Jens Grede

Co-founder of Skims and business strategist focused on consumer brands.

Claims

As speaker

Mentioned in

Key positions and views

Integrating brands with pop culture through iconic figures is the most effective modern marketing strategy, far surpassing traditional advertising.

The current market favors large, established 'comfort brands' which are experiencing a resurgence, and they will increasingly outperform smaller competitors.

Conventional digital growth metrics are flawed; LTV/CAC models are consistently inaccurate, and social media follower counts do not scale with actual user engagement.

A hybrid 'phygital' retail model is essential for scale, as the vast majority of consumer business still occurs in physical stores.

The creator economy is a fundamental cultural and economic shift, with youth aspirations moving from traditional careers to becoming influencers, representing a major new frontier for commerce.

Podcast consensus on Grede

Points of consensus

▶Grede consistently argues that leveraging top-tier celebrity influence is the most powerful modern marketing tool, citing the success of Skims with Kim Kardashian and Teremana with 'The Rock' as prime examples.Apr 2026

▶He believes the creator economy is a dominant cultural and economic force, pointing to the shift in youth aspirations from sports to influencing and the emergence of direct monetization platforms.

▶Grede's view on retail is that a hybrid 'phygital' model is essential, emphasizing Skims' focus on physical store expansion while noting that 80% of US retail occurs in-person.Apr 2026

▶He expresses strong skepticism about the reliability of traditional digital growth metrics, stating that LTV/CAC models are almost always wrong and that social media follower counts are a poor indicator of engagement.Apr 2026

Points of debate

▶Grede champions the power of founder-led, pop-culture brands like Skims, yet also predicts that large, established incumbent companies will increasingly outperform smaller competitors.Apr 2026

▶He notes that negative press and founder scandals do not significantly impact consumer behavior for brands like Victoria's Secret, yet the entire premise of a brand like Skims is built on the positive cultural capital of its founder.Apr 2026

▶Grede states that algorithmic shifts on social media have been 'devastating' for young brands, while simultaneously arguing that the creator economy is still in its 'early stages of development and growth,' presenting a conflicting view on the current health of the ecosystem for new entrants.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶The Pop Culture FlywheelApr 2026

Grede's core thesis is that harnessing pop culture, particularly through iconic figures like Kim Kardashian, creates a self-reinforcing cycle of brand recognition and demand that traditional advertising cannot match. He posits that a celebrity-led brand like Teremana achieves far greater recognition than a hypothetical competitor spending a billion dollars on ads.

This suggests a high-risk, high-reward strategy where a brand's success is inextricably linked to the cultural relevance and public perception of a single personality, making founder reputation a critical asset.

▶The Resurgence of IncumbentsApr 2026

Grede observes a market trend where large, established brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic are making significant comebacks and outperforming smaller players. He believes consumers are gravitating towards trusted 'comfort brands' in uncertain times and that negative press has little long-term impact on core consumer purchasing habits.

This challenges the prevailing 'disruptor' narrative and suggests that legacy brands with strong infrastructure and brand recognition have a durable competitive advantage, making them potentially undervalued investment opportunities.

▶The Broken Metrics of Digital Growth

Grede expresses deep skepticism towards conventional digital marketing and growth models. He argues that startup LTV to CAC projections have been consistently inaccurate for 15 years and that social media follower counts do not correlate with engagement, while algorithmic shifts have severely hampered new brands' ability to build community.

Investors should critically scrutinize direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on follower counts and paid acquisition models, as these metrics may not reflect genuine community or a sustainable growth engine.

▶The 'Phygital' Future of RetailApr 2026

Despite Skims' digital-native origins and the success of its app, Grede identifies the expansion of its global physical retail network as a primary focus for future growth. He grounds this strategy in the observation that post-COVID, approximately 80% of American retail business has returned to physical stores.

This signals that pure-play e-commerce is insufficient for building a dominant, long-term consumer brand; a significant brick-and-mortar footprint is non-negotiable for achieving market leadership and scale.

Source episodes

Timeline

Launch Phase

A few months after launching, Skims experienced overwhelming demand, resulting in being completely sold out with a waitlist of two million customers.

Circa One Year Post-Launch

The Skims mobile app was introduced and rapidly adopted, accounting for over 20% of the company's total business within its first year.

Current Focus

Grede's primary strategic priority for Skims is the expansion of its global physical retail distribution network, reflecting a belief in the importance of brick-and-mortar.

Future Outlook

Grede has stated that Skims will likely go public at some point in the future, signaling a long-term strategic goal for the company.

Suggested prompts

How does Grede's thesis on the dominance of incumbent brands square with his own success in launching a disruptive brand like Skims? &nearr;If social media follower counts are irrelevant to engagement, what alternative metrics does Grede prioritize for measuring brand health and creator partnerships? &nearr;Grede claims founder scandals don't impact consumer behavior, but Skims' success is tied to a founder's positive image. How does he reconcile this apparent contradiction? &nearr;Given Grede's focus on physical retail, what specific strategies might Skims employ to translate its online hype into a successful and profitable brick-and-mortar presence globally? &nearr;

Key concepts

Skims Strategy & Performance 6 ep Creator & Influencer Economy 6 ep Retail Industry Analysis 5 ep Brand Strategy 4 ep Consumer Behavior 4 ep Digital Marketing & Metrics 3 ep Technology Trends 3 ep Financial Markets 3 ep

Notable quotes

“Well, if you tell me, isn't Kim Kardashian the Michael Jordan of the influencer generation? I would say she is.”

Jens Grede · How Jens Grede Hacked Pop Culture to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand

“Jens, the secret to our success is that we always transform on the way up.”

Jens Grede · How Jens Grede Hacked Pop Culture to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand

“Go and look at three different artists. Let's say one has 5 million followers, one has 20 million, and I'll give you a name of someone that has, let's say, 300 or 400 million. You'll find the exact same amount of engagement.”

Jens Grede · How Jens Grede Hacked Pop Culture to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand

“I think we had two million customers on waitlist for product and we had no product left at all.”

Jens Grede · How Jens Grede Hacked Pop Culture to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand

Report last updated: Apr 21, 2026

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