Operators Series

Operators Series

By Casey ArmstrongBusinessEntrepreneurshipTechnologyMarketing
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Operators Series episodes

  • PureFilters: Jay Vasantharajah
    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
    52 min
  • Lovevery: Roderick Morris
    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
    52 min
  • BK Beauty: Paul Jauregui
    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
    53 min
  • Amora Coffee: Jim Fosina
    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
    54 min
  • Road ID: Edward Wimmer and Common Thread Collective 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
    55 min
  • Road ID: Edward Wimmer and Common Thread Collective 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
    55 min
  • Forerunner Ventures: 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
    57 min
  • Forerunner Ventures: 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
    57 min
  • TSG Consumer Partners: 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
    49 min
  • TSG Consumer Partners: 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
    49 min

About Operators Series

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Join us every Wednesday at 1pm CT as we sit down with ecommerce founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, marketers, supply chain managers, and the technology experts that help them grow.