---
title: "McKenzie Collins - FUEGO.io | LinkedIn"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/e32cbb0e-2d24-4b86-928f-7ecfd3c0106b
source_url: "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckcollins"
stack: https://stacklist.com/stack/e0463f3f-bab9-45b3-b8fc-afe7976b7fcc
summary: "McKenzie Collins is a New York-based professional at FUEGO.io with 2K followers on LinkedIn, actively engaged in ecommerce partnerships and Shopify ecosystem events. Her LinkedIn activity highlights FUEGO.io's mobile app solutions for Shopify brands, networking events in NYC, and partnerships with companies like True Classic, Kitsch, and Caden Lane."
tags: "linkedin-profile, ecommerce, shopify, fuego-io, partnerships, mobile-app, networking"
key_entities: "McKenzie Collins (person), FUEGO.io (organization), Shopify (technology), HER In Focus (organization), Midknight Genius (organization), Nicole Harvey (person), Jason Sidana (person), New York, New York, United States (location), SubSummit (event), Virginia Tech (organization), True Classic (organization), Kitsch (organization), Caden Lane (organization)"
classification: "snippet"
content_hash: "sha256:f1256b3ecf812f7d8d9f190f5f74b29d4c85c89c3bdd37aa73ee24a21516b756"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 10255
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# McKenzie Collins - FUEGO.io | LinkedIn

McKenzie Collins Sign in to view McKenzie’s full profile McKenzie can introduce you to 3 people at FUEGO.io Email or phone Password Show Forgot password? Sign in Sign in with Email or New to LinkedIn? Join now By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy . New York, New York, United States 2K followers 500+ connections See your mutual connections View mutual connections with McKenzie McKenzie can introduce you to 3 people at FUEGO.io Email or phone Password Show Forgot password? Sign in Sign in with Email or New to LinkedIn? Join now By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy . View contact info Message Sign in to view McKenzie’s full profile McKenzie can introduce you to 3 people at FUEGO.io Email or phone Password Show Forgot password? Sign in Sign in with Email or New to LinkedIn? Join now By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy . FUEGO.io Virginia Tech Report this profile Activity 2K followers Posts Comments Reactions No more previous content McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Grace Nicklas Grace Nicklas 1d McKenzie Collins reposted this Just a little ecom girl dinner last week 🥂 Thankful for these ladies who make work+ partnerships SO fun! Couldn't do it without you 💖 public_profile__posts 76 5 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Jason Sidana Jason Sidana 1w McKenzie Collins reposted this What do you get when 35 people meet up in NYC? ⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️ - 2 party buses - A Yankees game - And a really good excuse to hang out Last week Midknight Genius and FUEGO.io hosted a Shopify burst in NYC. Safe to say, a great time was had by all Neilson Flemming Richad Abuani Connor Walker Christian Moore William Clack Ryan Pakyam Pablo Ruiz Garcia Aubrey T. Matthew Eman Christian Mackie Happy Tsugawa-Banta Simon Flaherty Sean Orfila Paul Cochrane Chris Steven Liam Butler Scott Dixon Vince Hollywood Linda Oanh Ho David Hollenbeck Hannah Taylor (née Norish) David Warrington Jeannine Mizne Mike Watt Truman Lahr Billy Noyes Ben Lord Marshall K. Samuel K. Tim Keelan McKenzie Collins Rafi T. rubab redwan Jason Richelson public_profile__posts 81 7 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Nicole Harvey Nicole Harvey 1w McKenzie Collins reposted this New partnerships don't always come with a lot of fanfare from me but this one genuinely has me excited. I've known McKenzie Collins for years. The drive she brings, the way she moves - I always knew that whenever she showed up in our ecosystem, she'd bring something different. That's exactly what's happening with FUEGO.io and HER In Focus . What they're building for Shopify brands is the kind of infrastructure that makes the brands we champion more competitive, not just more visible. And the results across their portfolio speak for themselves. The numbers are there too - 1.5-3x higher conversion on app vs. web, 3x customer lifetime value, ROI in 3-6 months. Brands like True Classic, Kitsch, and Caden Lane are already in the portfolio. It's not the numbers that sold me. It's how the Fuego team is building and the ease and frictionless experience they have built in app for brands. public_profile__posts 53 5 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins McKenzie Collins 3w Report this post McKenzie Collins shared this Another conference. Another pickleball event. 