Billion Dollar Seller Dream 100
Tomer Rabinovich
AUG 17 2023
I first met Tomer in January 2018 at a high ticket seller event in Hawaii hosted by Helium 10.
One night in the lounge, Tomer held an audience of sellers captive until 3am with his magic tricks and cutting-edge insights into product research and launching.
Tomer is the driving factor in why the Cerebro keyword tool exits in Helium 10.
He was doing a similar process manually, and Bojan (Helium 10’s former CTO) met him at an event in Amsterdam in August 2018. Out of that meeting Cerebro was born.
Today, he’s a seller, speaker and consultant. He hosts the Top Dog Summit and is a top-rated speaker at BDSS events.
Tomer is also the author of “Ride the Amazon Wave: The Pro Seller's Guide to Private Label Success.”
One night in the lounge, Tomer held an audience of sellers captive until 3am with his magic tricks and cutting-edge insights into product research and launching.
Tomer is the driving factor in why the Cerebro keyword tool exits in Helium 10.
He was doing a similar process manually, and Bojan (Helium 10’s former CTO) met him at an event in Amsterdam in August 2018. Out of that meeting Cerebro was born.
Today, he’s a seller, speaker and consultant. He hosts the Top Dog Summit and is a top-rated speaker at BDSS events.
Tomer is also the author of “Ride the Amazon Wave: The Pro Seller's Guide to Private Label Success.”
Steven Black
AUG 24 2023
Steven is a content madman and 8-figure e-commerce seller.
His speciality is buyer psychology and social media marketing. He’s a samurai master at building off-Amazon audiences to launch products.
You can often find him providing valuable insights in his Unstoppable FBA Facebook group.
His AM/PM Podcast is a masterclass in marketing and community building. If you haven’t listened to it, add it to your playlist now.
His speciality is buyer psychology and social media marketing. He’s a samurai master at building off-Amazon audiences to launch products.
You can often find him providing valuable insights in his Unstoppable FBA Facebook group.
His AM/PM Podcast is a masterclass in marketing and community building. If you haven’t listened to it, add it to your playlist now.
Amy Wees
AUG 31 2023
Amy served 18 years in the U.S. Air Force with high-level clearance (all she can say is the building where she worked had no windows).
She’s a brand building and SEO expert, and is one of the leading pioneers in combining AI with physical product sales. She also invented the Sift Ease Litter Box Cleaner.
Amy guides other sellers through her company Amazing at Home, and she runs online events and she leads in-person sourcing trips to phases 2 & 3 of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China.
Be sure to congratulate her for both her service to her country and the amazing generosity and guidance she provides to other e-commerce sellers.
She’s a brand building and SEO expert, and is one of the leading pioneers in combining AI with physical product sales. She also invented the Sift Ease Litter Box Cleaner.
Amy guides other sellers through her company Amazing at Home, and she runs online events and she leads in-person sourcing trips to phases 2 & 3 of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China.
Be sure to congratulate her for both her service to her country and the amazing generosity and guidance she provides to other e-commerce sellers.
Mansour Norouzi
SEPT 7 2023
Mansour was born in Iran, but now resides in Canada. He started off selling on Amazon, and is now the Director of Advertising and a partner in Incrementum Digital.
His motto is “speak less, do more.” He’s constantly providing value for the Amazon community, especially when it comes to next-level PPC tactics and strategies.
He often freely shares his findings and the time-saving tools he creates on social media, especially on LinkedIn.
Mansour is a civil engineer by training with wizard-like Excel and data analysis skills. But it’s not just technical PPC stuff he shares to help others.
His motto is “speak less, do more.” He’s constantly providing value for the Amazon community, especially when it comes to next-level PPC tactics and strategies.
He often freely shares his findings and the time-saving tools he creates on social media, especially on LinkedIn.
Mansour is a civil engineer by training with wizard-like Excel and data analysis skills. But it’s not just technical PPC stuff he shares to help others.
Norm Farrar
SEPT 14 2023
Norm has been an entrepreneur since before he could talk. He’s made millions, he’s lost millions, then made millions again.
He knows or has met just about everyone God has created and has had some crazy experiences along the way (ask him sometime about the guy he stopped from slitting his wrists on a plane ride between Oahu and The Big Island in Hawaii).
He has his fingers in every aspect of e-commerce, from selling on multiple marketplaces, to live streaming, dabbling in 3PL and fulfillment, to managed services for Fortune 500 clients, PR services, podcast hosting, speaking, mentoring and just being an all-around good human being that loves to eat and help others.
His proudest accomplishment: his three sons who are much better looking than he is (he married way above his level). One is a medical doctor, one is a talented musician and another has a spinning wheel named after him.
If you want to become Norm’s best buddy for life, next time you see him at a conference bring him a good cigar and a Coke Zero and he’ll spill all his deepest, darkest secrets on how to make millions selling e-commerce.
And he might tell you the mesmerizing story of how he was almost kidnapped (present cigar now).
“Anyways …”
Best place to start if you don’t know The Beard Guy is with his excellent 3x/week live streamed podcast, Lunch with Norm.
He knows or has met just about everyone God has created and has had some crazy experiences along the way (ask him sometime about the guy he stopped from slitting his wrists on a plane ride between Oahu and The Big Island in Hawaii).
He has his fingers in every aspect of e-commerce, from selling on multiple marketplaces, to live streaming, dabbling in 3PL and fulfillment, to managed services for Fortune 500 clients, PR services, podcast hosting, speaking, mentoring and just being an all-around good human being that loves to eat and help others.
His proudest accomplishment: his three sons who are much better looking than he is (he married way above his level). One is a medical doctor, one is a talented musician and another has a spinning wheel named after him.
If you want to become Norm’s best buddy for life, next time you see him at a conference bring him a good cigar and a Coke Zero and he’ll spill all his deepest, darkest secrets on how to make millions selling e-commerce.
And he might tell you the mesmerizing story of how he was almost kidnapped (present cigar now).
“Anyways …”
Best place to start if you don’t know The Beard Guy is with his excellent 3x/week live streamed podcast, Lunch with Norm.
Vanessa Hung
SEPT 21 2023
Vanessa immigrated to the USA from Venezuela. She boasts a rich history in marketing and product production.
Her significant shift to e-commerce began in 2017, overseeing more than 10,000 SKUs and handling every aspect of their product lifecycle, from product listings to inventory control to PPC campaigns.
Adept at fostering entrepreneur communities, Vanessa frequently organizes workshops and trainings. She is also currently an ambassador for Carbon 6, representing them at multiple events.
I first meet Vanessa in late 2020, during the peak of the Clubhouse app's popularity. With nowhere to go, Amazon sellers would congregate for hours on the app talking shop. She was a regular in the chats.
In 2020, Vanessa developed a passion for one of Amazon selling's often overlooked yet vital areas: managing and manipulating flat files. While most sellers avoid them, Vanessa thrives on them. She’s a data-driven and insightful problem solver who loves to help sellers find solutions.
She noticed that many sellers neglect essential, albeit less glamorous, elements in their accounts because they don't result in immediate high ROIs, reduced ACOS, or numerous reviews. So she chose to focus on three core areas on Amazon: catalog, inventory, and account health.
Vanessa was a speaker at the BDSS 5 Virtual Event in February 2022 and secured the second spot in the voting, which was a notable achievement given the intense competition.
One of her next big speaking engagements will be at BDSS 10 in Kauai, Hawaii from May 18-23, 2024 where she'll be one of eight female speakers.
She has a flat file training course. launched a podcast in Spanish and is building out her agency.
Plus, she’s now one of the cool kids because she now lives in Austin, TX.
Her significant shift to e-commerce began in 2017, overseeing more than 10,000 SKUs and handling every aspect of their product lifecycle, from product listings to inventory control to PPC campaigns.
Adept at fostering entrepreneur communities, Vanessa frequently organizes workshops and trainings. She is also currently an ambassador for Carbon 6, representing them at multiple events.
I first meet Vanessa in late 2020, during the peak of the Clubhouse app's popularity. With nowhere to go, Amazon sellers would congregate for hours on the app talking shop. She was a regular in the chats.
In 2020, Vanessa developed a passion for one of Amazon selling's often overlooked yet vital areas: managing and manipulating flat files. While most sellers avoid them, Vanessa thrives on them. She’s a data-driven and insightful problem solver who loves to help sellers find solutions.
She noticed that many sellers neglect essential, albeit less glamorous, elements in their accounts because they don't result in immediate high ROIs, reduced ACOS, or numerous reviews. So she chose to focus on three core areas on Amazon: catalog, inventory, and account health.
Vanessa was a speaker at the BDSS 5 Virtual Event in February 2022 and secured the second spot in the voting, which was a notable achievement given the intense competition.
