Running an e-commerce business means understanding profitability and how to balance things like cash and profits. This information isn’t necessarily intuitive for most people, so it’s important to pay attention when people who do understand these subjects explain them to you. One of those people is Jay Vasantharajah whose tweetstorms on Gymshark and Nike got a lot of attention and helped inform people. Listen in to hear what Jay has to say about where e-commerce businesses should be putting their focus, how to approach balancing cash vs. profit, and how to think about your supplier and supply chain.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Jay’s Twitter history

Jay’s tweetstorm with Gymshark

Focus area for e-commerce businesses to identify to get into the negative range

Where companies should be moving toward

How to approach balancing cash vs. profits

Jay’s tweetstorm on Nike

What PureFilters is

How Jay got into the HVAC space

The average order prices for Jay’s products

How Jay’s company tested the free shipping threshold

Regulatory hurdles PureFilters had to navigate

Balancing between two different types of companies

How Jay prioritizes his time

Email marketing and upselling

Ideas to increase LTD

Recommendations for old, sizable businesses entering e-commerce

Jay’s number one tip for e-commerce entrepreneurs

Resources:

Jay Vasantharajah

If you’ve ever looked in vain for a developmental toy for a young child that appealed to you, you’ll understand why Lovevery is a hit. They offer products that are age-appropriate and made for learning. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Roderick Morris, one of the cofounders at Lovevery. Listen in to hear about how Lovevery approached product design, using VCs, and balancing equity and debt.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Why Roderick helped create the Lovevery products

How Lovevery approached their first product

How Lovevery set the price point

How Roderick prioritized

Contribution margins for the brand

How to measure brand

Why Roderick and his cofounder decided to go the VC route

How to balance equity and debt

Funny stories about product tests with kids

What product the Lovevery founders were set on that turned out to be a flop

How Lovevery went about product design on day one, and then today

The process to develop brand and customer personas

Wholesalers used by Lovevery

Roderick’s partnership with Amazon

How to use Amazon to drive traffic to Lovevery’s website

How to prioritize teambuilding

Holding onto culture while building staff

Number-one advice for new entrepreneurs

Resources:

Roderick Morris

Lovevery

Beauty brushes are essential for all kinds of people, so a company that creates quality beauty brushes occupies an important niche. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Paul Jauregui of BK Beauty as he discusses the early days of his business to now. Listen to the episode to hear what Paul has to say about the manufacturing process, handling negotiations, and how sales happen on YouTube.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Paul’s background

The manufacturing process

The kinds of terms Paul was seeing early on 

How Paul handled negotiations

The time frame from purchase order to actually receiving the order

How Paul got the manufacturer to finance the first round

How Paul’s company decided how to price

How important the price point was

Whether going up or down market would have been easier

How Paul knows when to bring out a new SKU

Sales happening on YouTube

Some of the things Paul learned early on

Building relationships with YouTubers and influencers

Paul’s beliefs on affiliate marketing

How to decide that a product is no longer useful

How Paul uses the data his company acquires

How to approach commercial terms with YouTubers and influencers

How to make the leap to having your own store

Paul’s number-one advice

Resources:

Paul Jauregui

BK Beauty

What’s the first thing that you do in the morning? If the answer is “get coffee”, you might be interested in today’s interview. Jim Fosina created Amora Coffee, a premium coffee subscription service. Listen in to learn about how the scent of the coffee matters when you’re running a subscription coffee service, what the customer journey looks like for Amora customers, and how customer behavior changed during COVID.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

The difference between Starbucks customers and Amora customers

How Amora got started

How Amora utilizes scent

Consumer engagement

Whether a free giveaway would work without the subscription product

How Amora uses its subscription platform

The customer journey for Amora coffee customers

Whether Amora roasts to order

How Amora approaches the subscription shipments

How Jim thinks about customer retention rates

Suggestions for growing a high-priced, premium brand from zero

Whether buyer behavior changed during COVID

Why espresso is becoming more popular than before

Amora’s best customer acquisition channel

How communication with customers has changed and will change in the future

How a low switching costs barrier affects retention

Moving purchasers from a one-off purchase to subscription

Whether Amora would consider a white label partnership

How to define and measure a brand

How Jim sees ecommerce evolving

Jim’s number-one piece of advice for entrepreneurs

How you find mentors

Resources:

Jim Fosina

Amora Coffee

How do you build a purpose driven company? How do you buy and sell companies during a global pandemic? These are some of the subjects that you’ll hear about in today’s episode. During this podcast, you’ll hear from Edward Wimmer, owner of Road ID, and Taylor Holiday, managing partner of Common Thread Collective and partner at 4x400. Listen in to hear them discuss selling direct-to-consumer, acquisition opportunities on social media, and dealing with production and delivery delays.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

The origin of Road ID

How Edward built a shopping cart and started selling direct-to-consumer 

Taylor’s experience with Road ID

How Taylor acquired and sold businesses and navigating that through a global pandemic

Whether businesses need to pay attention to seller discretionary earnings

Acquisition opportunities on social media

Dealing with delays in production and late deliveries

How Edward has seen product lines with fitness wearables fluctuate over time

Whether Fitbit has evolved its products based on Apple’s products

Expanding “hero” products

Whether you should launch an e-commerce startup now

What to focus on when starting from scratch today

The first platform Edward used

Channels brands should focus on today

Advice for listeners

Resources:

