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The TL;DR:

• Let’s Chat D2C: Unlocking new revenue with the launch of the new DRINKS partner program!

• Building in Public with SCALIS: The power of a rock-solid advisory board for product feedback and industry insights.

• What I’m Thinking about this Week: Bad Software Picks, Broken Trust, and the Long-Tail Pain for Brands.

• The D2Z Podcast: In this episode of The D2Z Podcast, I sat down with Steven Sakach about the intersection of Gen Z entrepreneurship and empathetic marketing. Steven shares his journey in the digital marketing space, emphasizing the importance of building love into scalable systems and the need for authenticity in marketing.

• Upcoming Events: I’ll be in Arkansas until mid-May. Let me know if you’re in the area and want to connect!

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Let’s Chat D2C: Unlocking new revenue with the launch of the new DRINKS partner program!

The DRINKS Partner Program just launched, and it’s a game-changer for agencies and software vendors working in the eCommerce space—especially those helping merchants capture every bit of GMV they can. DRINKS Anywhere, the powerful API platform behind beverage alcohol sales for Thrive Market, Instacart, Macy’s, and more, is now available to non-alcohol Shopify merchants as well.

Here’s the kicker: by offering alcohol delivery through DRINKS Anywhere, merchants can unlock an additional 3–10% of topline GMV with zero inventory risk. We’ve launched this offering with a handful of select agency partners, and early results are already showing massive upside.

If you're an agency or SaaS company and want to give your merchants access to this turnkey revenue stream, we’d love to chat. Learn more and apply to become a partner here.

Building in Public with SCALIS: The Power of a Rock-Solid Advisory Board

One of the most critical decisions we've made post-launch at SCALIS was assembling a highly engaged and strategic advisory board. When you’re building a platform that aims to disrupt how companies hire and scale their teams, having deep industry insights, network access, and product feedback from trusted advisors is invaluable.

Our advisors aren't just names on a slide—they’re actively shaping our product roadmap, introducing us to enterprise partners, and helping us navigate early-stage go-to-market decisions. If you're launching something new, don't underestimate the multiplier effect the right board can have. It’s not about having big names—it’s about having people who will pick up the phone, challenge your thinking, and be in the trenches with you.

What I’m Thinking About This Week: Bad Software Picks, Broken Trust, and the Long-Tail Pain for Brands

One of the most frustrating patterns I’ve seen in the eCommerce ecosystem is agencies pushing their clients into software platforms that aren’t right for them—often without truly understanding the client’s business model, team structure, tech stack, or long-term goals.

Here’s how it usually goes: the agency has a preferred partner or is incentivized through rev share. They recommend a software tool that worked great for one of their other clients or that they got a spiff for, but they haven’t done the due diligence to make sure it’s actually a fit for this specific brand. Maybe the merchant doesn’t have the internal team to manage the platform, or maybe the cost-to-value just doesn’t make sense at their scale. But the agency gives the green light anyway.

Fast forward a few months: the agency relationship fizzles out—maybe because the results weren’t there, maybe because the brand realizes the agency isn’t as strategic as they hoped. But now the client is left holding the bag on a 12- to 36-month software contract for a tool they don’t use, don’t need, or don’t even understand. That’s a multi-year tax on a bad decision that only took 30 minutes to make.

I’ve had conversations with founders and heads of marketing who feel trapped. They can’t rip out the software because they’re locked in. They can’t get the support they need because the agency is long gone. And they can’t justify the spend to leadership because the ROI isn’t there. It’s demoralizing—and it’s entirely avoidable.

Here’s the truth: most agencies are NOT software experts. They don’t deeply understand the workflows, onboarding requirements, team resourcing, or integration points needed to make the tool successful. That’s not their fault necessarily—it’s just not what they’re built for. But when they present themselves as tech advisors without that expertise, clients get burned.

Merchants: before signing anything long-term, ask for these four things:

1. A second (or third) opinion from a neutral third party.

2. A reference from a brand similar in size and structure using the tool successfully.

3. A clear exit plan if it doesn’t work out in the first 60–90 days.

4. An internal execution plan—who will own this platform, how will it be used day-to-day, and what metrics will define success? Software doesn’t run itself. If you don’t have a team or process in place to activate it, it’s just expensive shelfware.

Agencies: long-term trust is far more valuable than short-term software referral commissions. If you’re not 100% sure the tool is right for your client, bring in someone who is.

Bad software decisions don’t just hurt the merchant—they damage the entire ecosystem. Let’s do better.

This Week’s The D2Z Podcast

#147 – Building Empathy Into Your Marketing

🎧 Listen Now 🎧

In this episode of The D2Z Podcast, Brandon Amoroso speaks with Steven Sakach about the intersection of Gen Z entrepreneurship and empathetic marketing. Steven shares his journey in the digital marketing space, emphasizing the importance of building love into scalable systems and the need for authenticity in marketing. They discuss the transition from a service-based organization to a software company, the implementation of a pod structure for better employee engagement, and the significance of understanding customer emotions. The conversation also touches on the challenges of navigating advertising channels, the pros and cons of bootstrapping versus VC funding, and the future of marketing in an AI-driven world.

Upcoming Events

I’ll be in Arkansas until mid-May. Let me know if you’re in the area and want to connect!