🏓 Touching down in KC this week for SubSummit and we're hitting the courts again! Brands and partners are all welcome! This pickleball event comes with a full breakfast spread, a coach on-site, and genuinely good people to meet. If you're at SubSummit , come connect with fellow attendees off the conference floor before day 2 begins. Paddles and balls provided. No experience needed. Just bring your energy! Spots are limited. RSVP here: https://luma.com/nhswhe9i public_profile__posts 58 10 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Daniella McBride Daniella McBride 3w McKenzie Collins reposted this Big thanks to McKenzie Collins for always bringing me into the best events, conversations, and collaborations. Excited for what’s ahead together. Could not be more excited to be partnering with FUEGO.io . I’m a huge believer in helping brands scale through the future of tech and where consumer engagement is heading. Fuego is helping brands like MUD\WTR, Dossier, Dime Beauty, Mary Ruth’s and many others launch their own mobile apps and create deeper direct relationships with their customers. This is such a perfect example of how Cr8tify continues evolving — not just creator partnerships, but helping brands connect with the right platforms, technology, and partnerships to scale on the next level. public_profile__posts 46 5 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Nicole Harvey Nicole Harvey 3w McKenzie Collins reposted this LA. WOAH. I'll be honest - I'm shocked. In the best way possible. It took me three years of hosting and curating spaces for women to finally bring one to LA. Three years. Because we all know LA is logistically... a lot. But some of the most talented women in the brand space are right here, and I have been *dying* to build something for them. Yesterday, for our Mothers Who Build event - not one empty seat. Unheard of. And I am beyond grateful. This is what I do. I build rooms and spaces for women - for their voices, their ideas, their ambition. We had massages. We connected and ideated on cabana beds. We sat down to the most beautiful lunch where magic literally happened. This is how we do it. Each woman received a massage, time for herself to relax and unwind from the grind of motherhood, business, and the day-to-day of it all. Connected pool side and had the most incredible and inspiring lunch in the gardens of the 1 Hotel West Hollywood. Truly a magical day. Three years in, and moments like today remind me why this matters more than ever. These women gave me their time, their most valuable resource and I will never take that lightly. Thank you. From everything I have. Sticky Digital , FUEGO.io , InterMedia Advertising . Thank you to our brand partners Cowboy Colostrum , Bird&Be , GORGIE , MUD\WTR . HER IN FOCUS. 🤍 Afsheen Lalani Tanuku , Jennie Yoon , Lynn Shui , Loren (Brill) Castle , Amrita Saigal , Kelsi Patton , Danie Moriarty , Ilanna Fricks , Lisa Brock , Ali Kaltman , Lily Coleman , Angela Hanks , Nicole Hatley , Kerry O'Neil , @stefanie hughes Sarah Grosz , Grace Gillespie , Nikki Tooman , McKenzie Collins , public_profile__posts 70 17 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Vanessa Smith 💎 Vanessa Smith 💎 3w McKenzie Collins reposted this Had such a fun night in West Hollywood! ❤️ So grateful to Nicole Harvey for bringing us all together and to Jeremy Foreshew for picking such a fantastic spot. (Cecconi's was soooooo good)! Every person at this table is such a connector in their own way. Super special getting to share space, stories, and lots of laughs together ✨ public_profile__posts 43 9 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reposted this Report this post McKenzie Collins reposted this Jeremy Foreshew Jeremy Foreshew 3w McKenzie Collins reposted this Partnerships are funny. So much happens in the in-between moments. Grateful for this crew, and for nights that remind me business is still very much a people sport. public_profile__posts 53 13 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins McKenzie Collins 2mo Report this post McKenzie Collins shared this Portland Leather Goods is bringing the heat leveraging FUEGO.io 🔥 🔥 🔥 If you want to learn more about what we're building and how we can revolutionize your brand's mobile app presence, drop me a message 📩 Curtis Matsko ★ Curtis Matsko ★ 2mo McKenzie Collins shared this One Day Revenue, yesterday, by channel... The details might SHOCK you Wed Mar 25, 2026 Our App: $414,200 (app beats out website) Website: $407,000 Retail Stores: $59,100 (Not a bad Wednesday) TikTok at $48,900 (Read below fo shocking stat) We only on started Tiktok a few months ago. We moved from 2000+ up to #3 in sales on all of Tiktok in Fashion/Bags and Tiktok contacted us and said "Wow, you guys are a rocketship" The App, Fuego, has been up 6 months And 10 months ago we only had 3 retail stores, now we have 15 It was chaos, and crazy and big gambles and hope but days like yesterday make you feel that this has legs Comment: Are you expanding you channels? public_profile__posts 32 3 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X No more next content Slide to item 1 Slide to item 2 Slide to item 3 Slide to item 4 Slide to item 5 Slide to item 6 Slide to item 7 Slide to item 8 Slide to item 9 McKenzie Collins commented on a post 17h now we're on FIREEEEEEEEE!! Welcome to Team FUEGO.io . Can't wait to build with you! 