Edward Wimmer

Taylor Holiday

How do you build a purpose driven company? How do you buy and sell companies during a global pandemic? These are some of the subjects that you’ll hear about in today’s episode. During this podcast, you’ll hear from Edward Wimmer, owner of Road ID, and Taylor Holiday, managing partner of Common Thread Collective and partner at 4x400. Listen in to hear them discuss selling direct-to-consumer, acquisition opportunities on social media, and dealing with production and delivery delays.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

The origin of Road ID

How Edward built a shopping cart and started selling direct-to-consumer 

Taylor’s experience with Road ID

How Taylor acquired and sold businesses and navigating that through a global pandemic

Whether businesses need to pay attention to seller discretionary earnings

Acquisition opportunities on social media

Dealing with delays in production and late deliveries

How Edward has seen product lines with fitness wearables fluctuate over time

Whether Fitbit has evolved its products based on Apple’s products

Expanding “hero” products

Whether you should launch an e-commerce startup now

What to focus on when starting from scratch today

The first platform Edward used

Channels brands should focus on today

Advice for listeners

Resources:

Edward Wimmer

Taylor Holiday

When is the world ready for your company? Are there enough businesses like yours out there already? That’s the kind of feeling that Kirsten Green had to deal with, and in today’s episode, she talks about how to overcome that kind of internal resistance. You’ll also hear from Paul and Lisa Jauregui of BK Beauty. Listen in to today’s episode to learn more about how Kirsten attracted brands and how the brands found her, how BK Beauty got started and what the BK stands for.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

The catalyst for Kirsten to create Forerunner Ventures

How Kirsten overcame internal resistance to the idea of another similar company

Kirsten’s first funded investment

How Kirsten was able to rise above the noise to attract brands

How brands were able to rise above the noise and attract Kirsten’s attention

The types of pitches Kirsten sees now

Lisa and Paul’s story

What BK in BK Beauty stands for

What the cosmetics field is driven by

The importance of brushes in the beauty field

What motivated BK Beauty

How Lisa handles her YouTube channel

The big trends Kirsten is seeing on her side

Number one advice for entrepreneurs

Resources:

Paul Jauregui

Lisa Jauregui

Kirsten Green

When is the world ready for your company? Are there enough businesses like yours out there already? That’s the kind of feeling that Kirsten Green had to deal with, and in today’s episode, she talks about how to overcome that kind of internal resistance. You’ll also hear from Paul and Lisa Jauregui of BK Beauty. Listen in to today’s episode to learn more about how Kirsten attracted brands and how the brands found her, how BK Beauty got started and what the BK stands for.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

The catalyst for Kirsten to create Forerunner Ventures

How Kirsten overcame internal resistance to the idea of another similar company

Kirsten’s first funded investment

How Kirsten was able to rise above the noise to attract brands

How brands were able to rise above the noise and attract Kirsten’s attention

The types of pitches Kirsten sees now

Lisa and Paul’s story

What BK in BK Beauty stands for

What the cosmetics field is driven by

The importance of brushes in the beauty field

What motivated BK Beauty

How Lisa handles her YouTube channel

The big trends Kirsten is seeing on her side

Number one advice for entrepreneurs

Resources:

Paul Jauregui

Lisa Jauregui

Kirsten Green

Today’s episode starts with a brief conversation with Adam Hemmer of TSG Consumer Partners. Due to some internet problems, the rest of the conversation you’ll hear in this episode is a question and answer session concerning shipping matters. Listen to today’s discussion to hear Adam’s thoughts on private equity and much more about ShipBob.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

How Adam defines private equity

Outsourcing versus in-house

Expanding to Latin America

Centering or using multiple warehouses

Volume minimum levels

Assessing whether you can afford to offer free or discounted shipping

Expanding to central Europe

Choosing the facilities to start with

The volume inflection point that gives businesses leverage

Amazon fulfillment

The monthly volume to work with ShipBob

Dealing with a brand that constantly changes due to customer needs

Dropshipping

Integration with Shopify

Managing spikes

Automation when inventory is running low

The importance of returns to fulfillment and e-commerce

What sets ShipBob apart from its competitors

Resources:

Adam Hemmer

Today’s episode starts with a brief conversation with Adam Hemmer of TSG Consumer Partners. Due to some internet problems, the rest of the conversation you’ll hear in this episode is a question and answer session concerning shipping matters. Listen to today’s discussion to hear Adam’s thoughts on private equity and much more about ShipBob.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

How Adam defines private equity

Outsourcing versus in-house

Expanding to Latin America

Centering or using multiple warehouses

Volume minimum levels

Assessing whether you can afford to offer free or discounted shipping

Expanding to central Europe

Choosing the facilities to start with

The volume inflection point that gives businesses leverage

Amazon fulfillment

The monthly volume to work with ShipBob

Dealing with a brand that constantly changes due to customer needs

Dropshipping

Integration with Shopify

Managing spikes

Automation when inventory is running low

The importance of returns to fulfillment and e-commerce

What sets ShipBob apart from its competitors

Resources:

Adam Hemmer