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!

Tom Aulet is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ergatta, the leading game studio for home fitness.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University with a degree in Spanish and Economics, Tom began his career teaching English in Spain before moving into economic consulting at Cornerstone Research. He then joined MediaMath, a marketing technology company, signing new business deals, overseeing revenue EMEA and LATAM, and ultimately building and running their global Media Agency business.

Amid the demands of his career, Tom struggled to find a fitness routine that was both practical and engaging.

Teaming up with two trusted former colleagues, he co-founded Ergatta and introduced the world's first game-based cardio machine – winner of Health's 2024 Fitness Awards and 2022 Men's Health Home Gym Awards – and the leading game studio for the fitness industry.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:34] Peloton-style rowing with games, not classes
• [02:46] Finding co-founders before the idea
• [03:30] Shaping the idea with primary market research
• [04:35] What makes a great co-founder team
• [05:50] Complementary strengths vs. getting along
• [06:50] Date before you marry: co-founder commitment
• [07:15] Klaviyo
• [09:20] How to find people for customer interviews
• [10:00] Approaching strangers at the gym
• [11:16] Why your network gives you biased data
• [11:45] Timeline from concept to launch
• [12:45] The WaterRower manufacturing partnership
• [14:00] Hire people who've done it before
• [14:20] Intelligems
• [16:00] Know your special sauce (and what isn't)
• [17:10] Apple wasn't vertically integrated at first
• [18:00] Building the gaming MVP
• [19:45] Testing game concepts before writing code
• [21:04] Pre-sales during holiday 2019
• [21:30] First 500 customers with zero ad spend
• [23:15] Launching days before the COVID lockdown
• [23:40] eFulfillment Service
• [25:26] Owned, earned, then paid media
• [26:00] Non-brand search as the discovery trigger
• [26:50] The "How did you hear about us" survey
• [28:45] Using survey data for CRO and ad copy
• [30:05] Biggest mistake: raising too much money
• [31:15] Raise for your realistic outcome
• [33:01] Brand matters as much as the quant game
• [34:30] Building a premium, design-forward brand
• [35:25] Apple and perceived value
• [36:15] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Rowers that make you want to work out ergatta.com/
• Follow Tom Aulet linkedin.com/in/tom-aulet-85493127
• 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!

Angelo Coletta is a Serial Entrepreneur and Former President of Innovup.

Graduated cum laude in Economics and Commerce from the University of Bari, he completed his studies with a Master in Innovation Management at the "Iacocca Institute Lehigh University" in Pennsylvania (USA), entitled "Global Village for the Future Leaders".

In the early years of his career, he worked in marketing consultancy and founded a consultancy firm, an advertising agency, and a system integrator, which he then sold to an Italian player, achieving his first exit. He later dedicated himself to the creation of product companies in the software field.

In the last five years, he has realized two exits, the first being BookingShow S.p.A., one of the three main ticketing players in Italy, sold in 2017 to an international group, and the second with 18months Srl in 2020, a former startup now a leader in the Italian cinema ticketing market.

He is the president and board member of various companies, especially in the IT field (Upsystems S.p.A., The Digital Box, Seares), as well as President from 2018 to 2021 of Innovup (formerly Italia Startup), an associative point of reference for startups, scaleups, incubators, accelerators, science parks, and large Italian corporations, and maintains various investments in Italian startups and scaleups.

