eCom Collab Club Podcast

The episode contains valuable insights about building demand in an underserved category, particularly around market-specific approaches (China vs. UK) and the psychological barriers to men's beauty products. However, it's padded with significant filler including lengthy anecdotes about the co-founder relationship, agency background, and COVID pivots that, while relatable, are somewhat predictable. The most novel insights cluster in the second half around localization strategy and the emotional drivers of customers.

“we actually kind of struggled because we were quite shocked by the, the lack of choices when it comes to skincare products that are targeting men when we moved here”

“we believe very strongly in localization of our brand message. Everything needs to be translating the message that is speaking more directly to that audience in that particular market”

The core insight - that men's beauty remains a category problem due to lack of retailer support and cultural stigma, and that education and localization are critical - is somewhat contrarian but not deeply original. The guest reiterates common DTC wisdom (omnichannel importance, trust over control, focus on why) and relies heavily on received narratives about twin founders and agency-to-product pivots. The China-vs-UK comparison is useful but not novel; the demographic insights are practical rather than counterintuitive.

“for our category for men's skincare, men's beauty, the reason why it remained a niche category, the reason why the stigma was so hard to break down was because these brands were only online”

“don't like the three year, five year plan”

Jake Zhu is a legitimate operator with tangible scale: a B Corp brand in 1,300+ stores globally, founder of a prior creative agency, and direct experience scaling from launch into Harvey Nichols through a major pandemic disruption. He has built a second substantial business and expanded internationally to multiple markets. This is credible practitioner-level caliber, not a thought leader or career podcast guest. However, his reliance on storytelling over hard metrics and strategy depth slightly limits the tier.

“since launching the brand into Harvey Nichols In 2019, Shake up has grown into a certified B corp, reached more than 1300 stores globally”

“within three months we were doing 100,000 pound monthly run rate in the UK in the Chinese market”

The episode lacks concrete data on most claims. While there are a few specific figures (100k GBP monthly run rate in China, 1,300 stores, product sold every 5 minutes, demographic age ranges 18-30 in China vs 32-55+ in UK), most insights are anecdotal: a single emotional customer story, vague references to distributor performance ('some might be better'), and generalizations about market conditions. No specific case studies, competitor benchmarking, or quantified business metrics (CAC, LTV, margins, churn) appear.

“within three months we were doing 100,000 pound monthly run rate in the UK in the Chinese market”

“In China our demographic is much younger. They're 18, 25 to 30 over here in the UK they're 32, 35 plus. You've got second largest audience being 55 plus”

Adam asks solid foundational questions and generally follows up well (e.g., probing the twins dynamic, agency scalability, localization), but rarely pushes back or tests claims. He validates more than interrogates ("I completely agree", "Absolutely"). There are some surface-level follow-ups, but few moments of genuine intellectual friction. The host allows the guest to narrate at length without drilling into contradictions or requesting proof. The chat feels warm but lacks the sharpness needed to extract deeper insights.

“Is, is that quite difficult for you to do personally? Because, I mean, on two levels...I guess, look, I want to part of you guys, look, I've got the skills to be able to do this”

“Did you find that a weird or a difficult transition when you initially started shake up?”