Guest host

Cody Wittick

@Cody_Wittick · 4 indexed appearances on the show — Finance & Exits, Marketplaces, Product Development, Consumer Trends, Paid Media

Appearances

• Never-Ending Pasta: $1002026-07-17 · Chris and Colin run through Olive Garden's $100 unlimited pasta subscription, Whatnot's acquisition of AI recommendation startup Shaped, a c…
• Shein Acquires Everlane: $100M2026-05-19 · The cowboys open with sponsor reads before covering Shein's reported $100M acquisition of Everlane, a debate over humanoid robots replacing …
• Meta's Brain Encoder2026-03-28 · Chris and Colin open with news on Meta's new brain-encoding AI model, a stack of hot job listings, and Pop Mart's stock drop despite Labubu …
• We Control the IG Algo?2026-01-16 · Guest Cody Wittick joins Chris and Colin to discuss algorithm control, arguing that platforms should stick to content-based feeds rather tha…

Takes from these episodes

Extracted from the full conversation — a take may be the cowboys’ or the guest’s. The clip link settles it.

1. 2026-01-16 Founder & Team

   In-person team interaction and shared meals create stronger relationships than digital-only engagement

   There's actually a chemical that makes you like someone. It goes up in your body when you eat with somebody. When you physically eat with them, it makes you like that person

2. 2026-01-16 Brand Strategy

   Brand extensions must stay aligned with existing business or customer base or they will fail in the market

   what are you doing here?... They can sell to their existing customers... the market has decided on that one

3. 2026-07-17 Marketplaces

   Whatnot acquiring an AI recommendation company like Shaped is a smart, bullish move for live shopping's future.

   It is interesting to say the least and I am very bullish on live shopping in general.

4. 2026-03-28 Retention & CX

   Pop Mart's business is really a subscription-like membership model in disguise, with a small loyal member base driving almost all revenue.

   members who account for 91% of all sales... with a 51% repeat purchase rate... it's kind of like a subscription model in disguise

5. 2026-01-16 Founder & Team

   Non-strategic workers must upskill with AI tools immediately or will face replacement by cheaper AI agents and automation

   Most of us need to take this moment very seriously and upskill everything that we can do with all of the AI that can be availed to us. Because if we live in the realm of I just do things told, then it's going to be much cheaper to do that with a robot with an AI agent very soon

6. 2026-03-28 AI

   Meta's Tribe V2 brain-encoder model can predict how a person's brain will respond to content, and that data could be harnessed to engineer ads that reliably work.

   they know what lights up your brain, where, what you like, what you don't... I want to harness this in some way and learn of myself so that I can make ads that work forever

7. 2026-05-19 Paid Media

   DTC brands should revive old-school TV infomercials and TV advertising as a serious growth channel.

   infomercials, baby, and TV advertising and leaning into that... I've been so bullish on this, which is why I'm so pumped to find this article.

8. 2026-07-17 Finance & Exits

   Olive Garden's $100 unlimited pasta offer is a loss leader that only works if they follow it with a monetization mechanism like a membership or paid package to keep people hooked afterward.

   Something has to come out after because capturing the top of the funnel is great. Getting these people into it hooked, but you've got to figure out how to keep them hooked afterwards for this to make money, right? This is a loss leader.

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