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Brand finance, capital, and growth.
Ben Tregoe on brand finance: capital strategy, inventory, margins, cash flow, and building consumer brands that generate cash.
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39 posts on Margins
August 12, 2026 · Operations, Logistics
Fix how you code inventory
Accounting will code inventory invoices as expenses for several reasons. You may not be aware it’s happening. And you may not be aware of the implications and benefits of fixing it.
May 13, 2026 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
Inventory IRR
I would expect blank stares if I asked a brand finance person what their Inventory IRR is, but it’s my favorite pet metric because it distills into a single number the potential of the brand’s...
May 1, 2026 · Data, Margins
Latest Elephant Herd Index
Latest Elephant Herd Index
April 24, 2026 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
PMMF Not PMF (Product Market Fit)
We all use the term, but what do we actually mean? It’s a notoriously squishy term that was popularized in tech with VC’s, so it makes sense that people often cite Marc Andreesen’s definition:
December 19, 2025 · Strategy, Margins
Amazon’s Compounding Cost Reduction Wave
How do you develop 7 points of margin while building a 70% cost advantage on your competitors?
December 11, 2025 · Strategy, Capital Efficiency
Finding Your Flywheel
Amazon’s "secret sauce" was drawn on a napkin in 2001 when Jeff Bezos sketched a diagram of Amazon’s flywheel.
November 11, 2025 · Strategy, Capital Efficiency
Customers are the assets that count
The accounting is misleading. Accounting standards say that marketing is an expense and that your inventory is your biggest asset.
November 6, 2025 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
Golden Zone? Death Zone? Your zone determines your future
I can tell you what your future will look like by knowing which zone you are in.
November 4, 2025 · Strategy, Margins
The 5 Holy Laws of Models (part 2)
A financial model with a balance sheet and cash flow is the most critical tool for every brand leader.
October 30, 2025 · Margins, Strategy
Get to Real not Ramen Profitability
One of the biggest lies founders tell themselves is around profitability. I know because I have told it to myself.
October 28, 2025 · Margins
Why the low product margins?
I talk about it with founders; read about it in posts and listen to it on podcasts. How does something so central to the entire business - how should we price our products - get so screwed up?
October 27, 2025 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
AI’s impact on brand finance
How will AI impact brand finance?
June 12, 2025 · Strategy, Capital Efficiency
What is a Brand?
Brand is the most under defined word in ecomm. A working definition of brand, the thinking behind it, and how to make it actionable.
May 29, 2025 · Strategy, Operations
Product Focus Works
Rhode’s growth is phenomenal. From zero to $210 million in net sales in 3 years is a stunning success. And a billion dollar exit is a fantastic finish.
May 12, 2025 · Margins
Your best products subsidize your worst
“We’re first purchase profitable” said the Head of Marketing.
April 22, 2025 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Reducing Cash Flow Ups and Downs
In this video, I explore:
April 14, 2025 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Is it Margin or Cycling or Both?
Margins or capital cycles.
April 11, 2025 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Spin Your Capital Cycles Faster
Imagine two companies with the exact same Income Statement.
April 7, 2025 · Data, Margins
13 Week Cash Flow Model Resource
@eric__andrews is a wealth of information. He has a ton of good and helpful videos and offers courses as well.
March 20, 2025 · Strategy, Margins
Unit economics unlock all levers
In our effort to reduce complexity and wrap our heads around our businesses, we simplify to ratios and percentages. Percentages and ratios can be helpful, but risk boxing in our thinking and...
March 19, 2025 · Strategy, Margins
Planning for Profit
“Failure to plan is planning to fail.”
March 3, 2025 · Operations, Margins
Cutting Expenses
2 wrong ways and 1 right way to cut expenses
December 12, 2024 · Margins, Operations
Returns & Refunds
The owner stopped, bent down and picked up the penny, then turned to my friend “if you aren’t the type of person picking up pennies in the parking lot, then you aren’t going to make it in this...
June 26, 2024 · Margins
Chargeback Dreaming
Chargebacks and ‘Friendly Fraud’ suck.
May 6, 2024 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Capital, Cash and Growth. Tuning the Machine.
How well do I use my capital to generate sales?
April 16, 2024 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
Lessons from a Retail Legend
Has there been a more influential CFO in retail than Richard Galanti from Costco?
April 2, 2024 · Data, Margins
How close to insolvency are you? The Altman Z-Score
A quick scan of this list and the negative scores might give you a clue as to what the table means. Not good.
March 25, 2024 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Manage to cash
Of the god metrics of ecomm, Zeus = Cash. Contribution Profit sits at Cash’s feet.
March 13, 2024 · Exits, Equity
Are you building a brand or an ad arb business?
Are you building a brand or an ad arbitrage business?
March 1, 2024 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
Cracking the formula
“Red Bull soon cracked the formula for the whole sport. It consisted of four essential elements:
February 27, 2024 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
3 lessons for brand leaders: ELF
e.l.f. has returned an incredible 651% in the past 2 years with its share price rising from $27 to $200.
February 21, 2024 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
Hermes v The World
The numbers are staggering. When you look at the financial performance of Hermes versus its luxury peers, the numbers are simply staggering.
February 8, 2024 · Data, Margins
The Unhappy 13: Lessons from poor performance
These are the 13 companies in the Elephant Herd Index that had both (a) negative 12 month returns and (b) 3 month returns below the S&P 500 which makes for unhappy investors.
February 7, 2024 · Equity, Margins
The Elite 5 and Return on Capital
5 ecommerce and retail brands have more than doubled the S&P 500 return over the past 12 months.
January 17, 2024 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
The question you must answer
Which quadrant are you?
January 15, 2024 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Solving the Return on Capital Riddle
Of course that’s not how you view your brand. You have awesome products, a big market, great customers and a hard-working team. You are changing the world!
January 4, 2024 · Margins, Capital Efficiency
The Payoff Playbook
Will this be worth it?
December 22, 2023 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Introducing the Elephant Herd Index
Link
December 21, 2023 · Capital Efficiency, Margins
Cautionary Tale: Don’t be Allbirds
There are 4 quadrants. Which are you?
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