Kodai Takahashi is the co-founder and U.S. CEO of SILK THE RICH, a Japanese premium haircare brand built on nano-processed silk fibroin.

Launched in Japan in 2023 by THE RICH Inc., the brand is backed by the Katakura family — historic owners of the Tomioka Silk Mill — and a group of Japanese entrepreneurs and athletes.

Kodai moved to Los Angeles in 2024 to lead the brand's U.S. expansion across salons, Japanese and Asian specialty grocers, Amazon, and D2C, and runs the U.S. business with a lean team supported by an in-house system of AI agents.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:34] Liquid silk haircare from Japan
• [02:00] Scaling to $25M across 20+ countries
• [02:20] Biggest challenges entering the US
• [03:10] Throwing out the Japan playbook
• [03:35] Starting from zero in the US
• [04:00] Why expanding within Asia was easier
• [04:45] Amazon and an unexpected Vogue feature
• [05:05] Landing an organic Vogue editorial
• [05:30] The Amazon sales spike after Vogue
• [05:55] Repurposing press creative for D2C
• [06:11] Klaviyo
• [08:18] Waking up to the Vogue feature
• [08:40] Sustaining momentum after press coverage
• [09:06] Why earned media keeps compounding
• [09:59] Streamlining the Shopify funnel
• [10:30] When high CAC made D2C ads stop
• [10:55] Tripling conversion rate after Vogue
• [11:20] Building community with D2C data
• [12:03] Intelligems
• [13:10] Owned data vs. marketplace data
• [14:22] Running the US business with four people
• [14:50] Using AI agents to run lean
• [15:40] eFulfillment Service
• [16:50] Should agencies charge less with AI?
• [17:47] Brands bringing work in-house with AI
• [18:35] Why AI expertise is worth more
• [20:45] Building awareness before retail
• [21:33] Building a US network from scratch
• [22:10] Omnichannel and POS data insights
• [23:21] Why silk works for frizzy hair
• [23:55] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Everything your hair needs — it’s already inside silk silktherich-global.com/
• Follow Kodai Takahashi linkedin.com/in/kodai-takahashi-63588a1a0
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/audit
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Jordan West is the Founder of Social Commerce Club, EVP of Growth at Podean, and host of The Unofficial TikTok Shop Podcast. An operator, brand builder, and social-commerce strategist, Jordan has owned eight brands, built two agencies, and helped drive more than $100 million in TikTok Shop revenue.

His work focuses on the intersection of creators, content, commerce conversion, and paid amplification, helping brands build systems that create demand across TikTok Shop, Amazon, DTC, and retail.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:16] Social Commerce Club's acquisition by Podean
• [02:15] Going all in on TikTok Shop despite the risk
• [02:45] Why social commerce was coming from Asia
• [03:30] Creators now control the brand message
• [04:15] The social commerce singularity
• [05:04] Why "on brand" is a judgment call
• [05:45] On brand to which customer avatar?
• [06:10] How a discontinued shoe went viral
• [07:19] Letting the market tell you what sells
• [08:25] How creator sampling works on TikTok Shop
• [09:19] The Pareto principle of creator quality
• [10:30] Building relationships with top creators
• [11:10] Why TikTok Shop is the agency moat
• [12:15] Launching a new brand only on TikTok Shop
• [12:35] Finaloop data on TikTok Shop brand growth
• [14:00] The halo effect on retail and dot com
• [14:40] Why you can't measure every click
• [15:29] Zooming out from daily ROAS
• [16:40] Brands hitting the law of the lid
• [17:14] Know what good looks like before delegating
• [17:35] Expect 3-6 months to break even
• [18:35] Repurposing TikTok content for CTV and Meta
• [19:40] Adding TikTok Shop after your first $1M year
• [21:20] Why GMV Max needs your first 200 sales
• [23:10] Running a creator blitz to create signal
• [24:50] Attracting top-tier creators after launch
• [25:55] When to hire a TikTok Shop agency
• [27:20] Becoming the best creator for your brand
• [28:19] The TikTok Shop instant audit
• [29:20] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Top Omni-Channel TikTok Shop Agency Fuelled By High GMV Creator Community socialcommerceclub.com/
• Follow Jordan West linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Sahand Dilmaghani is the founder and CEO of Terra Kaffe.

Equipped with a global perspective, Sahand earned his MBA in France, worked as Head of Finance & Corporate Development at Unu (an electric scooter startup in Berlin), and is fluent in Mandarin, Farsi, German, and English.

His entrepreneurship started young and never wavered and his enterprising attitude has inspired a wide range of diverse ideas. Throughout it all, he's been obsessed with high-quality coffee, believing that finding it should be simple and sustainable.

In founding Terra Kaffe, he was inspired to blend the best of European coffee culture and the pioneering spirit of the US start-up scene. A son of two architects, it was only a matter of time before he found his way back to design.

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:24] What Terra Kaffe makes
• [01:50] Where the idea came from
• [03:30] From first idea to first prototype
• [04:35] Hurdles in getting to production
• [05:50] Trading tooling ownership for US rights
• [07:25] Bootstrapping vs. having capital in the bank
• [09:15] Treat spending like an investment committee
• [10:10] Intelligems
• [11:40] Cutting the first purchase order in half
• [12:35] Using a deposit-and-balance pre-order model
• [14:10] Klaviyo
• [16:05] Finding pre-launch customers without crowdfunding
• [17:15] Running street demos across New York City
• [18:00] Turning customer conversations into ad copy
• [18:20] Starting paid ads at $25 a day
• [19:10] Why a $150 price increase made sense
• [19:40] How raising the price cut CAC to $28
• [21:08] Why underpricing made customers suspicious
• [23:40] Showing up premium with no team
• [24:25] Flowium
• [25:30] The rollercoaster of the growth phase
• [26:20] Launching the 02 in a cash crunch
• [27:35] Launching the Demi at a lower price point
• [28:20] Offering rentals alongside purchases
• [29:30] Who renting a machine works best for
• [30:20] Rental economics vs. Nespresso pods
• [31:25] Where to find and visit Terra Kaffe

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• The world’s best super automatic espresso machines terrakaffe.com/
• Follow Sahand Dilmaghani linkedin.com/in/sahand-dilmaghani/
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/audit
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest
• Book a free lifecycle diagnosis call flowium.com/

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!