Elevating the Game: Key growth lessons from our brand panel

When we brought DTC founders and leaders together for the 3rd edition of our Elevating the Game event, alongside Apostle and Superco, the goal was to have an honest conversation about what actually happens as brands scale - what works, what doesn’t, and the realities teams don’t always talk about.

Across strategy, data, TikTok, international expansion and AI, one theme came through clearly: sustainable growth comes from perfecting the fundamentals. Below are the key lessons from the panel.

Strategy beats tactics at scale

Richard Chapple, Co-founder of The Growth Foundation and ex-CMO of Gymshark, grounded the conversation by explaining that most growth problems aren’t caused by the wrong channel or tactic - they come from a lack of clarity.

At its core, strategy is about making clear choices, particularly those that define who a brand is for, where it competes, and what it deliberately does not do.

Brands that scale well don’t constantly change direction. Instead, they make clear strategic choices and reinforce them internally until everyone is aligned.

“The thing that comes true for me every time we see those winning brands is they codify where they play and how they win.”

Richard also highlighted a common mistake: teams focus too heavily on results, rather than the behaviours that drive them. Revenue, CAC and conversion rate show what has already happened, but they don’t explain why.

“Most of the time you just get presented with lag measures… but not enough focus and attention is actually paid to presenting the lead measure.”

Lead measures show the behaviours and inputs that drive those results - the things teams can actually influence day to day.

His point was simple: if DTC teams want more control over growth, they need clearer strategy and better leading indicators.

Data only works if you trust it

Nick Hird, Co-founder & MD of Vidrate shared a deeply practical, operator-level view of data. For him, data is about more than reporting performance after the fact; it’s about creating enough confidence to act.

“Everything that we do is massively data driven. If my spreadsheet doesn’t say yes, it probably doesn’t get done.”

He explained that the real power of data comes from granularity. By understanding how customers behave over time (not just on their first purchase) his team can predict revenue, test new ideas quickly, and change course before small problems become big ones.

“Within three weeks, I know if it’s working… if not, I can pull it and twist it and change it.”

Nick also warned about one of the most dangerous traps for growing brands: trusting the wrong source of truth. Platform dashboards and third-party tools can overstate performance, giving teams a false sense of security.

His takeaway was that growth becomes far less risky when teams know which numbers to trust, and use data to make more confident decisions.

TikTok works when treated like a real channel

Daisy Kelly, Founder & CEO of Glow For It, shared how TikTok played a foundational role in scaling the business as a primary driver of awareness, demand and revenue. 

Rather than treating TikTok as an experiment, Daisy reframed TikTok Live as a fully operational sales channel - more like running a physical retail store than traditional paid media.

“Our TikTok Live runs as if we had a physical store, and our presenters act as shopkeepers.”

She explained that live shopping only works when it’s properly structured and resourced, with clear roles and commercial intent.

“Don’t think you’re just going to appear on the Live and have a little chat for a couple of hours… We go live for a minimum of 9 to 12 hours a day.”

Behind the scenes, TikTok Live at Glow For It is highly data-driven. Every major live is planned minute-by-minute, with bundles and price drops tracked in real time to optimise performance as the session unfolds.

“Every five minutes of the 14 hours, we have a spreadsheet with the entire rundown.”

While TikTok is often seen as discount-led, Daisy highlighted how perceived value - not constant price cutting - has been key to maintaining strong AOV and profitability.

Her broader message was that TikTok can be a powerful growth engine, but only when it’s treated with the same rigour, planning and operational discipline as any other core channel.

International expansion starts with signals, not ambition

Diego Fria, Ecom Director at ThruDark shared hard-earned lessons from expanding brands across multiple markets, including Europe, the US and Asia. His central message was that international expansion should be driven by evidence of demand, as opposed to founder ambition or assumptions about market size.

“What I’ve always looked into is awareness.”

Rather than asking where do we want to go next?, Diego encouraged brands to look at where customers are already discovering and engaging with the brand. Signals like traffic, engagement, social commentary and early sales provide a far more reliable indicator of readiness than topline market opportunity.

He also stressed the importance of focus. Trying to launch in multiple markets at once often creates operational drag and weak execution.

“I would always suggest staying super tight with the list… just one country and then move on to the next one.”

Fundamentals came up repeatedly throughout his contribution. Before investing heavily in brand or PR, Diego emphasised getting the basics right - from pricing and duties through to logistics and localisation.

“Good pricing, good shipping, good customer service, localised content… I love the fundamentals, and that's what I'm really going for.”

Finally, he warned against one of the most common and costly mistakes brands make when expanding internationally: trying to do too much, too quickly.

His overall takeaway was that successful international growth comes from patience, focus and empathy for local customers - not speed for speed’s sake.

AI should be part of the operating model from day one

​Rebecca Harper, Country Manager UKI at HexClad reframed AI away from hype and tooling, and towards how modern organisations are designed and run. Rather than treating AI as something to bolt on, she described building businesses with AI as part of the operating model from day one.

Her point wasn’t that everyone needs to be technical, but that teams need a baseline understanding of how AI can be applied across workflows - from operations to analytics.

“We actually hire all of our candidates thinking AI first.”

Rebecca explained that this approach allows brands to stay lean while still scaling aggressively. Instead of adding headcount to solve every problem, AI can absorb operational load without eroding margins.

She also spoke about talent, focusing on the traits that matter most in fast-growing environments.

“I look for hunger. I don’t think you can train hunger.”

In fast-growing environments, she argued, curiosity, judgement and cross-functional awareness matter more than brand affinity, and people who understand how their work affects the wider business help growth scale without breaking.

Finally, Rebecca offered a leadership principle that underpinned everything she discussed.

“I think you should always be the least smart in the room.”

Her message was clear: brands that scale well invest in smart systems, hire people who can think broadly, and use AI to increase leverage.

The common thread

Across every topic - strategy, data, channels, expansion and AI - the same lesson kept surfacing. Growth doesn’t come from sneaky shortcuts and hacks. It comes from doing the basics exceptionally well, building strong teams and systems, and making clear, confident decisions early.

That was the real takeaway from Elevating the Game this year: the brands that scale best aren’t chasing everything. They’re executing the fundamentals, relentlessly.