The Take Timeline

Product Development

How the cowboys’ take on Product Development has evolved.

1. 2026-01-06moderate 72%

   The hard work of marketing happens in product development before a single email is sent; retention requires thoughtful product assortment, not just email tactics.

   The hard work of marketing is all done before you ever say a single thing. It's done in product development... brands unknowingly killing off supporting products that are driving repeat purchases.

2. 2026-01-22moderate 65%

   Large distilleries are missing an opportunity in the ready-to-drink market.

   I think that's another space that I think the big distilleries are missing on

3. 2026-01-31moderate 65%

   Creating affordable luxury products that are inherently shareable and worthy of social posts drives organic word-of-mouth growth.

   it's a can that people are happy to take a picture of when they get one... it's very sharable like... this $2 kind of luxury item

4. 2026-01-31moderate 55%

   Bold, unconventional product innovations that break category norms differentiate brands and drive market success.

   when you do something that is interesting and outside of the box than many others in your category, results will pay off for you

5. 2026-02-04moderate 55%

   Fanatics damaged brand reputation by charging premium prices for substandard Super Bowl merchandise, failing to meet customer expectations at a critical cultural moment.

   They put out a arguably a horrible product and they're charging for above premium prices because it's at the Super Bowl... This is your job. You are the company that's supposed to make the best quality

6. 2026-02-17moderate 62%

   Strategic product innovation under existential pressure can save a failing business

   If it worked, saved the business. If it didn't, we would be done... And then on day one, it just popped off

7. 2026-02-19moderate 55%

   Direct-to-consumer modular homes and dropshippable home packages represent an emerging opportunity worth exploring

   if I can direct dropship a home to a property, maybe somewhere outside of the Austin, Texas area with a little land to it. I I want to look at that thing

8. 2026-02-20Predictionhigh confidence 85%

   Chubbies' expansion into women's swimwear represents a natural category extension that will be highly successful.

   I think it's a natural next step and I think it's going to be an absolute slam home run.

9. 2026-02-26moderate 72%

   New product categories should only be explored if they add value to existing clients, not just attract new ones, to avoid distraction from core business.

   if we can't crush it and if it's not a value ad to more clients than just attracting new ones... then it might not be worth exploring.

10. 2026-02-26high confidence 85%

    Packaging should communicate product attributes like flavors and heat level even if it sacrifices premium aesthetics for consumer clarity.

    What's great about it? More colors... We've got actual food flavors on here... And then we've got a heat meter. How spicy is it?

11. 2026-03-11moderate 60%

    Naughty Ice Cream's founders deliberately rejected the bright, colorful packaging norms of the category in favor of a stark white design to stand out in the freezer aisle.

    Let's take the color away... let's go in the opposite direction. Let's change it up in a fundamental way.

12. 2026-03-12moderate 75%

    A fully American-made western shirt isn't achievable today, so the pragmatic move is to start with cut-and-sew domestically and build out from there.

    we can't really do a 100% American-made western shirt today, but my kind of thought was like, you know, let's let's start with what we can do, which is cut and sew

13. 2026-03-12moderate 60%

    The new chicken stick SKU needs the word 'breakfast' explicit in its branding and packaging for the positioning to actually land with consumers.

    I want to look at that thing and like it... smack me in the face. I eat this at breakfast time... the branding needs to be perfect, the positioning needs to perfect perfect

14. 2026-03-13moderate 70%

    Colin is skeptical that Fabletics should launch a men's/women's denim collection, questioning whether a hero-product brand is better off doubling down on its core category than diversifying.

    Everybody wants to expand outside of their core stick and audience and hero product, but sometimes I just wonder like actually why not just stick to it?

15. 2026-03-17high confidence 85%

    Every ingredient in a product should serve a clear, deliberate purpose, which drove the decision to lead with cottage cheese, cut heavy cream, and use real sugar and collagen in Smearcase's formulation.

    every single ingredient must serve a purpose in our pint, and that means using cottage cheese and making that the number one ingredient

16. 2026-03-20moderate 65%

    A premium olive oil priced 4-5x above commodity alternatives is justified by single-farm sourcing and early-harvest quality, and the main job is educating customers rather than discounting.

    I explain, you know, why it's more expensive, which is kind of all those things I mentioned. We work with one farm, you know, we're not getting economies of scale

17. 2026-03-21moderate 70%

    A brand must own its formulation and IP outright, not white-label, if it ever wants to be sellable.

    the formulators is like you want to own your formula. So, you want to create something that's new cuz if you ultimately ever want to sell the company, you have to own the IP.

18. 2026-03-25moderate 55%

    Absurd, meme-able food products like sleep ice cream are deliberately engineered by savvy teams to spark conversation and drive trial, not accidental novelties.

