Monday Memo
A Byte of Knowledge
The late Scott Adams made "skill stacking" famous years ago.
Get decent at two or three things, combine them, become exceptional.
Solid concept.
But most of us hit the same wall....
We had skills we couldn't stack.
Because half of them were so far from our chosen path, we never even considered them.
A killer eye for design but zero technical ability to execute it.
An ear for music but no production training.
Real talent, just… landlocked.
We call these shadow skills — abilities that sat dormant because deploying them meant becoming someone else entirely.
Then AI showed up and collapsed the distance overnight.
That design eye you shelved ten years ago? You can actually build with it now.
That ear for music you never trained? You can actually produce with it now.
Skills that would've taken years to unlock are within reach in weeks/months.
AI is the execution layer for every skill that never had one.
Worth asking yourself this week… what shadow skill have you been sitting on?
🚀 WATCH: How These AI Copy Bots Are Producing World-Class Sales Copy 50X Faster Than Even The "BEST" Copywriters On The Market…
(Plus… They Don't Get Sick, Miss Deadlines, Or Ask For Raises Either!)
Watch the full AI Copywriting Tell-All Video Here
Something to Ponder
We Asked – AI Answered
Our Question:
"Birchbox ignited the discovery box business model back in 2010. And it certainly felt like after a while there was a ‘box bubble.’ Is this still a viable business model? How has it evolved?"
AI's Answer: Beyond the Hero's Journey: The Current State: Still Alive, But Transformed 📊
💰 The Numbers Don't Lie
The global subscription box market hit roughly $41.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach ~$50 billion in 2026, growing at nearly 20% year over year. The U.S. alone accounts for about $14.7 billion of that.
More than 54% of U.S. online shoppers have now tried at least one subscription box.
Fad? No. It's a consumer behavior pattern baked into how people buy.
🪦 What Happened to Birchbox (The Cautionary Tale)
Birchbox itself? A mess. FemTec Health acquired Birchbox for $45 million in 2021. Within two years, the website went dark, vendors went unpaid, and customers never received boxes they'd already paid for. Retention Brands scooped up the assets in 2023 through a creditor sale. The brand relaunched and started shipping again by mid-2023 under new ownership.
The pioneer of the model nearly died. But the model itself? It just kept growing without them.
🧬 How the Model Evolved (Three Species)
The original "discovery box" was just one flavor. The market now splits into three distinct models:
→ Curation boxes (Birchbox, Ipsy, FabFitFun): "Surprise me with cool stuff." High emotional appeal... but highest churn. The novelty wears off.
→ Replenishment boxes (Dollar Shave Club, Chewy Autoship): "Never let me run out." Low churn, high predictability. This is the workhorse model. You're selling convenience, not excitement.
→ Access boxes (Thrive Market, exclusive member perks): "Give me VIP pricing." Costco psychology in a box. The subscription IS the product.
Curation still led in raw revenue at $8.7 billion in 2024,but replenishment is where the smart money builds because the economics are just cleaner.
⚠️ The Churn Problem (Still the #1 Killer)
One stat tells the whole story:
📊 44% of all subscription box cancellations happen within the first 90 days
That first box experience IS your entire retention strategy. Nail it or bleed.
But here's the twist... 68% of subscription box churn is involuntary. Not angry customers. Not boredom. Failed credit cards. Expired payment methods. People who wanted to stay but got silently dropped.
Recurly's 2025 analysis of 2,200+ merchants pegs average monthly churn at 3.4%. Survivable... if you're plugging the leaks most founders don't even know exist.
🤖 The AI Personalization Play
This is the 2026 inflection point 👇
88% of subscription box businesses now use AI for product recommendations.
The old model (2015): "Here's a box we think you'll like." 🎲 Basically a guess.
The new model (2026): "Here's a box we know you'll like because we've tracked 14 months of your preferences, purchase history, and feedback loops." 🎯 Precision curation.
The result? AI-driven personalization has reduced churn by up to 45% in optimized operations. That's not a marginal improvement... that's a completely different business.
🎯 The Takeaway
The subscription box isn't dead. The lazy subscription box is dead.
Winners in 2026 share three things the 2015 "box bubble" companies never had:
✅ Razor-sharp personalization (not vibes... data)
✅ Flexible pause/cancel options that reduce rage-quits
✅ Backend payment recovery systems that plug the involuntary churn hole
One question separates the survivors from the casualties:
Are people subscribing because they NEED what's inside... or because they liked unboxing it once? 📦
Thanks for reading the Monday Memo.
Until next time!
The AI Marketers
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