Shoot Your Shot & The Festie Cap Table?

I've been in full shoot ya shot mode, and tbh the results have been a little unreal.

I started by getting clear on the three things I actually need connections and conversations around right now: 1) creator investors interested in Casa Noon (we're just over a week from closing the round and we're 75% of the way there), 2) Cannes Lions, and 3) friendships with more ambitious founders and creators.

So I mapped those three things out and started shooting.

Five DMs per category.

And things started happening.

I got an invitation to a creator house in Cannes full of people I admire, and then, before I even got there, I pitched putting Sabbatical Serum in the gift bags for the creators who'd be attending. Five million followers combined in that group. The answer was yes.

Then five out of five women I DMed a "hey, let's be friends" responded, and several of those turned into real, deeper conversations.

Then the creator and investor conversations started. People actively interested in beauty brands started responding with interest in mine.

One thing I did before any of this: I made sure the things I'm building, thinking about, and focused on were already out there.

This thread post, for example. It literally led to closing an angel investor after one phone call.

My newest investor is someone who had never heard of me or Casa Noon before that thread.

One post, one call, done.

To be clear, none of these DMs have some perfectly crafted pitch inside them. And I think part of the reason it's working is because I decided that the worst outcome — some silence, maybe a no — is something I can live with. Most people aren't going to tell me to get the f out of their DMs. And if they do? Well they’re not for me anyways.

So here's what I want to talk about this week, because I think a lot of you are sitting on something you haven't asked for yet, and I want you to goooo for it. Okay?!

This isn't a mindset talk. This is a framework.

When you send the DM, you're going to do three things — in this order:

1. Lead with them. Compliment the person you’re reaching out to. Tell them specifically why you're into what they're building. Not "I love your content." Something real, something about their POV, something that shows you've actually been paying attention.

2. Bring your vibe. What do you add to the party? Why would a collaboration or a conversation with you be worth their time? This isn't about your resume. It's about your energy, people love someone who’s bringing the proverbial milkshake to the yard.

3. Show the synergy. Talk about what you're working on — so they can see that there's a natural overlap. You're not asking for a favor. You're proposing something that makes sense for both of you.

Here's how I actually do it: I send one DM first. Just: hi, I have a note for you below. That's it. A little intrigue. Something that makes them want to open the next thing. Then the note below is a voice note — and that voice note does all three of those things. It's warm and it's specific.

That’s truly just about it.

I want to see you do this.

I’m thinking we could do a shoot your shot challenge together? Do you want to play? Drop your name here, and if there’s enough interest I'll get this organized for us.

→ Participate in the Shoot Your Shot Challenge

Who would you shoot your shot to? What are you going to say? What are the vibes you bring to the party? Start with those questions. The answers are how you start.

In this first episode of the sixth season, I’m recapping what the last 6 months have looked like launching a new brand. What worked, what I’d do differently and what we’re doing to hit a million dollars in sales in under 12 months.

I have one more space in Los Angeles this August — in person with me.

This is the deeper version of working together. A full day, including lunch and dinner, focused on one (or more) of these four areas:

1. Offer Architecture & Revenue Alignment Design or refine your signature offers — courses, retreats, memberships, CPG products, or physical spaces — and align your pricing, structure, and sales model with how you actually want to live and earn.

2. Cult Brand Blueprint — Lore, POV, Rituals & Vibes Build the foundation people become obsessed with: your brand's origin story, point of view, rituals, and the specific energy that makes someone say I need to be part of this. This is the work that turns a good brand into a followed one.

3. CEO Strategy Visibility, press, creator partnerships, and high-impact opportunities — 5-figure brand deals, media features, speaking gigs, book pitches. Plus the decision-making clarity and leadership presence that makes all of it sustainable.

4. Creative Direction & Content Strategy We'll shoot content together and build your story-forward strategy — visuals, messaging, and a clear plan to post with purpose.

Every session includes my Cult Brand Blueprint™ — a full strategic audit and brand document from me and my team that you keep and build from long after our day together.

Payment plans available. Inquire at [email protected].

By now you've probably seen the Phia investor list floating around. Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, two Stanford roommates (one of whom is Bill Gates’ kid), launched an AI shopping app in April 2025.