One of her next big speaking engagements will be at BDSS 10 in Kauai, Hawaii from May 18-23, 2024 where she'll be one of eight female speakers.
She has a flat file training course. launched a podcast in Spanish and is building out her agency.
Plus, she’s now one of the cool kids because she now lives in Austin, TX.
Destaney Wishon
SEPT 28 2023
Destaney began as an intern at an e-commerce startup and within six months was handling a $10 million brand budget.
Hailing from Bentonville, Arkansas, Destaney’s expertise in Amazon advertising soon caught attention on LinkedIn.
Her distinct "red dress" photo and regular insightful posts have garnered over 36,000 followers.
As the CEO and co-founder of Better AMS, established in 2018, she guides her team in optimizing various sponsored campaigns for e-commerce businesses.
Her session in 2023 at Amazon Accelerate with Jeff Cohen at the Amazon Accelerate Conference in Seattle was so popular many couldn't find seating - more than 90 people got turned away.
Destaney will be a keynote speaker at BDSS 10 in Hawaii in May 2024, and has recently been appointed to the Prosper Show Advisory Council.
Hailing from Bentonville, Arkansas, Destaney’s expertise in Amazon advertising soon caught attention on LinkedIn.
Her distinct "red dress" photo and regular insightful posts have garnered over 36,000 followers.
As the CEO and co-founder of Better AMS, established in 2018, she guides her team in optimizing various sponsored campaigns for e-commerce businesses.
Her session in 2023 at Amazon Accelerate with Jeff Cohen at the Amazon Accelerate Conference in Seattle was so popular many couldn't find seating - more than 90 people got turned away.
Destaney will be a keynote speaker at BDSS 10 in Hawaii in May 2024, and has recently been appointed to the Prosper Show Advisory Council.
Dan Ashburn
OCT 5 2023
Dan is the co-founder of Titan Network, one of the top Masterminds for Amazon sellers. He hails from Birmingham, northwest of London. He grew up in a middle-class family where his dad and grandfather ran a cardboard packaging business.
His early life involved a rebellious phase marked by partying. He moved with his mom to the Canary Islands, but was getting into trouble. So at age 16 he moved back to the UK, living on his own.
He delved into affiliate marketing and e-commerce, initially hosting and building websites for others and doing all kinds of side hustles.. At 17, he joined the British Air Force, with a deployment to Qatar. But IT-related civilian work was calling him to focus on SEO and internet marketing full time.
With partners, he launched brands on Amazon. Today he manages 8 figures in Amazon sales. Over time he added coaching, leveraging his expertise to assist others.
Three of the philosophies he emphasizes are for e-com sellers are:
1 Clarity of Goals: It's essential to be clear about what you want in your business and life because without clarity, it's challenging to make progress.
2 Commitment and Honesty: Once you've identified your goals, commit to them and be brutally honest with yourself about whether you're willing to do what it takes to achieve them.
3 Resilience and Consistency: Success often comes after a series of failures. Stay resilient, persistent, and consistent in your efforts, especially in the face of setbacks.
His early life involved a rebellious phase marked by partying. He moved with his mom to the Canary Islands, but was getting into trouble. So at age 16 he moved back to the UK, living on his own.
He delved into affiliate marketing and e-commerce, initially hosting and building websites for others and doing all kinds of side hustles.. At 17, he joined the British Air Force, with a deployment to Qatar. But IT-related civilian work was calling him to focus on SEO and internet marketing full time.
With partners, he launched brands on Amazon. Today he manages 8 figures in Amazon sales. Over time he added coaching, leveraging his expertise to assist others.
Three of the philosophies he emphasizes are for e-com sellers are:
1 Clarity of Goals: It's essential to be clear about what you want in your business and life because without clarity, it's challenging to make progress.
2 Commitment and Honesty: Once you've identified your goals, commit to them and be brutally honest with yourself about whether you're willing to do what it takes to achieve them.
3 Resilience and Consistency: Success often comes after a series of failures. Stay resilient, persistent, and consistent in your efforts, especially in the face of setbacks.
Brandon Young
OCT 12 2023
I first met Brandon at an Amazon Seller event in Florida, where the valet of the hotel decided to take his Tesla for an unauthorized joy ride one night.
He’s an avid trading card collector, loyal Miami Dolphins fan, loving father and supporting husband. He has also spoken at several BDSS events and won the best hack contest a couple times.
Brandon and his wife Jennifer are successful 8-figure Amazon sellers. While Jennifer runs the product side and manages the team in China, Brandon focuses on software and training others how to sell on Amazon through Seller Systems.
He calls it a “college-level” course. He’s famous for his “office hours” where he meets directly with students to answer questions and solve problems. He is proud that he has helped 100s of sellers reach 7+ figures.
I remember speaking to a crowd of 2,000 Chinese sellers with Brandon in Shenzhen in April 2019. The next day, he and I did a mastermind for 60 of them.
Brandon explained how to use spreadsheets in his system of finding and vetting products. I’ll never forget when he asked the audience, “How do you find products to sell?” and they answered “We just look at the Best Sellers list.”
Those spreadsheets evolved into Data Dive, a tool that every serious seller should have in their product discovery, list building and ranking arsenal.
Brandon is always giving back. If someone posts some shady stuff on social media, he will fearlessly call them out so others don’t get burned.
He also routinely hosts fun networking parties at Amazon seller and Camp E-com events. Some of his Top Golf parties are legendary (the first one I went to was in Miami during a Grant Cardone 10X event).
He’s an avid trading card collector, loyal Miami Dolphins fan, loving father and supporting husband. He has also spoken at several BDSS events and won the best hack contest a couple times.
Brandon and his wife Jennifer are successful 8-figure Amazon sellers. While Jennifer runs the product side and manages the team in China, Brandon focuses on software and training others how to sell on Amazon through Seller Systems.
He calls it a “college-level” course. He’s famous for his “office hours” where he meets directly with students to answer questions and solve problems. He is proud that he has helped 100s of sellers reach 7+ figures.
I remember speaking to a crowd of 2,000 Chinese sellers with Brandon in Shenzhen in April 2019. The next day, he and I did a mastermind for 60 of them.
Brandon explained how to use spreadsheets in his system of finding and vetting products. I’ll never forget when he asked the audience, “How do you find products to sell?” and they answered “We just look at the Best Sellers list.”
Those spreadsheets evolved into Data Dive, a tool that every serious seller should have in their product discovery, list building and ranking arsenal.
Brandon is always giving back. If someone posts some shady stuff on social media, he will fearlessly call them out so others don’t get burned.
He also routinely hosts fun networking parties at Amazon seller and Camp E-com events. Some of his Top Golf parties are legendary (the first one I went to was in Miami during a Grant Cardone 10X event).
Bradley Sutton
OCT 19 2023
Probably half the world thinks Bradley Sutton owns Helium 10.
He doesn’t own any of it.
But there is no question he is the face of the company, and without him leading the way publicly, Helium 10 would not be the same.
Helium 10 almost lost him last year. He was working crazy hours taking care of sellers, doing a podcast 3x/week. hosting webinars, managing an internal team, flying back and forth to the Maldives on his own dime to record epic podcasts, hosting meet-ups and running experiment after experiment on Amazon using his own money, then sharing the results.
A grueling schedule that he loved, combined with a family history of heart disease, led to him finding himself being resuscitated by his wife on his bathroom floor after suffering a heart attack in 2022.
May not seem like it, but I know he sometimes sleeps. See evidence below from a lunch at the COTA F1 racetrack in Austin during the first Billion Dollar Seller Summit in 2019.
I have known the gang at Helium 10 since it began, and Bradley is hands-down the best hire Manny Coats (former co-founder) ever made. Back in April 2018 Bradley was finding his way helping others sell on Amazon. He ended up at Sellercon in Orlando where he met the Helium 10 co-founders.
The rest is history. Bradley is more than just a Helium 10 spokesperson or shill. He’s no BS and is one of the leading authorities and smartest souls in the Amazon space. He has forgotten more about selling on Amazon than most experts actually know.
He’s also an avid trading card collector, sports fan (go Aztecs), former worldwide Zumba instructor and proud father. He also speaks English, Spanish, Tagalog and some Japanese.
He doesn’t own any of it.
But there is no question he is the face of the company, and without him leading the way publicly, Helium 10 would not be the same.
Helium 10 almost lost him last year. He was working crazy hours taking care of sellers, doing a podcast 3x/week. hosting webinars, managing an internal team, flying back and forth to the Maldives on his own dime to record epic podcasts, hosting meet-ups and running experiment after experiment on Amazon using his own money, then sharing the results.
A grueling schedule that he loved, combined with a family history of heart disease, led to him finding himself being resuscitated by his wife on his bathroom floor after suffering a heart attack in 2022.
