The $750K lie every DTC brand tells, Breaking News & Gen Z

What Actually Happened This Week (And What It Means for Your Business)

This week was absolutely wild in DTC land. We had a unicorn shut down major product lines, discovered what Gen Z actually wants (spoiler: it's not what you think), and exposed the biggest lie every "bootstrapped" brand tells.

Let's dive in.

🚨 BREAKING: The YOTPO Massacre

YOTPO Email & SMS Shutdown: What Leaders Are Saying + Your Migration Plan

YOTPO just dropped a bomb—they're shutting down their native Email and SMS business in December 2025, laying off 200 employees, and selling their customer base to Attentive for "tens of millions."

The brutal reality? Even with $406M in funding and AI handling 70% of their support tickets, they couldn't make email/SMS profitable. Industry insiders are split between calling it genius or catastrophic.

If you're using YOTPO for email and SMS, this isn't just news—it's your emergency.

→ Get the full breakdown and see how we're migrating customers to Klaviyo in 48 hours

👥 The Sister-in-Law Index

The Sister-in-Law Index: What Gen Z Really Wants Right Now

Forget focus groups and market research. Want to know what Gen Z actually wants? Ask someone's sister-in-law.

We cracked the code on why some products explode on social while others flop, and it has nothing to do with your marketing budget. It's all about the "sister-in-law test"—that moment when someone gets so excited about your product they immediately text their extended family.

The twist? The brands nailing this aren't the ones you'd expect.

→ Discover the Sister-in-Law Index and how to build products that pass the test

💸 The $5 Billion Problem

The $5 Billion Tariff Massacre: Why Ecommerce Brands Are Getting Crushed (And How to Fight Back)

2025 is the year ecommerce brands got absolutely destroyed by tariffs. We're talking 10% blanket tariffs, 145% on Chinese goods, and a flat $100 fee per postal item from China.

But here's the kicker: U.S. CBP data shows businesses lose over $5 billion annually in unclaimed duty drawback refunds. That's money brands are legally entitled to recover, just sitting there.

The uncomfortable truth? While you're bleeding cash on tariffs, there's a legal mechanism to get 99% of it back. But nobody knows about it.

→ Read how brands like Cuts Clothing are already recovering import duties (and how you can too)

🏈 The Fall Playbook

Tailgates, Touchdowns, TikToks: The Fall Growth Playbook

Fall isn't just pumpkin spice season—it's the biggest opportunity of the year for DTC brands. From back-to-school momentum to holiday prep, the brands that nail Q4 positioning in September dominate through December.

The secret? It's not about your product catalog. It's about understanding the psychological shift that happens when September hits and people start thinking about "getting their life together."

Plus: The TikTok strategies that are actually working right now (hint: it's not what the gurus are teaching).

→ Get the complete Fall Growth Playbook before your competitors figure it out

🤫 The $750K Secret

The $750K Secret Every "Bootstrapped" DTC Brand Is Hiding

Let's talk about the biggest lie in DTC: "We're completely bootstrapped."

That $50M skincare brand bragging about being "self-funded"? That clothing company claiming they "never took outside money"? They're all lying. Well, technically they're not lying—they're just not telling you about the $500K family loan and the $250K SAFE note.

The brutal reality: Every DTC brand hits the same cash wall at $1-3M in revenue. The ones that make it through have access to cheap money and killer payment terms.

→ Discover the four cash flow hacks that actually matter (including the net 90 payment terms strategy)

🛁 The Death of Sponsored Posts

Booth, Boots, Bathwater, Soap, and the Death of the Sponsored Post

Sponsored posts are dead. Influencer marketing as we knew it is over. The brands still throwing money at #ad posts are fighting yesterday's war with tomorrow's budget.

What's working instead? A completely different approach that most brands are too scared to try because it requires giving up control.

The proof: Brands using this strategy are seeing 10x better engagement and actual sales, not just vanity metrics.

→ See exactly what's replacing sponsored posts (and how to implement it before everyone catches on)

That's all for this week. Forward this to a founder who needs it.

We're Parker Burr (CEO & Founder at Bylders & Evana) and Graham Welter (CEO & Founder at Pixel Theory). We write this every week because the DTC industry is full of surface-level advice, “influencers” who have never acutally built anything and we believe founders deserve the real insights from people who are actively building in this space.

PS - We're looking for some guest authors. Founders & operators who have helpful tips, tricks and learnings to share.

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