Today he is the founder and CEO of Zakeke, a cloud SaaS (software as a service) platform that enables the world's major e-commerce platforms to offer their consumers an innovative and enhanced shopping experience, thanks to the use of visual technologies such as 2D & 3D customization, 3D visualization, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Try-On.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [00:56] What Zakeke solves for ecommerce brands
• [01:44] Shopify plug-and-play and MCP server
• [02:23] Seven years and 10,000 customers
• [03:14] Industries that see the most success
• [03:49] Apparel, furniture, and luxury brands
• [05:17] How Zakeke compares on product builders
• [06:06] Multi-layer customization at scale
• [08:29] Cutting internal implementation costs
• [08:56] Why off-the-shelf beats custom builds
• [10:06] Zero custom code, even for HP and Valentino
• [10:55] The real cost of ecommerce mistakes
• [13:14] API front end and monthly platform updates
• [13:54] Do you need a 3D model to start?
• [14:25] AI and the 3D artist network
• [15:13] The falling cost of 3D modeling
• [16:02] Using 3D files across AR and 360 views
• [16:41] AI try-on without 3D assets
• [18:52] What's next for Zakeke
• [19:13] Launching a conversational interface
• [21:54] AI agents as product setup coaches
• [22:30] AI is probabilistic, production is deterministic
• [24:49] Where to learn more about Zakeke
• [26:18] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• 3D Product Configurator and Customizer for eCommerce zakeke.com
• Follow Angelo Coletta linkedin.com/in/angelo-coletta

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!

Kasey Wiese, Director of eCommerce at Liberty Safe, has spent 20 years obsessing over one question: why isn’t this converting?

From a bouncing PDP on a $900 fly rod to leading a full DTC rebuild at a $12M business, she finds the friction and fixes it. Whether it’s a broken color swatch killing rod sales at Orvis, a merchandising strategy that isn’t telling the right seasonal story, or a platform that’s simply holding the business back.

Kasey has owned ecommerce P&Ls across some of the most respected names in the outdoor and lifestyle space, including Orvis, SIMMS Fishing, Arcade Belts, and Elevate Outdoor Collective, and she understands this customer intimately. They’re anglers, hunters, and skiers who expect the online experience to reflect the brand they trust on the water and in the field.

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:04] What Liberty Safe sells
• [01:54] Starting ecommerce at a Tahoe ski shop
• [03:15] Selling DTC without competing with dealers
• [04:17] Why AI feels like SEO 15 years ago
• [04:27] Selling online in 2006 with a custom stack
• [06:07] When ecommerce still meant calling in orders
• [06:44] Moving to Demandware at a ski manufacturer
• [08:20] Replatforming from WooCommerce to Shopify Plus
• [09:14] Intelligems
• [10:45] How the ecommerce leader role has changed
• [11:00] Bridging strategy and operations
• [12:08] The right and wrong ways to use AI
• [14:00] Unique products break tried-and-true tactics
• [15:00] Building AI agents to distill your data
• [15:55] Klaviyo
• [17:52] Why AI-driven strategy is average at best
• [18:18] Stop copying and pasting AI slop
• [20:06] Using AI to speed up CRO ideation
• [21:37] Creating AI product imagery for safes
• [23:36] Why UGC doesn't work for safe owners
• [24:23] Flowium
• [25:20] Can AI fill a brand's content gap?
• [26:52] Blending real photo shoots with AI images
• [27:40] Human QA on every AI output
• [28:23] The first 90 days at a new company
• [28:39] Starting with the path to purchase
• [29:40] Content for conversational search
• [30:09] Starting CRO closest to the money
• [31:05] Matching ads to the right landing page
• [31:44] Mapping team process and ownership
• [33:20] Building landing page templates that scale
• [34:10] Prioritizing what gets a landing page
• [34:58] When team KPIs aren't aligned
• [35:19] Two ad sets, two destinations
• [35:50] Control what you can control
• [36:10] Picking one thing and doing it right
• [36:38] Final thoughts

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• America’s #1 safe: premium protection means configurable organization https://libertysafe.com/
• Follow Kasey Wiese https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasey-wiese/
• Book a demo today at http://intelligems.io/audit
• Get your free demo https://www.klaviyo.com/honest
• Book a free lifecycle diagnosis call https://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!

Gary founded Yardstick Marketing Partners an industry leading experiential marketing agency creating engagement and driving audience for Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros, Fox, Major League Baseball, Namco/Bandai, New Era Cap Company and Microsoft.