May not seem like it, but I know he sometimes sleeps. See evidence below from a lunch at the COTA F1 racetrack in Austin during the first Billion Dollar Seller Summit in 2019.
I have known the gang at Helium 10 since it began, and Bradley is hands-down the best hire Manny Coats (former co-founder) ever made. Back in April 2018 Bradley was finding his way helping others sell on Amazon. He ended up at Sellercon in Orlando where he met the Helium 10 co-founders.
The rest is history. Bradley is more than just a Helium 10 spokesperson or shill. He’s no BS and is one of the leading authorities and smartest souls in the Amazon space. He has forgotten more about selling on Amazon than most experts actually know.
He’s also an avid trading card collector, sports fan (go Aztecs), former worldwide Zumba instructor and proud father. He also speaks English, Spanish, Tagalog and some Japanese.
Adam Heist
OCT 26 2023
In 2017 Adam pivoted from a. Fortune 300 company to head up operations at Goal Zero, a leading outdoor portable energy brand based in Utah. He scaled it from a low 8-figures to over $100 million in just four years.
He then went on to build and exit his own brand in June 2021.
Now he wakes up whenever he pleases and travels at will (he’s about to spend three months in Australia). In his free time he loves mountain biking and snow skiing.
His current passion is creating a new product and bike brand, called Rideo.
His YouTube channel has 22K+ subscribers and he’s also one of the hosts of the Seller Sessions podcast.
To share his learnings, Adam created FBA Blueprint, a fast track program to help newer sellers build thriving FBA businesses.
He then went on to build and exit his own brand in June 2021.
Now he wakes up whenever he pleases and travels at will (he’s about to spend three months in Australia). In his free time he loves mountain biking and snow skiing.
His current passion is creating a new product and bike brand, called Rideo.
His YouTube channel has 22K+ subscribers and he’s also one of the hosts of the Seller Sessions podcast.
To share his learnings, Adam created FBA Blueprint, a fast track program to help newer sellers build thriving FBA businesses.
Paul Rafelson
NOV 2 2023
Navigating complex legal challenges when it comes to sales tax, compliance, intellectual property issues, and Prop 65 warnings is not easy.
Working with an attorney who understands how Amazon businesses operate and the applicable laws that protect them is essential. Paul is one of those guys.
He’s a former Amazon seller and Fortune 500 Corporate tax attorney. His journey into e-commerce law began with a blog post he wrote in 2017, which led to the establishment of his own private law practice.
Now he’s the leading advocate for Amazon and e-commerce businesses in the courts. He understands sellers’ pain through experience: he sold on Amazon to put himself through law school.
Paul is the driving reason there are marketplace sales tax laws now, meaning you no longer have to worry about collecting sales tax for 45 different states.
In 2018 he founded the Online Merchants Guild to help third party sellers get their voices heard. He has participated in Congressional antitrust investigations and filed multiple lawsuits against states on behalf of the seller community.
One of his biggest wins has been preventing states, like Pennsylvania for example, from forcing non-Pennsylvania businesses to pay back taxes on sales made through Amazon FBA.
It was the first time ever a court ruled Amazon merchants cannot be held liable for sales or income tax within that state because they have inventory located in an Amazon warehouse in said state.
Paul likes to say limitations drive creativity, while constraints inspire innovative thinking. That’s how he has helped a lot of sellers exit with better seller protections and more cash.
Proper legal advice can be prohibitively costly for many sellers, so Paul founded Sellerbasics in 2020 to solve that problem.
For a monthly fee of $99, you get comprehensive, high-quality legal and consulting help for things impacting your account health, such as IP claims, inauthentic complaints and account suspensions.
Working with an attorney who understands how Amazon businesses operate and the applicable laws that protect them is essential. Paul is one of those guys.
He’s a former Amazon seller and Fortune 500 Corporate tax attorney. His journey into e-commerce law began with a blog post he wrote in 2017, which led to the establishment of his own private law practice.
Now he’s the leading advocate for Amazon and e-commerce businesses in the courts. He understands sellers’ pain through experience: he sold on Amazon to put himself through law school.
Paul is the driving reason there are marketplace sales tax laws now, meaning you no longer have to worry about collecting sales tax for 45 different states.
In 2018 he founded the Online Merchants Guild to help third party sellers get their voices heard. He has participated in Congressional antitrust investigations and filed multiple lawsuits against states on behalf of the seller community.
One of his biggest wins has been preventing states, like Pennsylvania for example, from forcing non-Pennsylvania businesses to pay back taxes on sales made through Amazon FBA.
It was the first time ever a court ruled Amazon merchants cannot be held liable for sales or income tax within that state because they have inventory located in an Amazon warehouse in said state.
Paul likes to say limitations drive creativity, while constraints inspire innovative thinking. That’s how he has helped a lot of sellers exit with better seller protections and more cash.
Proper legal advice can be prohibitively costly for many sellers, so Paul founded Sellerbasics in 2020 to solve that problem.
For a monthly fee of $99, you get comprehensive, high-quality legal and consulting help for things impacting your account health, such as IP claims, inauthentic complaints and account suspensions.
Steven Simonson
NOV 9 2023
For a guy who says he doesn’t know nuttin’ about nothin’, Steve Simonson knows a lot. There ain’t nothing that will stop him, not even stage 4 cancer (he kicked its ass a few years ago). He is the oldest of 8 siblings, the proud father of two children and a leader of entrepreneurs.
When I asked ChatGPT “Who is an example of a quintessential entrepreneur I may know?” it said “See Simonson, Steve, from the Pacific Northwest.”
When you meet him, he may come across as an “ah shucks” type of lad, but don’t let that fool you. While he may be somewhat private, he is as savvy a businessman as there is.
Steve was a finalist in the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and several of this companies have made the Inc. 500 and Internet Retailer Top 500 lists.
He’s been visiting and importing from China at serious scale since most readers of BDSN were in diapers, at one point overseeing 200 container shipments per month for his various companies. He is one of the top supply chain experts in the world.
He has exited for tens of millions and retired twice. The first retirement he went from working 120 hours per week to 80. The second time - last year, he cut back to 40 hours per week.
Steve is a strong believer in systems. He created his own robust software tool called Parsimony to embody his methodical approach to management where systems run the business and people run the systems.
He shares a lot of his knowledge for free on his Awesomers podcast series. Being around the energy on entrepreneurs is what drives him.
Steve's passion for entrepreneurship is encapsulated in this Zig Ziglar quote: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
To that end, in 2018 he established The Empowery eCommerce Cooperative to unite the power of individual Internet Sellers so that each member can accomplish more.
You can even follow his continent hopping journey on social media. He often posts photos of his airplane saddles on Facebook. He knows the difference in business class seats between a Korean Air 747, a Delta A330 and an American 777-300.
You will be challenged to find a more driven and stand-up guy who really enjoys helping entrepreneurs.
I’m honored to call Steve an inspiration and a friend.
When I asked ChatGPT “Who is an example of a quintessential entrepreneur I may know?” it said “See Simonson, Steve, from the Pacific Northwest.”
When you meet him, he may come across as an “ah shucks” type of lad, but don’t let that fool you. While he may be somewhat private, he is as savvy a businessman as there is.
Steve was a finalist in the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and several of this companies have made the Inc. 500 and Internet Retailer Top 500 lists.
He’s been visiting and importing from China at serious scale since most readers of BDSN were in diapers, at one point overseeing 200 container shipments per month for his various companies. He is one of the top supply chain experts in the world.
He has exited for tens of millions and retired twice. The first retirement he went from working 120 hours per week to 80. The second time - last year, he cut back to 40 hours per week.
Steve is a strong believer in systems. He created his own robust software tool called Parsimony to embody his methodical approach to management where systems run the business and people run the systems.
He shares a lot of his knowledge for free on his Awesomers podcast series. Being around the energy on entrepreneurs is what drives him.
Steve's passion for entrepreneurship is encapsulated in this Zig Ziglar quote: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
To that end, in 2018 he established The Empowery eCommerce Cooperative to unite the power of individual Internet Sellers so that each member can accomplish more.
You can even follow his continent hopping journey on social media. He often posts photos of his airplane saddles on Facebook. He knows the difference in business class seats between a Korean Air 747, a Delta A330 and an American 777-300.
You will be challenged to find a more driven and stand-up guy who really enjoys helping entrepreneurs.
I’m honored to call Steve an inspiration and a friend.
Matt Clark
NOV 16 2023
Most of you reading this can thank Matt Clark for giving you the opportunity to sell on Amazon, even if you have never heard of him or Amazing.com.
Matt is responsible for creating thousands of millionaires and changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. He popularized and created the very first course on how to leverage Amazon to create a business back in 2011.
