Ewan McNeill

I just posted a mildly controversial question asking how Adobe could value Figma at $20B while SalesForce valued Informatica at $11B. I got the usual handwringing attempts to rationalize followed by the honest truth that beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to business assets. That said, Tesla just reported a HUGE sales slide yet it's up after hours. Taking that a step further, at the very least it's P:E multiples have at least come down to be comparable to tech companies like MS, Oracle, Apple and Meta. It's now around 33:1 whereas a year ago it was in the 70s. Rewind, I was watching a snippet of Elon Musk's Don Lemmon interview where he boasted he created a car company that's worth as much as the entire category. But this is only because car companies fetch significantly lower multiples than tech companies. Ford trades at 11:1, GM at 6:1 and Stellantis trades at 4:1. So, knowing beauty is in the eye of the investor and knowing how electric is slowing generally, low cost Chinese alternatives are eating Tesla's largest market opportunity and that his cult of personality has been shown to drive away domestic prospects, at what point does the market begin to value Tesla as a car company?

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In this episode of UpYourStack Podcast, I chat with Maddie Bell from Scheduler AI. She’s tackling the challenge of "Speed to Lead." It's all about quickly responding to new leads, as the likelihood of converting them into customers decreases the longer you wait to engage with them. Responding promptly demonstrates attentiveness and increases the chances of securing the lead. Now, imagine having an AI agent that handles this for you! Here are some highlights from our chat: AI-Driven Availability Matching: Scheduler AI intelligently matches meeting times based on participants' availability, reducing back-and-forth emails and accelerating the scheduling process. This leads to a more efficient workflow and timely meetings. Customizable Meeting Types and Templates: Scheduler AI offers customizable meeting types and templates, allowing teams to tailor the scheduling experience to different customer needs and scenarios, ensuring every interaction is relevant and personalized. Analytics and Reporting: Scheduler AI provides detailed analytics and reporting on scheduling activities. These insights help RevOps leaders understand meeting patterns, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions to improve overall efficiency. Enhanced Customer Experience: Scheduler AI enhances the customer experience by ensuring that meetings are scheduled at convenient times with minimal hassle. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and better relationships. Maddie’s story is inspiring, and Scheduler.ai is solving many pain points that growing organizations face when trying to respond to leads promptly. I hope you enjoy this episode! Check out the links in the comments section to listen to the podcast in your preferred format. HubSpot obo.

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This week Toronto is hosting the World Federation of Advertisers for global marketing week, bringing together many of the globe's top CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers). It's timely that EMARKETER released some insights on the role of the CMO. Good news. CEOs are seeing CMOs in a more positive light. This is framed by more dynamic & complex roles that are increasingly driving business results that matter to the CEO & CFO. The transformative role of AI is helping drive this and putting investing in skilling up the marketers on their team. Elevating the role of the CMO has been a long standing conversation at the Canadian Marketing Association & something I'm seeing firsthand on the field. It's fantastic to see some positive momentum as we use her in the age of AI. Stephan Loerke & friends from WFA - we look forward to seeing you in Toronto this week! More from EMARKETER report here: https://lnkd.in/g5di7j9g More about the WFA global marketing week in Toronto: https://lnkd.in/gxq-_KE7

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Digital marketing is moving fast — AI-driven strategies, micro-influencers, and hyper-personalization are just the beginning. This article breaks down the trends shaping 2025. A good this-time-of-the-year read! 🤖🚀 https://lnkd.in/gdEB8rg7

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Canada’s e-commerce scene is stronger than you think—and creative is still the #1 challenge holding brands back. Here’s what I learned at #EcomNorth that every DTC brand needs to know. 1. Canada’s E-commerce Resilience Canada is a lot more resilient than most people think. While the US often dominates the e-commerce conversation, I'm incredibly bullish on Canadian brands. It's exciting to see so many Canadians stepping into the DTC space and investing in their growth. The energy and commitment at this conference were inspiring. 2. Creative is Still a Major Hurdle Creative continues to be a massive challenge for brands. Everyone knows it’s crucial for paid social growth, but many still struggle with how to generate creative at scale that delivers ROI. James Zhao at No Growth (www.nogrowth.ca) gave an incredible presentation on their approach to creative, and tailors their services to lead with video creative while offering media buying as a secondary service. It’s a smart edge for scaling in 2024 and beyond. 3. Aaron Spivak is a beast Aaron was the first speaker, and he set the tone. His story of coming from nothing, failing repeatedly, and eventually achieving his goals was truly inspiring. What stood out was his mindset: "If someone else can do it, I can do it too." That level of confidence is exactly what brand owners need to generate ideas and push their creative boundaries. Brands are lucky he didn’t pick another category to dominate lol Thanks for putting on a great event! Looking forward to seeing everyone next year.

