Jamie Norwood

In January of this year, I applied to my dream job in NYC. I didn't get it. I also didn't have a back up plan. The only other thing I had at that time was this idea for a consumer platform that had lived rent free in my head for five years. Unfortunately, I had no money and no network to help me. The one thing I had was experience in early stage companies. The #1 thing I learned from working at multiple successful tech startups was you need to take action and put something tangible out in the world as quickly as possible. Instead of brainstorming on the brand or mission - I started a newsletter. My startup idea was a list-based social network So writing a newsletter where the only content was lists was my version of an MVP. Over the last year, I grew this newsletter to 1,000+ subs, with a 70% open rate and average 11 replies per send. But that's not all. Through Easy, Breezi, I also: ⋆ met the designer that designed the first prototype of my product ⋆ built my 1,000 person waitlist in 3 days when I announced it ⋆ learned what type of lists people engage highly with and used that to determine the wedge we're entering the market with The tl;dr ✮ sometimes a "no" is the biggest blessing in disguise ✮ launching and shipping is always better than planning and brainstorming ✮ momentum grows exponentially, just start somewhere One day, I’ll be able to tell the story of how the next big social platform was built off of a newsletter. Excited for 2024, make sure to subscribe to Easy, Breezi for more tips and real life lessons like this! #founderjourney #entrepeneurship #startuplife

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The NY Times just ripped me off. Ok, ok. That’s not entirely true. Actually, it’s not even remotely true. But seriously, did I not post about this last week? Retail *vacancies* are at a two-decade low. In other words, retail spaces are full. How can that be if there’s a retail Apocalypse? What’s taking up all of the retail space? 1. Entertainment and Retailtainment: -Pickleball Courts -Cannibis stores (Good heads up Robert Cogan.) -Ax Throwing -Topgolf 2. Ethnic stores, particularly serving: -Middle Eastern -Hispanics -Asians 3. Hot Retail Chains: -Nordstrom Rack -Harbor Freight -Dollar General -Ulta Beauty -7-Eleven -Walmart -Target -Aldi Yes, times are challenging. But there’s still a lot of buying. It just looks different. So if you don’t want to be in a retail apocalypse. Maybe play into the retail that’s growing. ——— 🔹Driving retail velocity in Kroger, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Costco, Walmart, Sprouts, and More 🔹DM me or book an appointment for help! #ecommerce #retailmedia #retailvelocity #retail #cpggrowth #instacart #cpg #tradespend #shoppermarketing

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We’re hitting up Pavilion’s CRO Summit in Boston on June 6th. Super stoked to join the Pavilion crew for some epic talks and networking. 📍 Gonna be there? Let’s link up! Here’s the scoop on where to find us: Catch Gradient Works' CEO in action: Hayes Davis, will break down the OODA loop. It’s all about making decisions fast and driving results. Come see how dynamic books are changing the game in sales, and grab some strategies that’ll have you rethinking your whole sales pipeline game. Swing by our booth: Meet my team, Lily Youn and Reese W.. They’re all about showing you how Gradient Works can kick things up a notch. If you’re in Boston and vibing with ideas on dynamic books or just want to throw around some thoughts on what’s next in sales, hit us up. We’re all about making connections! Keep your eyes peeled for our updates as we gear up for the CRO Summit. Boston, let’s do this! #CROsummit2024 #SalesLeadership #BusinessGrowth #Networking

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imogene + willie's Austin store sets a new retail standard. While a big fan of imogene + willie (shoutout to Ryan Babenzien for introducing me to the brand!), I'd never actually tried their denim since I don't live near one of their stores. But on a recent company off-site in Austin, I finally got to check out their spot on S. Congress, which shares a communal outdoor space with another awesome brand I love, Sabah Shoes. It was cool to see them collaborating on a event that evening - live music, burgers, beers, and the chance to try stuff on before buying. All things I love! Here are 3 reasons why Imogene + Willie's in-store experience is unbeatable: 1. Next-Level Customer Service: Tyler, the sales associate, was an absolute legend. He totally embodied the brand's vibe through his interactions and went above and beyond by hemming my new jeans in 20 mins while I stepped out for a meeting. Plus, bonus points for Tyler being a big Deadhead and blasting a live show through the speakers! 2. Sizing Made Simple: Tyler knew the sizing quirks of every product like the back of his hand. He encouraged me to try multiple sizes across different styles to nail the perfect fit. Having all the options ready in the fitting room made it a breeze. Buying before trying online is where sizing and return problems rear its head — I'm simply unwilling to charge $1K to my card to try stuff on, resulting in a lower likelihood of finding the perfect fit. 3. Trying New Things: More trying = more buying, and Tyler gets that. He kept nudging me to step outside my comfort zone, so instead of just grabbing the blue jeans I came for, I ended up with this insanely unique charcoal pair that I love. Threw in some shorts too since I was in full discovery mode... upsell for the win. Definitely deepened my brand loyalty! Between the chill, immersive vibe and Tyler's A+ customer service, Imogene + Willie's is nailing the premium in-store experience. Best-in-class products are a pre-req, of course. Products like this require a tactile experience. Getting to actually try more products is such a luxury compared to online shopping. If you're near one of their stores, it's a must-visit! Kieran (K.P.) McNeill, great execution and nice job hiring Tyler — he's the man. #TryNewThings #TryBeforeYouBuy #Retail

