From Shark Tank to Strategic Finance: How Mad Rabbit Increased EBITDA by 20% with Drivepoint

ABOUT

Company: Mad Rabbit 

Category: Beauty

Distribution Models: DTC, Retail, Marketplace‍

Use Cases: Scenario Modeling, Budget Planning, Cash Flow & Runway Management, Automated Reforecasting & Variance Analysis, Board & Investor Reporting‍

THE CHALLENGE

Flying blind during the shift from growth-at-all-costs to profitability

After an explosive Shark Tank appearance with a deal from Mark Cuban and rapid venture-backed growth, Mad Rabbit faced a critical inflection point. The tattoo industry was cooling after unprecedented growth, consumer spending was slowing, and the market had shifted. Investors no longer rewarded revenue at all costs. They wanted EBITDA.

Co-founder and CEO Oliver Zak found himself at a crossroads: "We were staffed to grow, and we didn't grow. We made the obvious cuts: trimming agencies, renegotiating with vendors, reducing inefficient marketing spend. But as the dust settled, we realized we were now a completely different business model than three months earlier."

The challenge went deeper than just cutting costs. Mad Rabbit's finance function was built for a different era, relying on surface-level KPIs, generalized assumptions, and quarterly forecasting exercises that took weeks. Their small team (a CFO and accountant) worked primarily in Excel, overlaying marketing calendars with historical performance to guess at growth.

"I was extremely confident in our projections," Oliver admits, "but we needed a clear idea of how to set goals for KPIs like repeat rate and AOV, or how improving them during a sale could impact the baseline."

They needed to understand not just what their business had become, but how to improve from there.

THE SOLUTION

Platform-powered insights that transformed finance from reactive to strategic

Mad Rabbit deployed Drivepoint's intelligent FP&A platform to build the financial infrastructure their new reality demanded. The platform automated data consolidation across Mad Rabbit's complex channel mix (DTC, Amazon, wholesale, and retail) creating a single source of truth that updated in real-time.

But consolidation was just the foundation. The real transformation came from Drivepoint's AI-powered analytics suite revealing exactly where the business was bleeding and what needed to change.

Cohort reporting exposed the uncomfortable truth

Drivepoint's cohorted financial analysis showed Mad Rabbit's customer lifetime value broken down from sales through contribution profit by acquisition cohort. When layered with customer acquisition costs, the data was unambiguous: 20% of their DTC customers were buying single products on sale and never returning. After accounting for CAC and all direct variable costs, Mad Rabbit was losing money on every one of these transactions.

"The counterintuitive decision that Drivepoint brought to the table was: let's actually not sell to these people. We don't want that customer," Oliver recalls.

Customer retention reports showed why their LTV wasn't growing over time, making it clear that high first-time customer AOV was critical to channel viability. Segmented AOV reporting pinpointed exactly why first-time AOVs weren't cutting it. DTC sales mix reporting by cohort revealed the product mix problem: too many single-item purchases from deal-seekers.

Variance analysis identified where to focus

Drivepoint's automated variance analysis didn't just show Mad Rabbit where they missed previous budgets; it explained why. Consistent monthly reviews gave Oliver and his team clarity on where to focus their improvement efforts, moving beyond gut instinct to data-driven prioritization.

"We weren't sure that the levers we were pulling and setting as our North Star were necessarily the most effective for the business," Oliver explains. "Drivepoint really took that process and made it a lot simpler for us."

Scenario modeling proved the path forward

With the problems identified, Drivepoint's scenario modeling capabilities let Mad Rabbit test solutions before committing capital. The platform's driver-based financial model had all the key inputs (AOV by cohort, CAC levels, product mix, retention rates) built in, so scenarios could be generated in minutes instead of days.

The team modeled multiple paths: killing DTC entirely, or identifying what needed to be true to make it profitable (higher AOVs through bundling, adjusted CAC targets). Each scenario showed complete P&L, cash flow, and unit economics impact.

The numbers gave Mad Rabbit the confidence to execute on the bundle-only strategy for new customers—a major operational shift backed by rigorous financial modeling.

Dashboards that drive daily decisions

With the new strategy in motion, Drivepoint's real-time dashboards let Mad Rabbit track performance against the key drivers that mattered: first-time customer AOV, product mix, retention metrics. No more waiting weeks for month-end close to know if they were on track.

"As an executive, the dashboarding and visualization that Drivepoint brings to the table is probably the most valuable thing for me at the moment," Oliver says.

THE RESULTS

From weeks to hours. From anxiety to confidence.

The numbers tell part of the story: Mad Rabbit improved EBITDA by approximately 20% within months of deploying Drivepoint's platform. But the transformation runs deeper than a single metric.

Speed that enables agility: Planning cycles that once took weeks now take a couple of hours. Drivepoint's automated data consolidation and scenario engine eliminated the manual spreadsheet archaeology that used to consume the finance function. Mad Rabbit can run unlimited scenarios without drowning in Excel formulas. They reforecast monthly with automated variance analysis doing the heavy lifting. They answer board questions in real-time instead of scrambling after meetings.

Confidence that drives decisiveness: Drivepoint's platform gave Oliver the data foundation to make hard calls with conviction. "Drivepoint gives me very strong conviction in the decisions I need to make because the numbers are clear as day, and that makes the decisions easier."

That confidence extends to the boardroom. "I have some very financially savvy board members who can sniff out any sort of error. Those just don't happen. And when they double-click on something, there's always an answer for it."

Capability that creates competitive advantage: Mad Rabbit now operates with the sophistication of a company with a full finance department, but with just one accountant and Drivepoint's platform doing the work of multiple FTEs.

"I'm able to have full confidence in my finance department with that setup. It's pretty amazing," Oliver notes. The platform's visualization capabilities transformed his day-to-day: "The dashboarding and visualization is invaluable. I can see where our business is sitting and what our cash will look like in real time."

Automated intelligence, not just automation: Drivepoint's AI-powered insights surface opportunities and risks that would take days of manual analysis to uncover. The cohort reporting that identified the unprofitable customer segment. The variance analysis that pinpointed improvement areas. The scenario modeling that proved the bundle strategy would work.

"It truly unlocks a deeper understanding of your business down to the unit economics," Oliver explains. "Knowing where your business is oriented will always reduce anxiety and uncertainty. That's invaluable."

The right infrastructure at the right scale: Mad Rabbit demonstrates what's possible with modern FP&A technology. One finance FTE plus Drivepoint's platform delivers strategic planning capability typically requiring multiple team members. The platform gives early-stage brands CFO-level capabilities before they can justify the hire, and it gives established brands with dedicated finance leaders the automation to maximize their team's strategic impact.

Whether you're a founder wearing the finance hat or a CFO leading a department, the goal is the same: spend 80% of your time on strategy, not spreadsheets.

THE BOTTOM LINE

When asked what he'd tell someone wondering if investing in Drivepoint is worth it, Oliver doesn't hesitate: "Tenfold. Absolutely. I highly recommend Drivepoint to all the companies I advise for."

For Mad Rabbit, Drivepoint's platform provided something simple but powerful: the ability to transform from a venture-backed growth story into a profitable, sustainable business without sacrificing speed, agility, or ambition.