Hi Reader,

What a week. It was great to see so many of you in person at our third Amsterdam event!

Huge thanks to Kasper, Leo, and Micha for jumping into the hot seat during our fireside chat. Hearing how you're each approaching growth in 2025 was exactly the kind of real, unfiltered insight that makes these gatherings special. (And sorry about the mic issues!)

What also blew me away were all the stories of connections happening within the group. One member told me he flew to the UK to do a two-day strategy session with another member — free of charge. Just founders helping founders because they could.

I'm already counting down to the next event. We should have a date locked pretty soon, and I'll keep you posted.

Here's my ask: We want Venice IRL events to become the best eCommerce gatherings in Europe. If you attended, what would you change? What worked? What didn't? Brutally honest feedback is not just welcome, it's needed.

Hit reply with your thoughts.

Best,
Patrick

01. Around the Community 💬

• Yep Kitchen launched its Double Heat Sichuan Chilli Crisp flavour and it has been its second best-selling SKU over the last 30-days.
• NEOM celebrates 20 years in business, an incredible feat. Congrats Isabel and team.
• P.Louise’s unique approach to the festive season, launching gifting earlier than ever so people have more time and flexibility.
• Good Housekeeping featured Calla in its round up of the most comfortable high heels to wear this summer. Congrats Jennifer.
• What's your biggest challenge when working out during the hot season? Tuipulse shared some insights on how fabric choice impacts your comfort during intense heat and activity.
• Nick Marsden completed the Croyde Ocean Triathlon – Nick and his team raised $21k for the NR2F1 Foundation! Huge effort.

02. Inspo 💭

• SULT launched its ‘Season Your Office’ campaign to try and introduce electrolytes to new environments.
• A first look inside Nike’s new (and temporary) Oxford Circus store.
• Plant-based food brand Gosh! unveiled a new campaign aimed at encouraging workers to take their lunch break.
• New racquet sports brand Spence held a residency at Tracksmith’s London store. Super interesting way for brands to collab.
• Warner Bros used LinkedIn organic content to promote the new Superman film.

03. Tactics, Trends, and Tools 📈

• Cadence founder Ross Mackay shares an unusual KPI he’s focused on: tagged photos. “In the world of consumer brands, especially CPG, it’s easy to get caught up in revenue numbers, repeat purchase rates, and distribution metrics. But there’s something more visceral that tells you whether you’re building a brand or just selling a product: Are customers proud enough to tag you?,” writes Mackay.
• VEO3 enables Pro plan users to turn photos into videos. Cool way to bring static ad creatives to life.
• Perplexity’s Comet Browser looks super powerful. Here’s one use case for eCom brands — gathering research and ad ideas from Reddit posts.

04. Market Moves 🌍

• UK CBD brand Goodrays raised €5.7m and appointed an ex-Liquid Death exec as MD.
• UK and European eCommerce order volumes rose by 18% in Q2 2025, driven by a 25% surge in June alone.
• British womenswear brand Club L London launched a fully localised German website.
• Ulta Beauty has acquired Space NK from Manzanita Capital. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources have previously claimed the company’s value is in excess of £300m.
• Future of Food is a competition for food entrepreneurs who want to shape a healthier future.
• Has Prime Day flopped? There’s been plenty of debate online and this data from Triple Whale shows a big decline in Prime Day lift for brands.
• Indie maker Peter Levels spoke with Stripe’s Patrick Collison about being an entrepreneur in Europe. (The whole conversation is worth a watch.)
• Following on from the above, James shared a super interesting post on entrepreneurship in the EU vs. the US. Do Europeans flock to the easy life too readily?
• The owner of Italian Ferrero is close to a deal to acquire cereal giant WK Kellogg for around $3B.
• The Cambridge Satchel Company has opened up a new store in Bath.

Supporters

The Venice newsletter is supported by Portless:

Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you, so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Get the details here.

Let me know what you’re working on! If you ever want to chat / get a second opinion - just let me know. If I don’t have the answer I’ll connect you to someone who will :)

​