Twelve months ago, Mike Brennan left a decade in software to solve a problem he had every single day: travelling with a bar of soap wrapped in kitchen roll. That became Bob, a refillable body wash bar for men that's since grown from £10K to £292K in monthly revenue.
In this episode, Mike walks through the 15 months Bob spent in stealth getting the mechanics of a refillable bar right, the CRO testing that built a 5.39% conversion rate, the near stockout that nearly broke their Christmas, and why the team now describe themselves as a creative house that happens to sell body wash.
This one's for DTC founders and growth marketers who want the product and operations reality behind a fast-scaling brand, not just the ad account wins.
(00:00) Introduction
(00:27) Who is Mike and what is Bob
(01:26) The refillable format origin story
(04:01) Formulating for men, getting the pH right
(06:01) Three co-founders, three personas
(08:03) Kickstarter vs Shopify lessons
(09:05) £10K to £292K MRR in 15 months
(10:21) Knowing, and not knowing, your customer
(12:11) Hard bar vs liquid roadmap
(13:54) The Dove bar in kitchen roll
(15:00) The 5.39% conversion rate
(16:13) Product investment vs cash flow
(18:09) Packaging and CX lessons
(19:04) The Bob logo problem
(20:26) Building brand while performance-first
(23:01) Will's role: cutting the noise
(24:51) Value prop vs supermarket pricing
(27:23) The bundle model
(29:29) The 14-day trial and its LTV lesson
(30:44) Nearly out of stock at Christmas
(34:41) £209K in December
(36:22) Stocking three months ahead
(37:33) Meta as the core channel
(39:01) AI content vs authentic UGC
(42:07) The organic reel that beat every paid ad
(44:34) Message-market fit over granular measurement
(47:10) \"A creative house that sells body wash\"
(49:45) Fractional hires vs full-time
(50:56) Bob XL and the top-secret liquid launch
(51:55) Why five scents
(56:53) The £500K December target
(57:12) Final advice for DTC founders
Follow DTC Unboxed: https://linktr.ee/dtcunboxed
Follow Michael Brennan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/🧼-michael-brennan-625b9568/
Follow Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurary/
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