A Mushroom Brand's Bet Against Booze

"I would have invested 100% of all of the money that we raised into Meta. I would have done nothing else but secure that one channel first." After launching Troop, a functional mushroom gummy brand, Jake Mellman discovered that community events and sampling don't pay the bills. What does: Meta ads, a 76% contribution margin, and defaulting customers to quarterly subscriptions. Now he's applied those lessons to Psilly Goose, a functional beverage targeting the 46% of American adults who've stopped drinking. The challenge: THC restrictions, heavy shipping costs, and a farm bill that could shut him down by November. SPONSORS Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurt Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.com Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURT LINKS Troop Mushroom Gummies: Psilly Goose: Previous episode with Jake & Stephanie: Breeze (Aaron Nosbish episode): WORK WITH KURT Apply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/apply See Our Results ethercycle.com/work Free Newsletter kurtelster.com The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

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A Mushroom Brand's Bet Against Booze is an episode from The Unofficial Shopify Podcast by ETHERCYCLE LLC.

This episode is 00:51:45 long.

This episode was published on Jan 20, 2026.

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