Built Ridge into $100M+ wallet brand expanding into wedding rings (10% US market), phone cases ($100M in 12 months), travel; uses AI (Codex) for inventory forecasting; manufacturing in Arizona.
As a customer spending ~$100M/year on Meta, Sean Frank asserts Meta's ad platform is working exceptionally well with no competing ad space matching its scale; SpaceX and Meta now similar market cap makes Meta relatively attractive.
Ridge leverages AI (Codex) for demand forecasting/inventory planning—historically a bankruptcy-risk problem—while expanding into wedding rings (10% US men's market), travel, phone cases; US manufacturing in Arizona challenged by steel tariffs.
LVMH down 25% as Gucci relies on 80% revenue from sub-$120k earners; Arnault family investing personally via L Catterton (Chrome Hearts, Mad Happy) not bringing assets into portfolio, signaling misaligned incentives.