🚀 🔥 📈 McKenzie Collins commented on a post 17h Congrats on the new gig!! We've got some merchants in common! McKenzie Collins commented on a post 17h Liam Mather No more previous content McKenzie Collins reacted on this Report this post McKenzie Collins reacted on this Charbel Seif 🐻‍❄️ Charbel Seif 🐻‍❄️ 2w McKenzie Collins reacted on this Today is a big day. Polar is a Claude Connector. We’re now officially listed alongside data layers like Snowflake and Databricks, and we’re the first connector built specifically for Commerce. We’ve been incredibly bullish on Claude because it’s one of the only products where the underlying reasoning quality is strong enough to support real operational workflows, not just isolated tasks or content generation. For us, the real inflection point wasn’t ChatGPT. It was when models like Opus 4 became capable of coherent, end-to-end workflows. Long context. Reliable reasoning. Strong UX. Less hallucination. That matters when you’re working with revenue, CAC, margins, forecasts, and operational decision-making, not just generating content. This is the lean team unlock everyone’s been talking about: 1 person + Claude + Polar MCP = an Analytics team that never sleeps. Why brands are using it: -> Less hallucination: build automations in Claude or Cowork without worrying about accuracy -> Fast time to go live: most brands can be live in 1 week, enterprise teams in ~30 days -> Built for operators: no SQL, no data team bottleneck, just ask Use cases we’re already seeing across 110k+ conversations: -> Your morning revenue, spend, and margin check in one prompt -> “Why did blended ROAS drop last week?” answered in 30 seconds -> Always-on agents watching for anomalies and opportunities We believe every consumer brand will soon run alongside AI agents. And those agents will only be as useful as the data layer behind them. That’s the future we’re building Polar for. To celebrate, I also put together the ultimate MCP resource: A 12-chapter guide to leveraging the Polar MCP, plus a library of 30+ ready-to-use prompts covering: Daily Pulse, Weekly Reporting, Paid Media, Product & Inventory, Customer & Retention, Conversion & Funnel, Email & SMS, and Strategy. Comment “MCP” and I’ll send it over. public_profile__reactions 90 8 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reacted on this Report this post McKenzie Collins reacted on this GROW GROW 23h McKenzie Collins reacted on this 🕺✨ GROW NY is back! This year, we're turning back the clock and bringing groovy 70's vibes to the future of eCommerce. 📍 August 19, Center 415, New York City 🪩Join 900+ eComm leaders for 1 day of learning & networking 🎟️ Tickets here: https://lnkd.in/egmbDauJ public_profile__reactions 3 Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reacted on this Report this post McKenzie Collins reacted on this Nick Bélanger Nick Bélanger 20h McKenzie Collins reacted on this I've joined Maverick to run partnerships. You may not have heard of Maverick. But the customer list will make you wanna look into it: trymaverick.com True Classic. Dr. Squatch. HexClad. Jones Road. Ruggable. Maverick helps emails land in Primary instead of Promotions. More primary placement means more opens, more clicks, more revenue — on campaigns + flows you're already sending. Takes 5mins to onboard and you can start for free. 90% of merchants coming out of trials right now are seeing a 5x ROI. 70% of those are at 20x or better 👀 I'm relaunching the partner program this week. If you work with DTC brands on email, send me a DM 💌 public_profile__reactions 127 49 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X McKenzie Collins reacted on this Report this post McKenzie Collins reacted on this Jeremy Foreshew Jeremy Foreshew 1d McKenzie Collins reacted on this It’s officially pride month. Show your support; Venmo a gay. public_profile__reactions 48 17 Comments Copy LinkedIn Facebook X No more next content Slide to item 1 Slide to item 2 Slide to item 3 See all activities Experience & Education *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> FUEGO.io *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> **** ** ************ *** ****** *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> ******** *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> ****** ******* ******* ******* ********** *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> ***** *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> ******* ********* * ****** ******* *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> ******** **** *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> ******** ****** ******* ******** ** ******* ** ******** ************** **** * ***** ** ******** ********** undefined *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> 2020 - 2021 *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> ******** *********** ********* *** ***** ********** *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> ********** ****** ******************* *********** ******* ********* ********** ************* *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> 2016 - 2020 View McKenzie’s full experience See their title, tenure and more. Sign in Welcome back Email or phone Password Show Forgot password? Sign in or By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy . New to LinkedIn? Join now or By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy . Volunteer Experience *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> Construction Worker *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> Sep 2018 - May 2019 9 months Social Services *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> Weekly Lunch Buddie *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> Lunch Buddies *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> Sep 2018 - Dec 2018 4 months Children Once a week, I would go to Kipp's Elementary School in Blacksburg, Virginia and eat lunch with a student that was struggling socially. I would sit at a lunch table next to this student and served as a friend and mentor. Honors & Awards *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> ACC Academic Honor Roll 2016 - 2017, 2017 - 2018 *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> Atlantic Coast Conference Honors Committee *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> Athletic Director's Honor Roll 2016 - 2017, 2017 - 2018 *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> Virginia Tech Athletic Department *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> Dean's List- Fall of 2016, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, & Fall 2019 *]:mb-0 not-first-middot leading-[1.75]"> Virginia Tech *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> Languages *]:mb-0 text-[18px] text-color-text leading-regular group-hover:underline font-semibold"> English *]:mb-0">- *]:mb-0 [&>*]:text-md [&>*]:text-color-text-low-emphasis"> View McKenzie’s full profile See who you know in common Get introduced Contact McKenzie directly Join to view full profile Other similar profiles Jordan Randle Jordan Randle LinkedIn 3K followers United States View Profile Sydney McCutchan Sydney McCutchan Monte Carlo 9K followers Austin, TX View Profile Lauren Rivas Allen Lauren Rivas Allen Trimble Inc. 2K followers Houston, TX View Profile Catherine Augustiniak Catherine Augustiniak 7K followers Minneapolis, MN View Profile Rebecca Ringel Rebecca Ringel Workday 3K followers New York, NY View Profile Avery Harding Avery Harding Google 3K followers San Francisco, CA View Profile Abby (de Vera) Cummings Abby (de Vera) Cummings Pulley 3K followers Boise, ID View Profile Mandy Banyai Mandy Banyai Empower 3K followers Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area View Profile Shawn Hohn Shawn Hohn X 3K followers West Palm Beach, FL View Profile Kelli Steckler 🐝 Kelli Steckler 🐝 beehiiv 8K followers Denver, CO View Profile Britney Vlach Britney Vlach Verkada 2K followers San Francisco, CA View Profile Nicole Shannon Nicole Shannon Trellance Cooperative Holdings, Inc. 2K followers Tampa, FL View Profile Victoria Jung Victoria Jung Facebook 2K followers Austin, TX View Profile Jenny Duke Jenny Duke Gartner 3K followers Fort Worth, TX View Profile David R. 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What’s interesting is: the brand asking is stocked in every major retailer (big brand) That’s where TikTok Shop is right now. People still don’t believe it. Meanwhile: • Established DTC brands are doing £100k–£1m+ per month • Major DTC brands are using TikTok Shop as their fastest-growing channel • Creator-led distribution is outperforming traditional launches TikTok Shop isn’t a theory anymore. It’s not “one for the future”. It’s already happening. The disbelief usually comes from one place: - Isn't this still an app that people dance on? TikTok Shop doesn’t scale because of: ❌ product pages ❌ reviews ❌ discounts It scales because of: ✔ creators posting repeatedly ✔ content volume at speed ✔ cultural relevance ✔ trust at scale The biggest shift we’re seeing? Brands with real retail presence are now taking TikTok Shop seriously and they’re moving fast. The ones still doubting it will be the ones asking how others scaled so quickly. TikTok Shop is no longer experimental. It’s mainstream - whether people believe it or not. DM me if you want to have a quick chat about TTS in 2026. 37 8 Comments Avalon VanDercook Find Your Influence, Inc • 2K followers On Friday, February 27th at 1PM EST, we’re diving into exactly how to architect that kind of strategy. Join Chelsea Goodson, our Head of Creator Economy, as she breaks down how to design multi-format influencer programs that move from awareness to conversion and create long-term value for both brands and creators. If you’re still thinking in terms of one-off short-form posts, this conversation is for you! We hope to see you there! 