Here Are The Hidden Gems of DTC

Hey 👋

There’s a lot of BS eCom content nowadays, and finding high-value content is super hard - think about just how many times have you been clickbaited..

..and that’s why I’ve decided to share my own personal list of 12 hidden gems worth following - creators, founders & stupidly successful people in DTC & Shopify 👀

I’ve even sorted them by their expertise, so you can skip to anything that catches your eye 😉

Let’s get into it 🔥

1. Marketing & Brand Growth 📈 

1️⃣ Nik Sharma

Also known as “The DTC Guy” - Nik Sharma focused on organic growth strategies that prioritize community engagement.

He played a big part in Feastables (launched by MrBeast), grow its customer base by leveraging social media platforms and grassroots marketing. Nik also helped Crocs grow from $1B to $2B in sales in just 2 years 🤯 

2️⃣ Taylor Holiday

Founder of Common Thread Collective, Taylor Holiday is a pro at brand strategies. His team helped Good American (co-founded by Khloé Kardashian, btw) generate ~$100M in lifetime sales through targeted social media advertising & managing relationships with customers.

3️⃣ Sophia Amoruso

She’s the founder of Nasty Gal - which used to be a small eBay store and now is a $300M+ eCom giant. Shopia Amoruso transitioned into VC, where she invests in promising DTC brands — with that amount of knowledge & experience, her insights on brand storytelling & community are worth listening to.

She’s even got a Netflix series about her 👀

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2. Operational Efficiency 👩‍💻

1️⃣ Roman Raisuddin Khan

Founder of Peak 21, Roman helped many brands optimize their operations — notably, he worked with Huron, a men’s grooming brand, and that ended in a 300% revenue increase in just a year 😶 

And that had nothing to do with magic, Roman did it by making use of data analytics to improve sales strategies & marketing. That kind of growth warrants a bit of studying from us all 😂

2️⃣ Drew F.

He’s a financial expert in CPG & DTC — Drew gives critical insights into scaling brands profitably. He helped brands like Chubbies shorts & Beardbrand with financial practices for growth.

Since it’s financial, we can’t give raw numbers or details, but working with brands like that says a lot — he’s a quiet guy worth looking into 🤫

3️⃣ Jonathan Kennedy

A wizard who builds services & products within the Shopify ecosystem — Jonathan helped brands develop & launch apps that enhance UX.

Jonathan worked with Printful, improving order fulfillment efficiency and customer satisfaction — if you’re into Shopify apps, you can’t ignore him.

P.S — If you want to see more, read our post on Best DTC & eCom Creators (there’s 200+ creators you can learn from!) 😁 

3. Influencer Marketing & Creative Engagement 🤳🏼

1️⃣ Josh Durham

He’s worked with Brands like Faherty Brand & Groove Life to develop campaigns that leverage micro-influencers. On his LinkedIn & Twitter, Joshua shares how to make it with influencers.

2️⃣ Oren John

Oren’s insanely viral campaigns for brands like Bumble & Sweetgreen show how social media can be used for brand awareness & engagement.

His main mechanism is building communities around brands — you’ve probably seen his TikToks, and if you haven’t, check Oren out, he’s a real gem 💯

P.S. — If you’re curious about the actual secret mechanisms behind TikTok growth, check out our A-Z guide (with a $10M sex chocolate case study) on TikTok Growth Hacks for merchants 😉

3️⃣ Sean Frank

He’s the CEO of Ridge Wallet, a $200M+ wallet brand we all know 🔥

That should be enough said, but here’s more — Sean’s super transparent about eCom growth & influencer marketing strategies, and shares a lot about how he grew his own brand with influencers.

4. Product Dev & Tech Innovation

1️⃣ Youness I. (a.k.a Blanklob)

Known as the “King” of Shopify devs who also builds in public, Blanklob has developed many apps for things like automating customer communication, AI-powered shopping assistants & more — super valuable if you are a dev or have one on your team.

2️⃣ Mat De Sousa

Mat De Sousa is the founder of The Wide Company. He developed WideBundle and WideReview, reached 600K ARR and shares his insights on building apps in public.

Also he is know for organizing Shopify Partner events and recently created a Partner network for App developers 🔥

3️⃣ Jesse Pujji

Founder of Kahani, a Shopify app that enhances mobile-first shopping UX, and co-founder of Ampush, a marketing agency that managed over $1B+ in media spend — Jesse builds in public, sharing insights from his many ventures, he’s 100% someone you can’t skip 👀

That’s my personal list of everyone I follow on a regular basis in the DTC space!

I Hope these hidden gems have content that’ll help you grow your brand 🔥 

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Daniil from ECORN