Not to mention that you’re considered a ‘high earner’ at £50k annual income in the UK, which puts you up to a 40% tax bracket. That’s just £11 more per hour than the minimum wage. No wonder the UK has a living standards crisis.

ecom is FULL of contradictions - You need to be on TikTok Shop - Barely any brands make money on TikTok Shop - Amazon is no longer worth the squeeze - Brands who sell on Amazon make more profit overall - You should spend more on Meta ads - Meta ads are too expensive, organic is the way - Organic is dead - You need to increase your AOV - Higher AOV means higher CAC - You are giving away too much money in discounts - you need a stronger offer - Focus on one hero product - New products are sources of growth - Retention is more important than acquisition - You can’t retain customers you haven’t acquired - Build a brand, not just a business - Nobody cares about your brand - You need to diversify your sales channels - Double down on what’s already working - ecommerce has never been easier - ecommerce has never been harder The worst thing you can do is jump ship every time you come across someone on the internet telling you there’s only one way to build a business. Be humble enough to learn, but confident enough to back yourself.

This is exactly what needed to be said about the state of ecommerce in 2026.

What it’s like for us solo brand operators around this time of year 😂

Found this video on an old laptop. Me at 14, practicing serves, 4,000 miles from my family. Probably hadn’t seen them in months. This was my day-to-day grind, from hours of fitness, practice on court, and studying on my own in a shared room with 4 bunk beds. Still learning today that wanting it badly and putting in the hours doesn’t always mean you’re working on the right things.

Ughh, more Meta ads manager bugs. Every 2/3 ads I upload have this 'delivery error'. I've tried doing it in an incognito tab, duplicating ads, re-uploading the original video or image in a new ad, nothing works. Anyone else have this or know a way to fix it?

I don’t think some people get how difficult it is nowadays to profitably sell sub-part shit on the internet. Yes, it has never been easier to spin up a store, to turn two marketing hands into ten with AI. The technology is literally incredible, and it’s an amazing time to be building something. But don’t forget what we’re building at the end of the day - physical products. The product part is the only thing you really have full control or competitive advantage over. Done right, product is the biggest lever for lower cac, lower returns, higher repeat purchases and higher LTV. I’d take 50% margins on a world-class product over 80% margins on a poor product any day. It’s not easy, and takes a long term view to get it right. Investing in product won’t give you revenue on day one, and that makes it a tough thing to go all in on, especially as a small brand. I say this having learned the hard way, and I don’t think we’re even there yet to be honest. So learn from my mistakes. Take some of that ad budget, or that AI budget, or whatever budget, and plow it back into delivering the best damn physical object you possibly can. The world will thank you for it.

100% agree. Especially if it’s a Cancha bag.

Staff party. Neither of us is on payroll.

If there is one thing I learned at @beanstalk, it’s how much these people enjoy doing what they are doing. Not that much talk about money; a lot of talk about personal fulfillment, customer centricity and leading your own path. Met some really inspiring people, and have come away with a new perspective on entrepreneurship. Also the @Barrys class was 🔥

I grew up in the US, have lived in the UK, France and Spain, and now travel back regularly for Cancha. Through all that back and forth, one thing has become increasingly clear to me: America is one of the best places in the world to live if you have money. The comfort, convenience and sheer availability of everything, from food and activities to open space, can feel unmatched. Whatever you’re interested in, however niche, you can find people just as obsessed with it as you are. But much of that quality of life has to be bought. If you can’t afford it, avoiding heavily processed food becomes harder. Rent, fuel and groceries consume more of your income. Healthcare can feel frighteningly out of reach. In Spain, someone on an ordinary income can still access fresh, affordable food, reliable public transport and healthcare without fearing financial ruin. And yet, at the higher end of the income spectrum, I’m not convinced life in Europe becomes dramatically better. In the US, it can unlock an extraordinary standard of living. That is what feels so different here: the distance between how good life can be when things go well and how difficult it can become when they don’t. I’m inspired by everything you can become, yet petrified by everything you can lose. The American dream coexists alongside American nightmare. Each feels necessary to understanding the other. This isn’t intended as a political statement. It’s simply how America looks to me as a dual national who has lived on both sides of the Atlantic. The ceiling is higher. The floor is lower. And there is far less in between to catch you.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do now. Before Cancha, I was a very one-dimensional person. I could hit a tennis ball over a net and spoke a couple of languages, that was it. After my career I was destined to end up as a coach. I knew nothing about marketing, finance, product design - nada. Cancha taught me all of it, and much more. But if I could go back in time and have one more shot at making it to the big stage, I’d take it in a heart beat. Being at the US Open (as a spectator) brings all those feeling back. There’s nothing quite like competing and performing as an athlete. Who knows, maybe we’ll double our revenue and I’ll get another go at competing - this time with a cancha bag on tour. Get yourself one at canchagear.com and it might just happen 😉

Our bags, retro tennis games, good coffee, great people, and of course the US Open. Thank you New York, it was a vibe. Pop ups are hard and very rewarding at the same time. I’m exhausted! Next on the agenda, DC to visit some fiends and then back in NYC for @beanstalkHQ 🤙

I was going to check roas but this seemed more urgent..

A fun part of ecom is meet seriously cool builders from all over the world.

One of the hardest things about growing a brand is is seeing profit on the P&L but never seeing any money in the bank account 😭

Cancha’s first popup in NYC is next month, 4th-6th September in Brooklyn during the US Open. Any retail/popup gurus out there have any tips to make it a success?