During its COVID-era pivot, Lifetime replaced its entire sales team with a "concierge" service focused on member experience and ceased all traditional advertising. This counter-intuitive strategy, focused purely on product quality and customer help, led to a doubling of revenue in three years and waitlists at many locations.

While VCs pushed direct-to-consumer, Faherty's founders blended wholesale, retail, and online sales. This diversified revenue, managed cash flow via wholesale factoring, and built brand presence in a way a pure-play DTC model couldn't.

Instead of rushing in, the founders spent over a decade preparing. Mike learned design at Ralph Lauren, and Alex learned finance on Wall Street. This patient, deliberate skill acquisition provided the foundation for their venture.

While surrounded by high-growth, venture-backed DTC brands, the Faherty founders learned from those same founders that their slower, more controlled growth was an advantage. This perspective reinforced their decision to avoid the "grow at all costs" pressure of VC funding.

Facing limited capital, Faherty leaned on wholesale. They used factoring—getting advances on purchase orders from established retailers like Nordstrom—to manage cash flow and fund production, a capital-efficient alternative to dilutive venture rounds.

Inspired by food trucks, the founders created a custom "beach house" trailer to act as a mobile retail store. This low-cost, high-impact marketing tactic generated buzz, drove sales, and even served as their trade show booth.

Launching during a downturn can be advantageous. With less competition, a compelling story can gain significant PR traction. Larroudé's founders leveraged the 2020 pandemic when other brands were silent, mirroring the retail boom that followed the 2008 crisis.

Schwab recognized that newer tire stores were unfairly burdened by higher rent-to-sales ratios. He implemented a system where every store, new or old, paid the same percentage of their sales as rent. This effectively subsidized new locations in their crucial early years, fostering sustainable growth.

To compete in department stores, Alex Faherty personally visited all 10 initial Nordstrom locations. He told the brand story directly to salespeople, recognizing they were the ultimate gatekeepers to customers and their buy-in paid long-term dividends.