Nik Sharma: Building DTC Companies

North Star Podcast

My guest today is Nik Sharma, the founder of Sharma Brands and an advisor to companies like Judy and Cha Cha Matcha. Nik is one of my very best friends and my go-to person for all things commerce. Since we first met, we've spent hours exploring the future of marketing and commerce together and recorded this podcast to give you a window into what our conversations are like.

We started with Nik's philosophy of launching Direct-to-Consumer brands. I particularly liked Nik's idea of "The Brag Bar" on landing pages, where you can use social proof to sell your products. We also spoke about managing relationships with influencers and finding the supply and demand equilibrium at launch. Towards the end, Nik and I talked about our process for turning conversations into articles, and the time he cold emailed Mark Cuban. Please enjoy my conversation with Nik Sharma.

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Show Notes

2:21 - Why Nik has the "world's craziest fridge" and how it helps keep him in the know on DTC brands.

6:29 - What marketing strategies Nik has found most successful for DTC brands.

13:31 - How brands can differentiate themselves in a world of emerging brands in already burgeoning markets.

19:25 - Nik's approach to launching a successful DTC brand and when to concentrate your advertising versus diversify.

30:19 - The role of A/B testing in building a brand.

35:43 - How influencers play into the big picture of marketing and why the "shaky video" effect is so successful.

42:12 - The selection and audition process of influencers in Nik's campaigns and how he chooses those he sees as the best for his brands.

45:52 - The costs and benefits of starting your brand through heavy promotion via influencers.

49:56 - How the process of rebranding Hint Water's bottle was performed and the qualitative process that got them to the bottle you see today.

57:27 - The metrics and methods Nik uses in his development of marketing strategies with his brands.

1:05:19 - What Nik looks for in a great landing page, and why all landing pages should be easy to read for everybody from a 12-year-old to a drunk person.

1:10:07 - What UGC is and why Nik thinks it is so underrated by marketing teams.

1:13:31 - The different marketing funnels and when you should use each one.

1:17:09 - Why Nik creates landing pages for fake products and makes them live on the internet.

1:22:56 - The importance of having great merch for your brand.

1:26:22 - What about internet culture makes collaborations so successful and popular.

1:34:05 - How somebody can convert a large personal following into sponsorships and meaningful collaborations.

1:35:46 - How new brands should position themselves when huge players like Amazon are in the same space.

1:44:01 - What happened when Nik cold emailed Mark Cuban and how he got an almost instant response.

1:50:46 - How David and Nik collaborate to develop, write, and publish the articles they make.

1:56:14 - Why Nik doesn't sweat the details of his personal brand that much.