Ep. 20
20 June 2025
1h 0m

How to Fund Your DTC Brand Without Killing Your Margins

0:00 / 0:00

About this episode

In this episode, ex-pro tennis player turned DTC founder Jack Oswald joins Adam and Pete to unpack what it actually takes to grow a product brand without sacrificing margins, sanity, or control.

Jack’s built Cancha, a modular bag brand now shipping globally, using a mix of bootstrapping, crowdfunding, fintech loans and angel investment. And he’s brutally honest about what worked…and what he’d never do again.

They cover:

  • Why more money won’t fix messy operations
  • The real risks of seller-based financing (hello, margin drain)
  • How to test products without torching your cash
  • Building a brand your customers will actually fund
  • And how staying lean often leads to better decisions

This episode is for anyone growing a DTC brand and wondering how to fund it without falling into a cashflow death-spiral.

About the Guest
Jack Oswald – Former pro athlete and founder of Cancha. Navigated bootstrapping, crowdfunding, and external capital (sometimes the hard way) to build a lean, growing DTC brand.

About the Hosts
Adam Pearce – Co-founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club™, always hunting for what actually moves the needle.

Peter Gardner – Co-founder of Blend Commerce, CRO obsessive, powered by oat flat whites and sharp takes.

Work with Blend
Need your store to convert like your margins depend on it? Book a free “Metric on Fire” diagnostic: https://blendcommerce.com/

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