😊 RVSP today: https://lnkd.in/gkqVDcXK 7 2 Comments Parker Herren Ad Age • 2K followers Going viral is SO chopped and unc 🙄 If you're reading the same social media playbook from even last year, you need to listen to the latest episode of Ad Age Insider! My colleague and influencer expert Gillian Follett walks us through how virality has fundamentally changed, strategies to achieve it and what brands are getting wrong. Links to get all the deets in the comments 🎧 10 1 Comment Ross Crump Ardent • 4K followers Sprite are a great example of a brand that is using social to build cultural relevance in the US, here's how they're doing it... Earlier this year Sprite announced a limited time beverage, Sprite x Tea, which started it's journey as a TikTok trend where communities were seen dropping tea bags into their Sprite. The brand reacted quickly to take advantage, and launched a product that demonstrated their ability to lean into cultural moments on social media. Fast forward, Sprite just announced a new campaign centered around prolonging the heat of spicy food, titled "Hurts Real Good". The campaign is excellent; 🥤 It leans into an existing benefit of drinking a Sprite 🥤 It taps into GenZ culture of enjoying spicy foods 🥤 It broadens it's reach to wider cultures & demos who eat spicy food 🥤 It will expand the campaign with partnerships with Takis and Buldak (which broadens it's reach to GenA), as well as McDonalds McSpicy Sandwich. Similar to the Sprite burp challenge, Hurts Real Good gives users reasons to 'try' and 'buy' the beverage when they next order a spicy meal. Another great example of the brand looking at what's happening on social media and in culture, to create meaningful campaigns to reach new and existing audiences. The real question is, how long before we see Sprite Chilli Edition? 14 5 Comments Dustin Howes XPFlow • 18K followers After laying the groundwork in Part 1, this next conversation takes us further into the realities brands face once they begin actively scaling an affiliate program, especially the parts founders rarely plan for. Jake Fuller, Brook Schaaf, and Haafiz Dossa continued the conversation on the testing, optimization, and measurement challenges that determine whether a program grows or stalls. Here’s what stood out: 1/ The Testing Budget Most Brands Don’t Plan For Jake revealed that real progress usually requires $2,500–$5,000 per month dedicated to testing partners, placements, and creative. Brands that skip this phase often limit their own learning curve. 2/ A Conversion-Ready Funnel Changes Everything Haafiz emphasized that traffic only matters if your funnel can catch it. Simple partner-specific customizations, even just a tailored headline, often lift conversions by 20–90%. 3/ Attribution Blind Spots Quietly Distort Performance Brook explained why GA4 alone simply can’t tell the whole story. Without a neutral attribution layer, brands over-credit some channels, under-credit others, and make decisions on incomplete data. The final part of this series will dig into the realities of controlling variable costs, managing forbidden and single-use codes, quarterly audit habits that keep programs healthy, and how to prioritize investments across tech, people, partners, and funnel improvements as a brand scales. What scaling challenge has surprised you most in your affiliate journey? Drop it in the comments. Start with Part 1 if you missed it: https://lnkd.in/gaHymaAn #AffiliateTechCosts #AffiliateMarketingStrategy #PerformanceMarketing #AffiliateInsights #AffiliateTech #AffiliateNerdOut 18 3 Comments Joshua Eidelman NeoWork • 4K followers Renee Gittins tried the polished TikTok content. The slick trailers. The "best practices" of game marketing. Then she just started showing up as herself. Streaming herself playing her own game on her Steam page. Talking about why she made the decisions she made. Letting people see the creator behind the art. Her conversion rate went up 500%. The insight that took her years to fully trust: audiences don't need perfect. They need REAL. If you're building something, your authentic passion for it is a better marketing asset than anything a budget can buy. Full episode with Renee Gittins is live everywhere! 1 Kel Wu Clover • 2K followers Beli Is Reshaping How Gen Z Discovers Food: A PM’s Lens What is Beli? 📱 A restaurant-rating/social “list-keeping” app founded in 2021 by Judy Thelen & Eliot Frost. What sets it apart: users rank restaurants by comparison, follow friends, track wants vs. visited places, and climb leaderboards. 🧑‍🦱 Gen Z Focus + Social Discovery ~80% of users are under 35. The design emphasizes social recommendation and friend filters over generic aggregate reviews. Discovery is driven by what friends and fellow users like, not just top Yelp scorers. 📈 Scale & Growth Beli claims over 70 million restaurant reviews globally, outpacing Yelp in that metric. The Bay Area is among its fastest-growing hubs. Growth remains lean: small founding team, strong virality via college networks & word-of-mouth. 