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The One Metric Most Shopify Brands Are Ignoring (And It’s Costing You Big) Here’s the truth: Most Shopify founders I talk to don’t actually know how much they can afford to pay to acquire a new customer. They’ve scaled their ad spend, hired agencies, and pushed for growth… but when I ask them to break down their Acquisition Marketing Efficiency Ratio (AMER) or their New Customer ROAS (NCROAS)? 👉 Crickets. Why does this matter? Because without these numbers, scaling isn’t strategic—it’s guesswork. Here’s how we’re fixing this for eCommerce brands looking to scale profitably: 1️⃣ Switching from MER to AMER: MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio) looks at your total revenue divided by total ad spend. That’s great, but it includes all revenue—retention, upsells, repeat customers—which doesn’t tell you how efficiently your paid ads are driving new customer revenue. AMER, on the other hand, is laser-focused. It isolates new customer revenue divided by total ad spend, giving you the real picture of how effectively your ads are growing your customer base. 2️⃣ Uncovering Your Break-Even Point: Your AMER helps determine your break-even CAC (Cost to Acquire a Customer). Once we know this number, we can work backward to align ad spend, creative testing, and campaign strategy to hit your profitability goals. 3️⃣ Building Campaigns That Scale Smarter: We pair financial clarity with creative strategy. This means isolating angles, targeting specific personas, and focusing on profit-first scaling—not just vanity metrics like ROAS. 🚨 Here’s the hard truth: If you don’t know your AMER or your CAC threshold, you’re blindly throwing ad dollars at the wall. But if you do know these numbers? Scaling becomes systematic, predictable, and—most importantly—profitable. Curious to see how this could work for your brand? Let me know, and I’ll share more insights about the exact process we’re using to scale Shopify brands to 8-figures and beyond.

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Purple Emails Redesigned. Here's why... Our team saw Purple's promotional email and wanted it to be as visually soothing as their mattresses are comfortable. (While staying conversion focused) Check out the breakdown below: #emaildesign #Emailmarketing #Purple

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Collaborative marketing is about joining forces to reach new audiences, increase brand awareness, and boost sales. By partnering with like-minded brands, businesses can solve problems faster, create buzz, and leverage shared expertise. Whether co-hosting an event, offering bundled products, or launching a joint campaign, this strategy opens doors to new opportunities. With clear goals, open communication, and aligned values, your brand can maximize the impact of collaboration. Ready to boost your marketing efforts? #CollaborativeMarketing #BrandPartnerships #MarketingStrategy #BrandAwareness

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When I started including user-generated content in brands' emails, their engagement rates shot up. These brands are doing the same: Mejuri: Used real customer photos in product recommendation emails, resulting in a 28% increase in click-through rates. Glossier, Inc.: Featured Instagram posts from customers in their email newsletters, which improved social proof and still drives sales. MVMT : Highlighted fan photos wearing their watches in follow-up emails, strengthening the brand community and boosting repeat purchases. Try it out: Start adding user-generated content to your emails, and you'll see the same boost in engagement and loyalty.

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Google's New Surcharge . . . . A Canadian Advertiser's Headache? So, Google just threw a curveball with this new 2.5% surcharge for Canadian advertisers, and it's causing quite a stir. Ideally, your ad budget would look like this: Set Budget → Launch Campaign → See ROI But now? Google’s essentially saying, “Hold on—add a little extra for that surcharge.” Here’s how it’s really going down: 1️⃣ Budget Shock You’ve mapped out your budget to the last dollar for the quarter, ready to roll, and suddenly—bam—your costs just jumped 2.5%. No extra value to your campaign, just a bigger bill. 😳 2️⃣ ROI Headache “It’s just 2.5%,” they say, but if your ad spend is in the six figures, that small bump adds up fast. And now? Your carefully calculated ROI doesn’t look so great. 📉 3️⃣ Who Pays? Do you take the hit or pass it on to your clients? Either way, someone’s footing the bill here—and it’s not Google. 💸 4️⃣ Strategic Shuffle Now, you’re thinking, “Do I shift ad dollars somewhere else? Focus on organic traffic? Or just eat the cost and move on?” 🤔 5️⃣ Impact on Small Businesses For smaller advertisers, that 2.5% hike could be the tipping point between staying competitive or cutting back. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. 💡 At first glance, 2.5% might seem small, but over time? It could cause a real shakeup in your marketing strategy. So, if you were a Canadian marketer, how would you handle this extra cost? Would you adapt or look for new ways to stretch your budget? #GoogleAds #CanadianAdvertisers #MarketingStrategy #AdSurcharge #Budget https://lnkd.in/eJ2sZ3Uu

