No Other Tool Connects These Two Worlds
Contribution margin is the foundation of every financial decision in a DTC business. Every other metric depends on this one because it tells you what you actually keep after every variable cost is accounted for.
Plug in the economics for a single product or category below and get an instant analysis of every variable cost and what you're actually keeping per unit sold.
Your Marketing Data and Your Financial Data Don't Talk to Each Other.
START HERE - IT'S FREE
We Calculate Contribution Margin, CAC, and First-Order Profitability The Way an Investor Will.
Most founders quote a margin, a CAC, and a first-order profit number with confidence. The numbers come from Shopify, from a bookkeeper, or from a back-of-envelope calculation. They usually aren’t off by a little. They’re off by enough to change every spending decision the business is making.
Before anything gets built, we run a free Financial Diagnostic. We calculate the same three numbers live on screen, the way an investor or sophisticated buyer would look at them. You walk away with the real version of each, whether or not we ever work together.
Customer Acquisition Cost
What most founders quote. Ad spend divided by new customers, pulled from Meta or Shopify.
What we calculate. The fully loaded cost of acquiring a net-new buyer, across every channel, after accounting for returning customers, organic overlap, and attribution gaps.
What even a 10% error costs you. A brand acquiring 1,000 new customers a month at a stated $40 CAC is planning around $480,000 a year in acquisition spend. If the real CAC is $44, the actual annual cost is $528,000. That’s $48,000 a year the bank account is seeing that the plan isn’t.
Why it matters. Every budget decision, every channel allocation, every scaling decision sits on top of this number. A 10% error on the input creates a meaningfully different picture downstream.
What most founders quote. A general sense based on AOV and ROAS. Many founders don’t have an explicit number at all.
What we calculate. The per-customer profit or loss on the first order. Net revenue, minus your real contribution margin, minus your real CAC.
What even a 10% error costs you. First-order profit is the difference between two numbers, so a 10% error on either side flips the answer fast. A brand running break-even on the first order at $40 CAC is losing $4 per customer if real CAC is $44. At 1,000 monthly new customers, that’s $48,000 a year of acquisition losses that don’t show up anywhere on the dashboard.
Why it matters. This is the synthesis number. It tells you whether your acquisition spend is buying growth or buying revenue. Those aren’t the same thing.
First-Order Profitability
Actual Contribution Margin
What most founders quote. A gross margin in the 60% to 70% range, pulled from Shopify.
What we calculate. Contribution margin after discounts, returns, payment processing, shipping subsidies, pick and pack, packaging, and return processing.
What even a 10% error costs you. A brand at $2M in revenue with a stated 60% margin expects $1.2M in contribution dollars annually. If the real margin is 54% (10% relative lower), actual CM dollars are $1.08M. For a business carrying $1M in OpEx and overhead, that’s the difference between $200,000 in net cash flow and $80,000, on the exact same top line.
Why it matters. This is the foundation. Every other number in the business depends on it being right. A 10% error here compounds across every spending decision for the next 12 months.
A Trusted Partner
"Working with Tom has been a real asset to our team. As a DTC startup, we appreciated the clarity and structure he brought to our paid media efforts across Meta and Google. He helped us refine our creative and email strategies, and built thoughtful reporting tools that made it easier to track and understand performance. He has a strong sense of what drives results and was always proactive, collaborative, and solutions-oriented. More than anything, he felt like an extension of our team, not just a vendor. He’s incredibly kind, encouraging, and a genuinely positive presence, which made working with him both productive and enjoyable during a critical stage of our growth."
Preston Konrad
Co-Founder, Preston Lane
"We worked with a large agency before and it was a massive challenge to communicate with them or have them work on our account if we weren’t having a meeting with them. Tom is the opposite of that – he’s constantly looking at our ad accounts, seeing what’s doing well and what isn’t and making adjustments on a regular basis. My favorite thing about Tom is that he’s honest and you can trust him – I don’t find that a lot in our world and I’m really grateful we get to work together."
Erin Williams
Founder, Erin's Faces (acquired)
"I hired Tom about 9 months ago and he's been a huge asset right from the start. We ran ads in-house and with an outside media buyer in the past, but had mixed results and unreliable performance. Since Tom came on board we've seen big improvements in a number of key areas. Our revenue is up over 100% year over year and our customer acquisition cost has been cut in half. He's attentive, quick to respond and provides us with a level of insight and support that has been super helpful as we continue to grow."
Aaron Nessel
Founder, Bushwick Yacht Club
THE INVESTMENT
A System That Pays For Itself. A Partner Who Makes Sure It Does.
Operator
$7,500 (3 monthly payments of $2,500)
A custom, integrated 18-module financial operating system, built from scratch on your actual business data
90 days of direct access to an expert for strategy calls, email, and Slack support
30 day build, including discovery, calibration, and validation
Live API integrations to Shopify, Meta, Google, and TikTok
Live strategy walkthrough that translates the model into operating recommendations: how much to spend, where to cut, what to scale, and how long your cash can sustain the plan
Includes:
Hands-on training so you and your team operate the model confidently month to month
After 90 days, transitions to a $1,500 per month retainer. Default-on, cancel anytime. Monthly strategy session, fresh data updates each month, and direct access for the questions that come up between them.
FAQs
Still on the fence? The diagnostic is free. 45 minutes, no pitch, no commitment — just your real numbers calculated live. If it's not the right fit, you'll know by the end of the call.
What is the Financial Diagnostic, exactly?
A free 45-minute call where we look at your actual numbers together and calculate three critical metrics: your true NC-CAC, your first-order profitability, and your real contribution margin. You keep those insights whether or not you move forward.
What platform does the system run on?
Google Sheets. No software to install, no subscriptions. Works on any device, shareable with your team, and updates in real time as you input new data.
I already have a bookkeeper / accountant. How is this different?
Your bookkeeper tells you what happened. This system tells you why — and what to do about it. It connects your financial data to your marketing performance and customer behavior in real time. It answers the operational questions a backward-looking P&L never will.
What kind of access do I get during the 90 days?
Direct access — calls, email, Slack (if you use it). You're not submitting a support ticket. You're talking to the person who built your system and understands your numbers. Questions about what a metric means, help modeling a scenario, gut-checking a decision — that's what the 90 days are for.
Is this a spreadsheet template?
No. Templates give you empty cells and hope you figure it out. This is a fully built, fully customized system populated with your actual data — and it comes with 90 days of direct access to someone who can help you interpret every number in it.
LET'S SEE IF THIS IS THE RIGHT FIT
Book Your Free Financial Diagnostic
Just a few quick questions so we can make the most of our 45 minutes together. Complete the form and you'll be redirected to schedule your session.
© 2026 FourThree Media LLC. All rights reserved.
THE REAL PROBLEM
THE 90-DAY ENGAGEMENT
Calculate What You Actually Keep On Every Unit Sold.
Discovery
Week 1
60-minute kickoff call. We gain access to your Shopify data, ad accounts, financials, and identify your specific pain points so the buildout is contextualized, not generic.
Build
Weeks 2-3
We populate all of the modules with your real data, calibrating contribution margins to your product mix, configuring forecasts with realistic assumptions, and stress-testing budget recommendations against your cash position.
Strategy
Weeks 3-4
A live, 90-minute, recorded walkthrough where we translate the numbers into strategic recommendations: how much to spend, where to cut, what to scale, and how long your cash can sustain the plan.
WHY THIS ISN'T LIKE ANYTHING ELSE
TESTIMONIALS
You have Shopify reports. You have ad platform dashboards. You have a P&L from your bookkeeper. You might even have a spreadsheet you've been duct-taping together for years. None of them show you the full picture — and you know it. Do any of these sound familiar?
That's the core question — and right now, it's probably tough for you answer it. But that's exactly what we solve.
Partnership
All 90 days
Full access to your strategic partner. Regular check-ins, ongoing Q&A, help updating the model with fresh data each month, and guidance on interpreting your numbers and making decisions.
Right now you're probably pulling numbers from different platforms, holding them in your head and trying to construct a picture of your business that none of your tools will show you directly. That ends here.
We build a fully customized financial operating system for your brand: 18 integrated modules built around how you run the business, plus a 5-tab fundraising suite that activates when you’re raising. Every number talks to every other number. Change your ad spend, and you can see exactly what happens to your cash in month six. It’s not a template. It’s not a dashboard. It’s a dynamic, living tool built specifically for your business.
And we don’t just hand it over and disappear. You get 90 days of direct access to someone with extensive e-commerce and marketing experience and a financial services background. Someone who speaks both CMO and CFOwho will help you interpret your numbers, maintain the model, and chart a path forward.
We’re not selling you a spreadsheet. We’re selling you the ability to see the inner workings of your business with extreme clarity and understanding.
We integrate your marketing and financial metrics in a way that no other tool does. Your CAC, your contribution margins, your cash flow, your forecasts—all dynamically connected so that when one number moves, you can see exactly how it affects everything else.
And then we stick around for 90 days to help you make sense of it all.
Sophisticated investors are typically going to ask you some version of four questions. What are your real unit economics? What does growth look like under different assumptions? How far does this raise actually go? And when does the cash run out?
Walk Investors Through Your Business Without Scrambling.
45 minutes. Zero obligation. Real clarity on where your business stands.
18 Integrated Modules. One Complete Picture of Your Business.
Every module is purpose-built and interconnected. When one number changes, the entire system updates — marketing spend to financial outcome, all in one place.
What data do I need to provide?
Revenue and order data (Shopify, Amazon, etc.), advertising spend by channel, product costs / COGS, fulfillment and shipping costs, and return rates. We send a clear checklist. If your data is messy, that's normal — we work through it together.
Can I update the data myself after the engagement?
Yes. The system is designed for ongoing use. New monthly data goes into clearly marked input areas and everything downstream updates automatically. If you want continued support after 90 days, the retainer option keeps me involved.
What if I'm raising money or exploring an acquisition?
This system is built for that conversation. Every metric an investor or buyer would ask about is already there — contribution margins by channel, unit economics, LTV with payback timelines, trailing 12-month trends, and forward-looking forecasts. You'll never be caught off guard by a numbers question again.
What’s the time commitment on my end?
Expect about 2–3 hours in the first two weeks for onboarding and data gathering, then roughly 1 hour per week for check-ins and strategy sessions. We do the heavy lifting on the build.
This Isn’t Another Dashboard. It’s a Different Way of Seeing Your Business.
These three numbers build on each other. Your real margin tells you what you actually keep per order. Your real CAC tells you what it costs to get the order in the first place. Net the two and you have your real first-order profit. Once you see all three, you have the foundation to make every spending decision the business will face for the next year.
FOR FOUNDERS RAISING CAPITAL
SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS MARKETING & FINANCE
Agency Owner. Finance Background.
Actually On Your Side.
I'm a husband, a father of three, and a former athlete turned finance guy turned e-commerce strategist.
When brands work with me they get a perspective uncommon in today's direct-to-consumer space. Few people have spent serious time in the trenches of DTC e-commerce and carry the analytical rigor that comes from a Wall Street background.
Day to day I run a growth agency working directly with e-commerce brands on paid customer acquisition and retention. I'm in ad accounts, analyzing creative performance, and advising on strategy every single day. This engagement is built around the financial side of your business — but when you have access to me for 90 days, you get that part of my brain too.
I built this service because I kept seeing the same problem: marketing teams optimizing for metrics that didn't connect to financial reality, and finance teams producing reports that couldn't explain what was driving the numbers. Founders were stuck in the middle, making consequential decisions without the full picture.
This system is the bridge between those worlds. Every module exists because I've needed it to answer a real question in a real business.
Based on the book - Margin of Growth: Master the Math That Powers Sustainable E-Commerce Growth - Available here
Two engagement tiers. Pick the one that matches where the business is right now. If you're not raising, go with Operator. If you're raising or actively preparing to raise, opt for the Operator + Investor. The model is the same backbone either way. The Investor tier activates five additional modules purpose-built for the fundraising conversation.
WHAT THE SYSTEM COVERS
COMMON QUESTIONS
What if I'm doing less than $500K in revenue?
The engagement is designed for brands with enough transaction volume and channel complexity to justify the investment. If you're pre-$500K, the diagnostic can still point you in the right direction — and the book covers the framework you'll eventually build on.
Marketing Lives in a Silo
Your ad platforms tell you what they want you to hear. CPMs, ROAS, CTR — none of it tells you whether the customers you're acquiring are actually profitable after every cost is accounted for.
Your P&L shows you what happened last month. It doesn't show you why. It doesn't connect revenue to the channels that drove it, or costs to the decisions that created them.
Finance Lives in a Silo
The Gap Between Them
When marketing and finance operate on separate dashboards with separate data, you make decisions with half the picture. That gap is where margin leaks, bad spend scales, and growth turns into a cash flow problem.
The thread connecting all of these is the same: your marketing data and your financial data are living in separate worlds. Until you connect them, you're making significant financial decisions without the full picture.
"How is every dollar I spend on acquisition actually affecting the financial health of my business?"
"Revenue is up, but I'm not sure we're actually profitable."
Orders keep coming in. Ad spend keeps increasing. But when you check the bank account, the money isn't there. You know the top line is moving — you just can't see what's actually left after every cost is accounted for.
"Sales have flatlined and I don't know what lever to pull."
You've tried new creatives, new audiences, new offers. Nothing's moving. But without knowing your real acquisition cost, your true margin, or whether your current spend is even sustainable — you're making changes without understanding the underlying math.
"We're growing fast but cash flow is a constant fire drill."
Revenue looks great on paper but you're always scrambling to cover inventory, payroll, and ad invoices. Growth is supposed to feel like winning. This doesn't feel like winning.
"I need to raise capital but I can't tell the financial story."
Investors want unit economics, cohort analysis, and a credible path to profitability. Your Shopify dashboard and a patched-together spreadsheet aren't going to cut it.
"I'm making every decision on gut instinct."
You know you should be data-driven. But your data lives in six different tools that don't talk to each other, and you're spending more time pulling reports than actually understanding what they're saying.
"We keep increasing ad spend, but I can't tell if we're buying growth or just buying revenue."
The top line keeps moving. But whether that spend is building a profitable business or just inflating numbers you can't sustain — that's a question you can't answer right now.
Master Inputs — The metrics and assumptions that drive the entire model.
Founder Dashboard — Your command center. A single view of the KPIs that matter most, updated dynamically.
T12 Performance Trends — The trailing 12-month view for every key metric, side by side with month-over-month change.
Contribution Margins — See exactly what you're keeping on every order after product costs, shipping, returns, and transaction fees.
T12 Monthly P&L — A rolling 12-month profit and loss statement with corresponding marketing metrics for each month, updated automatically.
Monthly Breakdown — Revenue, expenses, and profitability broken out month by month.
Weekly Breakdown — The same granularity as the monthly breakdown presented at a weekly level.
Cash Flow & CM Dollars — Where your cash actually goes and how quickly it comes back.
Setting Your Budget — A dynamic budgeting tool that sets spend limits that are grounded in real unit economics, not guesswork.
Retention & Repeat Purchases — How often customers come back, how much they spend when they do.
Break-Even ROAS — The exact return on ad spend you need to hit before a channel becomes profitable.
Customer Acquisition Costs — Your true, fully-loaded customer acquisition cost.
Average Order Value — Track AOV trends over time and understand what's driving them up or down.
LTV & Payback Windows — How much a customer is worth over their lifetime and how long it takes to recoup the cost of acquiring them.
Cohort Analysis — Monthly customer cohorts with revenue, retention, and repeat behavior tracked from Month 0 forward.
Cash Conversion Cycles — How many days it takes to turn inventory and ad spend into usable cash.
Growth Forecast — Forward-looking projections built on your actual data and assumptions.
API Data — We connect to your Shopify store and ad accounts via API and schedule daily automatic updates.
This is for you if:
- You run a DTC or e-commerce brand doing $500K+ in annual revenue
- You're making decisions without full financial clarity
- You want to connect marketing spend to real financial outcomes
- You're serious about understanding your numbers and acting on them
- You're preparing to raise capital or want to be ready when the time comes
This probably isn't for you if:
- You're looking for a quick fix or a magic dashboard
- You just want someone to "do your books"
- You're not willing to engage with your own data
Is this just another algorithm or automated tool?
No. Every formula is visible, every calculation is based on standard financial math, and for 90 days you're working with an actual person who can explain every number on the page.
Contribution Margin Calculator
Enter your product economics below to see what you keep on every unit sold.
Your Unit Economics
A line-by-line breakdown of what you keep per unit sold.
This Is One Number. The Full Picture Needs Three.
Your contribution margin tells you what you keep. But what you keep only matters in the context of what you're paying to acquire each customer and whether you're making or losing money on their first order. Those three numbers together tell you whether your growth is sustainable or whether you're scaling a problem. In a free 45-minute Financial Diagnostic, we calculate all three using your real data, live on screen. No prep work required. You'll walk away knowing your true customer acquisition cost, your first-order profitability, and how your real contribution margin connects to both.
FOR DTC & E-COMMERCE FOUNDERS
Integrate Your Marketing & Finance Metrics Into a Single, Dynamic Model.
E-commerce brands don’t need more data. They need all of their key marketing and financial metrics in one place, fully integrated, so they can finally see how every dollar spent on marketing is affecting the financial health of the business.
I'll create that for you. And I'll stick around for 90 days to make sure you know exactly what to do with what you see.
FOR DTC & E-COMMERCE FOUNDERS
Most founders walk into those conversations with a static deck and hope nobody asks a follow-up. This system is built for the follow-ups. Five purpose-built modules sit on top of your operating model and turn fundraising prep into something you can actually walk through live.
Scenario Engine — Bear, base, and bull cases defined in one place. Change the active scenario and every downstream projection updates instantly. When an investor says “what if growth slows by half,” you don’t promise a follow-up email. You toggle the case.
Sensitivity Analysis — Stress-test grids that show how revenue growth, contribution margin, CAC, and retention interact under pressure. Color-coded so you can see where the business holds up and where it breaks before an investor finds it.
Forward Projection P&L — A 12-month forward income statement, driven by whichever scenario is active. Revenue by channel, contribution margin, marketing spend, OpEx, and net operating income, all tied back to your real unit economics. Not a top-line guess. A projection that holds up to a line-by-line walkthrough.
Capital Deployment — Raise amount, pre-money, dilution percentage, and how the money actually gets spent. Monthly burn against the projection. A runway calculation that updates the moment you change a single assumption. If an investor wants to see the math behind the ask, it’s already on the page.
Cash Flow Projection — A 12-month statement of cash flows. Operating, investing, and financing, with working capital adjustments tied to your cash conversion cycle. The single most important number in fundraising is when you run out of money. This module tells you, exactly, under any active scenario.
These modules are part of the standard build for any client who’s raising. If you’re not raising right now, they sit hidden in the background until you are.
We send a brief checklist when you book so you know what information to have on hand. You’ll need read access to your Shopify analytics, your ad accounts (Meta, Google, TikTok), and a recent monthly P&L. No prep work, no formatting. We pull what we need from what you already have.
Operator + Investor
$10,000 (3 monthly payments of $3,250)
An additional strategy walkthrough oriented around the investor narrative. We translate the model into the answers your investors are about to ask for, walked through live.
The 5-Module Fundraising Suite. Scenario Engine, Sensitivity Analysis, Forward Projection P&L, Capital Deployment, and Cash Flow Projection. Bear, base, and bull cases run live. A 12-month forward income statement and statement of cash flows. A capital deployment plan tied to your raise size, dilution, and runway.
Includes everything in Operator, plus:
After 90 days, transitions to a $2,000 per month retainer. Default-on, cancel anytime. Everything in the Operator retainer, plus quarterly investor-prep sessions and board-ready monthly outputs.
Custom Builds
Let's Chat
Multi-entity rollups, non-DTC business models, fund-specific reporting decks, or additional modules beyond the standard delivery are available case-by-case. We scope it together and agree on pricing before any extra work begins.