Read time: 6 minutes

Hey! Sam here 👋 I’ve spent the last 10+ years leading marketing and growth for early-stage tech startups, helping them scale from 0 to 8 figures. Each week, I share actionable insights to help founders and marketing leaders like you drive sustainable growth.

A founder reached out to me recently, stuck at that tricky $2M ARR mark.

They’d crossed the $1M milestone—a big win for any startup—but now, they felt like they were running on a treadmill.

Every month, they pumped cash into Meta ads and watched the sales roll in, but the moment they eased off the gas, the growth flatlined.

They were overly reliant on ads and promotions to keep the revenue coming in.

They were stuck.

The fear of what would happen if they couldn’t sustain this cycle was real.

This situation reminded me of Chubbies, the men’s shorts brand that eventually pulled off a 9-figure exit.

Before they struck gold, they were dangerously close to running out of business.

Why?

They were overly reliant on Meta ads — driving short-term wins but neglecting the bigger picture.

It nearly killed their business.

So, what did they do?

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Chubbies stopped chasing quick sales and short-term KPIs and instead focused on creating resilient revenue by building a brand that could drive long-term, sustainable revenue.

Here’s what Preston Rutherford, Cofounder at Chubbies, learned:

1. 🎨 Brand ≠ logo, font, or color scheme

Preston said it best: “Brand isn’t about your logo, font, or color scheme. It’s about the revenue you generate when you turn off your ads, new product launches, and promotions.” 

It’s your ability to bring in customers through owned and organic channels—think direct traffic, word of mouth, and organic search.

If that’s not growing, you’ve got a problem.

2. 💸 The power of the ‘Free Money Machine’

Chubbies was dependent on Meta ads, like any other DTC brand.

The return on ad spend (ROAS) was high, and sales were rolling in.

But each additional sale became less profitable.

They were chasing short-term wins while neglecting the bigger picture.

They realized that if they turned off those ads, their revenue would plummet.

They had no resilient revenue base—no “free money machine,” as Preston calls it.

If you’re relying too heavily on paid ads and promotions, you’re walking a tightrope.

That’s not a sustainable business—it’s a ticking time bomb.

It’s okay at the beginning to build momentum; after that, you need to focus on building owned and organic channels.

3. 💪 Brand strength = $ coming from owned and organic

If you’re a founder in the early stages, you might be hyper-focused on metrics like ROAS or CAC.

But here’s the thing—those metrics only tell part of the story.

The real indicator of your brand’s strength is how much of your revenue comes from owned and organic channels.

Are customers coming to you because they know and love your brand, or only because you’re showing them an ad?

Preston nailed it: “Our goal is to increase the probability that the brand comes to mind when the buyer goes in-market, NOT to persuade the buyer to go in-market.” 

You can’t push buyers down a funnel, but you can, to quote Professor Jenni Romaniuk, “catch buyers as they fall.”

Love this play-by-play CMO vs CFO interaction to demonstrate the point.

4. 💀 Chasing discounts is killing your brand

If you find that your sales only spike during discounts, it’s a red flag.

It means your brand isn’t strong enough to command loyalty, and you’re training your customers to wait for the next sale.

Long-term, this kills your margins and your brand’s perceived value.

^{What You Can Do About It}

Here’s how to put these lessons into action:

1. Conduct a ‘Brand Resilience’ audit

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

• What % of your new customer revenue comes from owned and organic channels?

• Is this % higher than it was last year?

• What are you doing to increase that percentage?

If your answer to the second question is “yes,” keep going.

But if it’s “no,” it’s time to gather your team and figure out why.

These questions aren’t just a gut check—they’re the key to knowing if your brand is getting stronger or if you’re just getting better at buying short-term wins.

Important: this is not a marketing task—it’s a business issue that needs the team’s attention.

Track these numbers religiously—month over month, year over year.

This will give you a clear picture of whether your brand is truly resonating or just riding the wave of paid promotions.

2. Focus on strengthening your brand

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Start investing in content marketing, referral programs, and community building.

Your goal should be to build and strengthen your ‘free money machine’—the engine that drives consistent, predictable revenue through organic and owned channels.

This isn’t just about getting good at buying transactions; it’s about creating a brand that people relate to and come back to without needing to be nudged by an ad or a promotion.

Like John Dawes from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute says, “People largely use their memories when buying, rather than searching. Simply put, the brand that gets remembered is the brand that gets bought.”

3. Don’t get distracted by short-term metrics

Sure, it’s exciting to see a high ROAS or a low CAC, but these are short-term wins.

The core fundamentals of your business should be centered around your business’s ability to drive sustainable growth continuously.

These are the metrics that will sustain your business over the long haul.

Preston recommends:

• Track returns over 90 days, not just last-day clicks

• Measure the % and $ of new customer revenue from owned, earned, and organic traffic sources

• Experiment with pricing to assess brand strength

The real challenge isn’t just hitting growth targets; it’s sustaining that growth without burning out your resources.

Focus on creating a brand that resonates so deeply with your customers that they keep coming back, even when the ads are off and the discounts are gone.

The strongest moat you can build is owning a spot in your target audience’s mind.

A strong brand is the ticket to pricing power, customer loyalty, and long-term growth.

🔍 Sam Pick’s - resources worth your time

• How to increase your resilient base of revenue a.k.a brand by Preston Rutherford and Tom Montgomery from Chubbies

• 95/5 rule and brand building by Preston Rutherford

• Brand strategy development by Reforge

• Brand Strategy Playbook by Kevan Lee

Here are more ways to connect:

• Follow me on Twitter/X and LinkedIn for content during the week.

• Work with me 1:1 to help you build a defensible growth engine to scale your business to $10MM ARR. Let’s chat.

  Ideal if you're a founder who reached $1M and now wants to scale.

Until next time 👋

Sam

PS. I’m here to help YOU grow. What’s the one thing you’re struggling with in your business that you’d like advice on?