Schekels

Building and - $2B+ in DTC ecommerce sales

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

We just hit a huge milestone at @thegrommet: 100 product launch weeks!

Two years ago, we set out to reinvent how people discover truly great products.

Today, that idea is the Grommet platform fueling growth for 1,500+ DTC brands and serving millions of shoppers who are hungry to support real founders, makers and inventors.

In that time, we’ve:

– Launched 1,700 new & unique founder-led ecommerce products

– Driven 756,000+ upvotes from our community

– Crowned 99 Product of the Week winners

– Sent 190,000+ orders directly to small brands

– Maintained a 4.9 star rating on both Trustpilot and the Shopify App Store (with nearly 1,000 reviews combined)

What I'm most proud of though is that we've done this all with a lean, scrappy, wildly talented team.

We haven’t taken any shortcuts or outside funding. We’ve been bootstrapped and profitable since inception, just like GiddyUp (which is insanely challenging, but so f'n worth it.) And we've continued to lock in on fulfilling a mission we truly believe in and a commitment to focused execution every single day.

So to celebrate, we’re running something rare:

👉 25% OFF everything on Grommet this weekend.

Every single product across the ENTIRE site.

If love rooting for the underdog…

If you believe real innovation still matters and deserves to be discovered…

If you care about where your money goes and who it helps when it gets there…

And If you’re tired of buying the same garbage from Amazon that shows up 10 other places with a different logo slapped on it…

Now’s the time.

Major gratitude to @gregrollett, Tori Tait, @jordandchesney and the whole Grommet crew.

Week after week, this team shows up, thinks big, moves fast, and makes magic happen. I’m lucky to be in the trenches with you.

100 launches down and thousands more ahead.

#LFGU

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

Something I’ve been reflecting on lately as a founder…

I’ve always been someone that just puts my head down and works. I never really needed praise or recognition to stay motivated.

Honestly, too much recognition almost makes me uncomfortable sometimes.

In my head it’s always been: “Just do the work. Keep going.”

But over the last few months I’ve been pushing at another level and my cofounders have been very vocal about recognizing it. And if I’m being honest… it’s been a little hard for me to fully receive.

Not because I don’t appreciate it. I do.

I think a lot of founders subconsciously convince themselves recognition doesn’t matter because we’re wired to focus on the next problem, the next fire, the next goal.

But I think there actually is something deeper to it.

When the people in the trenches with you acknowledge the weight you’re carrying and the effort you’re putting in… it feels different. Especially from people that truly understand what it takes behind the scenes.

I’ve realized recognition isn’t really about ego the way I used to think about it.

Sometimes it’s fuel or reassurance. And sometimes it’s just a reminder that the sacrifices are actually being seen.

I also think a lot of high performing founders are way worse at receiving acknowledgment than giving it.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

🚨 RARE OPENING: Performance Marketing Manager at GiddyUp 🚨

We don’t hire PMMs often, because honestly… very few people can actually do this role at a high level.

This isn’t a “run some tests and report on lift” type of job.

This is one of the highest leverage seats inside GiddyUp.

You are directly influencing the economics, scalability, and survivability of offers spending millions of dollars across paid media.

At GiddyUp, Performance Marketing Managers are the strategic architects behind the offer.

You’re responsible for figuring out:

– How to increase AOV without hurting conversion

– How to unlock higher CPA payouts affiliates can scale profitably

– How to improve margin while increasing perceived value

– How to structure bundles, pricing, upsells, discounts, and promotional mechanics that materially change performance

– How to identify what’s actually causing scale ceilings and remove them

You’re not guessing, you’re designing statistically rigorous experimentation frameworks and making high-stakes decisions using behavioral psychology, conversion data, media economics, and direct-response instincts.

The best PMMs know:

– Consumer psychology
– Direct response marketing
– Offer positioning
– Conversion mechanics
– Pricing psychology
– Unit economics
– Statistical experimentation
– How paid media buyers think
– How to balance short-term CVR with long-term profitability

And most importantly... they know how to find hidden leverage.