This week they went on CBS Mornings and revealed who actually wrote checks into their $35.5 million Series A. The list reads like someone merged a Met Gala guest list with a VC cap table: Sydney Sweeney, Paris Hilton, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Khloé Kardashian, Alix Earle, Karlie Kloss, Jessica Alba, Mindy Kaling, Leila Hormozi, Bobbi Brown, Ice Spice, Lori Harvey, Rachel Zoe — 30+ names spanning fashion, music, film, and tech. On the operator side: Robinhood's Vlad Tenev, OpenAI's Charles Porch, Meta's Naomi Gleit, and Poppi founder Allison Ellsworth.

And then they posted the investor list to social as a Coachella-style festival lineup graphic.

The round itself closed in January.

The VC names were announced then. The celebrity cohort was held for five months and rolled out as a cultural moment: on a morning show, as a piece of shareable content formatted like something people already know how to feel excited about. They sequenced the reveal, chose the format, chose the platform, and created something people would screenshot and most definitely send.

The thesis underneath Phia's entire business is that shopping discovery is social and taste-driven, not algorithmic. And the way they announced this round proves the thesis. Every investor name on that graphic is a potential content creator, a brand relationship, an audience gateway. They're characters in the story Phia is telling about who believes in it.

What you can steal from this — at any stage:

Ask yourself, who are your believers, and have you made them visible? Is there a format that already carries cultural energy that you could borrow to package your news? The Coachella graphic worked because it was immediately legible. Everyone knows what a festival lineup looks like, what it means, how it makes you feel. Phia put investor names in that container and let the format do the work.

What container could you use?

But here's what I'm actually watching:

The announcement is one thing. What Phia does with $35.5 million is the story that's still being written. This is a massive, industry-shifting amount of capital, and the pressure that comes with it is huge.

The other thing I keep thinking about: most of those investors aren't exactly in the Phia customer category. The app is built around finding discount alternatives, tracking resale value, helping shoppers find the cheaper version of the thing they almost bought.

So how does it play when Sydney Sweeney and Paris Hilton are the faces promoting it? Will their audiences trust that pitch? Will they? That tension between the glamour of the cap table and the utility of the product is something to watch.

It could work beautifully — or it could create a weird dissonance that the brand has to spend a lot of energy explaining.

Remaining to be seen. And interesting either way.

In about two weeks I'll be reporting from Cannes Lions — on a press pass, as the EIC of this very newsletter.

Creator passes are now the fastest-selling ticket category at the festival, outpacing traditional agency attendance for the first time. CMOs are moving about 23% of their budgets toward creator partnerships this year, and there's now a dedicated three-day LIONS Creators program with its own beach stage, content studio, and closed-door roundtables.

Here's what that actually means beneath the headline: the era of treating creators as media placements is truly coming to an end. The brands that get it have brought creators in as strategic partners — at Casa Noon, I'm bringing them in as investors.

If you're a creator with equity, or a founder with an audience, that's a serious asset. You're not a marketing channel for someone else's brand. You are the brand. And the infrastructure available right now to build that out properly is better than it's ever been.

1. Cult Brand Accelerator — Summer Cohort Begins in July. This is where founders do the actual brand infrastructure work together — structured, specific, and in community. If you've been thinking about it, this is the cohort to do it in. → Register here

2. Dream Ventures Founders Circle A community of founders learning to raise capital, led by women who've actually done it. I'm a member. The conversations in this room are the real thing. → Join here

3. Content Weekend New York — September 19-20 Open now. A focused weekend for founders who want to get their visual story right in a room full of other creators building cult brands. → Register here

Fractional CBO — Brand Direction Think of me as your brand sherpa: I know where you're going, how to get there, and I make sure nothing goes out misaligned. Monthly strategy call, updated content plan, and a brand strategy document — all built on the Cult Brand Blueprint™ framework.

The Content Studio Brand strategy from me. Content from my Studio team, created and delivered to you each month — ready to post. Photo-forward or video-forward, depending on where your brand lives and what we decide you need.

Engagements start at $3,500/month. → Let us know you're interested here and we'll set up time to chat.

Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe for a weekly dose of No Gatekeeping Strategies, Cult Brand Thinking, and Smart Ideas.

Want more Unschool in your ears? Listen to the Unschool Podcast here.