    I think there's a lot of intelligence behind this... cause you to go to the grocery store and get that thing

19. 2026-03-27moderate 60%

    Compounded GLP-1s and peptides sit in a distinct, actively contested regulatory space since patent holders like Eli Lilly and Novo are working to shut down telehealth compounding, with new FDA-related developments arriving almost weekly.

    Eli Lilly and Novo. They hate telehealth companies because we sell oftentimes compounded versions of their drugs, which is legal to do in certain situations... they are trying to shut down

20. 2026-04-01moderate 73%

    Long-term brand success depends on having genuinely great, iconic physical products, since that is what keeps customers returning after they're first introduced via influencers or pro athletes.

    long-term success comes down to products, right? Like we you mentioned we have iconic products, we have great products, we have super comfortable products... those are the things that are going to keep you coming back once you've been introduced to the brand

21. 2026-04-02moderate 78%

    Allbirds hurt itself by drifting from its core shoe style into too many SKUs and a failed apparel line meant to boost AOV.

    Allbirds moved away from their core style and added too many diverse SKUs, leading to multiple issues... In an effort to increase revenue and likely AOV, tried to introduce apparel. That was largely a failure

22. 2026-04-04moderate 72%

    Reselling sourced/vintage product on platforms like Whatnot is a smart low-cost way to start a brand before eventually launching your own product line.

    The way they started their business was by going to Goodwill... getting all of the '90-ish, early 2000's hats... They built a great business with that. What did they end up doing afterwards? They started making their own hats.

23. 2026-04-07moderate 58%

    The Hulken rolling tote succeeds because it's a simple, well-executed product idea that went viral through a celebrity sighting.

    This to me is such a simple idea that has been incredibly well executed, and now it has been seen with Kim K.

24. 2026-04-08moderate 65%

    A candy-flavored electrolyte SKU is a natural product fit for youth sports because kids want candy over plain electrolyte drinks, especially in the travel-baseball-parent market.

    we finally have we're going to launch two boxes. One is creamy and one is fruity... This is This is uh such a natural fit... Everybody loves candy. They don't want electrolytes and they'll take water, but they'd rather drink something else

25. 2026-04-10Predictionmoderate 55%

    The next big supplement form factor to scale a brand like Grüns will be lollipops or a similarly delicious new delivery format.

    it could be lollipops or it could be some other delectable, delightful form

26. 2026-04-11moderate 58%

    Despite comparisons to over-sequeled movie franchises, novelty flavor collabs like Pop-Tarts x Liquid Death still work and he'd buy one.

    I'm totally here for this. I'm very happy to drink the Pop-Tarts flavored Liquid Death.

27. 2026-04-14moderate 75%

    The brand is deliberately staying focused on its core protein product to scale it to $25M/year before expanding into additional SKUs.

    Let's just let's let's ride protein and try and grow that to like 25 million a year before we really think about product expansion.

28. 2026-04-16moderate 68%

    Unboxing is the brand's 'first handshake' with the customer and packaging must be Instagram-worthy and protected by an outer carton to survive shipping.

    when you open that box... that is your first handshake with your customer... it needs to be great for Instagram.

29. 2026-04-17moderate 70%

    Finding the right physical material (moving past cardboard and brittle corrugated plastic to a padded mat) was the key unlock that made the product actually work.

    So the next place after cardboard you would go to corrugated plastic... That cracked really easily... There's also a robust patent that exists out there on another map but it's like a yoga mat... Mine doesn't infringe on that.

30. 2026-04-21high confidence 80%

    No matter how novel the packaging or format, a product's taste is the non-negotiable factor for success.

    You can put whatever you want inside of a, you know, a form factor. It has to taste good... it's got to taste good.

31. 2026-04-24moderate 75%

    Independent third-party creatine testing showed Create's gummies actually over-delivered on labeled creatine content, undercutting the lawsuit's core claim.

    Create was one of the only gummies that actually leveled up and in fact over-delivered on total number of creatine per gummy.

32. 2026-04-24moderate 70%

    Walmart shoppers historically preferred cheaper-looking product designs over fancier, Target-styled versions, which drove Walmart's earlier design strategy.

    What they found is that it was the cheap-looking lamp that was the hot seller inside of Walmart.

33. 2026-04-24moderate 70%

    Orlando Rios credits Raised by Coyotes' 50% growth to doubling down on what's already working and expanding the apparel product line based on wholesaler demand.

    One, double down on what's working, for sure. Um and especially in apparel... we need to expand our line. It's time. Our wholesalers are asking for it.

34. 2026-04-28moderate 65%

    Not having the new shoe available for purchase for 23 hours after the record-breaking moment was a launch execution miss.

    not having the new shoe um available for sale for 23 hours after he crossed the tape is a miss

35. 2026-05-06moderate 60%

    As more brands ship via Amazon's supply chain, in-box branding and unboxing experience become essential since Amazon controls the outer packaging.

    your unboxing experience is now more important than ever. Make sure what they open up inside of that box that's going to be already inside of the Amazon box is world-class.

