Bryan Cano, former Head of Marketing at True Classic, shares his step-by-step framework for scaling an ecommerce business without overwhelming operations. He discusses rebuilding a marketing organization for peak seasons like Black Friday and recounts True Classic's early success in scaling AppLovin ads to $100K daily spend. This episode provides a pragmatic guide for brands aiming for sustainable growth by carefully balancing marketing scale with operational readiness.
Key takeaways
Implement a 'stair-stepping' method for growth to ensure operational readiness before scaling, preventing business collapse from rapid expansion.
Strategically rebuild and reinforce your marketing organization well in advance of peak sales periods like Black Friday to handle increased demand effectively.
Explore and aggressively scale new paid acquisition channels like AppLovin once proven, as True Classic did to reach $100K daily spend.
Balance rapid growth with foundational stability by understanding that unprepared scaling can be detrimental, emphasizing thoughtful, phased expansion.
Consider diversifying into AI-first brand consolidation using executive AI stacks for future ventures, as Bryan Cano is doing with his new project.
This episode is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://axon.ai/en/9operators “Growth can actually kill a business that’s not prepared for it.” Bryan Cano (fmr. Head of Marketing, True Classic) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) for a conversation that spans the full arc of his career. Bryan breaks down the stair-stepping method for scaling without blowing up operations, what it looks like to rebuild a marketing org ahead of Black Friday, and how True Classic became one of the earliest brands to scale AppLovin to $100K per day in spend. Still an advisor to True Classic, Bryan also shares what he’s building next — an AI-first brand consolidator with a founding team he describes as an executive AI stack + a first product just weeks away.
What does this episode say about paid acquisition?
Implement a 'stair-stepping' method for growth to ensure operational readiness before scaling, preventing business collapse from rapid expansion.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Strategically rebuild and reinforce your marketing organization well in advance of peak sales periods like Black Friday to handle increased demand effectively.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Explore and aggressively scale new paid acquisition channels like AppLovin once proven, as True Classic did to reach $100K daily spend.
What does this episode say about ai & automation?
Balance rapid growth with foundational stability by understanding that unprepared scaling can be detrimental, emphasizing thoughtful, phased expansion.
What does this episode say about paid acquisition?
Consider diversifying into AI-first brand consolidation using executive AI stacks for future ventures, as Bryan Cano is doing with his new project.