Matt found his calling during his sophomore year of college in Houston, Texas when he read The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield.
After college in 2008, he briefly worked in investment banking before launching a website selling supplements. Amazon had recently opened its platform to third party sellers, so he figured why not sell them there too.
He was shocked at how his sales exploded, far surpassing his own website’s volume. He quickly hit $2 million dollars in sales, but was having cash flow issues. So he attended a Tony Robbin’s Business Mastery event, and that changed everything for him.
At the event he met Canadian serial entrepreneur and affiliate marketer extraordinaire Jason Katzenbeck. They decided to build a business showing others how to leverage Amazon to make sales while avoiding the mistakes Matt initially made.
They created what would later become Amazing Selling Machine, or Amazing.com, and help more than 35,000 entrepreneurs start their journey to financial freedom. They weathered a few setbacks: Jason’s daughter and wife got cancer and a pivot to a monthly business membership school didn’t work as expected.
But along the way they built a strong community of entrepreneurs, hosted events (Sellercon) with upwards of 3,000 attending at its peak, and created tools and resources to help sellers succeed.
Not one to really get out to other events, the Prosper Show in March 2023 was one of the first Amazon events that was not his own Matt ever attended. I remember walking up to him and his current partner Mike McClary in the exhibit hall full of vendors and saying, “Look at this industry you created.”
I’ve been to every Sellercon since 2016, but I never paid for the Amazing Selling Machine (ASM) course. However, after watching a series of promotional videos and a webinar for ASM 4 in 2015, I personally decided to pivot from selling 1P on Amazon to 3P.
Thanks Matt for that! For me and tens of thousands of others, it changed everything.
Matt is responsible for creating thousands of millionaires and changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. He popularized and created the very first course on how to leverage Amazon to create a business back in 2011.
Matt found his calling during his sophomore year of college in Houston, Texas when he read The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield.
After college in 2008, he briefly worked in investment banking before launching a website selling supplements. Amazon had recently opened its platform to third party sellers, so he figured why not sell them there too.
He was shocked at how his sales exploded, far surpassing his own website’s volume. He quickly hit $2 million dollars in sales, but was having cash flow issues. So he attended a Tony Robbin’s Business Mastery event, and that changed everything for him.
At the event he met Canadian serial entrepreneur and affiliate marketer extraordinaire Jason Katzenbeck. They decided to build a business showing others how to leverage Amazon to make sales while avoiding the mistakes Matt initially made.
They created what would later become Amazing Selling Machine, or Amazing.com, and help more than 35,000 entrepreneurs start their journey to financial freedom. They weathered a few setbacks: Jason’s daughter and wife got cancer and a pivot to a monthly business membership school didn’t work as expected.
But along the way they built a strong community of entrepreneurs, hosted events (Sellercon) with upwards of 3,000 attending at its peak, and created tools and resources to help sellers succeed.
Not one to really get out to other events, the Prosper Show in March 2023 was one of the first Amazon events that was not his own Matt ever attended. I remember walking up to him and his current partner Mike McClary in the exhibit hall full of vendors and saying, “Look at this industry you created.”
I’ve been to every Sellercon since 2016, but I never paid for the Amazing Selling Machine (ASM) course. However, after watching a series of promotional videos and a webinar for ASM 4 in 2015, I personally decided to pivot from selling 1P on Amazon to 3P.
Thanks Matt for that! For me and tens of thousands of others, it changed everything.
Ian Sells
NOV 30 2023
Ian began selling on Amazon in 2012. He has exited two physical product brands for millions, but that only fueled his fire for e-commerce even more.
Throughout his journey, one of his core principles is to genuinely help and connect other sellers. He believes strongly in the power of community.
To help sellers reward customers on Amazon, Walmart and other platforms, Ian co-founded the once wildly popular Rebate Key software along with 30+ investors from MDS. He has since switched his focus to his new venture JoinBrands, a UGC platform that matches Amazon and DTC brands with influencers.
In 2016 he started a “$50K+ Group” on Facebook. The idea was to cut through the noise of beginners asking the same questions over and over again on social media and connect experienced sellers with each other.
The group took off, and as sales kept rising for its members, he changed the name to Million Dollar Sellers (MDS). Today, it is a powerhouse of 500+ experienced 7, 8 and 9-figure sellers (average topline of $6.8 million per year, 36% off Amazon).
No gurus or educators are allowed in, all members are fully vetted and pay a $599 monthly membership fee. Sellers are booted if they don’t contribute and participate regularly.
The resources and information shared in the highly-engaged private MDS group is some of the best in the industry. In the Amazon seller space, there are two high-level onlygroups consistently rated the best: MDS and BDSS.
MDS members collectively sell over $7 billion per year. There are chapters on almost every continent. They also host small meetups and bonding adventure trips throughout the year just for members.
Most recently Ian started an event that mixes members with the general public called MDS Inspire.
Throughout his journey, one of his core principles is to genuinely help and connect other sellers. He believes strongly in the power of community.
To help sellers reward customers on Amazon, Walmart and other platforms, Ian co-founded the once wildly popular Rebate Key software along with 30+ investors from MDS. He has since switched his focus to his new venture JoinBrands, a UGC platform that matches Amazon and DTC brands with influencers.
In 2016 he started a “$50K+ Group” on Facebook. The idea was to cut through the noise of beginners asking the same questions over and over again on social media and connect experienced sellers with each other.
The group took off, and as sales kept rising for its members, he changed the name to Million Dollar Sellers (MDS). Today, it is a powerhouse of 500+ experienced 7, 8 and 9-figure sellers (average topline of $6.8 million per year, 36% off Amazon).
No gurus or educators are allowed in, all members are fully vetted and pay a $599 monthly membership fee. Sellers are booted if they don’t contribute and participate regularly.
The resources and information shared in the highly-engaged private MDS group is some of the best in the industry. In the Amazon seller space, there are two high-level onlygroups consistently rated the best: MDS and BDSS.
MDS members collectively sell over $7 billion per year. There are chapters on almost every continent. They also host small meetups and bonding adventure trips throughout the year just for members.
Most recently Ian started an event that mixes members with the general public called MDS Inspire.
Jeff Cohen
DEC 7 2023
“We’re just a bunch of tools!” I’ll never forget how Jeff jokingly described himself and a few other early software creators in the Amazon space. They were imbibing in more than a few adult koolaids one night at an Amazing.com Summit (now called Sellercon) back in 2016 in Austin.
Jeff is widely regarded as an industry expert. He regularly shares actionable intelligence on Amazon selling strategies and how sellers can improve their business.
Jeff got his start in e-commerce in 2005 when he founded a website called textbooks.com, and later campusbooks.com. Ebay and Amazon accounted for nearly 50% of his sales in the beginning. But he noticed the Amazon bit was growing fast, so he dove deep into the Bezos ecosystem.
In 2014, he joined Seller Labs, one of the early third party software pioneers to develop tools for Amazon seller. He had developed tech for his book companies, and he and the Seller Labs founders used that as the base blueprint.
Jeff speaks at a lot of events, and back in his Seller labs days you’d never catch him not wearing a “Famous on Amazon” shirt, with 5-stars of course.
Amazon recognized his unique skills, and in 2022 hired him to be one of its principal community evangelists for the Amazon advertising API.
He makes sure industry influencers, brands and third party services and tools keep abreast of the latest opportunities when it comes to maximizing Amazon’s ad platform.
Jeff also often shares his perspective, summarizes of key events and findings, and breaks the latest announcements on LinkedIn.
Jeff is widely regarded as an industry expert. He regularly shares actionable intelligence on Amazon selling strategies and how sellers can improve their business.
Jeff got his start in e-commerce in 2005 when he founded a website called textbooks.com, and later campusbooks.com. Ebay and Amazon accounted for nearly 50% of his sales in the beginning. But he noticed the Amazon bit was growing fast, so he dove deep into the Bezos ecosystem.
In 2014, he joined Seller Labs, one of the early third party software pioneers to develop tools for Amazon seller. He had developed tech for his book companies, and he and the Seller Labs founders used that as the base blueprint.
Jeff speaks at a lot of events, and back in his Seller labs days you’d never catch him not wearing a “Famous on Amazon” shirt, with 5-stars of course.
Amazon recognized his unique skills, and in 2022 hired him to be one of its principal community evangelists for the Amazon advertising API.
He makes sure industry influencers, brands and third party services and tools keep abreast of the latest opportunities when it comes to maximizing Amazon’s ad platform.
Jeff also often shares his perspective, summarizes of key events and findings, and breaks the latest announcements on LinkedIn.
Tim Jordan
DEC 14 2023
It was March 14, 2018, and the annual Prosper Show in Las Vegas was in full swing.
