What happens when a former Wall Street analyst ditches finance to sell hippie tea from his Santa Monica apartment?

You get Dave Lindenbaum—CRO expert, 5X Two Comma Club winner, and one of the most soulful, strategic minds in digital marketing today.

On this week’s episode of Million Dollar Marketing, Dave and I go deep into the art of authentic scaling, why marketing is a game of both math and heart, and what every business owner needs to know about conversion rate optimization if they want to scale without selling out.

Here’s the gold (yes, the golden showers joke made the cut… keep reading 😏).

🔥 From Wall Street to Homebrewed Kombucha

Dave didn’t start in marketing. In fact, he was on the classic corporate path—finance degree, internship at Disney, job at JP Morgan. But a gut-punch convo with his boss changed everything. Instead of urging him to stay, his boss literally told him, “You should leave as quickly as possible.” Why? Because golden handcuffs are real. And if Dave didn’t get out, he’d end up stuck in a life he didn’t even want.

So Dave did what any self-respecting ex-banker with a quarter-life crisis might do: he bartended, drove cross-country listening to pirated Dan Kennedy CDs (thanks Napster), and started selling kombucha kits online.

And that’s where things got interesting.

🧠 The Power of Skill-Set Adjacency

One of the gems Dave dropped was the idea of skill-set adjacency. He didn’t know much about kombucha at first—but he did know how to brew beer. That small overlap gave him a head start.

It’s the same with marketing. You might not be the best copywriter, but if you're good at teaching or storytelling, you’ve already got an edge. Ask yourself: “What am I a 6/10 at in one world that could make me a 10/10 in this one?”

🧪 The Secret to Better Conversions? It’s Not a Button Color.

Dave didn’t grow a multi-seven-figure business by changing CTA button colors.

He became obsessed with CRO because his product margins were razor thin. He couldn’t afford to waste traffic. He had to squeeze every last drop of value out of every visit. And that meant one thing: understanding the customer better than anyone else.

It’s not about clever copy or manufactured urgency. It’s about closing the gap between where your customer is and where they want to be—and showing them you’re the one who can get them there.

📊 Want a CRO Hack That Works Every Time?

Here’s Dave’s rapid-fire magic bullet:
Survey your customers.

Not just the ones who didn’t buy—but the ones who did.
Ask them:

• Why did you buy?
  

• Why did you almost not buy?
  

That second question is the one no one asks… and it’s the one that unlocks the real objections you need to overcome.

“Most people survey their cart abandoners,” Dave said. “But your buyers hold the gold—especially the ones who barely crossed the line.”

So yeah… sprinkle those insights like pixie dust all over your funnel.

📦 Scaling Isn’t Always the Goal

Another myth Dave busted? That every funnel should scale.

Sometimes adding more traffic just means amplifying the cracks. Before you scale, ask yourself:

• What’s my customer acquisition cost?
  

• What’s my LTV?
  

• Can I handle the backend growth operationally?
  

Because let’s be honest: scaling might mean more headaches, more hiring, and more deliverables… without more profit.

Growth ≠ scale. Know the difference.

🧩 Marketing with Heart, Data… and a Bit of Weird

One of my favorite things about Dave is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He wrote a rap about gift wrapping (yes, actual gift wrapping) for his DIY gift kits business. And it worked.

Why? Because people are drawn to authenticity. Fun isn’t a gimmick—it’s a strategy. When you lead with who you really are, you create connection. That’s what people buy into.

Like Dave said: “Sometimes going first—being silly, showing up fully—you give other people permission to be more of themselves too.”

💬 Final Thoughts: Bet On Yourself

We wrapped the episode reflecting on this: betting on yourself is rarely the wrong move.

Dave’s leap from finance into fermenting fungus tea didn’t make sense on paper. But it built the foundation for every business and mastermind connection that followed.

And you? You might be sitting on a funnel that just needs a few key tweaks. Or a message that’s almost there—but still not fully you.

So here’s your permission slip: go first. Get weird. Optimize your funnel. Own your data. And build a business that actually feels good to run.

Because if you’re burning cash on traffic while your funnel’s leaking leads?

Ads aren’t gonna save you, beb.

Loved this episode?
Screenshot, share it, tag @Jodi_Sodini on Instagram and tell me your biggest takeaway. And make sure you’re subscribed—because next week, we’ve got more Million Dollar Marketing magic coming your way.

Until then… keep marketing with heart, data, and just the right amount of weird. 💛