At GiddyUp, this role sits at the intersection of strategy, experimentation, creative, analytics, and revenue.

You’ll work directly with Campaign Success Managers, Creative Strategists, Media Buyers, Analysts, and Leadership to identify opportunities, launch experiments fast, and scale winners aggressively.

This is not a maintenance role, a corporate marketing role, or a “manage agency vendors” role.

This is for someone who wants to play at the absolute highest level of direct-response eCommerce.

What you get if you’re in:

– Access to some of the largest DTC offers and affiliates in the world

– Millions in real spend and data to learn from

– Full funnel control across pricing, bundles, upsells, landing pages, checkout flows, and post-purchase

– Elite operators who move fast and care deeply about performance

– Proprietary technology built specifically for high-converting direct response

– The ability to materially impact scale, margin, and profitability across major brands

What we’re looking for:

– Deep direct-response and eCommerce instincts

– Strong understanding of pricing psychology and promotional strategy

– Proven experimentation and CRO experience

– Ability to think strategically while executing quickly

– Strong analytical experience and comfort interpreting messy real-world data

– Someone highly competitive who genuinely loves figuring out why people buy

This role is high-trust, high-autonomy, and high-accountability. If you’re elite at this craft, it’s one of the most exciting seats in the industry.

We’re only hiring one and when it’s filled, it’s filled.

DM me if you or someone you know is interested.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@StefanGeorgi This is what I love about Raleigh.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@TuanVy Absolute truth.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

So many affiliates get scammed by this.

A network flaunts a massive payout to make the offer look like a no-brainer to run… then quietly scrubs 20%+ of conversions on the backend.

To make matters worse, platforms like Everflow actually make this incredibly easy for networks to do.

We do the exact opposite.

Every single week, we manually credit affiliates for legitimate sales that didn’t track due to normal pixel/tracking issues. We go directly into the brand’s CRM, identify attributable sales, and make sure affiliates get paid what they actually earned.

We’ve literally been laughed at by sketchy black-hat networks for doing this.

Their response was

“That’s where all the pure profit is.”

What can I say… scammers gonna scam.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep playing the long game and doing right by our partners.

We’ll see who’s still here and still thriving a decade from now.

[Tuan Vy ⚔️ @TuanVy]

Affiliate: “Can I get a pay bump on this offer?”

Network: “Absolutely, no problem, done.”

Also, Network: Increases scrub rate from 20% to 30%.

Just saying.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@blaketiggy Appreciate you man and always open to feedback. Thank you again.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@TrowbridgeTyler 🙏

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

Join the right Performance CPA network and you’ll immediately the difference. Majority of the agency work done for you at no cost (funnels, offer strategy, creative etc) and the world’s top marketers/media buyers spend their own ad budgets testing cracking and scaling new channels and markets for you - you only pay a flat CAC when a sale is made.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

I’ll never understand this…

A brand will spend $500K/month+ on ads, obsess over CAC, and test hundreds of creatives a week

…and then their abandon flow is 3 basic emails with little to no thought.

How does that make any sense?

Their optimizing the top of the funnel and LP like crazy…
and then completely ignoring the people who already showed intent and left.

This the most expensive blind spot and revenue leak in DTC.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

One of the main (and most important) jobs of an affiliate network is to make sure affiliates always get paid and done so on time.

Unless you can prove they actually committed fraud or broke compliace guidelines… that’s it. No excuses and “we’re waiting on the brand.”

Over the last 12+ years we’ve wired out hundreds of thousands of dollars from our own pocket to protect affiliates when brands didn’t pay on time.

The reason why is simple…

Cash flow risk isn’t the affiliate’s job, it’s ours.

The moment a network pushes that risk downstream… they’ve already told you who they are.

This is why reserves, discipline and reputation matter so much in this industry.

Anyone can launch a network in a bull market.

You find out who’s real when a brand misses a wire.

So please make sure you choose your network like you’re choosing a bank, because that’s basically what most of them are. And the reality is that many of them are way undercapitalized.

[TrafficBrokerX @TrafficBrokerX]

If you’re an Affiliate Network & this happens to you what do you do?