🎮 Gamification & Engagement Features Leaderboards, “power user” status, streaks, and public vs private profiles fuel user retention and product stickiness. The app gives both “Rec Score” (how you might like a place) and “Friend Score” (how your friends scored it), which adds personalized layers. 👊 Challenges & Considerations With scale comes scrutiny: restaurants are skeptical of overhyped reviews; some users dislike rank comparisons across vastly different cuisines; monetization remains nascent. Also, how to balance novelty and value so the app doesn’t feel superficial? 🧠 Takeaways for PMs (especially those in the job market): 💡 Personalization + network filters are powerful differentiators. Building for “people like me / people I trust” is increasingly what users want. 💡 Gamified UX (leaderboards, streaks, status) works well in engagement, but needs calibration to avoid junk metrics or toxicity. 💡 Lean teams + viral growth can scale fast, especially among Gen Z. Showing experience with growth loops, user-community design, or retention in consumer/social apps is a big plus. 💡 Transparent metrics matter. Being able to speak to growth not just in downloads or raw reviews but in active users, engagement, and behavior patterns will help in PM interviews and roles. #ProductManagement #ConsumerTech #SocialDiscovery #GenZ #GrowthPM #UXInsights #FoodTech https://lnkd.in/guasszcN Richard Chen Product Gym by Elevate Shah S. Kaiser Chan Aniruddha Nikam 7 Nia Flórez Cervantes BlackBiird Company • 2K followers Fusion Marketing: Why Brands That Partner with Artists Win Cultural Relevance Marketing is no longer about visibility. It is about cultural relevance. Today’s most powerful brands are not built through isolated campaigns, but through meaningful connections with culture and artists sit at the very center of that cultural ecosystem. Artists are no longer just brand endorsers. They are cultural architects. When brands move beyond sponsorships and embrace true fusion with artists, they unlock something far more valuable than reach: trust, emotional connection, and long-term brand equity. This is what fusion marketing does differently: • It turns artists into strategic partners, not media placements. • It embeds brands into real stories, not temporary campaigns. • It allows brands to speak the language of culture, not advertising. Consumers today are highly selective. They recognize authenticity instantly and reject forced collaborations just as fast. Fusion marketing works because it is built on shared values, creative co-creation, and mutual growth. For brands, this means: – Stronger positioning – Deeper audience loyalty – Sustainable cultural impact For artists, it means: – Long-term brand alignment – Expanded creative platforms – Business growth without compromising identity The future of marketing will not be led by the loudest brands, but by the ones that understand culture deeply enough to co-create it. Fusion is no longer optional. It is the strategy. www.blackbiird.com 4 Hritik Kumar PwC Acceleration Center India • 2K followers I’m looking to connect with professionals working in influencer marketing, brand partnerships, and the creator economy. At Kilu, I’m building a platform designed to make it easier for creators to discover opportunities, collaborate seamlessly, and for brands to connect with the right talent without relying on outdated tools or inefficient processes. I’d love to hear from: - Creators who are navigating growth and seeking better opportunities - Brands and marketers working with influencers and managing campaigns - Influencer managers and agencies coordinating creator collaborations Your insights and experiences are invaluable as I continue shaping Kilu to address the real challenges faced on both sides. If this resonates with you, I would be glad to connect and have a conversation. #influencermarketing #creator #contentcreator #brandmanager #manager 16 1 Comment Neetu Kurian onpageone • 3K followers I've seen set-ups where brands pay a hefty agency fee while their actual performance marketing spends are a fraction of that. That’s like hiring a full-time chef to make instant noodles. Strategy matters but you also need sufficient investment to fuel the strategy. If your goal is real outcomes (not just activity), your media budget should be the main engine. The agency fee should be structured to support and scale with your media spend. 🔸 Low media spend + high agency fee = wasted potential. 