36. 2026-05-07moderate 65%

    Because Amazon has no shelf-space constraint, Jewels can keep expanding its flavor lineup in ways a physical retailer never could, and is now curating that lineup down as it prepares for real retail shelves.

    when you are online, especially on Amazon, there is no limit, there is no shelf space... And we are designing the new brand with retail in mind.

37. 2026-05-09high confidence 80%

    Ridge identified a gap in what to buy 35-year-old men as gifts and built new product lines (luggage, apparel, etc.) specifically to fill that occasion-driven demand.

    There was a big opening in the market is what do you buy 35-year-old men for Christmas? And that's where we made the Ridge wallet, the luggage, the everything else we have coming out.

38. 2026-05-12moderate 70%

    Scott Simmons argues expanding into cookie dough is logistically premature since refrigerated shipping would be prohibitively expensive at scale, so Chunky Fit is waiting on retail relationships before extending the line.

    I'm not trying to ship anything with cold packs and charge them $20 to ship it over for 2 days. It'd be ridiculous.

39. 2026-05-15moderate 68%

    Colin argues an underexploited opportunity in golf merch is using existing IP, like course geodata, as creative inspiration for new products instead of directly copying trademarked assets.

    using existing IP uh as like a launchpad, right? ... you can like access the geodata and make some art around it and like get there.

40. 2026-05-16moderate 75%

    Reformulating a CBD product into a cigarette form factor to target nicotine smokers, rather than the existing marijuana-alternative spliff market, was the key differentiating product decision.

    what if you put this in a cigarette form factor and then go after the nicotine consumer, right? ... one-to-one kind of like replacement alternative for cigarette smokers

41. 2026-05-20moderate 60%

    Colin credits Minted's deliberate shift into premium, purpose-built running gear (wicking jackets, gloves, beanies) as the reason its drops keep selling out.

    Their running drops have been exceptional... Some of the wicking beanies and gloves that they designed are incredible... It is premium. It's well designed. It's well made.

42. 2026-05-23moderate 72%

    For high-end or premium-priced products, outer packaging and aesthetic craft matter more to conversion than the product itself.

    what really lands the premium package or premium branding there is the premium packaging on the outside, the gorgeous artwork, the perfect aesthetic

43. 2026-06-02Predictionmoderate 68%

    Quince's expansion into furniture, priced below West Elm but with comparable design quality, is positioned to be a major success.

    I can't imagine this is just not going to be a smashing home run... Yeah, it's very West Elmesque... Without West Elm prices

44. 2026-06-03moderate 55%

    A product launch can be undermined if the physical product itself doesn't look appealing or have good 'vibes,' regardless of the marketing around it.

    if it doesn't look like this and it's like really doesn't look good and it like doesn't have good vibes, that is a big issue.

45. 2026-06-09moderate 70%

    Brands like David should extend into adjacent SKUs (whipped cream, chocolate syrup) that feed off the core product to build an ecosystem and grow LTV.

    you can make this kind of like protein house of products that kind of feed off of one another and at the end of the day increase your LTV

46. 2026-06-27moderate 55%

    THC/functional beverage brands are reformulating with alternative ingredients like nootropics and adaptogens to adapt as the category's regulatory status shifts.

    you talk about neutropics, you talk about adaptogen based blends, cava, gradum... people are coming up with different formulations of their current, you know, flavors and they're rolling it out

47. 2026-07-01moderate 72%

    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.

48. 2026-07-02moderate 60%

    Reformatting BPC-157 peptide into an oral sublingual strip solved a real user-experience problem with daily injections and drove unexpected viral organic demand.

    why don't we do that with BPC? And so, we cooked it up... oral BPC film strips... it just went giga viral, like 700,000 views.

49. 2026-07-07moderate 72%

    Chevy's EV push is a mismatched category extension because Chevy truck buyers value rugged, work-ready capability, not EV attributes, unlike Rivian's more lifestyle-oriented audience.

    no one who wants a Chevy wants an EV... A Chevy is meant for work and it's meant for rugged terrain and it's people who want to deal with that stuff.

50. 2026-07-07moderate 65%

    Colin is skeptical Ricola's new energy 'drops' will sell to him personally, but concedes Gen Z's lack of preconceived notions about the legacy cough-drop brand could make the extension work for that audience.

    I'm not buying drops, extra drops that aren't cough drops from Ricola... they don't have a preconceived notion of Ricola because Ricola is like your grandmother's brand.

51. 2026-07-10moderate 68%

    Hollow/Homestead's growth came from deliberately building new products for new customer segments (e.g., a blue-collar trade sock) to expand total addressable market, not just marketing harder to the same buyer.