You suspected an offer with a lot of traffic may have an issue, message advertised, they confirm it’s working & ask you to scale

Great! Message all your top accounts & ask them to push

But when invoice time comes, suddenly it’s a tracking error, postmark wasn’t firing for real sales

Affiliates think their owed $25k, advertiser says sorry tough luck, wasn’t reals sales we aren’t paying

So what’s your move? Are you coming out of pocket $25k? Stiffing your top affiliates & ruining your good name after YOU asked them to scale? Good luck suing & collecting

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

This industry is small… uncomfortably small.

You’re not burning one bridge, you’re lighting up a whole network.

And trust me, it spreads faster than you think.

Win the ego battle if you want, just don’t be surprised when it costs you real leverage later.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

I’ve watched founders trade control for VC money and then spend years wondering why their company stopped feeling like theirs.

When you’re bootstrapped, the pressure is real... but the ability to move fast, pivot instantly, and sleep at night is wildly underrated.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

One of the biggest opportunities for GiddyUp over the next few years started with a random cold DM.

5 lessons I’ve taken from it:

1/ Don’t let ego stop you from responding when it makes sense. Thinking you’re “above it” can quietly kill massive upside.

2/ A week earlier, I was talking internally about the exact service this guy offers... then he reached out. You can call that “the universe” or whatever you want, but it’s really about awareness. Opportunities tend to show up quietly and if you’re not paying attention, asking good questions, or staying open.... you’ll move right past them.

3/ The best opportunities aren't always obvious, but tend to show up through good questions and active listening.

4/ When something legitimate and relevant presents itself, give it your full attention. Move too slowly and it dies on the vine. Momentum is a fragile thing, especially when one side is leaning in and the other isn’t.

5/ This DM only happened because I’ve been posting and staying active on X and LI (where he found me). It’s always felt a bit like a chore, but consistency definitely compounds. In under 6 months, the ROI from showing up publicly has been higher than I ever expected.

Founders don’t always win because they have better access... many of them win because they’re curious, decisive, and willing to engage where others ignore.

So next time you get a cold DM, don’t assume it’s spam.
Sometimes it’s a massive opportunity everyone else is too busy or "too important" to notice.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@blaketiggy We offer this functionality to select partners based on their use case. If you ask your Partner Manager about it they can give you more details.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

If a network or brand is shady enough to scam shoppers with their funnels, imagine what they're doing with YOUR traffic and commissions behind closed doors.

You're not their partner. You're their mark too.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@bruh_friendly Well said bro

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

Most new affiliates don’t fail because they lack skill.

They fail because they’re afraid. Not surface level fear but deep, identity level fear.

I usually see it break down in 3 distinct ways:

#1 Fear of losing money

They spend months researching and waiting for the "perfect conditions" before deploying any test budget. They focus on protecting a few thousand dollars instead of risking it to buy data.

They think it's discipline, when in reality its their body choosing to stay comfortable.

#2 Fear of failing publicly

Not cracking an offer doesn’t just feel like a loss, it feels like proof, in front of others, that they’re not cut out for this. So they quit early and tell themselves the offer was bad, the timing was wrong, or the platform is dead.

Most people don’t fear failure. They fear being seen failing.

#3 Fear of success

This is usually the quiet killer, because if the offer works, the excuses die. You’re now visible, accountable and responsible for scaling into someone bigger than your old identity.

So many people subconsciously cap themselves just below the point where life actually changes.

Here's some wisdom I've shared with new affiliates that most of them don't like hearing...

Affiliate marketing doesn’t necessarily reward intelligence, effort, or even creativity.

It often rewards whoever is willing to sit in uncertainty the longest without flinching.

If you’re afraid to lose, afraid to look stupid, or afraid of what happens if the offer actually works… this industry will chew you up.

But remember that if you can tolerate the discomfort long enough, the game does tend to bend in your favor. Not because you’re lucky, but because you became the kind of person it rewards.

[Schekels @EricSchechter]

@TrowbridgeTyler You know this!