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🌇 💡NY Tech Week Musings: 3 Days, 3 Thoughts:🗽🚀 Hey everyone, we're halfway through the adrenaline-fueled ride that is New York Tech Week, and boy, do I have 3 thoughts to share! 1) 🌍🤝 Connection Cravings Are Off the Charts With over 200 official events today alone (June 5, 2024), it's clear that people are hungry for networking. I mean, most events are so packed, you can barely squeeze in! It's amazing to see founders and investors from all over the world coming together. The global tech community is truly something special. 2) 🎉🗣️ The Great Networking Paradox Is it just me, or do some of these "networking" events make it nearly impossible to actually network? I feel like I'm shouting over the music half the time! 🎧😅 I love a good party, but maybe we could tone it down a notch and actually hear each other speak? 😆 3) 🌇🔍 NYC Tech Scene: Untapped Potential Alert Chatting with NYC folks, I keep hearing the same thing: we need a better way to stay connected beyond Tech Week.💡 There's so much potential here, and it's up to us to build the community we want to see. 🛠️🌍 So, fellow tech enthusiasts, let's not just network – let's build something awesome together! 🚀 If you're down to create a community that goes beyond a single week, hit me up. I'm all ears (and excited to see what we can create)! 😄✨ #NYTechWeek #newyork #techweek #networking #community I think the video here from one of the events yesterday is a great illustration of the overall spirit of the NYC Tech Week 👇

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Check out this blog post I wrote at work about our new LTO items! As a marketing professional, crafting content that resonates with our audience is always a rewarding challenge. What strategies have you found effective in digital marketing for seasonal promotions??

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I was reading today’s Out-Of-Pocket newsletter (which is really good, by the way), and it got me thinking about hiring in health tech and how we improve the process around that. When I interview folks for a marketing role, I ask why they are interested in the company, and often I’ll get “Because I really align with the mission” or “Company X is helping improve access to care for people.” And with that answer, I continue on with my barrage of questions, satisfied with their response. Box, checked. But what does that mean, really? Every solution being solved by a health tech company has a negative trade off somewhere. Using the access to care example, if more people can access care…. 🤔Do you then need to hire more doctors to see them, which increases costs that get passed on to patients? 🤔Or, do doctors just have to see more patients faster, which puts more stress on the physician and less attention paid to the patient? For mission-driven job applicants, it’s worth understanding what tradeoffs they are okay with, because there will ALWAYS be one. It’s better to lose that candidate now than later if they aren’t in the same page about what your definition of “improving healthcare” is. Or, you just might find that for the right comp package, they might be willing to accept a mission they aren’t 100% aligned with. But at least everyone’s cards are out on the table and going in with eyes wide open. At the end of the day, health tech is a business, period. They have to make money to survive. Make sure candidates are comfortable with the tough business decisions your company may need to make in order to stay afloat.

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I think more DTC brands should be taking notes on Death Wish Coffee. There are a few things that stand out to me (that most DTC brands aren't doing): 1. Obsession with the product and the "look." 2. A truly stacked subscription offer. 3. Site copy that makes you look twice. Here, I break down why these three tactics from Death Wish Coffee Company should be on every DTC brand's radar:

