Entering Untapped D2C Categories With Zero Experience

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Samuel Goodman, Co-Founder of Cheeky, a sleep and wellness company disrupting the dental care industry. Cheeky pioneered the direct-to-consumer night guard market by leveraging 3D printing technology to create custom dental devices at a fraction of traditional dentist prices—turning what was an $800-1,000 purchase into an affordable subscription service. Starting with zero dental industry knowledge and a cheap 3D printer purchased at a convention, the three co-founders have scaled to a seven-plus figure business serving hundreds of thousands of customers while maintaining a lean team of just four people in-house, supported by specialized external agencies. Topics Discussed: Entering and dominating an untapped D2C market with no industry background Scaling a hardware subscription business with 3D printing technology Building credibility through dentist partnerships in a trust-heavy category Navigating the evolution of Meta advertising from 2018 to today Managing 2-3x increases in customer acquisition costs while maintaining profitability Expanding from D2C to major retail (Walmart) and dealing with legacy brand competition Operating a seven-figure business with a four-person core team plus external agencies Using direct mail marketing for customer retention and reactivation Leveraging AI for operations and finance while keeping creative production human