Debutify Podcast

Jason Somerville is a Founding Partner of GW Partners, a firm that combines the best elements of operational consulting, financial management, strategic planning, and M&A advisory services to help consumer brands transform into more valuable acquisition targets.Jason is a seasoned entrepreneur and investment banking professional with nearly 20 years of experience in capital markets, M&A, strategic planning, business operations, and brand building. Before launching GW Partners, Jason executed over $50 billion of Fortune 500 capital markets transactions for companies like Bank of America and Bayview Asset Management. He also purchased, started, and exited five different companies as a solo entrepreneur. He has successfully executed over $300 million of M&A sell-side transactions in the e-commerce industry.On this episode, Jason and I discuss the kinds of attributes that make an eCommerce brand an attractive acquisition target, the current M&A market environment for eCommerce brands, what founders should know about the acquisition process, and much more.

Justin Sardi is the CEO and Co-Founder of TubeSift, a YouTube Ads targeting tool that empowers users to set up high-performing video ad campaigns quickly by taking the manual work out of finding precision targeted, monetized placements for YouTube advertising campaigns. TubeSift is trusted by thousands of entrepreneurs, business owners, marketing agencies and media companies to achieve the highest ROI for their video advertising campaigns. It is now the go-to software tool for anyone running video ads on YouTube. TubeSift has also been featured and recommended at Traffic & Conversion Summit 2019, the largest marketing event and conference in North America.On this episode, Justin and I discuss Video Ad Vault, YouTube videos versus Podcasts, the demographics of YouTube, and much more.

Jim Kennemer is the Founder and Managing Director of Cosmo Sourcing, a full-service, general sourcing company with branches in China, Vietnam, and the US. Jim founded Cosmo Sourcing in Shanghai in 2012 and initially focused on sourcing outdoor gear under Hartford Outdoor Sports Supply. However, in 2014, he recognized the opportunity of Vietnam as a sourcing destination and moved to Ho Chi Minh City. At that time, he shifted to a general sourcing company and renamed it Cosmo Sourcing. Since then, he has helped over 1,000 clients find suppliers in China and Vietnam.On this episode, Jim and I discuss the viability of Vietnam as a sourcing location, his experience creating a globalized workforce, the value of being adaptable, and much more.

Volodymyr Katanskyi is the Founder and CEO of Worklair, a one-stop solution for remote business management which includes project and quotes management, time tracking, invoicing, budget management, chat, and plenty more.Volodymyr is considered an expert in telecommunication, productivity, and fin-tech software solutions, including Big Data and Blockchain technologies. His current portfolio counts more than 100 startups, Fortune 500 companies, and patent-pending applications. On this episode, Volodymyr and I discuss project management, automation tools, organizing workflows, and much more.

Dmitry Kudrenko is the Founder and CEO of Stripo, an email editor platform that offers an intuitive email template builder featuring drag-and-drop and HTML editing tools. Stripo also has embedded tools for interactive content, modular email architecture, and plenty of other features so you can build emails lightning-fast.On this episode, Dmitry and I discuss gamification strategies, the impact they have on the e-commerce industry, how brands can better engage with their customers through customization, and much more.

Samantha Kozuch is the Founder of the million dollar e-commerce business, The Maniscripting Journal, a manifestation, self-care, and goal-setting journal targeted for female entrepreneurs.Samantha has experienced over a decade of transformations and changes in her life during her entrepreneurial career which started right after she graduated college. She is an ex-influencer and social media business coach now running an e-commerce business while teaching others how to step into power and create their own reality.On this episode, Samantha and I discuss her pathway from getting arrested to creating a million dollar e-commerce business, embracing failure, self-care, and much more.

Dr. Brandon Chicotsky is the Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Marketing at TCU's Neely School of Business. Prior to joining the faculty at TCU Neeley, Dr. Chicotsky served on the business faculty at Johns Hopkins University and subsequently as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing at New York University. Dr. Chicotsky’s career began in United States Congressional lobbying for military aid appropriations for allies abroad at a “top 3” firm, which provided professional inroads in the Middle East enabling his subsequent appointment in the private sector. Dr. Chicotsky’s entry into private equity was in Tel Aviv, Israel through an externship with New York University as a graduate student, which involved capital fundraising for a portfolio of technology startups from investor communities in Europe and Asia. This deal-flow led Dr. Chicotsky into Chief Marketing Officer roles in early-stage, and later, venture-backed endeavors, which began a decade of company building, capital fundraising, and more recently, angel investing and marketing advisorships.On this episode, Dr. Chicotsky and I discuss the general demographics of entrepreneurs, how technology and marketing strategies have changed over the years, his new book Sales Millionaires: Industry Tales and Life Lessons from Those Who Made It (now available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble), and much more.