Little did Tim know, it was a night that would change his life and his trajectory in the Amazon selling space.
Tim had been selling on Amazon for a bit, but really didn’t know a lot of people in the industry. He was also struggling financially to grow (as most new sellers do) and knew he needed to make some serious connections or he was done for.
So he called the exclusive Omnia nightclub at Caesar’s Palace and told them he needed a private table with bottle service for that night’s DJ.
Prices started at $10,000 and went up from there. A single standard-size bottle of vodka costs $650. mandatory service charges and tips add another 40%.
He figured what the hell. Max out his credit cards and invite some of the biggest players he could find at the show. It was Vegas and he was all in. Go big or go bust.
He invited people like Manny Coats and Guillermo of Helium 10, Jeff Cohen (now of Amazon and then of Seller Labs), Norm Farrar and several other top players. I was friends with Manny, so he invited me to tag along.
When I showed up, Tim asked someone “who the F’ is this guy?” You see, the group in his booth was important to him to network with - no freeloaders allowed. And he did not know me yet and I was not strategically invited by him.
Tim ended up spending over $22K. He won big that night in Vegas. He turned struggles as a seller into success across multiple facets of the industry by building the right circle. This is why you MUST get out to events to maximize success.
He meet and became friends with people who helped change his life during a dark time he was going through personally. But Tim being Tim, he is now on a mission to change as many Amazon sellers lives’ as possible.
He has exited several brands as an actual seller, led sourcing trips to Mexico and China, held free masterminds, started and sold a 3PL, co-created the top rated Project X for Helium 10, spoke on stages all over the world, done a stint as AM/PM podcast host, and has now become one of the top executives at Carbon 6.
Helping others is in his DNA. He was a paramedic before starting his Amazon journey. When earthquakes rocked Haiti in 2010, he immediately flew down to volunteer to treat the injured.
One time he witnessed a horrific motor accident on the freeway. He pulled over and started organizing triage to save as many lives as possible before help arrived.
His father always told him he would amount to nothing. Well, to a lot of people, in this industry and out, his work, friendship and generosity means everything.
Tim has an inspirational story to tell that will move you to tears.
He plans to share that story like he never has before at BDSS Level Up in Hawaii May 23-26. You likely will become a better human (and successful entrepreneur) after you hear it. You likely will come away respecting him even more.
Tim keeps his personal life private separate from business. But for the very first time, his beautiful wife and one of the strongest and most courageous human beings you will ever meet will be joining him at an e-com event.
Little did Tim know, it was a night that would change his life and his trajectory in the Amazon selling space.
Tim had been selling on Amazon for a bit, but really didn’t know a lot of people in the industry. He was also struggling financially to grow (as most new sellers do) and knew he needed to make some serious connections or he was done for.
So he called the exclusive Omnia nightclub at Caesar’s Palace and told them he needed a private table with bottle service for that night’s DJ.
Prices started at $10,000 and went up from there. A single standard-size bottle of vodka costs $650. mandatory service charges and tips add another 40%.
He figured what the hell. Max out his credit cards and invite some of the biggest players he could find at the show. It was Vegas and he was all in. Go big or go bust.
He invited people like Manny Coats and Guillermo of Helium 10, Jeff Cohen (now of Amazon and then of Seller Labs), Norm Farrar and several other top players. I was friends with Manny, so he invited me to tag along.
When I showed up, Tim asked someone “who the F’ is this guy?” You see, the group in his booth was important to him to network with - no freeloaders allowed. And he did not know me yet and I was not strategically invited by him.
Tim ended up spending over $22K. He won big that night in Vegas. He turned struggles as a seller into success across multiple facets of the industry by building the right circle. This is why you MUST get out to events to maximize success.
He meet and became friends with people who helped change his life during a dark time he was going through personally. But Tim being Tim, he is now on a mission to change as many Amazon sellers lives’ as possible.
He has exited several brands as an actual seller, led sourcing trips to Mexico and China, held free masterminds, started and sold a 3PL, co-created the top rated Project X for Helium 10, spoke on stages all over the world, done a stint as AM/PM podcast host, and has now become one of the top executives at Carbon 6.
Helping others is in his DNA. He was a paramedic before starting his Amazon journey. When earthquakes rocked Haiti in 2010, he immediately flew down to volunteer to treat the injured.
One time he witnessed a horrific motor accident on the freeway. He pulled over and started organizing triage to save as many lives as possible before help arrived.
His father always told him he would amount to nothing. Well, to a lot of people, in this industry and out, his work, friendship and generosity means everything.
Tim has an inspirational story to tell that will move you to tears.
He plans to share that story like he never has before at BDSS Level Up in Hawaii May 23-26. You likely will become a better human (and successful entrepreneur) after you hear it. You likely will come away respecting him even more.
Tim keeps his personal life private separate from business. But for the very first time, his beautiful wife and one of the strongest and most courageous human beings you will ever meet will be joining him at an e-com event.
Leo Sgovio
DEC 21 2023
I’ll never forget at a conference I co-hosted in early 2018 Leo took the stage to explain some fascinating, yet very technical, things he had figured out about how the Amazon ranking algorithm works.
A lesbian attendee (she is publicly proud of it - not a negative) in the audience could not stop staring at him. She told me later she had no idea what Leo was talking about and didn't care if he was reading the dictionary.
All she hoped was he would take his shirt off at some point.
That’s when you know Leo has “IT.” Drop dead gorgeous, charming, a bro’s bro and brilliant all rolled up into one. But more importantly, he’s a proud Italian father and husband to a fashion supermodel.
He’s also one of the smartest and most technically savvy sellers you’ll ever meet. If Leo speaks, you should listen. Carefully. Take notes.
Some know me for sharing good tips and hacks, but Leo can always one-up me.
Leo loves to tinker. Figuring out challenging complex computer algorithms through experiments is a blast for him. He wins hack contests at high-end masterminds and finished first in the speaker voting at BDSS 6 in Austin in 2022.
I was in a room with Matt Altman and Leo sharing hacks at Howard Thai’s Castle Mastermind outside Paris in 2022. Being in that room I immediately knew I had zero chance of winning the $10,000 prize.
Leo immigrated to North America from Italy as a DJ, working the clubs in Miami before moving to Canada and transitioning into SEO, web analytics and growth hacking (he has since returned with his family to the warm beaches of Miami).
He spent almost two years as the head of innovation for Viral Launch.
In 2019 he started a software company called Convomat, which he first built to automate customer service related tasks via Chatbots.
He’s now pivoted Convomat to focus more on connecting e-commerce sellers and influencers in pretty innovative ways.
Leo continues to operate a beauty brand and has his finger in a lot of Amazon pies, including consulting several 8 and 9 figure sellers.
A lesbian attendee (she is publicly proud of it - not a negative) in the audience could not stop staring at him. She told me later she had no idea what Leo was talking about and didn't care if he was reading the dictionary.
All she hoped was he would take his shirt off at some point.
That’s when you know Leo has “IT.” Drop dead gorgeous, charming, a bro’s bro and brilliant all rolled up into one. But more importantly, he’s a proud Italian father and husband to a fashion supermodel.
He’s also one of the smartest and most technically savvy sellers you’ll ever meet. If Leo speaks, you should listen. Carefully. Take notes.
Some know me for sharing good tips and hacks, but Leo can always one-up me.
Leo loves to tinker. Figuring out challenging complex computer algorithms through experiments is a blast for him. He wins hack contests at high-end masterminds and finished first in the speaker voting at BDSS 6 in Austin in 2022.
I was in a room with Matt Altman and Leo sharing hacks at Howard Thai’s Castle Mastermind outside Paris in 2022. Being in that room I immediately knew I had zero chance of winning the $10,000 prize.
Leo immigrated to North America from Italy as a DJ, working the clubs in Miami before moving to Canada and transitioning into SEO, web analytics and growth hacking (he has since returned with his family to the warm beaches of Miami).
He spent almost two years as the head of innovation for Viral Launch.
In 2019 he started a software company called Convomat, which he first built to automate customer service related tasks via Chatbots.
He’s now pivoted Convomat to focus more on connecting e-commerce sellers and influencers in pretty innovative ways.
Leo continues to operate a beauty brand and has his finger in a lot of Amazon pies, including consulting several 8 and 9 figure sellers.
Danny McMillan
JAN 11 2024
Danny is one of those “No B.S.” type of guys. He will tell it to you like it is, in both business and in life.
Prior to getting involved with the Amazon industry, Danny spent 17 years in the music industry. He had a weekly residency on the leading UK radio station KISS 100 FM, where he was a trendsetter serving up cutting edge dance tunes.
He toured the world as a DJ and together with a partner developed the DM01 MIDI Controller. Unlike a lot of MIDI DJ solutions designed by non-DJs, Danny’s controller had real club-style short throw faders and was made to endure the ravages of life on the road.
In early 2015 he began his journey on Amazon FBA, first selling his own products then later co-founding DataBrill with data scientist Dr. Ellis Whitehead to help sellers manage PPC at an affordable cost.
In 2016 Danny started a no-frills tell it like it is podcast called Seller Sessions, then added a top-notch annual live sellers conference in London every May and a Christmas party each December. In addition to Danny, the podcast also has weekly episodes hosted by Sharon Even and Adam Runquist.
During the COVID lock downs, Danny switched to a daily format and delivered a new podcast every weekday for more than a year. He also puts out regular content dispelling myths about an “A10” algorithm and explaining in detail how the A9 really works when it comes to launching and ranking products on Amazon.
Danny still loves to DJ, and you’ll often find him working the mixer at afterparties at his own events, as well as at other events like Prosper, the Southern Sellerfest and even BDSS 6 in Austin in 2022
Prior to getting involved with the Amazon industry, Danny spent 17 years in the music industry. He had a weekly residency on the leading UK radio station KISS 100 FM, where he was a trendsetter serving up cutting edge dance tunes.
He toured the world as a DJ and together with a partner developed the DM01 MIDI Controller. Unlike a lot of MIDI DJ solutions designed by non-DJs, Danny’s controller had real club-style short throw faders and was made to endure the ravages of life on the road.
In early 2015 he began his journey on Amazon FBA, first selling his own products then later co-founding DataBrill with data scientist Dr. Ellis Whitehead to help sellers manage PPC at an affordable cost.
In 2016 Danny started a no-frills tell it like it is podcast called Seller Sessions, then added a top-notch annual live sellers conference in London every May and a Christmas party each December. In addition to Danny, the podcast also has weekly episodes hosted by Sharon Even and Adam Runquist.
During the COVID lock downs, Danny switched to a daily format and delivered a new podcast every weekday for more than a year. He also puts out regular content dispelling myths about an “A10” algorithm and explaining in detail how the A9 really works when it comes to launching and ranking products on Amazon.
Danny still loves to DJ, and you’ll often find him working the mixer at afterparties at his own events, as well as at other events like Prosper, the Southern Sellerfest and even BDSS 6 in Austin in 2022
Matt Altman
JAN 25 2024
It was early May 2022. A group of 40 or so high-level Amazon sellers had gathered at a castle an hour outside of Paris, France for Howard Thai’s high-ticket Elite Seller Society mastermind.
While the presentations were great, it was sitting around a wood campfire in the courtyard as night faded into morning where the true value was. Each night, sometimes until 4am or later, 12-15 of us would talk business and life around the campfire.
Nuggets were flying left and right, and one of the people dishing them out like candy at Halloween was Matt Altman. Rich Goldstein had a 6am flight and tried to excuse himself several times to get some shut eye, but FOMO kept him coming back to the fire for more.
Matt manages several hundred million dollars of Amazon sales for a number of clients, and he knew the solution or work around to every problem.
“Ranking - ah, that’s easy. Just do this …” he would say. White hat, grey hat, black hat, proprietary systems. He was on the cutting edge of them all.
Those gathered around the fire would gaze intently, mouths wide open in amazement. “What?? Holy shit - that really works?” you would hear over and over.
“Yep,” Matt would quip back. “Just launched 13 new SKUs last week and they are all #1 in a highly competitive category today.”
Needless to say, Matt won the cash prize for best speaker that Howard doled out, and he was immediately invited to speak at my Billion Dollar Seller Summit in Puerto Rico in June 2023, where he crushed it again.
Today, he has jumped across the pond to Europe to join forces with one of the kindest and most honorable lads in the business, Clear Ads founder George Meresa.
Together they are elevating the bottomline of every brand they touch.
If you come across someone smarter that Matt in selling on Amazon, please let me know. I am not sure such a person exists.
While the presentations were great, it was sitting around a wood campfire in the courtyard as night faded into morning where the true value was. Each night, sometimes until 4am or later, 12-15 of us would talk business and life around the campfire.
Nuggets were flying left and right, and one of the people dishing them out like candy at Halloween was Matt Altman. Rich Goldstein had a 6am flight and tried to excuse himself several times to get some shut eye, but FOMO kept him coming back to the fire for more.
Matt manages several hundred million dollars of Amazon sales for a number of clients, and he knew the solution or work around to every problem.
“Ranking - ah, that’s easy. Just do this …” he would say. White hat, grey hat, black hat, proprietary systems. He was on the cutting edge of them all.
Those gathered around the fire would gaze intently, mouths wide open in amazement. “What?? Holy shit - that really works?” you would hear over and over.
“Yep,” Matt would quip back. “Just launched 13 new SKUs last week and they are all #1 in a highly competitive category today.”
Needless to say, Matt won the cash prize for best speaker that Howard doled out, and he was immediately invited to speak at my Billion Dollar Seller Summit in Puerto Rico in June 2023, where he crushed it again.
Today, he has jumped across the pond to Europe to join forces with one of the kindest and most honorable lads in the business, Clear Ads founder George Meresa.
Together they are elevating the bottomline of every brand they touch.
If you come across someone smarter that Matt in selling on Amazon, please let me know. I am not sure such a person exists.
Ritu Java
FEB 29 2024
A native of Delhi, India, Ritu now calls Vancouver, Canada home. Out of engineering school she worked in the Indian IT industry for over a decade, which eventually led her to a job in Japan.
Although she thought it was only going to be for a short "year or two," she ended up spending 17 years in Tokyo. It was here that she started a side hustle selling handmade jewelry, and ended up launching her own eCommerce store on Etsy in 2010.
In 2015, Ritu decided to go back to school to formalize her knowledge of data. She completed a degree in Data Science in the United States and discovered the fascinating world of Amazon Advertising. She has never looked back.
In 2019 she co-founded PPC Ninja (a SaaS and Managed Services company) to help Amazon sellers grow profitably with advertising. She is the CEO of a growing global team expanding their footprint in the eCommerce world.
Ritu is fluent in several languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Japanese and English.
As a Level 1 Japanese language expert who spent years working with Japanese tech companies, she is also adept at helping sellers expand to Japan, an often overlooked and underserved market for Amazon sellers (it’s bigger than TikTok Shop in GMV and easier to sell on).
Ritu is constantly delivering value to sellers. She won best speaker at the BDSS 7 Virtual event in 2023, and most recently won the best tool contest at BDSS 9 Virtual.
She loves geeking out on data. She is always finding innovative ways and methods sellers can use to sell more and spend less on advertising and publicly sharing with nothing expected in return.
Although she thought it was only going to be for a short "year or two," she ended up spending 17 years in Tokyo. It was here that she started a side hustle selling handmade jewelry, and ended up launching her own eCommerce store on Etsy in 2010.
In 2015, Ritu decided to go back to school to formalize her knowledge of data. She completed a degree in Data Science in the United States and discovered the fascinating world of Amazon Advertising. She has never looked back.
In 2019 she co-founded PPC Ninja (a SaaS and Managed Services company) to help Amazon sellers grow profitably with advertising. She is the CEO of a growing global team expanding their footprint in the eCommerce world.
Ritu is fluent in several languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Japanese and English.
As a Level 1 Japanese language expert who spent years working with Japanese tech companies, she is also adept at helping sellers expand to Japan, an often overlooked and underserved market for Amazon sellers (it’s bigger than TikTok Shop in GMV and easier to sell on).
Ritu is constantly delivering value to sellers. She won best speaker at the BDSS 7 Virtual event in 2023, and most recently won the best tool contest at BDSS 9 Virtual.
She loves geeking out on data. She is always finding innovative ways and methods sellers can use to sell more and spend less on advertising and publicly sharing with nothing expected in return.
Gracey Ryback
MAR 21 2024
People no longer trust ads - they trust people.
Nobody knows that better than Gracey. Every brand has a story to tell, and there are few better at telling that story.
In 2020 Gracey started dabbling in social media influencer marketing by posting Amazon deals on the side. It wasn't long before she pivoted full time from recruiting and sales to become one of the top influencers on the Amazon.
With a mix of eye catching videos, infectious charm and a knack for finding the best deals, her Dealcheats channel quickly grew to over a million followers.
Gracey believes you should focus on where the attention is, so she became an early master at TikTok. Soon after she became an A-lister on Amazon Live.
Not content on just being another creator, she decided to go deep into the Amazon seller world and started attending as many seller events as she could.
In the process she became one of the leading authorities guiding sellers on the best ways to use social media and influencer marketing.
She has taught more Amazon sellers the proper way to do UGC and how to work with influencers than anybody else, and her work has made many sellers millions of extra dollars.
Nobody knows that better than Gracey. Every brand has a story to tell, and there are few better at telling that story.
In 2020 Gracey started dabbling in social media influencer marketing by posting Amazon deals on the side. It wasn't long before she pivoted full time from recruiting and sales to become one of the top influencers on the Amazon.
With a mix of eye catching videos, infectious charm and a knack for finding the best deals, her Dealcheats channel quickly grew to over a million followers.
Gracey believes you should focus on where the attention is, so she became an early master at TikTok. Soon after she became an A-lister on Amazon Live.
Not content on just being another creator, she decided to go deep into the Amazon seller world and started attending as many seller events as she could.
In the process she became one of the leading authorities guiding sellers on the best ways to use social media and influencer marketing.
She has taught more Amazon sellers the proper way to do UGC and how to work with influencers than anybody else, and her work has made many sellers millions of extra dollars.
Traian Turcu
APR 4 2024
If you have not been playing the Amazon game for a while, you probably have never heard of Traian Turcu. But if you know, YOU KNOW.
He only travels for fun (rarely for business), so you won’t meet him at any shows. He doesn't guest on podcasts, webinars or summits.
But a few of you may have been lucky enough to go to one of his three sold out bootcamps in Las Vegas or meet him at a Cabo mastermind prior to 2019.
Traian doesn’t participate in e-com social media either. Instead, he keeps his head down in his home office in Romania playing mad scientist figuring out what works and what doesn’t to get an edge selling on Amazon.
He sold his first business, a single SKU hair brush he’d been selling for 8 months for $500,000 in 2016 before it was cool to do that.
Then he built a second Amazon business and sold it for $7 million a little over a year later. Since then he has created many more successful brands and businesses, often as open case studies.
He releases highly customized specific-use Google Chrome extensions for selling that he only gives to his private accelerator monthly mastermind members. They are a secret weapon in the arsenal for many top sellers and service providers.
Traian is the epitome of a tactical genius in the Amazon marketplace, THE guru to 8 and 9 figure sellers
He only travels for fun (rarely for business), so you won’t meet him at any shows. He doesn't guest on podcasts, webinars or summits.
But a few of you may have been lucky enough to go to one of his three sold out bootcamps in Las Vegas or meet him at a Cabo mastermind prior to 2019.
Traian doesn’t participate in e-com social media either. Instead, he keeps his head down in his home office in Romania playing mad scientist figuring out what works and what doesn’t to get an edge selling on Amazon.
He sold his first business, a single SKU hair brush he’d been selling for 8 months for $500,000 in 2016 before it was cool to do that.
Then he built a second Amazon business and sold it for $7 million a little over a year later. Since then he has created many more successful brands and businesses, often as open case studies.
He releases highly customized specific-use Google Chrome extensions for selling that he only gives to his private accelerator monthly mastermind members. They are a secret weapon in the arsenal for many top sellers and service providers.
Traian is the epitome of a tactical genius in the Amazon marketplace, THE guru to 8 and 9 figure sellers
Joe Valley
APR 18 2024
I first met Joe in May 2017 when he paid $10,000 to come to Cancun to an event Helium 10 was doing for what was then called the “Illuminati Mastermind” - now called “Helium 10 Elite.”
The man oozes nothing but respect and a massive passion for helping entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur himself, he bought and sold many businesses personally before becoming one of the top brokers and advisors in the e-commerce space.
After he sold one of his businesses to Quiet Light, he decided it was time to give back to others and help people achieve one of the biggest paydays they will ever see in their life. So he became a partner at Quiet Light.
He always says he’s happy to take a look at any business and give advice, even if you decide to not use his or Quiet Light’s services.
He wrote THE book on exiting your business, called The EXITPreneur's Playbook, which helps you shift your mindset from entrepreneur to EXITpreneur and lays out a roadmap.
The man oozes nothing but respect and a massive passion for helping entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur himself, he bought and sold many businesses personally before becoming one of the top brokers and advisors in the e-commerce space.
After he sold one of his businesses to Quiet Light, he decided it was time to give back to others and help people achieve one of the biggest paydays they will ever see in their life. So he became a partner at Quiet Light.
He always says he’s happy to take a look at any business and give advice, even if you decide to not use his or Quiet Light’s services.
He wrote THE book on exiting your business, called The EXITPreneur's Playbook, which helps you shift your mindset from entrepreneur to EXITpreneur and lays out a roadmap.
Rich Goldstein
MAY 2 2024
You don’t have to be an Amazon seller to have a major impact on people’s lives and businesses. Sometimes just playing Billy Joel song on the Steinway at a castle mastermind outside Paris will do the trick.
Rich literally saved Helium 10’s ass when the founders went to sell for tens of millions of dollars in 2019. A problem surfaced during due diligence with their IP threatening the deal. Rich was the golden knight that came to the rescue.
I think he holds the record for most conferences attended. He plays the long game for his firm, Goldstein Patent Law, knowing that at some point you’re gonna need legit IP help in your business (even if you made the typical mistake of using Fiverr, doing it yourself or a patent agent service in the beginning).
Rich has become famous for his Barbara Streisand suite parties in Las Vegas during big Amazon (and even non-Amazon) events. The two story suite in the MGM was Streisand’s home during her Vegas residency, and Rich has a connection that lets him snag it for great networking parties with top shelf tequilas and his favorite Morimoto sushi.
Rich is not your stereotypical lawyer looking to milk you. He is a genuine guy who will go out of his way to help a seller out. There is nobody else I would consider calling in the e-commerce field regarding any IP related (copyright, trademark, patent) issue than Rich.
Rich literally saved Helium 10’s ass when the founders went to sell for tens of millions of dollars in 2019. A problem surfaced during due diligence with their IP threatening the deal. Rich was the golden knight that came to the rescue.
I think he holds the record for most conferences attended. He plays the long game for his firm, Goldstein Patent Law, knowing that at some point you’re gonna need legit IP help in your business (even if you made the typical mistake of using Fiverr, doing it yourself or a patent agent service in the beginning).
Rich has become famous for his Barbara Streisand suite parties in Las Vegas during big Amazon (and even non-Amazon) events. The two story suite in the MGM was Streisand’s home during her Vegas residency, and Rich has a connection that lets him snag it for great networking parties with top shelf tequilas and his favorite Morimoto sushi.
Rich is not your stereotypical lawyer looking to milk you. He is a genuine guy who will go out of his way to help a seller out. There is nobody else I would consider calling in the e-commerce field regarding any IP related (copyright, trademark, patent) issue than Rich.
Kian Golzari
MAY 16 2024
He has been sourcing since he was in diapers, and has since personally sourced over 3,000 items. He cut his teeth as a youngster in his family’s business, which had contracts to supply products to the UK government.
Kian has sourced for the NBA, the London Olympics in 2012, for superstars such as Neymar, Proctor & Gamble, Visa, Panasonic, Google and more..
He lived and worked in Shanghai, China for ten years, establishing relationships with more than 500 factories..
He has been to the Canton Fair in Guangzhou more than 20 times and pretty much knows every trick in the book when it comes to sourcing. Alibaba often flies him to speak to their VIP suppliers..
Not only that, he loves to help others learn the game. He’s always giving free advise and guiding both new and experienced sellers to make sure they maximize their opportunities sourcing..
He’s currently based in Dubai but regularly travels the world speaking, sourcing and helping thousands of sellers succeed.
Kian has sourced for the NBA, the London Olympics in 2012, for superstars such as Neymar, Proctor & Gamble, Visa, Panasonic, Google and more..
He lived and worked in Shanghai, China for ten years, establishing relationships with more than 500 factories..
He has been to the Canton Fair in Guangzhou more than 20 times and pretty much knows every trick in the book when it comes to sourcing. Alibaba often flies him to speak to their VIP suppliers..
Not only that, he loves to help others learn the game. He’s always giving free advise and guiding both new and experienced sellers to make sure they maximize their opportunities sourcing..
He’s currently based in Dubai but regularly travels the world speaking, sourcing and helping thousands of sellers succeed.
Chad Rubin
JUNE 6 2024
Chad is an OG in the Amazon and e-commerce space.
One of his earliest ventures and where he cut his e-com teeth was with Think Crucial, a direct-to-consumer vacuum filter brand he started after being laid off from Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis.
He co-founded the Prosper Show in 2005, which became the most attended Amazon conference outside of Amazon’s own events (it was later acquired).
Chad then co-founded Skubana, a software platform to help e-commerce businesses manage their inventory, orders and operations across multiple sales channels like Amazon, eBay and Walmart. It was acquired in 2021.
His latest venture is Profasee, a pricing platform that uses AI to help Amazon brands predict ideal product prices to maximize profits without sacrificing their sales rank.
