Episode · 2026-07-01
Nike Fumbles USMNT Jerseys
Nike Fumbles USMNT Jerseys | Meta Bug Torches Prime Day | How to Get Rejected by VCs
Rundown
Chris and Colin open with Nike missing out on made-in-USA limited-edition USMNT jersey drops during the team's World Cup run, then dig into a Meta ad-serving bug that broke tracking and drove refund fights right as Prime Day hit, plus a bit on how playing hard-to-get raises more VC money. The back half brings on LensDirect/eyewear founder Ryan to walk through his family's optical-store-to-DTC origin story and AR try-on expansion, followed by Evan riffing on customer delight, NPS, and lifetime value over pure funnel conversion.
Takes from this episode
Nike is missing a huge opportunity by not offering a made-in-USA limited-edition USMNT jersey tied to the team's World Cup knockout run.
WOULD SOMEBODY NOT PAY MORE FOR A made in the USA limited edition hotly available on the back of round of 32 Bosnia jersey? Me thinks that they would.
Meta will never issue refunds for its own ad-serving bugs even as it keeps demanding advertisers keep spending.
Absolutely no refunds are coming from meta, ever. You're never going to get a refund ever. Ever.
Physical in-store shopping still has real appeal even as anchor department stores like J.C. Penney collapse, and Shopify's buy-in-store tooling is a smart bridge for that.
I do think there is something delightful about shopping in store and even Shopify is innovating on this, allowing people on Shopify now to buy on store, your customer can simply
Founders who visibly don't need VC money and push investors away end up attracting more capital and interest than those who chase it.
the more that you push them away, the more that they want you... We'll take this one from the sidelines. We're going to cheer from the sidelines.
Ryan credits sheer stubborn persistence, not calculated grit, for surviving LensDirect's early years when failure was never treated as an option.
This was pure like I don't want to say grit. It was pure ignorance in a way. Failure was never an option. Never an option.
Brands over-index on paid acquisition and should instead focus on radically expanding lifetime value and delight once a customer is already in the funnel.
I am saying that once folks get into your funnel, you should be able to radically expand the lifetime value of the relationships they have now.