S4 E12: True Classic’s CEO on Company Culture, Creativity, and Going Viral

Limited Supply · with Ryan Bartlett · July 5, 2023 · 77 min

Summary

This episode reveals how True Classic Tees built a highly successful DTC brand by prioritizing empathy in company culture and hiring. Learn their unconventional strategies for attracting top talent without traditional recruiting and optimizing for key metrics like EBITDA and retention to drive significant growth and valuation. This is a must-listen for DTC founders looking to scale their brand through strong internal foundations and innovative talent acquisition.

Key takeaways

• Implement an "empathy-first" company culture to differentiate your DTC brand and foster stronger customer connections.
• Adopt unconventional hiring strategies that prioritize emotional intelligence and proactively seek top talent not actively job searching, bypassing traditional recruiters.
• Focus on critical financial metrics like EBITDA and customer retention as primary drivers for business growth and valuation in the DTC space.
• Leverage mobile apps for Shopify stores to improve mobile revenue performance and enhance customer experience, as highlighted by Tapcart.
• Analyze your brand for viral potential, understanding that true virality often stems from genuine connection and compelling narratives rather than just marketing spend.

Themes

Topics covered

Episode description

You know that little feeling in the back of your throat that makes you feel emotions towards someone else?  Yeah— it’s called empathy, and True Classic’s CEO, Ryan Bartlett, is here to explain why it's the one thing that will distinguish your D2C brand from the rest of the crowd.  Nik and Moiz talk to Ryan about the importance of empathy in company culture, how he fosters that mindset daily within the walls of True Classic Tees, and why hiring emotionally intelligent people is critical to negating workplace toxicity.  Ryan also unveils his playbook for hiring powerhouse players— and spoiler alert— it doesn’t involve recruiters or running ads. So, lay off the LinkedIn for a bit, bucko, because, according to him, the best employees probably aren’t even looking for jobs. Time to go poach some Grade A eggs! Plus, find out why growth and valuation are simply a high-stakes game of EBIDTA and retention, and what True Classic is doing to perfect their model.   0:00 Guess That Business 12:00 True Classic & Ben 19:52 Creating a Great Culture 33:30 Becoming More Creative 40:15 Going Viral 42:00 The Hiring Process 53:00 Mr. Sharma’s Hiring Process 1:00:00 Growth and Valuation 1:10:31 Mobile App Metrics Check Out True Classic Tees:  Website: https://www.trueclassictees.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trueclassic/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@trueclassic Follow Ryan:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbtct/ Follow Nik: Twitter: twitter.com/mrsharma Follow Moiz: Twitter: twitter.com/moizali This episode was brought to you by Tapcart: Mobile Apps for Shopify. If you are looking to improve your store’s mobile revenue performance, then check out Tapcart and get your first 2 months free at https://tapcart.com/limited Check out the Nik’s DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ

Frequently asked about this episode

What does this episode say about dtc strategy?

Implement an "empathy-first" company culture to differentiate your DTC brand and foster stronger customer connections.

What does this episode say about founder & leadership?

Adopt unconventional hiring strategies that prioritize emotional intelligence and proactively seek top talent not actively job searching, bypassing traditional recruiters.

What does this episode say about customer retention?

Focus on critical financial metrics like EBITDA and customer retention as primary drivers for business growth and valuation in the DTC space.

What does this episode say about ai & automation?

Leverage mobile apps for Shopify stores to improve mobile revenue performance and enhance customer experience, as highlighted by Tapcart.

What does this episode say about dtc strategy?

Analyze your brand for viral potential, understanding that true virality often stems from genuine connection and compelling narratives rather than just marketing spend.

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