Simon Beard

Bootstrapped @culturekings to a $600M exit. Now building AI first companies. Daily notes on demand creation, ecom, operators, AI and founder leverage

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Some of the states I want more of are quiet ones. Appreciation, presence and enough calm to enjoy what's already happening.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Your first customer will teach you more than your logo ever will.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Most red tape protects the people already inside. Founders pay to get through the door.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Leaders eat problems for breakfast. Know the downside, check whether you can reverse it, then make the call.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Productivity is problems solved per hour. At Carrara Markets that meant selling 20 cameras to the same foot traffic that bought nothing before.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Every policy that makes it harder to hire one person costs more than that one job. It costs the business that person would have helped build.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

When an AI draft misses, fix the rule behind the mistake, not just the document. Otherwise you'll be correcting the same thing every week.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Training my team used to give me more energy than it took.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Judge your feed by what you do after you close it.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Waiting for certainty is a decision too. It often costs more than a wrong call you can reverse tomorrow.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

I got good at selling at the markets through reps. The leverage came when I could explain what I was doing well enough to teach it.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

https://t.co/4hhmeyGlJO

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

Putting the hat on a wall and hoping would've left every one of those moments to chance.

We built a sequence around the product, from the first conversation to the next colourway.

Before you add another SKU, look at where customers give up on the one you've already got.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

We sold $240 million worth of the 9FORTY A-frame at Culture Kings.

But developing the hat was only part of it.

I deliberately put it where customers couldn't reach it themselves.

That decision started a sales sequence most retailers leave to chance.

[Simon Beard @simonbeard_]

We also released a new colourway every Friday.

A customer who'd found their fit had something fresh to come back for.

That first good experience could lead into a repeat purchase.

The sale didn't have to end when they walked out of the store.