Jason Panzer

President @hexclad - Recovering Tech Investment Banker and M&A Lawyer - building a best in class consumer brand. Ecom Grandpa on @9operators podcast.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Check out the full list of Panzerisms from
@9operators

🧵A thread⬇️

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

"The Magic is in the Work" - Jalen Brunson

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Love seeing Zach go from a great agency guy to killer operator

[Operators @9operators]

Mars Men hit +$100M and 400k customers in 18 months bootstrapped. L Catterton wrote them a $27.5M check.

Who’s behind it? @zachmstuck
NEW OPERATORS TITANS
↓ @Seanfrank + @mbertulli

Dropped out of college
Built a top DTC agency
Helped HexClad to $150M
7 brands of his own
Shut down 5 of them
Nearly lost everything
Bet it all on socks
Then … testosterone
2026, 4 deals in 60 days

“I could go back to zero and I would be just fine because I love the game.”

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Amazing work by the team to bring this new pod to life! My man @FoldesCraig with @BenFlohrOG dropping knowledge you need to know right now.

[Operators @9operators]

AI OPERATORS LIVES! E001

The weekly AI show for consumer brands w/ @FoldesCraig + @BenFlohrOG

Is AI shopping a fad? AI marketing playbook. 10% OpEx era? RIP OpenClaw?

Full episode ↓

AI Shopping Fad or Future 0:47
GEO Is Already the New SEO 7:43
Anthropics 1-Person Team 9:47
Enter the 10% OpEx Era 14:09
3 Things to Make It Work 17:16
Building Your AI Stack 19:51
How Scale Rolled Out AI 21:14
Notebook LM Explained 25:58
OpenClaw v Claude Cowork 29:44
AI That Acts and Thinks 35:22
Context, Hidden Advantage 38:49
Making Your Brand Brain 41:08
Platform to Start With 44:20
Closing and What’s Next 45:54

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@LinksGems Reminds me of the Preserve in Carmel

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@theisaacmed Did you take one home?

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@ryanmouquegolf Got it coach

[Matthew Bertulli @mbertulli]

I sat down with @mikebeckhamsm and @JasonPanzer to talk honestly about what leadership really costs when the stakes are high.

Jason Panzer talked about hot dogs.

> You know the Costco story
> $1.50 hot dogs
> Same price for DECADES
> One of Jim Sinegal's leaders came to him
> Said they couldn't sell at that price anymore
> "If you change the price of the hot dogs, I will fucking kill you"

Mike took that story and made a point.

> To be a really effective leader
> you have to know what your hot dogs are
> The two or three things where you're completely unreasonable and inflexible
> Then you stay open-handed on everything else
> You hear feedback
> You go with the flow
> This is how it's going to be

I agreed with that.

Every company has to be built around a few non-negotiables and your team needs to know what those are.

One of mine:

> There's genuinely one fire-able offense in my company
> If you see something that is wrong
> And you say nothing
> And I find out
> You're done
> You're doing everybody a disservice at that point
> There's no room for it

Your job in this seat is to say what you believe to be true regardless of how it makes people feel. Speak plainly, never attack people, but attack problems relentlessly.

Figure out your hot dogs and be completely unreasonable about them.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Great quote that is also probably pretty accurate re tech company layoffs - "They're using AI as an EXCUSE to cut costs because they ran out of ideas 3 years ago and need something to tell the board."

[Ricardo @Ric_RTP]

Jensen Huang just called out every CEO who’s been firing people “because of AI.”

Jim Cramer asked him why companies are laying people off if AI is supposed to make everyone MORE productive.

Jensen's answer:

"For companies with imagination, you will do more with more. For companies where the leadership is just out of ideas, they have nothing else to do. They have no reason to imagine greater than they are. When they have more capability, they don't do more."

Read that again.

The man who built the most important tech company on Earth just told you that if your CEO is using AI to cut headcount, it means one thing:

They have no imagination.

They have no vision for what comes next.

They got handed the most powerful tool in human history and their FIRST instinct was to fire people.

This is the CEO of NVIDIA. The company whose chips power every AI system on the planet.

If anyone on Earth has the right to say "AI replaces workers," it's Jensen Huang.

And he said the OPPOSITE.

He said every carpenter could become an architect. Every plumber could become an architect. AI elevates capability. It doesn't eliminate it.

But here's where it gets really interesting...

During the same interview, Jensen revealed something nobody's talking about:

He said AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are seeing their revenues increase by one to two billion dollars a WEEK. And he wishes these companies were public so the world could see what he sees.

One to two billion per week.

That's a $50 to $100 BILLION annualized run rate.

For companies that most people think are burning cash and making nothing.