Neville Medhora is the Owner and Operator of Copywriting Course, a blog that helps existing businesses improve their copy and their conversion rates. Neville figured out in the pre-Google days that you can get a bunch of very-targeted people to come to your website, consume your material, and even spend their money. He then applied this to every businesses he was a part of, including a rave company, the first financial blog online, Copywriting Course, AppSumo, and TheHustle. Neville is fascinated by the ways in which humans can transfer information from one brain to another through different mediums. His fingers have typed words that’ve been sent across hundreds of millions of emails, his training videos have been viewed by thousands of entrepreneurs, and his self-proclaimed terrible jokes have made at least 3 people laugh.On this episode, Neville and I discuss the misconceptions people have about copywriting, how to improve your copy, the blog community at large, and much more.

Joe Spisak is the Founder and CEO of Fulfill.com, a digital marketplace connecting companies with 3PLs. Joe is also the Creator of OK Boomer, a family trivia game, and the Founder and ex-CEO of ShipDaddy, a fulfillment solution for eCommerce businesses. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Joe worked at AT&T as a Senior Network Engineer and later as a Network Integration Engagement Manager, where he managed complex solutions for customer requirements. Joe also participated in a business sales leadership development program as an Account Executive.On this episode, Joe and I discuss how he properly vets fulfillment centers, the matchmaking process of companies and 3PLs, his experience as a board game entrepreneur, and much more.

Dmitrii Kustov is an entrepreneur and the Founder of Regex SEO, developing marketing campaigns for well-known companies like John Deere and Dignity Memorial. He graduated with dual degrees in Applied Mathematics, and Linguistics & Translatology from Russia. Currently, as Internet Marketing Director for Regex SEO, he is helping businesses and entrepreneurs grow their presence online. Due to his experience and background, he has been able to share hands-on knowledge about Internet marketing (SEO, paid advertising, social media, content marketing, etc), statistical analytics, web development, and entrepreneurship.On this episode, Dmitrii and I discuss his emphasis on UX and design, how that emphasis increases brand visibility, strategies to increase SEO rankings, and much more.

Chris Mercer is the Co-Founder of Measurement Marketing and a sought after measurement marketing expert. Mercer and his team have been helping marketers, marketing teams, and agencies measure their marketing so they know what’s working, what’s not, and what’s coming next.Mercer spends countless hours reading, practicing, adjusting, and innovating to improve his skill set. He has a knack for teaching and is known for his ability to simplify even the most complex ideas for his audience.In addition to co-hosting MeasureSummit (the largest event in the world dedicated to digital measurement), he can be found speaking at conferences and events, such as Traffic & Conversion, Social Media Marketing World, Content Jam, TravelCon, Digital Elite Camp, Baby Bathwater Institute, and others.On this episode, Mercer and I discuss Measurement Marketing Academy, how to keep up with the growing number of marketing channels, speed reading, and much more.Sign up for a free membership of Measurement Marketing's Measurement Toolbox where you can get a suite of premium tools created and curated by the Measurement Marketing team. Visit https://measurementmarketing.io/debutify for your free membership today.

Trudy MacNabb is the Co-Founder of Design Packs, a quick and easy way to customize your Shopify store and add new modules directly to your current theme. Design Packs is built by a nimble women-led team who have been working in the Shopify space since 2014. They have a strong desire to create awesome products for merchants that are both easy to use and add a ton of value to stores. Trudy is also the Co-Founder of Up at Five, a digital studio focused on data-driven web applications. She has been running Up at Five for over five years and has worked with clients such as WWF, Canada Learning Code, Jenny Bird, and more. Having been a mainframe developer, she has a deep knowledge of both front-end and back-end development.On this episode, Trudy and I discuss app development, theme development, the differences between the two, and much more.

Julia Nesterets is the CEO and Co-Founder of JetOctopus, a SaaS-based crawler and log file analyzer. Julia has a deep understanding of the unique challenges that large eCommerce companies face with SEO. She's proven her insights and strategies to be invaluable in enhancing her client's online presence and search engine rankings.On this episode, Julia and I discuss crawling and log line analysis, the gamification of SEO analysis, branding a SaaS company, and much more.

