How a European challenger broke into a market controlled by three incumbents — without a CEO on the ground, without brand awareness, and without growth-at-all-costs spend.

For founders and growth leaders entering markets dominated by entrenched incumbents, where trust is the real constraint and speed alone won't win.

Jacob Batist is Head of Growth at Alan in Canada — the first new health insurance company to launch in the country since 1957. Backed by a European parent valued at over 5 billion euros, Alan competes against three companies that hold roughly 80% of policies. Jacob breaks down why their initial blitz strategy failed, the warm-first pivot they made instead, why they target 20–100 employee companies, and how they say no to revenue they're not ready for. Concrete detail: Alan can process claims in as little as 15 minutes and onboard employees same-day.

• Why Alan positions itself as "the neo bank of insurance" and what that means operationally (sign-ups in minutes, claims in 15 minutes, one platform vs. multiple vendors)
• The warm-first pivot: what they tried first, why it failed, and the four credibility levers (events, organic media, partnerships, in-person moments) they replaced it with
• Why 20–100 employee companies are the sweet spot — and how Jacob says no to larger deals that would damage trust
• How to balance European credibility with the local Canadian story without leaning too hard on either

• 00:00 — Cold open and host intro: Canada's silent oligopoly
• 04:28 — The "neo bank of insurance" positioning, in practice
• 09:42 — Why 20–100 employee companies are the sweet spot
• 11:56 — The warm-first pivot: why blitzing failed and what replaced it
• 18:59 — Saying no to revenue you're not ready for
• 21:27 — Lightning round and closing principle

Guest
Jacob Batist — Head of Growth, Alan Canada
Alan
Jacob on LinkedIn

Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions. Hosted by Jason Shafton.

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The business takes on the personality of the founder. If there are problems, look at thyself.

For founders running $5M–$50M companies trying to crack go-to-market when the playbook keeps changing.

Wade Lowe is a 3x co-founder with two exits, focused on bootstrapping, AI, and mindset. He's led revenue at two Inc 500 companies (ranked 72nd and 23rd) and now embeds with founders as a co-founder on demand. Jason and Wade get into how to diagnose a stalled growth motion, why the operating model is the first thing to fix, and how to play where the smartest people aren't — equipment rental, construction, fuel. Wade is direct about the trade-offs he made to be present for his kids and the hard truth most founders resist hearing.

• Why acquisition has to come before retention and expansion when budgets are tight
• How Wade diagnoses the operating model first in every $5M–$50M company he embeds with
• The Google AdWords inbound engine behind two Inc 500 companies — and why being first to a keyword segment was the unlock
• How to evaluate talent quickly using soft-skill signals: response time, commitments kept, and whether someone proposes solutions or just critiques

• 00:00 — Cold open: the business goes as the founder goes
• 03:01 — GTM in the AI era: test, test, test
• 06:22 — Playing where the smartest people aren't
• 12:13 — What Wade diagnoses first in a $5M–$50M company
• 17:17 — The hard truth founders resist hearing
• 20:29 — One operating principle for cracking GTM

Guest
Wade Lowe — 3x Co-Founder | 2x Exit | Bootstrapping | AI | Mindset
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Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions. Hosted by Jason Shafton.

• Work with Winston Francois
• Subscribe / Follow Jason

How a bootstrapped founder built a $3M+ craft chocolate marketplace by owning the operational pain everyone else outsources.

For e-commerce operators, bootstrapped founders, and brands weighing the jump from DTC to physical retail.

Pashmina De Shon is the founder of Bar and Cocoa, a curated marketplace for craft chocolate featuring 1,200 SKUs from 60 makers across 30 countries. After a decade running the business purely online, she recently opened a physical store in Greensboro, North Carolina. In this conversation, she breaks down why she runs her own warehouse instead of using a 3PL, how owning fulfillment keeps her waste rate at 2% versus industry norms of 10-12%, why the subscription model forced early clarity on curation, and what actually changes in the P&L when you move from DTC to brick and mortar.

• Why "even Amazon doesn't ship chocolate" became both the warning and the opportunity
• How owning fulfillment, FDA compliance, and temperature-sensitive shipping creates a moat competitors can't copy
• The plateau that hit at scale — and the boring, decisive fixes that got Bar and Cocoa past it
• How to think about retail economics as a marketing and retention channel, not just a sales channel

• 00:00 — Cold open and Frank Growth intro
• 02:45 — The thesis: why the easy e-commerce business is the shortest-lived
• 07:12 — Owning fulfillment and a 2% waste rate vs. the 10-12% norm
• 11:53 — Moving from DTC to physical retail: what changes, what stays
• 14:10 — Educating the craft chocolate market while selling
• 17:04 — Lightning round and three takeaways

Guest
Pashmina De Shon — Founder, Bar and Cocoa
Website
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LinkedIn

Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions. Hosted by Jason Shafton.

• Work with Winston Francois
• Subscribe / Follow Jason