In this episode of How They Scaled It, I sit down with Kunle Campbell, co-founder of Octillion Capital Partners and host of the 2X eCommerce podcast. Kunle shares how a curiosity-fueled SEO career led him to the operator seat—where he now acquires and grows wellness-first brands through a private equity-style model rooted in purpose, not just profit.

Along the way, Kunle breaks down how Octillion finds hero products, why subscriptions fuel their growth engine, and what it really takes to scale without compromising your values. From rebranding mushroom coffee to building founder-led stories that resonate, this episode is packed with sharp insights on sustainable, principle-driven growth in the DTC space.

00:00:13 Kunle’s philosophy: growth vs. profitability

00:01:37 How a lecture ignited Kunle’s e-commerce path

00:04:01 Surviving the 2008 crash and building an SEO agency

00:06:00 Discovering the limits of traffic without conversion

00:07:21 Building the 2X eCommerce podcast and agency

00:09:38 From consultant to operator: Why Kunle founded Octillion

00:11:39 Meeting his business partner via Google

00:14:17 The importance of financial literacy as an operator

00:17:29 Using subscriptions to drive growth while preserving LTV

00:23:04 Scaling brands vs. scaling products

00:26:10 How they found a new hero product when the original went out of stock

00:31:33 The cost of educating the market

00:34:56 Why Octillion only invests in wellness-first brands

00:40:34 Predictions for e-commerce, AI agents, and TikTok Shop

00:50:11 The power of high-volume content production