Alina Vlaic is the Founder of AZ Rank, an agency that helps sellers on eCommerce platforms, including Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, eBay, and Shopify, successfully launch their products and crush their sales by top-ranking their products. They have launched and scaled revenues for 4000+ products on Amazon (USA, Europe, and Canada) and 500+ products on Walmart, Etsy, and eBay with a 98.7% success rate. She started AZ Rank to help Amazon sellers at every stage of their business with customized ranking, launching services, and more, to boost their chances of success.Alina is also the Co-Founder of PressX, which lets brand owners leverage press articles to launch and rank products on Amazon and other eCommerce platforms.On this episode, Alina and I discuss the most valuable type of press, how to grow a brand on and off Amazon, how to launch a product in 2023, and much more.

Bryan Clayton is the CEO and Co-Founder of GreenPal, an online marketplace that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called “Uber for lawn care” by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 200,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day.Bryan has been in the lawn care industry his entire working life starting with mowing neighbor’s lawns in high school to ultimately founding Peach Tree Inc, a market leading landscape company in the southeast and growing the firm to over 125 employees. In 2013 he navigated the successful acquisition of Peach Tree to Landscapes USA a national provider of commercial landscape services. On this episode, Bryan and I discuss the ins and outs of GreenPal, how he built a trustworthy brand, how he was able to scale, and much more.

Ayo Disu is the Co-Founder of Octillion Capital Partners, a value-driven digital native consumer brand platform acquiring, operating, and growing an ecosystem of inclusive and sustainable brands in the health, beauty and food and beverage industries. In his capacity as co-founder of Octillion, Ayo serves through a determined concentration on a clear acquisition process, inclusive governance, improving processes, and steering the growth of all areas of the business. He is considered a servant leader who keeps people at the heart of the organization and believes that diverse people and products are key drivers of business performance.On this episode, Ayo and I discuss the importance of transparency, Octillion's acquisition criteria, how they prevent homogenization, and much more.

Yash Chavan is the Founder of SARAL, the simplest and fastest way for brands to get started with influencer marketing. With SARAL, brands can find, manage, and monetize their "direct-to-creator" influencer relationships. In the last two years, Yash has been able to reduce acquisition costs by 500% and SARAL has retained higher quality customers who kept buying again. They have scaled influencer programs to over 300 influencers and generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in net new revenue for clients.On this episode, Yash and I discuss influencer marketing vs. social media ads, what makes a bankable influencer, some of the obstacles to influencer marketing, and much more.

David Perry is the CEO and Co-Founder of Carro, the largest collaborative commerce platform and cross-store sales channel connecting Shopify to all of eCommerce. He was one of the first video game developers in Northern Ireland, and ended up programming the game Earthworm Jim which became a television show, toy line, and all around cult hit. David was also on the advisory board of the Game Developer's Conference for 10 years and knows the video game industry inside out.On this episode, David and I discuss how his experience in the video game industry influenced his pivot to the eCommerce space, how brands, influencers, and celebrities can grow their online stores, and much more.

Will Ford is the President and Co-Founder of LaunchBoom, an online platform that empowers creators, founders, and entrepreneurs to launch successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns without all the headaches. Since July 2015, LaunchBoom has managed more successful reward-based crowdfunding campaigns than any other agency in the world. LaunchBoom is currently a Certified Expert on Kickstarter and a Certified Expert on Indiegogo and has helped thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide make their dreams a reality.On this episode, Will and I discuss how to prepare products for launch, what makes a worthwhile product launch, the importance of setting realistic goals, and much more.

Dr. Travis Zigler is a recovering optometrist turned ecommerce entrepreneur. He is the founder of Eye Love, whose mission is to heal 1,000,000 dry eye sufferers naturally. Dr. Travis and his wife, Dr. Jenna Zigler, use the profits from Eye Love to fund free clinics in Jamaica and the US through their charity, the Eye Love Cares Foundation.Due to the success of Eye Love, others have asked if Dr. Travis would help them grow their business online, and more specifically with Amazon, which is one of his superpowers. Through his new venture Profitable Pineapple, which specializes in Amazon PPC, Dr. Travis and his team help businesses scale their Amazon sales and help increase brand clout.On this episode, Travis and I talk about his journey from optometry to eCommerce, different ways that entrepreneurs can grow their audience, his key secrets to selling on Amazon and scaling to success, and much more.