Known for extensive and exciting mobile tours, Gary created and executed tours for Seinfeld, Snoop Dog, and more.

After working on a mobile gaming tour, Mr Kleinman saw that over 3 billion people were active gamers. This led to the creation of The WHAM Network, a digital network about the lifestyle and culture of gaming.

Seeing that gamers were experiencing cramping, fatigue and loss of attention due to long gaming sessions, Kleinman noticed that all existing supplements that could prove beneficial to gamers were all dependent on water or fluids. It was this problem that led to the creation of waterless nutrition.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:24] What is Electrolyte Boost?
• [02:04] Energy, focus, and upcoming functional products
• [03:22] Spotting a gap in the esports world
• [04:25] From gamers to surgeons and truck drivers
• [05:18] A year and a half to perfect the formula
• [06:40] Dosing and bioavailability challenges
• [07:40] Navigating sugar substitutes
• [08:31] Klaviyo
• [10:38] Would you take the leap again?
• [11:50] Testing sweeteners and sweet proteins
• [12:20] Dropping sucralose to win shelf space
• [12:55] Why every entrepreneur asks "why am I doing this?"
• [14:22] Intelligems
• [15:35] Finding your first customers
• [16:01] Why Amazon comes first
• [16:55] Discovering unexpected customer use cases
• [17:50] The hidden risks of retail placement
• [18:55] Shifting from influencers to creators
• [19:50] Two years in beta and three package changes
• [20:24] Is Amazon a good place to beta test?
• [21:02] Amazon discoverability and keywords
• [22:40] Building a category that doesn't exist
• [23:24] Why Amazon reviews matter
• [24:45] Social proof from early adopters
• [25:30] eFulfillment Service
• [26:40] Whatever you think it costs, quadruple it
• [27:50] Projecting inventory and lead times
• [30:05] When passion turns into a financing game
• [31:10] You don't have to do it alone
• [32:00] No ego, a lot of pride
• [32:56] Get comfortable with no net
• [33:46] Testing and tweaking everything
• [34:10] Finding the market in the gap
• [36:15] Do we need another hydration drink?
• [36:52] Where to buy Electrolyte Boost
• [37:20] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Boost your power, focus, and performance electrolyteboost.com/
• Follow Gary Kleinman linkedin.com/in/gary-kleinman-3503757/
• 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!

Aleksandra focuses on integrations with ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce, and on building an experience that helps merchants increase their sales.

She has been in product for 8 years, and has been working at Text since 2021.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:07] Text, LiveChat, and the AI pivot
• [01:59] 25 years of customer service data
• [03:14] From biotech degree to ecommerce SaaS
• [04:15] There's no right way into ecommerce
• [04:37] Why you can't copy someone's success
• [05:47] Using competitor analysis the right way
• [06:22] Support chats are buying decisions
• [07:12] Spotting high intent signals on your store
• [08:35] Return questions are risk assessments
• [09:00] Proactive outreach from humans or AI
• [09:40] Beating fear, uncertainty, and doubt
• [10:39] Why fast replies build trust
• [11:05] How AI and humans work together in support
• [13:10] The late-night mattress shopper story
• [14:15] Measuring revenue lift from AI
• [14:40] How Nuvoo grew sales over 400%
• [16:12] 98% resolution vs. 70% of traffic
• [17:33] Automating the "lazy customer" questions
• [18:45] Proactive chat invites that drive sales
• [19:53] Blending human support with AI agents
• [20:50] Making AI sound like your brand
• [21:33] Where to learn more about Text
• [22:35] Free merch for customer support teams
• [22:56] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• AI customer service engine that drives revenue text.com/
• On a customer support team? Grab Text's merch, including T-shirts and sweatshirts: store.text.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=Honest%20Ecommerce&utm_campaign=podcast&utm_content=_
• Follow Aleksandra Kacperczyk linkedin.com/in/aleksandra-kacperczyk-200047180/

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!