eCommerce Evolution Brett Curry

I love disruptor stories, and Kevin Lavelle, the founder of Mizzen+Main (and now Harbor), has an overlooked but incredibly inspiring one.
Kevin revolutionized the men's dress shirt industry with performance fabrics. Under his leadership, Mizzen+Main grew from a great product idea into a company that has sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shirts and is now available in 500-600 stores, including 10 Mizzen+Main stores.
Now, he's tackling a new challenge by creating a more secure and stress-reducing baby monitor solution with Harbor. His journey provides a blueprint for innovative product design and successful company building.
Here are a few key takeaways from the interview:

Kevin Lavelle shares his entrepreneurial journey of founding Mizzen+Main and the inspiration behind launching Harbor, an innovative baby monitor solution. 

Discover how Mizzen+Main leveraged influencer marketing, including a highly successful sponsorship on the Tim Ferriss podcast, to scale the business rapidly. 

Learn valuable lessons about building and managing teams, giving feedback, and recovering from mistakes as a first-time founder. 

Harbor's unique approach to creating a more secure, reliable, and stress-reducing baby monitor system with remote night nanny services. 

Understand the importance of building genuine relationships and providing value to your target audience when launching a new venture.

In this episode of the E-commerce Evolution Podcast, Brett Curry sits down with Emmett Kilduff, co-founder and CEO of the Fortia Group, to discuss the current M&A climate for e-commerce brands and how to prepare your business for a successful exit. Emmett shares his insights from 25 years of experience in the M&A space, offering valuable advice for entrepreneurs looking to maximize their brand's value.
Key topics and lessons discussed:
- The current M&A climate for e-commerce brands and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on valuations

- Understanding the three main types of buyers (strategics, private equity, and aggregators) and tailoring your exit strategy accordingly

- The importance of focusing on bottom-line EBITDA margins and subscription-based revenue to increase your brand's attractiveness to potential buyers

- Common red flags and discount factors that can negatively impact your brand's valuation, such as poor manufacturing facility scores and supply chain issues

- The value of seeking mentorship and advice from experienced professionals who have successfully navigated the M&A process in your industry

Tune in to learn how you can prepare your e-commerce brand for a successful exit and maximize its value in the current M&A market.

We've all dreamed of quitting Amazon. And it's hard to argue with 800% growth in 4 years. 
That's why I was so excited to sit down with Sean Reyes, founder of ShockSurplus.com. I wanted to discuss Sean's journey of growing his business by 800% in just four years, his decision to break up with Amazon despite it accounting for 70% of his revenue at the time, and the importance of thinking like a media company.

While most brands should NOT quit Amazon, some should. And his thoughts around margins and building content are valuable for all eComm brands. 


Key topics and lessons from the episode:

-Sean's strategies for managing margins and advertising costs in a highly competitive environment with intense margin pressure.

-The value of creating authentic, informative content on YouTube to build trust and authority with customers.

-The decision to move away from Amazon due to high fees, lack of customer interaction, and increased competition on listings.

-The importance of thoroughly understanding sales tax nexus laws to avoid costly mistakes and legal issues.

-Sean's advice for eCommerce store owners looking to diversify their revenue streams and uncover new opportunities for growth.


Quotable moments from the episode:

"We've got to be more like a media company that sells parts rather than a parts company that does media. Because I always felt like once you have the experience of producing valuable content, you could direct it anywhere."

"You need to get behind the product, use it to drive proper recommendations, and create a customer experience that no one else can give."

Are you ready to make this year's Prime Day your biggest and most profitable yet on Amazon? 
In this episode, Amazon experts Christine Shiloni and Jonathan Finkes join the podcast to share insider strategies and actionable tips to help you crush your Prime Day sales goals. From deal strategies to advertising tactics and inventory planning to post-Prime Day momentum, this episode covers everything you need to know to come out on top during Amazon's massive annual event.

Key topics and lessons include:

-Understanding the different Prime Day deal types (Lightning Deals, Best Deals, Prime Exclusive Discounts, Coupons) and how to select the right ones for your products.

-Aligning your discount strategy with your margins and inventory levels to maximize profitability.

-Crafting an aggressive but targeted advertising approach for Prime Day, including budget pacing, placement focus, and bid adjustments.

-Leveraging increased traffic post-Prime Day to gain new-to-brand customers and drive long-term growth.

-Preparing for a successful Q4 by capitalizing on learnings from Prime Day and gearing up for October Prime Day and holiday sales.

I first heard Dave Kline speak at E-commerce Fuel Live in New Orleans a few months ago. It was an awesome event, and Dave's talk was a highlight for me.
 
Dave is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience working with teams at Bridgewater and Moody's. Dave shares his candid take on how to level up our leadership skills, spot great talent, hire the right managers, and build a team that drives business growth and success.
Key topics and lessons discussed:

-The importance of simplifying processes and avoiding unnecessary hiring by focusing on the most critical problems in your business.

-How do you identify the right roles to hire for and avoid compromising on character when bringing in new talent?

-The benefits and challenges of promoting from within versus hiring external candidates for management positions.

-Strategies for maintaining a flat, collaborative culture while introducing a management structure to support business growth.

-The significance of setting clear incentives and codifying cultural values to encourage desired behaviors and decision-making processes.

-Creating rituals and intentional moments for feedback and idea-sharing to counteract the potential drawbacks of a hierarchical structure.

-Balancing the measurement of managers' performance based on team output and the sustainability of the team they lead.

-Embracing the concept that being a good manager now requires leadership skills, such as being kind, direct, developmental, and coaching team members to reach their full potential.

Here are a few insightful quotes from the podcast:

"Leading is just being kind and direct. Leading is being developmental and coaching. Leading is helping people be better than they, maybe themselves, even believe they can be."

"People will cut a lot of corners for short-term gains, and you end up eroding the long-term  sustainability of the team."

You probably know him from the YouTube ad that begins with "YouTube beats Facebook every time…" 
‍
In this episode, I interview Aleric Heck, founder and CEO of Ad Outreach and KeywordSearch.com, to discuss how eCommerce businesses can leverage YouTube ads for growth. 
‍
Key takeaways include:
- Aleric's journey from creating a successful YouTube channel to becoming a YouTube ads expert, focusing on coaching and consulting businesses.

- The importance of crafting compelling YouTube ad creatives using a "hook, educate, call-to-action" framework.

- Leveraging YouTube's unique audience targeting capabilities, such as custom intent audiences based on search behavior and affinity audiences based on interests and URLs.

- The power of Google's vast data in audience targeting and the potential for even more advanced targeting options in the future.

- An introduction to Aleric's AI-powered tool, Keyword Search, which streamlines the process of finding the right keywords and creating custom audiences for YouTube ads
‍
Here are a few quotable nuggets from the podcast:
‍
"If you can give people an "aha" moment in the ad and actually provide them genuine value, they are far more likely to take action." 
‍
"Google knows everything about everyone, essentially. And so I do think they're holding back on targeting somewhat to protect the user and to protect themselves."