Dose #150: Scaling a Non-Traditional Product in a Crowded Market

Matt here with your weekly Subscription Prescription 💊

You can learn a lot from scrappy brands. While you can go all-in on paid ads, building a foundation for long-term success takes time. In this week’s dose, I interviewed the founders of Drink Wholesome, an all-natural protein solution. Learn how they’ve built growth through practitioners, education, and stayed nimble with a small team.

This week’s dose is also a podcast interview with the founders of Drink Wholesome, so listen in or watch on your favorite platform:

Solving Delivery Issues for Subscription Customers

If you run a subscription brand, or have had a subscription, then at some point you’ve wondered (or been asked) - when will my order arrive?

The problem with subscriptions is that the ‘order date’ is actually a process date - meaning customers and the brand aren’t sure when an order will arrive. They know when it will process, and get tracking once it’s fulfilled, but if you’re trying to predict when an order will show up - good luck!

This uncertainty results in lost orders, wasted shipments, and churn. There hasn’t been a good way to show subscribers when their order will show up - until now!

Nextime.ai integrates with your subscription platform to show subscribers when their order will be delivered, not just processed. Customers have an Amazon-like experience, being able to select when they want to receive their order.

This functionality makes it easier on subscribers to understand when they will get their order, and easier on your fulfillment because Nextime.ai adjusts the process date to match your fulfillment and delivery timeframe.

Everyone wins with Nextime.ai!

Learn more about how Nextime.ai will work for your business.

💡 How Small Brands Build Big Loyalty

If you’ve ever been tempted to spend your way out of a problem, especially in acquisition or retention, this one’s for you.

This week I talked with the founders of a small-but-mighty protein powder brand Drink Wholesome. They’re solving a very specific problem—sensitive stomachs. What stood out to me wasn’t just their product or growth, but how they’ve leaned into relationships, education, and small-team agility to build something genuinely sticky.

Let’s get into it.

1. The Power of Practitioner Referrals

Everyone’s chasing lower CAC. But most people start with ads—Facebook, Google, TikTok—and hope they find the audience with the best conversion and retention. What’s often overlooked is how effective it can be to go where the trust already lives.

An overlooked but powerful channel—practitioner referrals.

In this case, the brand partnered with dietitians and gastroenterologists—people whose whole job is solving digestive issues—and introduced them to the product through education and free samples. These practitioners now confidently recommend it because it solves a real problem for their clients.

This wasn’t a short-term campaign. It took time. But that’s precisely why it works: long-term trust, compounded. And now they’re even seeing inbound from other practitioners without any outreach. That’s how you know the flywheel is working.

2. Education Is Retention

If your churn reasons include things like “taste” or “texture,” there’s a good chance your real problem isn’t just product—it's expectation.

When a product is different, especially in categories like food, supplements, or beauty, retention starts with onboarding. For this brand, their protein powder doesn’t just taste different—it mixes differently, feels differently, and performs differently. So, the team built an SMS journey to walk customers through exactly what to expect and how to use it.

That’s the key. Retention messaging isn’t just about offers or reorder nudges. It’s about helping people understand why your product works the way it does—and how to get the most from it.

They’re doing this with a platform called Blustream.io, and the big takeaway here is less about the tech and more about the tactic: using post-purchase SMS as a proactive support, education, and engagement tool.

3. Small Teams, Big Returns

I’ve seen a lot of brands scale quickly and get distracted by building the wrong kind of headcount. Here’s a reminder from a team of two: small teams can win big if they stay focused.

They still run customer service themselves—and they’re proud of it. Why? Because customer service isn’t a cost center, it’s a marketing engine. Every thoughtful response, every personalized product recommendation (they even have a contract dietitian helping customers), reinforces the brand promise and earns long-term trust.

When you outsource that too early, you lose the ability to see firsthand what your customers are struggling with—and what they love. That feedback loop is essential.

Relationships take time, education takes effort, and small teams take discipline—but the upside is real. This is how great subscription businesses are built: one person, one problem, one solution at a time.

Until next Tuesday, that’s your Subscription Prescription. 💊

 - Matt Holman 🩺

The Subscription Doc