Feras Khouri

We built MANSSION from an idea to 8-figures in 3 years without taking outside money. And now we’re repeating that with 3 other DTC companies. Here's the formula we followed, and the lessons we've learned:

The brands that change their retention strategy the most see the worst results. Not the ones with the wrong strategy but the ones who can't stick to one. Constant pivoting looks like urgency, but in reality it’s the team chasing their tail while tomorrow's email hasn't been approved yet. The brands we see winning in retention aren't the fastest to react. They're the ones who built a plan, got ahead of it, and had actual breathing room to test, read the data, and adjust without the fire drill. Speed is great when necessary, but being ahead is the advantage.

@arham_abidghl The ones who adapt early will be hard to compete with later.

@Ferastotle AI is the future of agencies. Adapt and elevate, or get left behind.

AI is going to wipe out execution-only agencies. Not eventually, it's happening right now. The agencies that survive are the ones who adopt it fast enough that it elevates their business model instead of replacing it. The problem is, most agency models are easily replaceable. Only a few are doing great work. High deliverables, low strategy was already a losing model. AI just accelerates the death of it.

@techalexpr Anyone can send something out, very few know what actually lands.

@Ferastotle Anyone can send a pitch. Knowing what to say and who needs to hear it is irreplaceable. The grunt work was never the product.

@danielrachlin Execution was never the hard part. Understanding people and decisions is.

@Ferastotle AI takes the execution. Agencies win by focusing on strategy and human connection.

@deividas_tok That’s the shift. Once you tie yourself to outcomes, everything else becomes secondary.

@Ferastotle Yeah, we're now in the outcome-based era. You want to focus on results and become an integral part of their business.

@OzzySaritas It will clean things up fast. The ones actually driving results will stand out a lot more.

@Ferastotle It would be much better if the agency model were no longer easily replaceable. Only the ones delivering results would survive. There's too much noise in the industry, and honestly, I'm glad it's heading this way now.

@hemuuuu04 Clients don’t care what tool you used, they care what moved.

@Ferastotle True, but most clients don’t actually want “more AI.” They want outcomes. Agencies that win will be the ones who use AI behind the scenes and sell clarity, not complexity.

@AlyssaClarkRE Most people see it but still operate like nothing changed.

@Ferastotle Yes. This is happening in real time and most agencies haven't fully accepted it yet.

@C_Shelefontiuk @moizali @EricRausch Thank you my guy!

@moizali @Ferastotle @EricRausch

Does someone have an email agency they recommend for brands doing north of $50 million? Asking for a friend (Zack but he isn't on X).

We see CLV be inversely related to the depth of the first purchase discount. Especially in subscriptions. Give someone 70% off to acquire them and their second rebill feels like a scam. You didn't build a customer, you built a price-sensitive trial. The discount that wins you the customer is often the same discount that loses you the relationship. Offer testing is key, but not just for CVR%, for CLV too.

@howcanbobhelp You don’t notice it until things stop working.

@Ferastotle The thinking under the execution. That's the part that's hardest to see until it's gone.

Had a multi 9-figure brand leave us for a cheaper agency. Then come back. The cheaper agency had one strategy: high deliverables, low price. It looked great in a pitch deck, but it didn't survive the scrutiny of a brand doing several hundred of millions. I say this because it’s not the first time it’s happened. The brands that come back always say the same thing: They didn't realize how much thinking was underneath the execution until the thinking was gone.

@quraAiX Price can win the pitch but it rarely holds up once results start getting measured week over week.

@Ferastotle Quality and strategy always win long term price alone rarely sustains growth at that scale.

@alameldinkhaled @moizali @elliotkovac28 Thank you @alameldinkhaled! I sent you a DM @moizali

@moizali @Ferastotle / @elliotkovac28 - two best agencies I know

@JaiDolwani @moizali Thank you @JaiDolwani! Hey @moizali - my agency newstandardco.com focuses specifically on 8/9/10 figure DTC brands and currently work with AG1, BYLT Basics, Caraway, Ruggable, New Era Caps and more. I'll send you a DM, I would love to chat.

@moizali @Ferastotle

@KodyNordquist @EricRausch @KFragoulias @MaloneyTyler Appreciate you brother!

Accounts you should to follow to help grow your brand in 2026: Retention Expert: @EricRausch Retention Strategy: @Ferastotle Growth Strategy: @KFragoulias $25M Raised: @MaloneyTyler

@Campaign_Create Thank you!

@Ferastotle Absolutely! 🫡

The best client relationships we have share one thing in common. They trust us to operate. They hired us because we know what we're doing and they let us do it. Steve Jobs said it best. You hire smart people to tell you what to do, not the other way around. The relationships that struggle are always the ones where we're fighting for permission to execute. The ones that thrive are where the client sets the boundaries of their brand and then gets out of the way. Trust in your agency is the difference between a good program and a great one.

Every time we hire someone who's only worked in-house versus someone with agency experience, the difference is obvious. Brand-side people try to do everything, every week. They're slow, and in this business slow is expensive. Agency people know how to cut the noise. They focus on what's actually going to move the needle and keep everything else moving at pace. That skill doesn't come from reading about prioritization. It comes from managing 4 clients at once and learning fast what matters and what doesn't. Time and impact management are critical skills in this business. You don't learn them on the brand side.