Davis

Grocery assortment analytics @Walmart // Nerding out on retail and ETA // Opinions my own

[Brett Caughran @FundamentEdge]

We tell young people in our society that end of the rainbow is retirement at 65.

We ought to tell them that "there is going to be this short but beautiful golden window from roughly age 3 to roughly age 12 where your kids are not only easy (comparatively to bottles & diapers), but are going to be these beautiful little creatures and it will pain your heart to be away from them for too long. So, prepare in your 20's, financially and career wise, to build that flexibility into that chapter of your life".

You don't get another shot at living the "golden window". And, for me, leaning hard into that golden window has made everything else in my life feel fairly insignificant in comparison. I have made plenty of mistakes as a father, but what I won't have is the regret of having been distracted and absent from these formative years. In some cases, that has required financial sacrifices (declining a particular career opportunity that would have required relocation), but I personally have zero regrets.

I also hear from some ambitious & successful people with a 4 year old that say "I've lost my ambition, I am so immersed in fatherhood". At least for me, and a number of my friends, it comes back. You can't keep an ambitious person down and if you have the fire, hanging at a playground on too many Tuesday afternoons is going to feel like torture after too long.

My three boys are approaching 13, 11 & 9, and it's much different than 7, 5 & 3. This summer, for example, they slept until 11am and I hard an unencumbered 6am-12pm to work (being on PT helps), then got another great window 7-11pm, but was able to be present in the heart of the day, then weeks when they were at basketball camp, etc. It gets easier, your time frees up again (there's a sadness to that too), but I'm back to working as intensely as I did pre-kids just because my day to day presence requires fewer hours than it did before (also, my wife is just superbly wonderful). And that is the beautiful gift of entrepreneurship (or at least my sort of business), the ability to deliver still a high level of output but work that around your life rather than the opposite.

TLDR, grind before, and grind after. Prepare for the golden window.

[Dr. Julie Gurner @drgurner]

Outliers have two components if we break it down:

1. They deeply believe they can do things others cannot do
2. They work relentlessly to make it the truth

That’s the whole game. If you carry these two things, you'll win.

You should be more delusional:
https://t.co/XYl6AUjwxo

[David Senra @FoundersPodcast]

The simple genius Jannik Sinner:

[Moses Kagan @moseskagan]

The game (in case no one took the time to explain it to you):

Efficiently converting your work into ownership of scarce or productive assets.

[Tim Ferriss @tferriss]

“What could possibly be more important than your kid? Please don’t play the busy card. If you spend 2 hours a day without an electronic device, looking your kid in the eye, talking to them and solving interesting problems, you will raise a different kid than someone who doesn’t do that. That’s one of the reasons why I cook dinner every night. Because what a wonderful, semi-distracted environment in which the kid can tell you the truth. For you to have low-stakes but super important conversations with someone who’s important to you.” — Seth Godin

[Tim Urban @waitbutwhy]

Good day to remember just how big that green tree is

[Morning Brew ☕️ @MorningBrew]

“The market will regulate itself”

The market:

[Jesse Pujji @jspujji]

Want to build an amazing network?

Do these 5 things every day:

• Help someone
• Thank someone
• Praise someone
• Encourage someone
• Meet someone new

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

Liquid Death just out here having a good time

First a branded casket, now a cold plunge 🤣

Fun team to follow

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@derekhalpern Oh yeah good point on power bar. Congrats on the Walmart launch!

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@FranchiseMnA @DanReese21 Happened to be in town so I swung by. Best milkshake I’ve had for sure! Will be a fun brand to follow.

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@bigotryexpert @realtylerhannon @trentjhughes And the jumps are SO FUN

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@realtylerhannon @trentjhughes 3 Fortune 500 companies headquartered here investing heavily in it: Walmart, JB Hunt, Tyson

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

Lots of BYU and U of U alum in Northwest Arkansas with strong nostalgia for brands like Swig (myself included).

Cool to see it working outside Utah, but still in an area with a very high concentration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I wonder how much that will factor into their expansion plans!

[Eye for Retail @EyeforRetail_]

Tips for CPG brands pitching big retailers:

Be armed with:

1. a succinct explanation of the product and why it’s different

2. samples to see, touch, feel and try if appropriate

3. have all the necessary administrative information on hand just in case – price, margin, UPC codes, images, supply chain details, compliance certifications, etc

4. consumer insights and data, and a succinct narrative that establishes your product at the centre of those insights

5. sales data showing how strongly your product performs elsewhere vs the competition

6. plans to market the brand to bring in customers to their stores

7. examples of your merchandising options to execute in stores

8. your plans to support the brand in their stores through promotions, trade spend and demos

But, there’s one more incredibly strong piece that should be included.

Justification and evidence for how your product will be INCREMENTAL to the category.

The buyer does not just want to replace sales of one product with your product for no net gain. They want to attract new incremental customers and sales. Because they are incentivized to grow their category.

Show why your product will help them reach their own goals and you’ll be off to a great start with that retailer.

And don’t forget. You need to deliver on all those promises.

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@SullyBusiness About to do this 🙃

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@VictorMartino01 Fridge wars alive and well it seems

https://t.co/gHJJ04BKZh

[Eye for Retail @EyeforRetail_]

This is exactly why a rigorous field sales management system is required. That means digital systems to manage call cycles and a culture of accountability. i.e. someone at Poppi should be hauled over the coals for this.

Especially in beverage, where you are placing assets, brands need to be able to manage their team effectively.

If you place a fridge, you need to be there on a regular cadence that is pre-agreed with the retailer. Managing the stock levels, filling the fridge, making sure the fridge is always in the best location. Ensuring the product is meeting sales performance expectations.

If not, this will be the result. Or the brand will arrive to find the fridge out the back in the loading dock.

You can safely assume the store manager approved of this from Olipop, in fact, they probably asked them to do it.

A fridge placement is a massive win for a brand, letting it go like this is unforgivable. At a Sprouts too.

And also, welcome to beverage, Poppi. It gets far dirtier than this.

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@guhlo Particularly helpful when Walmart’s former chief merchandising officer is with you lol. Wonder how they swung that!

Most merchants I know are happy to carve some time out of the day to walk, definitely worth buying the ticket and going out to their backyard if they’ll meet

[Davis @DKMichaelsen]

@ryansiwinski That makes sense—thanks for sharing ryan