On this episode of DTC Pod, Benjamin joins Blaine and Ramon to talk about the future of commerce, how brands can build better customer experiences, why removing friction is key, the challenges of selling online versus in retail, thinking in terms of LTV, brands thriving on TryNow, raising capital, founder perspectives, the technical challenges of building the platform, solving for fraud, financing, complex corner cases, and what's next for Try Now. 16:00 - Brands That Do This WinThe challenging part of e-commerce also the most beautiful part of e-commerce, which is that shoppers are never satisfied, they always want more. And so it's this asymptote relationship where you can always get closer to a perfect customer experience, but you will never arrive there. And if you are, and that's why like the greatest force for driving enterprise value is just focusing on the customer.16:45 - Do It For Your Customer's CustomerMost companies will say that they care about the customer, but very few actually do that at every single step of their process. And so I think like that, that to us was paramount because as we think about our two stakeholders, merchants and shoppers, merchants are our main, who we interact with the most, right? Day, day in, day out, we're constantly focused on driving value from merchants. But at the end of the day, like stoppers are, the most important part to both of our businesses18:50 - What Businesses Need To Know About RiskAll businesses are in the business of de-risking their business, de-risking elements of their business. No matter what stage you're at, as you grow, you have a new set of risks and focus, focus on de-risking, is key. It's actually how we manage our annual planning process, so it's very opportune. 30:10 - This Is Karma In BusinessThere is no separation between what's best for the shopper and what's best for the merchant in the long run, in the very long run. But ultimately customer centricity is how you win.  This episode is brought to you by:OpenStore- Visit https://open.store to get a free, no-obligation offer for your e-commerce business from OpenStore in 24 hours.Recharge- Visit https://rechargepayments.com/dtcpod to see how over 15,000 commerce brands power their subscriptions Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokBenjamin Davis - Founder & CEO of TryNowRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated