Hey, it’s Alex.

In today’s issue:

• Yotpo announces the shuttering of its Email/SMS platform - 1 month after shutting down subscriptions.

• A shameless plug full of wins for brands just like you.

• and more…
  

BEST LINKS

My favourite finds this week

• OpenAI claims GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to 'PhD level (BBC).

• Alex Hormozi $100m money models - new book ordered! (Instagram).

• Easy migration from Yotpo to Klaviyo (Klaviyo).

• How to cut 3s from page load changing only a single keyword change (LinkedIn). - yes it is true.

• Turn $100 into $10,000 passive month - Stephen Barlett, Alex Hormozi, Codie Sanchez & Daniel Priestley - all in one video! (YouTube)

DEEP DIVE

Oh-No, Yotpo.

This week, Yotpo announced they’re shutting down their email and SMS platform. The second major closure from them in 12 months, after their subscription product vanished with barely a six-month notice.

Whenever this happens, my first thought is the people - talented team members suddenly facing uncertainty. If you’re one of them, I genuinely hope you land on your feet. The churn isn’t on you.

But this isn’t about a feature. It’s about trust. Or more precisely - what happens when trust is designed out of the model.

When Innovation Outpaces Integrity

Venture-backed software moves fast by design. Priorities shift not based on what’s working, but what’s raising. The moment attention turns - AI, automation, acceleration - the things that don’t scale get left behind. That includes small brands.

That includes you.

Product stability becomes a moving target. Support becomes optional. And the people left to manage the fallout? They were never really the audience.

So the question isn’t just why did this tool change? The question is: why are we still surprised when it does?

Lifestyle Brands Need More Than Features

If your brand sells lifestyle, it sells emotion.

Ritual.

Beauty.

It’s not just what the product is - it’s what it means.

And in that world, tools aren’t just infrastructure. They’re part of the experience.

When your retention strategy disappears with a quarterly pivot, your customer notices. When automation replaces support, they feel it. These aren’t backend decisions - they’re frontline consequences.

What lifestyle brands need isn't more options. It’s fewer compromises.

The Illusion of the Next Big Thing

I’m not anti-AI - far from it.

But I am pro-discipline.

There’s nothing wrong with building new things - we do it everyday.

But there’s something deeply wrong with building for optics, not outcomes.

When the roadmap is shaped by investor decks rather than user needs, longevity gets lost in the shuffle.

Innovation isn’t about what’s newest. It’s about what lasts. And increasingly, that’s not what the big platforms are optimising for.

What Actually Matters

Real partnerships don’t promise the moon. They show up. They ask better questions. They stay curious.

We believe in software you can trust. But more than that, we believe in people you can call.

People who will be here next week, next quarter, next product cycle. Not just when the pitch is polished, but when things get complicated.

Because that’s when the real value of a partner is felt.

A Closing Thought

This isn’t a failure story.

It’s a design story.

VC-backed platforms are not broken. They are functioning exactly as intended. Which means the opportunity - and the responsibility - falls to you.

To choose differently.

To invest not just in tools, but in alignment. In clarity. In people who won’t pivot away when the next headline hits.

I’m not here to predict the next Yotpo.

I’m here to help you build something too considered to be abandoned.

🌱 ALMOND LABS

Shameless Plug

Our brands are finding success with our product Roadmap - our Shopify no-code toolkit.

Demand is accelerating, and we’ll be hitting a very significant milestone soon.

Brands like Abel, Blunt Umbrellas, Ruby, Harker Herbals, Saben, Two Islands, Leif and many more are finding success and growth.

Loyalty, Reviews, Bundles, GWP, Discounts, Subscriptions, Extensions, Builders, and more - all in a single native Shopify experience.

All bootstrapped by our business Studio Almond (no VC).

This week I ran Roadmap audits for 2 x Shopify Plus brands looking to come onto Roadmap - ones saved $1,764 per month coming onto Roadmap - before we had even focused on growth activities.

The other?

$2,483 per month saved moving onto Roadmap.

The results?

One of our brands is making $3,500+ a week through Roadmap, another is on $5,000+ a week.

The number are getting unreal - so much so we haven’t had a chance to even promote it all properly!

📣 HAVE YOUR SAY

How did we do?

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Alex Murton
Shopify for Lifestyle Brands
Co-Founder @ Studio Almond & Almond Labs.