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We’ve seen a lot of value in leveraging Shopify for CPG brands, even when they're not ready to sell online yet. One reason we’ve turned to Shopify is its ability to manage and showcase products seamlessly. Even if a brand isn’t selling online, the platform makes it easy to organize product data, highlight content, and provide relevant product information. We’ve also tapped into Shopify’s rich ecosystem to create deeper customer engagement. For example, features like: ➫ Smart product discovery (Rebuy Engine) ➫ Integrated loyalty programs and customer reviews (Okendo) ➫ Customer service (Gorgias) ➫ Interactive user-generated content (Tolstoy) These platforms are simple to implement and provide functionality that would be much harder to manage outside of Shopify. These tools help strengthen the brand-customer relationship and deliver value beyond just a digital presence. Many brands we’ve worked with have plans to go direct-to-consumer at some point. Shopify makes that transition smooth, allowing brands to turn on e-commerce features without needing a major redesign. It’s a great way to future-proof the site, offering flexibility as strategies evolve. Even for brands not focused on e-commerce, we’ve found that integrations like Amazon Buy with Prime, Destini (a subsidiary of SPINS) store locator, and Brij can help facilitate sales through other channels. The website becomes the core hub for product discovery and education, making it easier for customers to find where to buy the product in-store or through third-party platforms. Competitively, even when a brand doesn’t sell online, their competitors may. In 2024, it’s critical to create a site that feels like a DTC experience to stay on par, and Shopify makes that easier to execute. We’ve also helped brands experiment with DTC with strategic offerings—things like gift sets or exclusive products. It’s a great way to get started, create a reason for customers to shop DTC, and shape a strategy for the future. + Video showcases some #CPG brands we've worked with at Barrel and built on Shopify—some DTC, some not!

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Squid Game Season 2 Drops Dec 26th, 2024! 🦑💰 Time for a business game plan! 💵 Did you know people made billions selling Squid Game merch after Season 1? Now it’s YOUR turn to grab a piece of the pie! How to Get Started FAST: 1️⃣ Set up a Shopify POD Store (Print On Demand = no inventory headaches). 2️⃣ Sell: - T-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, mugs, posters, toys, dolls (check relevant policies first) - Use creative designs inspired by the show (NO copyright violations—be smart!). - Add quotes like “Do you want to play a game?” or iconic shapes like circles, triangles, and squares. 3️⃣ Promote Like a Pro: TikTok Strategy: Start a Squid Game fan account, post memes/trending clips, hit 1K followers, and link your store in bio. Meta Ads: Start a facebook and instagram account, post the same content as above DM Influencers: Send free merch or pay for shoutouts in the Netflix/movie niches. ⏳ Why Act Now? This is a time-sensitive niche. The hype will fade, just like it did with Season 1 and other viral shows/movies. Start TODAY, ride the wave, and watch the profits roll in! 🌊💸 🚀 Ready to play the game? 🕹️

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We've had 100+ conversations w/100+, 7-8-9 figure DTC e-comm brands in the last while. A key learning: Many of them (non-clients) have designed their ad experiences to be like this, - We have this thing, it's good! Buy it! - Did you buy it yet? I swear it's good! - Even other people think it's good! Look! - Didn't buy yet? Here's a discount! - [Not even gonna put effort here, just gonna show you the product and not say ANYTHING, cuz I trust you're gonna buy this time] Wild. You might catch a few fish off the dock with that... But here's how to catch the entire Pacific Ocean, - [First date, just identify with them] Here's something i know will make you laugh or remember - [Some rapport] Ever face this problem? Yes, us too... we know it sucks - [More rapport] Here's a tip that to solve that problem you have - [Even more rapport] You won't believe this but... - [Sell to a desire] I can help you get that thing you actually desire [tie your product to desire, not features] No matter the platform, how cool you think your brand is, how much effort and time you've put into that precious brand book... Rooting marketing against your customer's ACTUAL psychology, will always, always win. Currently redesigning our entire agency's creative strategy playbook and it's been one of the most fulfilling, inspiring projects of my career. DM me if you'd like a copy of it!

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TikTok and Pinterest have jumped into the tier 3 auto space but will dealers spend more to spread their ad budget across even more channels?

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With AI becoming more prominent, it's more important than ever to make sure you are promoting the expertise the humans in your organization possess to the humans you are trying to connect with. #ContentMarketing

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In this video, we’re going to dive into how to increase profit for your Shopify store. With so many guru’s posting screenshots of overall revenue numbers on Shopify… It’s hard not to get caught up in focusing on top-line revenue... Instead of focusing on what really matters.  Profit.  Now, most videos I’ve seen on increasing profit tend to focus on hacks/tricks to get more sales… We’re going to focus on creating long-lasting meaningful improvements in profit. We’re going to start with the basics and slowly get more complex throughout the video… https://lnkd.in/ehmSeZhF - #shopify #derekstroh

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Frustrated with ad spend that doesn’t drive clear results? Many DTC brands hit familiar roadblocks on their way to scaling up. This is the Vulcan way to help Shopify stores grow with intention: Clarity on What’s Working: A lot of brands simply don’t know how ad spend impacts the bottom line. With in-depth dashboards and reports that go beyond the usual metrics, we help you see exactly what’s driving revenue—from product page views to conversion rates. Scaling with Strategy: Growth shouldn’t be a guessing game. We take brands from that $50-100k mark and help them reach new heights with data-backed strategies. Through full-scale ad management across Google, Meta, and more, we ensure your growth is stable, sustainable, and scalable. Creative that Speaks to Your Audience: No more wasted spend on ads that have lost their impact. We’re constantly testing and iterating, keeping your ads fresh and relevant so you’re always connecting with the right audience in the right way. One Team, One Goal: When everything’s managed under one roof, it’s easier to keep your brand voice consistent and performance-driven. With Vulcan, you get a partner who understands the ins and outs of your ad spend and is committed to pushing your growth forward. If your brand is ready to get real about scaling up, let’s talk!

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