
Build for Community, Not the Playbook
Don’t sell to your community. Just talk to them. DadGang founder Bart Szaniewski started with $750, 100 hats and no real business plan. Four years later, the brand has sold more than a million hats and generated over $36 million in revenue. He’s done it while ignoring a lot of conventional DTC advice: DadGang still uses Shopify’s free Dawn theme, shoots much of its content on an iPhone and runs a private Facebook group for its community. Bart’s philosophy is simple: don’t copy what works for someone else. Build around your customer. On this episode of Marketing Trends with Stephanie Postles, Bart explains how DadGang keeps its marketing simple at scale, turns customer feedback into real products, and uses email, SMS and AI without overwhelming the people on the other end. What you'll learn Why Bart still uses Shopify’s free Dawn theme after $36M in revenue The question that changed how DadGang thinks about community How customer feedback turns into real product launches Why emails that aren’t trying to sell can still drive revenue How DadGang uses email, SMS and AI without adding unnecessary complexity Why Bart resists arbitrary growth pressure - even at scale Connect DadGang Co. Bart Szaniewski on LinkedIn Marketing Trends Chapters 0:00 From $750 and 100 Hats to DadGang 3:23 The Marketing Years Before DadGang 7:13 Why Fatherhood Content Felt Wrong 10:08 $36M Without Forcing Growth 12:40 Why DadGang Still Uses a Free Shopify Theme 15:34 The Martech Stack Is Shrinking 16:16 AI Replaced the Landing Page Process 17:32 Don't Build Around the Algorithm 19:38 "Where Is Your Community?" 21:04 Why 15,000 Dads Still Use Facebook 25:13 When Customers Design the Product 29:07 How Gary Vee Became a Partner 35:18 Email + SMS for a Million-Hat Brand 37:36 Letting AI Choose the Send Time 38:22 Why Non-Selling Emails Still Drive Revenue 41:29 What Comes After a Million Hats? ----Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.