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If you are a LGBTQIA, BIPOC, or women-led bootstrapped pre-funding tech startup who could use free product and growth strategy consulting, read on! I’m a growth and product management leader that has worked with Medium, New York Times, GrubHub, and smaller startups. My expertise in growth includes: pricing + monetization as well as full funnel (acquisition, activation, engagement, retention) with a specialization in subscription businesses and marketplaces or platforms. I’m excited to offer pro-bono consulting to support ventures at the intersection of mission-driven work and technology, for a limited time. If you are interested in receiving help in any of these areas, please DM me! - Holistic growth strategy and long term vision planning: Evaluating business models, market size and total opportunity, product-market fit - Growth flywheel / funnel analysis: Finding areas of opportunity, modeling potential outcomes, and make recommendations for a tactical roadmap - PLG strategy: identify and implement product led growth tactics to support healthy unit economics - Product-market fit research and report - Voice of the customer: user research, persona development, UX research - Product management: understanding the problem space and customer, PRDs or briefings, opportunity analysis - Monetization and pricing strategic advisory - Product positioning, messaging, merchandising - Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Landing page or checkout optimization and experimentation: game plan and/or implementation - Organic growth or lifecycle: CRM, email, push, SMS, app downloads, other organic channels. Uncover and implement ways to move the needle with zero paid media spend - MarTech: Evaluate stack to fit your objectives and/or conduct RFP to bring in new tooling - Interim people leadership: process, structure, mentorship, feedback for your team - PRO-BONO (free): Up to 5 hours a week for up to 4 weeks To qualify for pro-bono services, the criteria is that you must be a BIPOC, LGBTQIA, or women-led bootstrapped tech startup or entrepreneur that has not yet received funding for your mission-driven tech venture. As a queer woman, I’m looking forward to meeting more folks from diverse backgrounds and building community in this space. #growth #product #PM #productmanagement #voiceofthecustomer #CRO #MarTech #CRM #productmarketing #lifecycle #consulting #fractional #probono #missiondriven

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Really dig what KIKI World is doing in beauty loyalty Two cool ways of earning points: 1) Voting on product colors, ingredients, and merch 2) Using products (not buying!) by bopping a product's NFC tag on your phone when using it Earning points for suggesting products or for actually using products is nothing new (several athletic wear companies have apps where you can register your gear and log workouts, for example). But I like how KIKI has made this the absolute central pillar of their entire business. Another thing I like: they're using some web3 technology in all of this, but NOT branding themselves to the consumer as a web3 / NFT / blockchain company. The buzz you get just from being web3 is rarely meaningful these days outside a small community, but the tech still has huge potential. I'm always more excited when brands are thinking about how to use web3 tech without putting that front-and-center in front of the consumer (who will probably not care, or worse: be scared away by something they don't understand). Nail your fundamentals first, then use web3 for specific applications where it creates real value. There are a few things they could do to improve. They don't show how close you are to your next reward milestone. There's some confusion around the point value of different actions. It's also possible to get a significant discount just by voting a few days, so there's certainly a higher financial liability here. Overall it's a really nice startup to keep an eye on, especially if you're thinking about how to win share with younger consumers. Gamified, participatory, simple, iterative, etc... They're hitting on a lot of key best practices here.

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Should an unprofitable DTC brand take on debt? There's a ton of nuance to consider here but one thing you always need to remember is... All debt must eventually be paid back with profit. If you don't have profit available to pay back your debt, then you must pay it back with equity dollars. And if you're raising equity to pay back debt, then you're getting double-tagged with a hefty cost of capital... Once for the cost of debt (interest)... And once for the cost of raising equity (getting your ownership diluted)... Which makes me think - Should you have just raised equity (and not taken on debt) in the first place? -- Find this post helpful? Consider reposting or giving me a follow

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Founders must keep their finger on the pulse of customer experience. No matter the size of the company. Staying in tune and gathering insights is critical for success. How I do this at @outwaysocks: - work onsite at event expos at least once per year (have done two this year already) - have all 3 star and below reviews auto-fwd to my email (I also read good reviews periodically) - read through social media comments regularly (at least once a week) - review in depth cx reports quarterly and meet with the team directly - always dig deeper when I hear an uncommon comment made about our product, brand, or otherwise (remain curious and open)

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🚀 #CommunityShoutouts: Top 5 LI posts this week 5 cool posts this week written by awesome humans 👇 I'm on a mission to spotlight valuable content within my network and showcase individuals who are spreading positivity, insights, and knowledge. In no particular order: 1. There’s a formula for LinkedIn posts that’s "proven" to work. by Harry Morton https://lnkd.in/gajHpMqY 2. 10,000 people in 90 countries were asked to describe the conditions at the best job they ever had … here’s what they said 👇🏻 by Meqa Smith https://lnkd.in/g8SQykae 3. If you plan to pitch yourself to podcasters, please watch this. by Jay Acunzo https://lnkd.in/gxzFe5nk 4. We couldn't find a good Youtube series documenting company building in Australia so we created it. by Sachin Shah https://lnkd.in/gd95SBF7 5. Action Conquers Fear by Karen Monaghan https://lnkd.in/gpkwsV_R What was your favourite post from the week? Drop it below 👇 --- Photo by Laura Briedis on Unsplash. I wish all the incredible mums on LinkedIn a very Happy Mother's Day! If you're lucky enough to still have your mum around, take a moment to call her, give her a hug, or send a message of love and gratitude. #linkedincreators #entrepreneurship #alwayslearning #realhumans

