Home/Case Studies/The RealReal (NASDAQ: REAL)

    Scaling Performance Media from <$5M to $100M+/yr at The RealReal

    Industry
    Luxury Resale eCommerce
    Timeline
    Engagement via Miliki & Co
    Company
    The RealReal (NASDAQ: REAL)
    Performance Media
    Paid Acquisition
    In-Housing
    CAC Discipline
    Luxury eCommerce

    Key Results

    Outcomes at a glance
    $5M → $100M+Paid Spend Scaled

    Annualized run-rate

    25%Share of Total Revenue

    From paid acquisition

    40%CAC Reduction

    While scaling spend 20x+

    Google • Meta • AffiliateChannels Owned

    Plus attribution

    Chart shows quantified outcomes; other results are qualitative.

    The Challenge

    Public company transitioning paid acquisition from a holding-company agency structure into an in-house operation. Needed to scale spend dramatically without sacrificing CAC discipline—paid had to become a primary revenue pillar, not a cost center.

    The Approach

    Stepped in as performance media lead through Miliki & Co after the agency-to-in-house transition. Personally ran $100M+/yr in spend hands-on across Google, Meta, affiliate, and attribution—not overseeing from a dashboard.

    Key Achievements

    The outcomes that defined this engagement

    1

    Took paid from sub-$5M to $100M+/yr while reducing CAC 40%

    2

    Made paid acquisition responsible for 25% of REAL's revenue

    3

    Hands-on across Google, Meta, affiliate, and attribution infrastructure

    4

    Successfully completed the agency-to-in-house transition without performance regression

    The Outcome

    Transformed paid acquisition into one of REAL's primary growth pillars at public-company scale, with CAC discipline maintained throughout aggressive scaling.

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