Ep 6: Michael Rasile

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What does the inside of an artist merch drop actually look like when 100,000+ orders hit in an hour and bots are racing real fans to the checkout? In this episode of In A Pinch, Arthi and Jayan sit down with Michael Rasile — founder & director of customer experience at Front Row and a partner at Ceremony of Roses — for one of our most candid conversations yet.

Michael spent more than a decade as a touring drummer before transitioning into artist management, tour marketing, and merchandise operations. At Manhead, he helped scale e-commerce from $2M to $20M in gross revenue and managed merch operations for some of the biggest names in music — from Harry Styles to Michael Jackson to Pink. He's also Pinch's very first customer.

Unlike most of our previous guests, Michael isn't a fraud vendor or a risk theorist. He's the person actually in the war room when drops go live, bots hit checkout, and someone has 60 seconds to decide what's best for the artist, the fans, and the bottom line.