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Happy Wednesday!
Can you believe we’re already halfway through the year? That’s 182 days down, 182 to go.
Today’s edition is all about helping you reset, refocus, and make the most of the next half. Let’s make it count!
In today’s newsletter
Check out our top 3 recommended reads
The AI Cheat Sheet every DTC team needs
Hana breaks down Gisou’s 3.5M vs 190K reel strategy
Key insights from Varun Mayya’s podcast on the future of coding
AI Launch Codes (For Premium Users Only):
Ibrahim shares his guide on which AI model actually fits your day-to-day
This issue takes 5 minutes to read.
Let’s dive into it👇
Recommended Reads
A smart summer reading list to help DTC founders unplug, reset, and stay sharp.
These A+ subject lines help your e-commerce brand stand out in the most competitive inbox season of the year.
Check out these 7 fixes to get accurate conversion data.
AI Launch Codes
The AI Cheat Sheet every DTC team needs
You’ve got ChatGPT. Maybe Claude. Maybe Perplexity.
But like most DTC folks, you’re using one tool for everything—and getting mixed results.
Here’s the truth: not all AI tools are built for the same jobs.
Some write great copy. Others handle retention. Some pull live data. Others can’t even browse.
But no one tells you which to use for what
So we made a cheat sheet for you.
We broke down the most-popular AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Co-Pilot, Deep Seek, Grok, Llama 3) and mapped them to the tasks that actually matter inside a DTC brand:
Writing ad angles and landing pages
Building retention flows and segmenting customers
Pulling trend data and forecasting demand
Summarizing CX chats or rewriting product pages, etc.
Inside the full AI Launch Codes drop (at the end of this newsletter), we’ve shared:
Our DTC-specific AI model matrix (across 10 brand tasks)
The 2 AI tools we recommend every lean brand subscribe to
A role-by-role breakdown of who should be using what (and why)
For just $10/month, we share interesting workflows, breakdowns, and everything you need to be AI proof and efficient in the upcoming years.
Get 7 days of free trial and cancel anytime you want!
From the feed
Gisou’s 3.5M vs 190K reel breakdown
Gisou’s marketing feels personal, not pushy — and it works.
They blend stunning visuals with real, behind-the-scenes content that fits naturally into your feed.
Today, we’re breaking down why one of their videos hit 3.5M views while another stalled at 190K.
🥇 The High-Performing Video: 3.5M+ Views
Gisou skips the basic “behind the scenes” line and opens with a cheeky, relatable hook that draws you in fast.
It starts with minis being packed and ends with a clean, satisfying lineup — you feel like you were part of the process.
The whole thing feels calm, polished, and intentional. No chaos, just good vibes that make you want to be part of the brand.
🥉 The Low-Performing Video: 190K Views
This one shows the same Sephora event, but only from the outside. It feels distant — like you're watching, not part of it.
It starts with a Paris shot and a quick event walkthrough, but nothing really happens. No product moment, no emotion, just a pretty video.
Here’s the playbook:
Don’t just show the event — involve your online audience.
Use ambient sounds and strong hooks to pull people into the experience.
End with a visual or emotional payoff.
Make people feel like they helped create the moment — not just watched it.
Until next time,
— Hana
AI in news
This 20-min podcast nails the future of engineering
Varun just shared a solid convo with Logan Kilpatrick from Google AI Studio.
No time to watch? I ran it through Gemini Pro and grabbed the key insights for you — straight from the AI, no edits:
Summary of "Will AI replace engineers? Ex-OpenAI engineer at Google drops truth bombs about AI's future!"
The video features an interview with an engineer who has experience working at both OpenAI and Google. He discusses the realistic impact of artificial intelligence on the future of software engineering and other engineering disciplines.
Here are the key "truth bombs" and main points dropped in the video:
AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement:
The central argument is that AI will function more like an incredibly powerful tool or an "Iron Man suit" for engineers, rather than a complete replacement. It will augment their capabilities, handle mundane and repetitive tasks, and accelerate the development process, but it won't eliminate the need for human engineers.
The Role of the Engineer Will Evolve:
The nature of an engineer's job will shift from writing low-level code to higher-level problem-solving, system design, and critical thinking. Engineers will be responsible for defining problems, validating the outputs of AI, and making crucial architectural decisions. The creative and problem-solving aspects of engineering will become even more important.
Some Roles Are More at Risk:
While engineering as a whole is not disappearing, junior-level roles that involve routine coding, simple bug fixes, or writing boilerplate code are more susceptible to being automated by AI.
The "Last Mile" Problem:
The speaker emphasizes that AI currently struggles with the "last mile" of development—integrating different components, understanding complex real-world context, and performing nuanced debugging. These are areas where human oversight and expertise remain essential.
Future Skills for Engineers:
To stay relevant, engineers will need to focus on skills that AI cannot easily replicate. This includes deep domain knowledge, creativity, project management, and the ability to effectively prompt and collaborate with AI systems.
Productivity Boom:
The ultimate impact of AI in engineering will be a massive increase in productivity. This will allow smaller teams, or even individuals, to build complex products that would have previously required large organizations.
In essence, the speaker's outlook is cautiously optimistic. He dismisses the fear of mass replacement for skilled engineers, instead forecasting a future where AI empowers them to be more efficient and focus on more complex and creative challenges. The core message is to adapt and evolve with the technology, not fear it.
You can watch the full thing here.
A guide on which AI model actually fits your day-to-day
1. LLMs Compared Across DTC Workflows
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