Commerce catch up: selling for $700M, growing from a "do-er" to a "lead-er", and more.

ICYMI, last week Sam shared a big update— including a handsome new look for this newsletter and her podcast, now both called Commerce is Chaos. (A fitting name for the consumer roller coaster ride!)

Hi! ICYMI, last week Samantha Rose shared all about what she’s been working on— including a handsome new look for this newsletter and her podcast, now both called Commerce is Chaos. (A fitting name for the roller coaster ride of running a consumer biz, don’t you think?)

She also introduced me! My name is Azora Zoe, but everyone calls me Zoe— I lead marketing, growth and strategy at Hologram Capital & Endless Commerce, but my favorite job of all is being Commerce is Chaos’s new editor. (Substack is my home away from home!) Like Sam and Brian, I have been a consumer founder in the home and kitchen universe, along with stints on teams like Food52, The Hedgehog Company, and Thingtesting.

But maybe the most important thing I could tell you about myself as we form this new bond… I am addicted to em dashes. No, my writing is not AI— I just really love using them this way— please don’t hate! Let me breathe!

Today, sharing a few recent resources, ideas, and stories that I thought might be up your alley.

• I have thought a lot— as most founders have— about what sort of influence it takes to make a consumer brand win these days. This piece, from Ali Kriegsman (also a former founder!), was really good food for thought.

  Selling for $700MM and No One Knows Who You Are.

• Trying to up-level how you manage your team, or support your COO or Ops Lead’s growth? You need to be following Yue Zhao of the The Uncommon Executive for regular reframes and perspective shifts like the below.

• This week Samantha Rose had Christina Dorr Drake, co-founder of Willa’s Oat Milk on to the podcast— they talk retail expansion, R&D, and all the juicy real-life stuff that goes into building a CPG business. Tune in on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and hit us in the comments if you have suggestions for consumer founders you think she should host next!

I would so love for you to share this with a friend who is building in the consumer universe!

Feedback? Requests? Podcast guests you want to hear Samantha Rose interview? Want access to the better-than-NetSuite and WAY-better-than-Google-Sheet tools that Sam, Brian and team are building at Endless Commerce? Send a note or comment my way!

—Zoe