Course contents
Inside The Foundry
Every module in the course, in the order the decisions depend on each other. 4 are free to read in full; open any of the others to see what it covers.
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Strategy
- Competitor AnalysisReverse-engineer a market leader to build a physical and digital blueprint of what works.
- Blue Ocean NicheDefine a specific persona and symptom to move from a price war to a specialist premium.
- Formulation & DoseDecide what goes in the bottle, at what dose, and in what format, before any of those choices get expensive.
- Compliance Word BankReplace the words that trigger warning letters and ad bans with the standard compliant alternatives.
- Building an OfferStructure terms so value outweighs cost by engineering the elimination of risk.
- High-AOV BundlesStructure your AOV to ensure profitability on the very first transaction using pricing math.
- Unit EconomicsFreeDetermine your Contribution Margin and Break-Even ROAS to ensure solvency.
- Upsells & Cross-SellsAdd offers in the cart, after payment and on the thank-you page that raise what each first order earns without costing you the sale.
- Capital & Cash FlowWork out what it costs to reach launch, how long your cash has to last, and when the money actually arrives.
Infrastructure
- Business EntityForm the company that will hold your inventory, your liability, and the name printed on the bottle.
- Trademark ClearanceFind out whether you can own your brand name, and establish your claim to it, before anything gets printed.
- Manufacturer SelectionFind facilities that can make your product, compare quotes that are actually comparable, and settle terms before the deposit leaves.
- cGMP & LabsQualify the facility, settle the California question, sign a specification, and read the certificate that comes back against it.
- Liability InsuranceGet a policy that actually covers ingestibles, at limits that satisfy everyone who will ask to see them.
- E-Commerce AppsPick the handful of systems a supplement brand actually needs, and understand what each one costs beyond its monthly fee.
- Payment ProcessingGet an account that survives your first busy month, at a cost you have actually modeled.
- Legal PoliciesWrite the pages your processor, your ad platforms and your customers will each read for different reasons.
- Sales TaxRegister where you have to before your first sale, collect the right amount, and know when another state starts to count.
Trust
- Label ComplianceFreeVerify the panel before it goes to print, because a labeling mistake ships on every bottle in the run.
- Visual AssetsBuild the image library your product page, ads and marketplace listings all draw from.
- Comparison MatrixShow a shopper why yours costs more, on criteria they can verify without taking your word for it.
- Product PageAssemble everything built so far into the page that actually takes the order.
- Brand NarrativeWrite the reason this company exists, in a form a stranger will believe and a regulator will not object to.
- Brand AuthorityAssemble the proof that comes from somewhere other than your own marketing.
- Ad Account HealthSet up advertising accounts that survive a supplement brand's first campaign.
Traffic
- Tracking & AttributionSet up measurement before the first ad dollar, and know which number to act on.
- Funnel StagesName the stages of a funnel, and work out which one each thing you build is for.
- Owned-Channel FlywheelBuild the email and SMS list that keeps earning when an ad account stops.
- Seed ReviewsGet honest reviews onto the page before paid traffic arrives, under the rule that now governs them.
- Review ManagementHandle reviews as they arrive, including the ones you are not allowed to remove.
- Pre-Launch EmailsOpen the store to an audience that already knows who you are.
- Influencer SeedingWork with creators on terms that leave you holding usable advertising.
- Ad HooksTurn creator footage into openings worth testing, under rules that rule out the obvious ones.
- Bridge PagesDecide whether you need a page between the ad and the product page, then build one that survives review.
- Traffic FlowSee the whole funnel from ad to reorder, and work out which stage is worth working on.
- Media BuyingStructure the first campaigns so a result means something, and find out what your budget can actually test.
- Ad OptimizationRaise budgets without resetting what you learned, and know when to cut, replace or hold.
- Amazon DefenseDecide whether to sell there, protect the brand if you do, and understand what you cannot control either way.
Operations
- Fulfillment & StorageChoose a warehouse that keeps a supplement inside the conditions on its label, and put the handling rules in writing.
- Unboxing & InsertsDecide what goes in the box beside the bottle, and write an insert that gets the first dose taken and the second order placed.
- Habit Formation SMSBuild the texts that carry a customer from the first dose to the reorder, within the consent and timing rules texting is held to.
- SubscriptionsDecide what a subscription can afford to give away, build it so customers can manage it, and meet the rules on automatic billing.
- Retention EmailsBuild the automated emails that carry a customer from delivery to reorder, and the ones that bring back someone who stopped.
- Customer SupportAnswer every customer from one place, quickly, in words that don't turn a reply into a claim or a dispute.
- Crisis & RecoveryRecognize which kind of incident you have, know who to call before you need them, and look after the customers it reaches.
- Adverse Event ReportingCatch every report of a reaction wherever it arrives, file the serious ones with the FDA on time, and keep the records for six years.
- Inventory ForecastingUse real sales to set a reorder point, place purchase orders on time, and size each run so it sells before it reaches your minimum remaining shelf life.
- The GraveyardReal enforcement actions against supplement marketers, what each one did, and the decision in this course that would have prevented it.
Wrap-Up
Reference
- Launch ReadinessThe go or no-go list to finish before you spend on traffic at scale.
- Operating CalendarEvery recurring check in the course, grouped by how often it comes around.
- Every Production RunThe checks for each lot, from the purchase order to the day it goes on sale.
- Packets to SendReady-to-copy messages for your manufacturer, broker, processor, warehouse, creators and contractors.
- Records to KeepWhat to keep on file, and why, so any request for proof can be answered the same day.
- ToolkitThe course tools you'll keep using after launch, in one place, with your saved numbers.
Reference
Get every module and tool
The full course includes every lesson above, the calculators that carry your numbers between them, and finished example pages for a supplement brand.