without failures, risk, and mistakes along the way. And the bigger you get, the harder the fall, I always say. So, like, building all this. Have you got any business lessons for the entrepreneur? Listening. Big things you would teach.

[A]

Oh, man. That aren't cliche. Or that are cliche. Like, cliches are pretty good. You know, I, you know, I think like, what are the things? Like, I, I think, you know, I'll say this. Like, there's like, I, you know, people say cash is king true. Like all these things, like any business.

[B]

Tips or big mistakes that you learn a ton from.

[A]

Like, big mistakes that we, you know, I think the one thing is things that I've gotten more comfortable with that maybe I would have done sooner. One, like, I was weary of hiring friends early on.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And now I realize, especially if you have smart friends, like, it could be a really good blessing and it gives them a great opportunity when they're loyal.

[B]

Often too.

[A]

Yeah, often. Right. Like, so like we've been able to really do well with people that we've known for a really long time and you know, are usually super high aptitude and like, will often also take a risk on someone who maybe not doesn't have all the experience yet for someone who has more potential, actually.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

Because like, I think like, you know, I think if you're like at like Amazon or Facebook or meta, and maybe this doesn't apply to like, you know, this is like, you know, you get to certain song. We got to large company. It's like, okay, do you bring in like large company people or do you kind of stay entrepreneurial?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think, you know, taking the risk on staying entrepreneurial and hiring people who kind of still are earlier in.

[B]

Their careers and have more like we made that message. I got to 110 staff. Yeah, me and I started hiring these great resumes executives and it was just honestly like some of my best staff are the ones that just have the good soft skills and attitude and personality.

[A]

Of course. And hiring for. For attitude is a big plus. Like, you know, usually they're my. Some of these, some of them are like people I'm close to already.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, we already have kind of like, yeah, we're known entity from that. That standpoint. But I think for me, like, okay, maybe they didn't have all the perfect experience, but they're super talented, right. And they can learn and they're like motivated to like prove themselves. And like, you know, often like in, you know, if you get to big stage, like, you're still out there as like a meta, right? Like who goes and gets the best in the breed in terms of people who have all the experience. So like, and like, it's also like a difference in cost. Right? And it's like you, you know, you start seeing Some success and then you all of a sudden, let's hire the talent. Like I've never seen and done this before and like, whatever. And like there's some truth. Like of course if you could find like the perfect person, right. Then like great, bring them in. But like often like the smart person who's hungry, who's capable, who wants to learn is more than good enough and they can grow into the role more than that over time. So like, you know, there's a balance. Like I wouldn't over lean in one direction versus the other. We've actually, you know, we went in one direction. Now we've kind of come back and like we're somewhere in the middle.

[B]

Yeah, you're course correct. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And then just a follow up question on the failure side. How as a personally, as an entrepreneur do you deal with setbacks and failure?

[A]

Honestly, I'm not too affected by. Yeah, like I think, you know, we've been lucky to have a lot of success. But I think also like I just, I, you know, I'm.

[B]

Has that changed? Because I don't know it's changed.

[A]

I would just say I had like a pretty unique perspective in the sense that like I also had cancer. So like I'm a cancer survivor.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so like for me it's like.

[B]

This is all fun is a business.

[A]

Yeah. This is like, it's a game. I'm probably in a position where like I'm never going to like, look, it doesn't, it's not fun to lose money.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. But like I'm probably in a position where like I'm never going to be on the street. Yeah. I'm never going to be like suffering. Right. Like you know, I may be able to buy a few more things or buy a few less things and like feel a little more comfortable. Feel a little like for the most part I'm going to live a pretty decent life at this point. So like you kind of keep that perspective and you're like, okay, well if that's the case, like what's the worst that could happen? Like I have my health now. Thank God it's back. I can, you know, spend time with my family. I have a lot of good friends. I enjoy what I do, which is, you know, it's fun. I love business. Like so like, yeah. And like business has ups and downs. I think you realize money comes and money goes and so like that gives you a much healthier perspective towards money. I think like, especially we've all seen it because like, you know, if you started your career. When I started my career was like 2010 and like had a 10 year run and then all of a sudden you're like, oh my God, 2020. You're like, I didn't know it could get like this in 2021. And like, obviously in Covid things were good for a while, but then they got bad. It's like the whole thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like you're just like, okay, well I haven't lived through the cycle.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And now that you live through the cycle, you're like, well, it could come and it can go. And like there's nothing, you know, there's not, it's not the end of the world. Yeah, I mean, I guess at the end of the world.