🔸 Balanced media spend + aligned agency fee = room to grow. Thoughts? LMK in the comments! #AgencyModel #PerformanceMarketing #MarketingROI 9 John Rice Peekaboo • 4K followers Reddit is where your users and customers actually talk If you’re not showing up there, someone else is shaping the narrative and winning your customers And honestly, the upside from SEO and LLM visibility alone is already big enough to make this worth focusing on Also linking a video where my buddy Danny Kirk walks through the basics and answers some rapid fire questions that can help you if you’re just getting started 5 2 Comments Steven Ekstract Licensing International • 15K followers The licensing business is moving faster today than at any point in its history. AI is transforming product development and speed-to-market. Hollywood is consolidating. The entertainment ecosystem is shifting from broadcast to streaming. Meanwhile, entirely new cultural engines—YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—are driving content discovery and consumer demand. At the same time, the global influence of Anime, Manga, K-Pop, Kawaii culture, and creator-driven brands is reshaping the licensing landscape, while fandom and the “kidult” collectible economy continue to expand. Gaming itself is evolving as audiences shift from consoles to PC and mobile platforms. Retail is also undergoing a major reset. E-commerce continues to grow, but physical retail is being reborn through experiential retail and “retailtainment,” where stores are destinations for brand engagement, discovery, and community. And in uncertain times, brands matter more than ever. Consumers gravitate toward trusted IP, beloved characters, and cultural brands that provide familiarity and emotional connection. In this environment, staying informed at the executive level is what separates the winners from the losers in the licensing game. That’s exactly why we created X Tracks Licensing Summits—to bring together leaders across brand licensing, retail, entertainment, and consumer products to understand the forces shaping the future of our industry. 📍 Bentonville X Tracks Licensing Summit — June 18 📍 AnimeNYC X Tracks Licensing Summit — August 20 📍 LA Toy Previews X Tracks Licensing Summit — September Because in today’s licensing economy, knowledge is the ultimate competitive advantage. 20 Nicole Clay Hue. • 6K followers Anthropologie just went viral… over a rock. 🪨✨ I’ve spent the past 12 years in the brand and UGC space. Here is why I think their strategy is genius… What started as a UGC prank (people joking that Anthropologie sells rocks for $1,000) turned into an inside joke across TikTok. Instead of ignoring it, the brand leaned in. The result? Their rock video hit 4.6M views 📈 vs. ~150K the week before. All because they let their community set the narrative and played along. This is the power of UGC: 👉 Inside jokes become brand moments 👉 Brand moments become culture 👉 Culture drives insane reach and engagement At Hue, we’ve seen it time and again: the best content isn’t created for your audience, it’s created with them. Here are some other brands that are killing it in the UGC space: Duolingo rhode skin Ryanair - Europe's Favourite Airline Scrub Daddy, Inc. Sometimes, going viral really is… a matter of throwing rocks. 💎 What’s a viral moment your brand has capitalized on? #PoweredByHue #UGC #ShoppableVideo #DTCMarketing #Rocks #Anthropologie 27 4 Comments Jennifer Yeko Ninja Recruiting • 40K followers We need to call out companies that rolled back DEI like Target and stop supporting them. Major media companies have done this too like PMC, Penske Media Corporation and many of their brands. 2 Rajesh Srimalani, CLMP™ MSE Technology • 4K followers A thought-provoking CNBC article explores how US brands like Cava and Chipotle are spicing up their loyalty programs, using tactics like Cava’s in-app challenges and surprise giveaways and Chipotle’s “Summer of Extras” offering $1M in free burritos to drive repeat visits. While US fast-casuals use loyalty to defend against consumer pullback, in India's booming QSR market, it could be a powerful growth lever. Loyalty programs are not just about retention; they're critical for capturing market share, differentiating brands, and driving sustained growth in a rapidly expanding industry. Having worked on loyalty programs across industries and designing a few, I've learned that beyond the foundational elements of Program Objectives, Customer Value Proposition, Program Structure, and Earn and Burn Mechanics, the long term success lies in getting the perceived value absolutely right for the customer. And perceived value is not only what a program does for you, but also how it makes you feel and how it makes you look. All three are crucial drivers of enduring loyalty. #LoyaltyPrograms #QSR #ConsumerTrends #CustomerRetention #CustomerEngagement https://lnkd.in/gRpkuM3k 10 5 Comments Rachel V. Hill, MBA Most business owners know AI… • 3K followers From zero to profitable business in just 30 days — with AI as my co-founder?! Last week, at the Mindstone Atlanta October AI Meetup, I walked attendees through how I built "Coloring Kinfolk" (https://lnkd.in/e32aHWfy); a digital publishing brand celebrating Black American nostalgia through adult coloring books – in under 30 days using AI as a strategic partner in research, creative production, and lifecycle marketing. I didn’t outsource. I didn’t spend months