Dragonproof Ecommerce

The key to building a soulful business which sustains in all seasons often comes down to expressing an optimistic, passionate, and nuanced point of view - and then translating that stance into a trustworthy shopping experience. In this episode, Rick Wilson sets the table for a very successful 2022 by encouraging business to foreground their most valuable asset: soul.

Getting your business over the finish line after 2021 has been an endurance challenge - but for many leaders, personal self-care is the first thing to be sacrificed. As Rick Wilson explores in this episode, self-care is integral to good leadership. Rick connects his personal wellness journey to the unique challenges our industry faced this year, including how to deal with success and failure, how to model good behavior for workers, and the organizational dividends that come from good health and mental balance.

Every time a brand places an ad, issues a statement, or sends an email, it is entering a complex environment of culture, opinion, and the pressure to take a stand on everything. Finding a sustainable way to use that voice requires true awareness of a specific business' role in society, with an emphasis on what's directly relevant for worker and customers. In this episode, Rick Wilson identifies key concepts which support successful modern business communication.

Auto shoppers visiting dealer lots in 2021 found low inventory and substantial upcharges on whatever was left. The reason was a microchip shortage, fueled in large part by sellers' failure to adapt to Covid demand volatility in the first half of 2020. Rick Wilson unpacks how the relationship between car dealers and semiconductor fabs illustrates smart tactical decisions around supply chain. Complex tactics & decision-making skills like these are required in every business, every industry.

The best businesses have absolutely no daylight between their core purpose, their sales strategy, and their internal structure. In this episode, Rick Wilson highlights why alignment is the key principle for any business, with examples of brands that get it exactly right. Why you make your products, the way you make them, and how you sell them are all spokes of the same wheel.

Everything from product pricing to brand voice on Twitter relies on one key concept: situational awareness. Businesses must continually weigh every internal decision against a clear-eyed look at external conditions, even when those conditions are uncontrollable. In this episode, Rick Wilson explores the principles and practices brands need to foster intentional, marketplace-aware strategy.

Sensationalistic headlines about labor, GDP, or the Dow have far less to do with the success of independent business than most sellers think. In this episode, Rick Wilson describes how to sidestep an obsession with macro economics, and figure out the correct timescale to analyze progress.

The dust has somewhat settled after the U.S. business community's dramatic shift to remote work last year, and for now, it is clear that the changes have stuck. In this episode, Rick Wilson connects the concept of healthy internal work culture to the viability of that business in a constantly changing external world. Part 4 of his series exploring principle-driven business strategies for the modern entrepreneur.

The silver bullet of ecommerce strategy is simple: Figure out what problem you're solving, and then make sure you have people to solve it for. The trick, as Rick Wilson argues on this episode of the Dragonproof Pod, is to have personal, principled passion for both. Whether you are trailblazing new products or refining existing projects, your choices must be dictated by more than market research. 3rd in a series of "Dragonproof Principles" for entrepreneurs.

The nature of entrepreneurship in the digital era is a story of nonstop change. Industry legends and business modalities from just a few years ago are already dated, as the currency of the online economy has moved from logistics to attention to influence. Yet there are core principles and drives which transcend the trends of the day for any true entrepreneur. Rick Wilson describes what it takes to successfully launch a business and shepherd it through inevitable ups and downs on the way to sustainable success.