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Snag grew their DTC from $0 - Over $30m+ in 3 years. Here’s how they did it: ➤ Problem-Focused Conception While out shopping, Brie realized her tights were slipping down. Growing frustrated, she asked some friends of hers if they experienced something similar. Turns out every single one of her friends had the same issue. This was natural fuel for her to look into things further. ➤ Data = Unfair Advantage Brie didn't have a background in marketing. Instead, her data-oriented mind gave her an advantage by looking at things a little differently. She ran a Google Survey of 3000 women to find out who else struggled to find a pair of tights that fit. The answer? 90% of 3000 people. Bingo. Opportunity validated. The data also showed how: → The market was commoditized → Men made most of the product purchases (Crazy right?) → Most women accepted poor fitting tights as the norm This inspired her to really look into solving this problem, and her search for suppliers began. ➤ Knew the numbers Before launch, Brie’s focus to really get a grip on her numbers really paid off. Since the sales were through DTC, she knew she needed: → 25% of revenue back into marketing → First-order profit → Small seed round to fund initial stock order Armed with the validation from the survey and some strong number-crunching, Snag launched. They cleared £300k/mo in under a year. The emphasis of being profitable from the first order was key to allow her to scale forward and further invest in marketing. ➤ Applied Zero-Party Data & Customer Service This is where Brie’s data-oriented approach really shone a light on how Snag scaled rapidly. The pandemic caused havoc for many brands, including Snag. Over 60% of the business disappeared overnight, and they went into negative. They had Facebook debt that had to be paid. Fast. Or Snag would die. That’s when Brie turned to her customers for answers. Her customers suggested a brilliant offer: 2 tights for the price of one, but the second pair gets sent in 6 months. The offer worked - Snag survived. And eventually thrived. This was a genius idea to help relate to her customers. ➤  Applied the ‘3-Piece’ DTC Law Finally, Brie understood the fundamental law of DTC. → Commitment to customer service → Great product experience → Solve a big problem Since all 3 were checked, the rest was down to semantics, unit economics, and following marketing fundamentals. ➤  Final Thoughts As a data analyst, Brie’s final words of advice were super impactful and really hit home. Yes, data is important, but it’s even more important that each data point is an actual human being, not just a number on a spreadsheet. Combining the importance of data with the understanding that each data point is a human is a brilliant formula for growth. What else would you add?

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I used to throw the biggest New York Fashion Week Parties. Bigger than the major brands. Here’s how I did it: 1. We identified a massive problem: brands with money were getting all the exposure yet their designs weren’t that great. The younger emerging brands were taking more risks and pushing the space way more. And dare I say their designs were BETTER. 2. We built a solution with an aligned mission and purpose: Deux Hommes is a digital fashion publication that features a curated list of emerging designers in luxury sportswear, high-end streetwear and avant garde. 3. Good curation was KEY. Having the ability to curate tastefully and picking the next best helped us build cred w trend forecasters, bigger magazines, brands, Parsons School of design (best in the US) and industry leaders. Essentially all these folks came to us because they didn’t have a beat in what’s next and realized they needed to. Parsons school of design had the best next designers and had motives to be seen: Perfect synchronicity all around. 4. Good curation is foundation of great content. We put these brands in award winning productions. We won international fashion film awards and were spotlighted by others because of the quality of production. And the young designers benefited (remember we just featured them!). 5. We focused on building up our IG and Facebook (hey it was 2013 at go!) brand pages sharing our mission, our curation of the next big things and our killer editorials. We invited people in the industry to connect and shared our work with them. 6. We had $0 budget for photo shoots (it’s normal for indie publications) so we built a list of folks that we loved who worked with other indies. Reached out to 100s - all we needed was 10% to say yes. We got it because of the above points. People wanted to work with us. We picked people who we loved and asked them if they’d work within our constraints vs just finding folks that would work for free (and may not be very good). Always optimize for talent and figure it out. Note: we weren’t making any money and folks empathized. Also they got immense value and connections from working with us outside of money. We set up so many big names in the space. If we were or had commercial interests (mag was free) it would be wrong to not pay. 7. We built community through all these photo shoots and social posts and so many meetings. At fashion week we hung and partied with all at all the biggest events. Carlos (my partner) and I built our brands as advocates of emerging edgy fashion, risk takers, incredible content producers, and community leaders. 8. We decided to coincide a mag launch with New York Fashion week. We partnered with some folks with followings we worked with to co host and expand reach. We invited all the big editors and industry titans. Some showed up. Because of all these points, we threw a banger with a line around the block at the hottest venue in NYC 👇🏼

