Application — Growth
Popov Leather has 20014 reviews at 4.8/5 and a lifetime guarantee. That proof can lead the ads.
Who I am
- Former COO of Tabs. Built its creator program to 100M monthly social impressions, and the paid ad engine alongside it.
- Founded Mainstreet, a consumer home-services platform: a team of 70, $25M raised (Greylock, Khosla, YC, Tim Ferriss). It failed.
- Before that: Quintessential Ventures, an early seat at a high-growth startup, and entrepreneur-in-residence at Prehype.
- I'm moving into growth specifically. The creative and top-of-funnel work is what I want to be doing every day.
What I noticed
- Mystery Wallet Seconds sells at CA$39.00 against a struck-through 99.00. The page copy says "We pick the design. We pick the color." That reveal suits creator unboxings.
- The Leather Belt line has 84 variants at CA$109.00, and the copy says the leather will "develop a rich patina". Patina over time suits creator stories.
- Free shipping appears as "Free shipping on orders over CA$125" in one place and "Free shipping over CA$125 AUD" in another, while product prices read CAD. Ads need one threshold, one currency.
What I built
What I'd do here
- My KPI: scale ad spend, hold target CAC. Everything else follows from that, from the CA$39.00 Mystery Wallet Seconds to the CA$109.00 belt.
- Week to week: launching a bunch of different experiments, losers killed early, one variable per test, on the belts, wallets and hats.
- Creators: everyday-carry guys for the wallets, dog owners for the leash and collar bundle, campers and anglers for the Jockey Hats, each filming real use.
- Reporting so you never have to ask. Daily CAC. Weekly what we learned. Monthly cohort payback on every Popov Leather product line.
- Event tracking I'd spec and work through with your team. That part isn't me. Tracking the PATINA code comes first.
Month one
| Metric | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators live | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Creator videos / week | 0 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 56 | 70 |
| Landing pages live | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| New ads / week | 12 | 12 | 12–20 | 12–20 | 20 | 20 |
| Unique experiments | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Two creators join each week, up to 10 live by week six, and each posts seven videos a week. New ads rise from 12 to 20 a week and landing pages from 1 to 9 as the creators arrive. Proposed.
Creator videos a week = creators live × videos per creator. Week 1: 0 × 7 = 0; Week 2: 2 × 7 = 14; Week 3: 4 × 7 = 28; Week 4: 6 × 7 = 42; Week 5: 8 × 7 = 56; Week 6: 10 × 7 = 70.
How I'd start
- Pull the Mystery Wallet Seconds reveal and the patina belt story into a hook library before briefing creators.
- Brief the first creators on one product each, a belt and a wallet, using the guarantee wording as written.
I haven't seen your ad account or your numbers; everything here comes from your public site, and I have no experience in leather goods.
I'd love to chat if this makes sense. Grab a time here.
Danilo