Tardigrade Community
Be A Nimble, Capital-Efficient, Resilient Brand
Our 1:1 customized Tardigrade community is designed for businesses with revenue between $5MM and $20MM, experiencing moderate to slow growth, EBITDA positive or close, and stuck contemplating what’s next. We provide customized support, education, and access to ensure sound strategy and intelligent decision-making. Together, we drive enterprise value, creating Tardigrades, not Unicorns.
The customized support, education, and access received are based on the fundamental traits of Tardigrade brands. It starts by assessing scalability, constructing a testable, measurable growth hypothesis, developing a 5-year capital strategy, designing controlled experiments, and formulating a go-to-market and brand activation strategy. It also incorporates and leverages all the benefits of our TIG Collective.
Where We Will Focus:
Capital-efficiency
Tardigrades relentlessly pursue capital efficiency. They are laser-focused on unit and channel economics. They spend only on things that drive revenue or improve contribution margin. Every dollar deployed works hard.Growth hypothesis
Tardigrades have a compelling growth hypothesis that is both testable and measurable. It outlines the arch of growth, the resources that are needed, and the corresponding cash implications.Growth hacking
Tardigrade entrepreneurs and their teams adopt a growth hack mindset. They are constantly finding ways to challenge their assumptions. They build small controlled experiments isolating critical variables to prove or disprove essential elements of their growth hypothesis.Investment readiness
Tardigrades are investable and scalable. They have a clear capital strategy and a strong investor narrative. They have done the work of ensuring they can absorb growth and win investment. They have a defined order-to-cash process, a strong supply chain, good financial reporting, and all the needed regulatory, compliance, and legal documentation.Optimizing the shopper continuum
Tardigrades recognize that shoppers don’t shop in channels. Instead, they shop along a continuum. On one end, there is discovery and the other replenishment. Innovatively and effectively, Tardigrades intersect this continuum in both the digital and physical plane.Discipline
Tardigrades know their no’s. They take a metered and disciplined approach to retail, not falling prey to the allure of distribution. They don’t confuse activity with results and can discern the important from the interesting.Nimbleness
Tardigrades have small agile teams. They carry minimal fixed costs and adjust and adapt as the market offers its feedback. As a result, they move faster than most and embrace imperfect action.Accountability
Tardigrades have accountability and rigor infused throughout the business. They are committed to financial and performance reviews. All key stakeholders are held responsible. They have clear objectives measured by well-defined key results. They plan, they forecast, and they execute.Community
Tardigrades build three types of community; shoppers, collaborators, and champions. While most brands focus only on shoppers, Tardigrades spend similar effort building collaborative relationships and finding true advocates. The combination of evangelical shoppers, collaborative peers, and champions who open doors and knock down walls serves as a force multiplier.Resilience
Like their namesake, Tardigrade brands can withstand harsh conditions. When they don’t have access to food or water, they can slow down their metabolic rate. As a result, they reduce spending, inventory, and receivables. They see the benefit of slowing the pace of growth and its associated cost. Tardigrade entrepreneurs also prioritize self-care, recognizing that founder well-being fosters resilience.
