The business doesn't stop while you rebuild it.
So Craig Mildenhall split the team in two.
One crew builds Shopify. One crew keeps Kathmandu running.
That split made a 4-month migration possible.
Build crew stayed ruthless on MVP. Core pages first, everything else later.
Don't ask the same people to fly the plane AND build it.

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Making a single ad used to cost anywhere from half a million to a few million dollars. You'd pour everything into one big idea, one hero execution, and you had to be right, because that was the bet. That world is gone. Today a brand can make a few hundred ads off an iPhone, put a bit of spend behind each, and let the market tell them which one works.

Here's the shift worth sitting with: finding a breakout ad isn't just about you being braver with creative. It's about how your whole team works, how you approve things, how much you trust the data, and letting go of the idea that any single ad is your whole brand. On Meta, a piece of content is disposable. It's a test.

In this Playbook, we get into it with Mark Broadhead, Head of Creative and Growth at The Lad Collective, who made around 15,000 ads in four years to find fewer than 10 genuine unicorns, and grew the brand to 200,000 customers and a US launch. We break down how to take more shots and protect your test budget from your winners, how to change your approvals so the data decides instead of a person, and how to give your long shots their own budget when the algorithm won't bet on them. Featuring lessons from Mike Halligan at Scratch Pet Food, Alice Williams at Ovira, and Dave Dullens at Conquest Sports.

Brands and tools mentioned: The Lad Collective, Scratch Pet Food, Ovira, Conquest Sports, Meta, TikTok

This episode is brought to you with thanks to our partners:
🛍️ Shopify → https://www.shopify.com/au
📧 Klaviyo → https://www.klaviyo.com/au/

Connect with us on LinkedIn:
👤 Mark Broadhead → https://au.linkedin.com/in/mark-broadhead-3a397b1a1/
👤 Nathan Bush → https://au.linkedin.com/in/nathbush
👤 Rosa Willis → https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosa-clara-willis-23761066/

🎙️ Want to be a guest or sponsor on Add To Cart? → https://www.addtocart.com.au/contact
📩 Sign up for the free Add To Cart newsletter → https://newsletter.addtocart.com.au/subscribe
💬 Join the Add To Cart Community → https://community.addtocart.com.au/feed

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"If you're for everyone, you're for no one."
Bronte Campbell on customer avatars.
Their girl is Izzy. Professional at work. Izzy at the gym.
But there are versions: Izzy having kids. Izzy in a career change. Izzy chasing Hyrox.
Same person, different stages.
A named avatar beats a demographic. Every time.

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Everyone: "AI is coming for my job."
Reframe: it gave you back 20% of your week.
Admin gone. Now you can move outside your remit. Get trained. Chase what you want.
AI doesn't shrink your role. It speeds up your career.
Leaders, say it first: not replacing you. Enabling you.

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