The entire Wall Street narrative that "AI companies aren't profitable" might be completely wrong.

Jensen sees their numbers. He sees their compute orders. He sees their growth. And he's saying the revenue is real.

So if the money IS real, why are other companies firing people?

Because they're not building AI products. They're not creating new revenue streams. They're not using AI to expand into new markets.

They're using AI as an EXCUSE to cut costs because they ran out of ideas 3 years ago and need something to tell the board.

Jensen's company added $500 billion in new orders in 5 months. He expects $1 trillion in cumulative revenue through 2027 from just two product lines.

That number doesn't include the new chips, systems, or partnerships announced this week.

And he's not cutting people. He's hiring.

Because when you have imagination, more capability means MORE opportunity. Not less headcount.

Meanwhile Salesforce cut thousands. Meta cut thousands. Amazon cut thousands. All blaming "AI efficiency."

Jensen's response: You're out of imagination.

He also said something that stuck with me.

Cramer asked if he ever thought he'd build a $10 to $20 trillion company while waiting tables at Denny's.

His answer: "I was just trying to make it through the shift."

Biggest tip he ever got? Two, three dollars.

Now he's building tech that increased computing demand by one million times in two years.

He announced OpenClaw, which he says is as big as ChatGPT.

And he's got 21 months of new business that isn't even counted in the trillion dollar figure yet.

When asked how long he plans to keep working?

"I'm hoping to die on the job. And I'm not hoping to die anytime soon."

This is a man who believes every single thing he's building.

And his message to every CEO using AI to justify layoffs is simple...

You're not innovating. You're surrendering.

The technology wasn't built to shrink companies.

It was built to make them limitless.

If your leadership can't see that, the problem isn't AI.

It's THEM.

[Sean Frank @Seanfrank]

Single best hour of content if you want to stop being broke and escape the permanent underclass:

- the content is free
- its with the HOTTEST brand right now
- $1,000,000,000 in sales THIS YEAR ALONE
- bootstrapped, profitable, under 5 years old

Ive seen the shopify screenshot.
He showed me a $60 million February.... LAST YEAR

I didnt believe.
Its like seeing aliens.
More revenue than warby parker?

Hudson is the GOAT.
There isnt even a debate.

And he effortlessly, humbly, shares every step of the journey.

If you dont listen your NGMI

choice is yours brother

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Slow going on the home project but making progress - pouring some concrete next week - still on track.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Congratulatulations to a great team!

[Zach Stuck @zachmstuck]

I started a little marketing agency 7 years ago called Homestead, named after the street I grew up on.

I had the vision to build something special and looking back now, I think we did exactly that.

Today I’m excited to announce that Homestead has been acquired by Verndale (also recently acquired VAAN Group) in an effort to create a DTC growth platform built to support brands across the entire commerce lifecycle.

I’m extremely grateful to my business partner @_RileyTrotter for all of the time he’s given this company and all the incredible work that he’s done. Riley took over as CEO a few years ago and Homestead wouldn’t be where we are today without his leadership and pursuit of greatness.

I can’t say enough about my other partners @kellybird__ and @jsappington. These two have shown a level of commitment to building this company that is unmatched. Watching them both grow as leaders over the last few years has been nothing short of inspiring.

To all our current and past team members, thank you for always giving Homestead and our clients 100% effort. Will forever be grateful to you all for helping us get to where we are today.

To all of our clients, thank you for trusting in us to help grow your businesses. This is not an easy task and we have never taken it lightly.

As for me, I’m officially stepping out of the agency business, but as most of you know I haven’t been involved in the company for some time as Riley/Kelly/Jacob have been and will continue to lead Homestead for years to come. Expect to see more updates on the brands I’ve been building in weeks to come.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@herrmanndigital Why should meta have to pay Amex when they can just send you an invoice? This never made sense to me.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

AI used correctly is like rocket fuel for gathering insights and information to make better decisions. It's amazing how much faster you get the answers you need - you just need to exercise good judgment based on the information - good judgment so far cannot be replaced by AI.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@natelagos This is so good and so Nate

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Lovely day at the Genesis Invitational - watching the pros miss all those putts on my home course gives me hope.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

Love this place

[Golf Digest @GolfDigest]

Riviera from above. 🚁

[HexClad @hexclad]

HexClad is stepping out of the kitchen… and into your bar. Because the art of cocktail making has evolved, and now, so has the shaker.

This is the HexClad Cocktail Shaker, designed in collaboration with Still G.I.N By Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The genius is in the mix.

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@FamousAlan We don't "invest" in product placement but if a production asks for product we supply it. :-)

[Jason Panzer @JasonPanzer]

@NotZainAgain Bad take