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What should a product detail page (PDP) for a wine shop look like? 🍷 The Shopify team at Especial recently redesigned the online shop for Pieroth. Pieroth is famous for their first class wine tasting experiences and wine products. For the PDP, we thought about what makes Pieroth's wine really special. We think one of the core USP of Pieroth is their wine knowledge. E.g. they have a offering where you can find out about your very personal wine profile and can give recommendations based on that. So, besides the usual best practices like payment/shipping/price information and a large product image, we added several features which you can see in the video: ✅ Colourful tags to show which wine profile and properties apply to the product ✅ Icons+Text to show the most important facts about this wine like its type, region, country etc. ✅ "Wie schmeckt dieser Wein?" ("How tastes this wine?") section showing the flavours and very detailed taste attributes of the wine ✅ Description of the region the wine comes from ✅ Information about the brand of the wine and the vinery ✅ "More suitable products" section which can be both editor's choice or Shopify's AI based recommendations ✅ Section about the Pieroth Platin loyalty program ✅ Section about Pieroth's participation in the fight against climate change Want to see it in action? Visit https://lnkd.in/eV6Fwdgr Want to chat about a redesign or optimisations for your E-Commerce store? Send me a message or comment with "PDP" and I'll get in touch. #shopify #pdp #design #digitaldesign #ecommerce #commerce #d2c

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It all starts with discovery. hacking the algo, scrutinizing over every stage of the funnel, strategizing each deliverable down to the moment the post goes live.... Not it. Truly understanding the art+science that is influencer discovery. The marrying of two brands to tell a cohesive, authentic (sorry, I still love this word), and impactful story. That's it. If you don't invest the time (and the right talent) into your discovery phase, the other stuff won't matter. The performance will suffer and the program won't ✨ sparkle ✨ #influencermarketing #brandmarketing #creatoreconomy

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My baby bird has left the nest. 🐣 🥹 Yesterday was my first launch at Classy and I'm feeling really good about it. We launched Intelligent Ask Amounts, a machine learning model that predicts what a donor is most likely to give and provides a real time, customized ask amount for that donor when they arrive on a donation form. I'm proud of this launch for a few reasons: 1. Defining a new line of products While not a product in its own right, this feature is the first taste of a new line of products we’re calling Fundraising Intelligence. This launch is laying the foundation for some pretty sweet stuff we'll ship later this year 👀 2. The story We leaned into a story about how “donors aren’t one size fits all.” While this POV isn’t necessarily unique, it establishes a problem that our audience will agree on and paves the way for the personalization we'll be building into the Classy platform. We also armed our sales team with some sticky personal stories around this narrative that I think are going to land with our customers. and finally... 3. Openness about differentiation. While our competitors have some features similar to this one, we're arguing that "AI is only as good as its data," and that our ask amounts are "built on better data," than our competitors. Going to market alongside GoFundMe and armed with Classy & GoFundMe's joint philanthropic data helps us confidently say "other predictive ask amounts do not have the breadth of insights Classy and GoFundMe have." We kicked off this launch from the main stage at Collaborative, Classy's annual event with 600 leaders in the nonprofit sector in attendance, and we'll continue rolling out more in the weeks ahead. Cheers to the first of many launches with the Classy team! 🍻

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Marketing teams at iconic companies can’t afford to gamble on creators with a problematic past. They need to meticulously review thousands of posts and watch hours of video to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. But humans make mistakes, and this manual process doesn’t scale. I’m excited to share more about the brand safety tools we’re developing at Strobe. Using advanced AI, our tools can scan thousands of videos and social posts in minutes, quickly and efficiently identifying sensitive topics and content. One challenge is establishing a common standard for what crosses the line. Some brands are more comfortable engaging with sensitive topics than others, and these preferences can evolve over time. To address this, we’re introducing social content ratings, modeled after the TV Parental Guidelines established in the US in 1997. These ratings, ranging from G to MA, provide a standardized framework for evaluating content, helping brands make informed decisions about the creators they partner with. After Strobe scans the posts, we flag any sensitive topics and make it easy to filter content based on its rating. This makes it easy for the brand to make their own decision. We’re opening up our brand safety features to five more design partners. Get in touch with me if you think we can help!

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