We’re back in the capital next Thursday for our biggest event of the year… DTC Live London at The Fable.
It’s a full day packed with real stories…from how TALA approaches brand storytelling and creative strategy, to Regalrose's lessons in customer retention and Myprotein's data-driven approach to growth.
You’ll also hear from Smoothie London Jewellery on scaling performance marketing and YETI on building global brand loyalty.
Every session is designed to give you ideas you can take straight back to your team and apply.
And because it wouldn’t be DTC Live without a few surprises… expect a magician, balloon artist and plenty of fun throughout the day ✨
🚨 Last chance to grab your ticket!
Ticket sales close tomorrow, and spaces are nearly gone.
📍 The Fable, London
🗓️ Thursday 16th October
At DTC Live London, we were joined by Lauren O'Donnell, founder of Oatsu, the overnight oats brand making it easy to eat well on-the-go.
From hand-delivering oat pots across London to landing listings with Ocado and Holland & Barrett, to winning a Channel 4 TV ad, she shared what it really takes to build a brand from scratch.
“I couldn’t find healthy breakfasts when I worked in the city… so I started making my own.”
Lauren spotted a gap in the market. Ready-to-eat overnight oats were available across the US, but didn’t exist in the UK. She started testing recipes in her kitchen, launched online, and hand-delivered the first orders across London herself.
Oatsu was born out of her own routine, but quickly built momentum with others who wanted the same thing - food that was nutritious, convenient, and actually tasty.
From day one, the goal was retail. But to get there, shelf-life was key. After a year-long search, Lauren found the right manufacturing partner and secured an industry-leading shelf-life of 45 days, making supermarket rollout possible.
Lauren recently won a Channel 4 TV campaign, giving Oatsu prime-time exposure to millions of viewers nationwide, a major milestone in the brand’s growth journey.
Oatsu’s award-winning overnight oats are now available on Ocado, Ocado Zoom, Amazon, and their own website, with Selfridges launching soon.
In January, the brand will also launch high-protein Just Add Milk overnight oat mixes, developed in response to customer demand for a store-cupboard version of Oatsu’s popular chilled range, easy to prepare anytime, anywhere.
Raising £250K through angels and a crowdfunding campaign To scale, in 2023, Lauren combined a pre-seed angel round with a successful crowdfunding campaign, raising £250,000 from over 270 backers.
“We made high-quality video content, told our story, and shared milestones on LinkedIn. That helped bring in investors we’d never have reached otherwise.”
Oatsu is now raising £500k to fuel the national rollout of its chilled and Just Add Milkranges, and grow the team, with strong early interest from existing and new investors.
Before going into retail, Lauren built the business through direct-to-consumer, and used it as a feedback loop.
“We constantly spoke to customers. One of our best-selling new mixes came directly from their suggestions.”
From new flavours to high-protein formats, the product range evolved through ongoing conversations with the Oatsu community.
“We didn’t want to rush into retail. We waited until everything was in place.”
That patience paid off. With a longer shelf life, proven demand, and a clear brand story, Oatsu is now growing across grocery, foodservice (think offices, coffee shops and travel), and DTC.
✅ Start simple, but validate early Lauren started small, but knew there was appetite. “People were already googling overnight oats (they’re the 4th most Googled recipe globally). We just gave them a better way to buy them.”
✅ Tell your story, and tell it well Their crowdfunding success came from showing the real journey, not just pitching the product. “Video, story, and social proof were everything.”
✅ Let customers guide what comes next Oatsu’s DTC customers shaped the roadmap. “From high-protein overnight oat mixes to flavour feedback, we built with them, not just for them.”
Want to hear the full talk? Catch it on the DTC Live YouTube channel.
And if you haven’t tried Oatsu yet, head to oatsu.co.uk or Ocado.
You ask a shopper, “Do you like this product page?” They nod. You ask another, “Would you buy this?” They say yes. Feels like validation, right?
Not so fast. In DTC, that “yes” is a trap. The most dangerous mistake in user research is to stop at “yes” or “no.”
Customers want to be polite. They don’t want to offend you, or maybe they don’t even know how to explain what feels off. So they give the easy answer: yes, no, maybe. But those answers are data without depth.
A “yes” might mean: Yes, but only if it’s on sale. A “no” might mean: No, because I couldn’t figure out shipping costs.
If you take those at face value, you risk building features or campaigns no one truly cares about.
The real insights come when you dig deeper. The magic question is “Why?” Why do they like it? Why wouldn’t they buy it? Why did they hesitate at checkout? Follow-ups like “Tell me more about how you’d shop for this” or “What’s missing here for you?”uncover the truth.
Even better, go after stories, not opinions. Instead of “Would you subscribe?”, ask “Can you walk me through the last time you re-ordered this type of product?” Stories reveal habits, frustrations, and motivations that a yes/no never could.
That’s where the breakthroughs are. Not in the binary answers, but in the messy, human details that shape how customers shop and buy.
So next time a customer says “Yes,” don’t celebrate just yet. Smile, lean in, and ask: “Interesting. Why?”
✅ Quick Prompts for DTC Interviews