planning. I used AI to accelerate decision-making, validate demand, create products, and build an automated revenue engine. Here’s the EXACT 3-phase system I demonstrated live: 1. Ideation and Market Validation: I used ChatGPT to run comprehensive market research that would normally take weeks. In 11 minutes, I had validated demand, identified my target audience, defined pricing strategy, and surfaced gaps in the market I could own. 2. Product Creation with AI: Using AI image generation tools, I produced a full coloring book collection rooted in cultural storytelling—HBCU homecoming scenes, Sunday family dinners, backyard cookouts—combined with historical accuracy and emotional resonance. AI didn’t replace creativity; it amplified it. 3. Marketing and Monetization: I built a complete lifecycle funnel using AI: • Lead magnets and email sequences • Automated tagging and segmentation • Pricing models based on revenue goals • Multi-channel publishing on Amazon, Etsy, and my own storefront This wasn’t a case study or theory. It is a functioning business generating revenue across multiple platforms with no ad spend or outside team. AI didn’t eliminate the need for vision or strategy. It eliminated the friction between idea and execution. This is what practical AI looks like for creators, solopreneurs, and marketers who want to scale faster. The full presentation is now available → https://lnkd.in/e735mD5q If you’re interested in seeing how AI can become a co-founder and compress your build timeline from months to days, drop a comment or send me a message! #ArtificialIntelligence #Atlanta #DigitalPublishing #FutureOfWork #CreatorEconomy #LifecycleMarketing #AIAutomation #GenerativeAI #AIForBusiness #AIinMarketing #AIEntrepreneur #CreatorEconomy #MarketingAutomation #LifecycleMarketing #BuildWithAI #NoCodeAI #AIUseCases 16 Ellie Davies-Row Awin Global • 3K followers Excited to share my latest byline featured on ADWEEK: The Influencer Marketing Bubble Has Burst 🫧💥 For years, influencer marketing focused on likes, reach, and engagement, but that’s no longer enough. In this piece, I explore how brands are shifting toward outcome‑driven creator partnerships, and how affiliate marketing (when powered by the right tech) offers the accountability and tracking needed to finally prove ROI. 👉 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ex59wDzA 55 5 Comments Saeyoung Cho 🏳️‍🌈 Unilever • 2K followers My business grew 251% this year (tax season is going to be a b*tch). The #1 Ask that fueled growth: “Help us build our influencer capability internally — talent, tech, workflows, partnerships -- the operating model.” That's why Zoe Scaman's latest essay on the agency model collapse resonated with me so deeply. She recaps why we're seeing the flip from external to internal and how the work is shifting in-house. 82% of major brands now have in-house agencies. Almost 2x since 2008. Procter & Gamble manages 80% of media internally. The agency model didn’t collapse because clients stopped caring about strategy or creativity. It collapsed because the model no longer fits the work. The conveyor-belt model: brief → strategy → creative → production → media that worked for pumping out 3 TV Spots a year can’t keep up with 300 pieces of content a month, creator commerce, and AI-accelerated workflows. If you're trying to retrofit or scale influencer marketing into traditional models and processes utilizing a bunch of external agencies, the output will diluted no matter how smart or chronically online your team is (sorry). That model doesn’t work anymore — especially not in influencer marketing. Because today’s work requires: proximity to community, real cultural credibility, creator relationships, data depth, speed, and iteration. You can’t outsource that. Not effectively. Not anymore. And in-housing influencer marketing isn’t as simple as “folding creators under brand social.” It’s building new muscles: creator operations, commerce, talent infrastructure, measurement, cultural insight, and cross-functional collaboration. -- The point Zoe makes is that the work hasn't disappeared, it's just disseminated into more agile solutions. So to anyone navigating layoffs as a result of agency collapse or considering freelancing: the demand for independent experts is real, and growing fast. I talk to at least one person a week who’s making the transition. In 2026, I’m looking to collaborate with more consultants as part of a flexible, practioner's network that modern brands increasingly prefer over holding companies. If you’re building in-house capability — or stepping into independent work — let’s connect. There’s so much momentum ahead. 95 13 Comments Show more posts Show fewer posts Explore top content on LinkedIn Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place. View top content Add new skills with these courses 1h 33m Actionable Insights and Business Data in Practice 3h 40m Using Snowflake with Tableau 1h 17m Decision Science Fundamentals See all courses