How to Protect Your Margin When You're in Retail ft. Akash Raju

Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – ⁠https://www.tryglimpse.comRetail is tough—but the hidden costs make it brutal.In this episode, Mike chats with Akash Raju, Co-Founder and CEO of Glimpse, the AI-powered platform helping consumer brands recover lost revenue from retail deductions. If you sell through Amazon, Target, UNFI, or KeHE, you’re probably losing up to 5% of revenue to invalid deductions—fees that can quietly eat into your bottom line.Akash breaks down what’s really going on behind the curtain of retail deductions, how Glimpse is helping brands win back hundreds of thousands in lost revenue, and why automation is transforming how finance teams manage trade spend, supply chain fees, and compliance.You’ll learn:✅ What makes retail so expensive for brands✅ The hidden “deduction” ecosystem no one talks about✅ How top CPG brands lose 5%+ of their revenue without realizing it✅ Which deductions are worth fighting—and which aren’t✅ How AI is changing the game for brand finance teams✅ Why distributors like UNFI and KeHE are pain points for smaller brands✅ How Glimpse built a 91% deduction win rate✅ When (and why) brands should start caring about deductions👉 If you’re running a consumer brand—or heading into retail—this episode is an essential crash course in the economics most founders never see.Timestamps00:00 Intro01:00 What Makes Retail So Expensive03:00 How Glimpse Helps Brands Recover Lost Revenue05:00 The Hidden World of Invalid Deductions07:00 Why Deductions Are a Cross-Functional Headache09:00 Building Glimpse: How Akash Found the Problem12:00 Why UNFI and KeHE Are So Painful for Brands15:00 How Retail Deductions Work (and What to Fight)18:00 How Glimpse Uses AI to Recover Revenue21:00 The Power Imbalance Between Retailers and Brands24:00 Can Deductions Ever Be Fully Automated?27:00 The Financial Blind Spots in Retail30:00 How Different Categories Get Hit Harder33:00 Expanding Glimpse Across Retailers: Target, Walmart, Amazon36:00 When Brands Should Start Focusing on Deductions39:00 The Categories With the Highest Invalid Deductions📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

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