[B]

I agree. But I mean it's so good for people to hear because we're maybe seasoned now, like, you know.

[A]

Yeah, I hope it's helpful.

[B]

Yeah, no, it is, it is. Because I think, you know, I work with a lot of beginner entrepreneurs and they're in a lot of fear and when they have the setbacks, they think, oh, is am I going to ever make it? Is this for me? And when you become more seasoned, it's like you just learn to roll with the punches. Yeah, it's like part of the day, part of the week. Good. So, last couple of questions as we wrap up today. I always, you know, ask everyone this. So if you could go back in a time machine to your younger self and tell yourself one thing, what would.

[A]

It be but buy Tesla stock.

[B]

Oh yes, but the good one.

[A]

Yeah, that was sort of joking.

[B]

A.

[A]

Lot of it about how far back.

[B]

However you further our business or something. Any tip for yourself or mindset wise or something.

[A]

I mean, I think like the one thing is like you realize that like, you know, the at bats also matter. And so like I started my entrepreneurial career a little bit later in life and like when I think about like.

[B]

How old are you when you started your entrepreneur career?

[A]

Probably 27, 28. Okay. Like around that age. 27 ish. And I think like you can start earlier.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

If you want to be an entrepreneur, like it's like dog years. That's right now, two, three years, you're like learning like a sponge. And then after two, three, couple years you're kind of like, okay, you're swinging, you know, like you're like trying to make it happen. And like the more at bats, the more likelihood that you'll succeed. And like those five. And also like your energy when you're, I mean like You. I've a lot of energy, but, like, the things you're willing to do when you're like, 22.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's, like, insane. Like, I think back to, like, what I would do at 27 or 28 or 29, and like, if I did those same things now, I don't. It would be. I don't still want to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like, I couldn't. I couldn't fathom doing. I mean, they're smarter. You could work smarter. Yeah. But, like, am I gonna sleep on my couch and wake up in my office, like, you know, like, be up all night doing things? No, I don't, I don't.

[B]

I remember. I mean, they're like. I remember in my 20s, you'd have a white. I'd have a whiteboard in my house. You'd be up till 2am yeah.

[A]

Stopped in my office many times.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But. Yeah, but also, I mean, if you be. You get to a point where you realize you don't need to do that too. Right. Like, I think it's fun.

[A]

Yes. You get smarter.

[B]

I think it's fun when you want to do it. But, like, you also realize as you.

[A]

Get, like now, what's a marathon? It's not a race.

[B]

Yeah. And also as we get bigger, like over Christmas, for example, we gave the whole company ten straight days off, and people are like, aren't you working, Rudy? And I'm like, I don't really have any work to do because my work is my team.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if my team are off, I have. What are you going to do? Whereas 10 years ago, I did everything right. I would have been writing the emails, writing new landing pages, filming ads, setting up the ads, you know, doing the email inbox. So over time, I think you. You can step away more as you bring in the people.

[A]

Of course, like, at some point, like, you know, if you're not there for a week or two, not much should happen. Like, realistically six months or a year, you really have all the pieces in place. Like, there might be like, the major strategic initiatives or some things. Like your specific. Like, I work on certain specific things. Like buying a business. Yeah, exactly. Like, I specifically work on M and A. Yeah. And like, you know, I'm here in Miami and like, while I'm in Miami, it turns out that I might be getting an M and A deal done. Right. And so, like, it just. And maybe two. So, like, it just so happens that, like, that role, like, if I wasn't doing it right, and maybe someone else, like, maybe it would. It may or may not happen.

[B]

Yeah. Or be the right decision.

[A]

Yeah. Or the. Or. Yeah. And that's like, pretty critical.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So, yeah.

[B]

Yeah. No, I love it. So, last question. Easy one.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Where do people find you and learn more about the business?

[A]

So you can actually. You can email me, Daniel. Fabfitfun.com I'm also on X and Instagram now. I'm recently tweeting more. So you're on X but you still tweet? Yeah, I'm tweeting more, but I don't tweet a ton. But I post on both platforms from time to time. So maybe I'll be doing more of that in the future. But yeah, love to stay in touch. Anyone wants to reach out to me, they can find me on those platforms as well as email. And love to stay in touch. And thank you for having me.

[B]

Of course. Thanks for coming here. Yeah. This is a great convo and guys, hope you learn a lot and got to see behind the scenes on one of the biggest e comm subscription plays that's around. It's done under. Appreciate the knowledge here and as always, keep working hard and keep living the red lie. I'll see you guys soon.

[A]

Thank you.