    I think the real sauce of it is that we created new products that allowed us to go tap into new markets, which then just created more TAM... Let's go build a trade sock.

52. 2026-07-11moderate 75%

    Recharge's subscription data shows the creatine category is now too saturated to launch a new brand profitably, since pre-2023 entrants earn 8.5x the monthly revenue of later ones.

    Don't start a creatine brand. Don't do it. Not now... brands that launched before 2023 do eight and a half x more in monthly revenue than the brands that entered in

53. 2026-07-17moderate 68%

    The Chip caffeine pouch is missing a spicy/burning ingredient (like cayenne) that would make the product stand out and succeed.

    The only thing I will say is that I wish that it did was that it burned. You need a little burn... Something that's going to burn my mouth.

54. 2026-07-18moderate 70%

    Expanding beyond a core athlete audience into new customer segments like blue-collar trades workers is now driving fresh growth for the brand.

    now recently where we're really seeing a lot picking up is in like the trades, like blue collar, like water filtration.

55. 2026-07-21moderate 55%

    The hosts treat the class-action claim that Halfday's drinks contain three times the labeled sugar as a serious product-quality problem, even while joking about it.

    New false advertising class action alleges that half-day prebiotic DRINKS HAVE THREE TIMES THE AMOUNT of sugar listed on the label

56. 2026-07-24moderate 62%

    Early data showing CBD could cut nicotine cravings by up to 50% justified betting on new CBD product form factors as a smoking alternative.

    there was like some early data that CBD usage um could reduce nicotine cravings like up to 50%

57. 2026-07-24moderate 68%

    The tongue-controlled Mouthpad tech is impressive but mistargeted at able-bodied users and would find real product-market fit as accessibility tech for wheelchair users or people paralyzed from the neck down.

    there's some semblance of an accessibility play here, but like as an able-bodied human, brother, you got 10 fingers... a lot of times this tech looks really cool, but it's just applied in the wrong market

58. 2026-07-31moderate 60%

    Gamified candy works best starting with a 'safe' flavor like sour, with spicier or more addictive formats being the riskier next frontier for the category.

    Sour is is like the it's like the safe like kid-friendly version for like can I handle it?... there might be a play here with like spice

59. 2026-08-04moderate 75%

    Category expansion should build outward from an existing core manufacturing capability (night guards into retainers) rather than diversifying into unrelated products.

    We've expanded on the core custom business because if we can make you a custom night guard, we can also make you a custom retainer... It's the same process

60. 2026-08-05moderate 73%

    Hollow Socks let customer feedback pull the brand into new categories like hunting and tactical socks rather than pre-planning the roadmap.

    we really learned that they were using it as a hunting product. So like, 'Great. Let's launch a hunting product.'

61. 2026-08-07Predictionhigh confidence 80%

    Ford's new low-cost EV truck is likely to fail because it's unclear who the product is actually for, echoing the doomed Jaguar rebrand.

    I think it will fail, and I hope it doesn't... but I think this is kind of doomed from the start, and it's giving me remnants and feelings of the Jaguar rebrand

62. 2026-08-08moderate 65%

    In the current DTC era, having a genuinely better, differentiated product is now a bigger competitive advantage than marketing execution alone, even in a commoditized category.

    actually producing a better cup of coffee gives you a a giant advantage inside of inside of our space

63. 2026-08-11high confidence 80%

    Colin argues some brands likely cut corners on '100% avocado oil' claims to meet supply demands, betting consumers won't notice or care.

    if we just skim 3% out of every single batch, we will meet the demand that is happening right now. No one's going to know the difference.

64. 2026-08-12moderate 78%

    Chris Hall says SpikedAde's vodka-Kool-Aid-flavored, electrolyte-infused alcohol alternative is exceptionally good and hangover-free, calling it one of the best products made.

    They taste exactly like that but with vodka. It was so dangerously good... your boy who is no longer a drinker did not have hangovers and I was like this is the best product that's ever been made.

65. 2026-08-12moderate 60%

    The host argues the candy launch can just execute Unreal's proven playbook to expand LTV via tangential category extensions.

    the playbook has already been laid down on the floor for Peter to just walk through at this point... It's just about him expanding his LTV for his customer.

66. 2026-08-12moderate 60%

    Chris and Colin argue A&W should formally partner with Ghost to make the 'electrified' A&W root beer a permanent, officially branded product rather than a one-off.

    A&W should just say like, 'Yeah, just make that for us all the time now. Just call it electrified A&W.'

67. 2026-08-15moderate 60%

    Viral hit products like the ice cream shorts succeeded because of two years of sustained iteration on drops, not a single lucky launch moment.

    we had been doing ice cream for two years before it really took off... It's not like the ice cream shorts came out and all of a sudden, you know, money was raining from the skies.

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