He is also a prolific contributor on Linkedin, where he offers his unbiased and unfiltered opinions, as well as valuable and insightful advise for sellers.
One of his earliest ventures and where he cut his e-com teeth was with Think Crucial, a direct-to-consumer vacuum filter brand he started after being laid off from Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis.
He co-founded the Prosper Show in 2005, which became the most attended Amazon conference outside of Amazon’s own events (it was later acquired).
Chad then co-founded Skubana, a software platform to help e-commerce businesses manage their inventory, orders and operations across multiple sales channels like Amazon, eBay and Walmart. It was acquired in 2021.
His latest venture is Profasee, a pricing platform that uses AI to help Amazon brands predict ideal product prices to maximize profits without sacrificing their sales rank.
He is also a prolific contributor on Linkedin, where he offers his unbiased and unfiltered opinions, as well as valuable and insightful advise for sellers.
Josh Hadley
JULY 11 2024
Every 3 to 4 weeks I announce a new member of the Billion Dollar Dream 100. These are the people you should follow and get to know. They’re announced in no particular order.
Josh Hadley is today’s inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100.
Before becoming a $10 million + per year Amazon seller with his wife Becca, Josh got his MBA from the University of Utah. While there, he sat as the co-chair on the Utah Entrepreneur Series and was chosen to work on an elite venture development program.
Being a lifetime entrepreneur with a money-making itch, in March 2015 he started moonlighting with his wife to start Hadley Designs while working as an executive at American Airlines headquarters in Dallas.
Becca is a super talented artist, so they used her graphic design skills to create custom wedding invitations.
Later that year, they started their journey to creating over a thousand different SKUs, including recipe cards, calendars, baby shower invitations and more.
They started selling them on Amazon, hitting $1 million in sales their first year.
Josh figured it out as they went, piece-mailing podcasts, courses, YouTube videos and whatever other knowledge he could absorb. He’s skilled at simplifying complex problems and creating systems.
Josh has spoken at several Billion Dollar Seller Summits, always placing in the top 3 speaker vote. He and Becca have either won or finished in the top in every BDSS hack contest as well (Josh will be speaking at BDSS XI in Iceland in 2025).
Along the way he’s made tons of mistakes. Now one of his missions (in addition to continuing to grow Hadley Designs) is to share what he has learned to help others avoid those costly errors. He does this in his podcast, Ecomm Breakthrough and by speaking at events.
Josh is a seller and educator/mentor who loves to give back, and is someone you should sit up and pay attention to if you want an edge in your business.
Josh Hadley is today’s inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100.
Before becoming a $10 million + per year Amazon seller with his wife Becca, Josh got his MBA from the University of Utah. While there, he sat as the co-chair on the Utah Entrepreneur Series and was chosen to work on an elite venture development program.
Being a lifetime entrepreneur with a money-making itch, in March 2015 he started moonlighting with his wife to start Hadley Designs while working as an executive at American Airlines headquarters in Dallas.
Becca is a super talented artist, so they used her graphic design skills to create custom wedding invitations.
Later that year, they started their journey to creating over a thousand different SKUs, including recipe cards, calendars, baby shower invitations and more.
They started selling them on Amazon, hitting $1 million in sales their first year.
Josh figured it out as they went, piece-mailing podcasts, courses, YouTube videos and whatever other knowledge he could absorb. He’s skilled at simplifying complex problems and creating systems.
Josh has spoken at several Billion Dollar Seller Summits, always placing in the top 3 speaker vote. He and Becca have either won or finished in the top in every BDSS hack contest as well (Josh will be speaking at BDSS XI in Iceland in 2025).
Along the way he’s made tons of mistakes. Now one of his missions (in addition to continuing to grow Hadley Designs) is to share what he has learned to help others avoid those costly errors. He does this in his podcast, Ecomm Breakthrough and by speaking at events.
Josh is a seller and educator/mentor who loves to give back, and is someone you should sit up and pay attention to if you want an edge in your business.
Janelle Page
AUG 8 2024
In the hallowed halls of success, where fortunes are forged and legends are born, there walks a woman whose very presence commands attention.
Her name? Janelle Page, the latest inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100.
Picture, if you will, a scene from the not-so-distant past. The year is 2017, the setting: a lavish conference room in a Cancun resort, the air thick with anticipation and the scent of success from Amazon sellers who paid $10,000 each to be there.
The hum of a seventy-two conversations dies down as a crowd of millionaires and aspiring tycoons settle into plush chairs, their eyes fixed upon a sleek stage where magic is about to unfold.
The spotlight cuts through the dimness, and there she stands – Janelle Page, a whirlwind of energy and brilliance. With a mischievous glint in her eye, she kicks off her flip flops, sending them sailing across the stage.
The crowd gasps, then chuckles. Janelle's bare feet grip the stage as if to say, "Watch me defy gravity and shatter your expectations."
This is Janelle Page – part marketing maestro, part spiritual guru to the entrepreneurial masses. Her mission? To help business owners and creators not just survive, but thrive in the cutthroat world of commerce.
But here's the twist, the secret ingredient in her recipe for success: she never lets them forget what truly matters. Health, life, family, friends – these are the pillars upon which empires are built, the foundation that keeps you standing when the storms of business threaten to topple all you've built.
Janelle's journey is a tale of resilience, of rising from the ashes time and time again. She's raised a tribe of children, faced the sudden loss of a business partner to the cruel hand of glioblastoma, and bid farewell to both a sister and sister-in-law, claimed too soon by cancer's merciless grasp.
In the world of e-commerce, she's the secret weapon of top companies, and a partner in countless successful ventures
Before others even whispered the word "brand," Janelle was shouting it from the rooftops, teaching sellers how to create identities that don't just speak to customers – they sing, they dance, they convert like crazy and crush the competition.
Janelle Page is a perpetual motion machine of ideas and enthusiasm. Her mind races faster than her mouth can keep up, a never-ending avalanche of innovation and insight.
And when she's not revolutionizing the business world? You'll find her on the pickleball court, because even titans need their moments of play.
Janelle Page is not just the latest member of the Billion Dollar Dream 100. She's a beacon, a guide, a living testament to what can be achieved with brilliance, perseverance, and a dash of pickleball-fueled fun.
Her crumbs are worth more than most people's gold, and her wisdom ... well, that's priceless.
Her name? Janelle Page, the latest inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100.
Picture, if you will, a scene from the not-so-distant past. The year is 2017, the setting: a lavish conference room in a Cancun resort, the air thick with anticipation and the scent of success from Amazon sellers who paid $10,000 each to be there.
The hum of a seventy-two conversations dies down as a crowd of millionaires and aspiring tycoons settle into plush chairs, their eyes fixed upon a sleek stage where magic is about to unfold.
The spotlight cuts through the dimness, and there she stands – Janelle Page, a whirlwind of energy and brilliance. With a mischievous glint in her eye, she kicks off her flip flops, sending them sailing across the stage.
The crowd gasps, then chuckles. Janelle's bare feet grip the stage as if to say, "Watch me defy gravity and shatter your expectations."
This is Janelle Page – part marketing maestro, part spiritual guru to the entrepreneurial masses. Her mission? To help business owners and creators not just survive, but thrive in the cutthroat world of commerce.
But here's the twist, the secret ingredient in her recipe for success: she never lets them forget what truly matters. Health, life, family, friends – these are the pillars upon which empires are built, the foundation that keeps you standing when the storms of business threaten to topple all you've built.
Janelle's journey is a tale of resilience, of rising from the ashes time and time again. She's raised a tribe of children, faced the sudden loss of a business partner to the cruel hand of glioblastoma, and bid farewell to both a sister and sister-in-law, claimed too soon by cancer's merciless grasp.
In the world of e-commerce, she's the secret weapon of top companies, and a partner in countless successful ventures
Before others even whispered the word "brand," Janelle was shouting it from the rooftops, teaching sellers how to create identities that don't just speak to customers – they sing, they dance, they convert like crazy and crush the competition.
Janelle Page is a perpetual motion machine of ideas and enthusiasm. Her mind races faster than her mouth can keep up, a never-ending avalanche of innovation and insight.
And when she's not revolutionizing the business world? You'll find her on the pickleball court, because even titans need their moments of play.
Janelle Page is not just the latest member of the Billion Dollar Dream 100. She's a beacon, a guide, a living testament to what can be achieved with brilliance, perseverance, and a dash of pickleball-fueled fun.
Her crumbs are worth more than most people's gold, and her wisdom ... well, that's priceless.
Brian Johnson
AUG 22 2024
Brian has been involved in e-commerce for nearly 20 years. He was one of the early pioneers educating sellers how to do Amazon PPC. He was the “go-to” guy for those trying to figure out Amazon in the early days.
He developed one of the very first tools called PPC Scope for managing sponsored product ads, and led the way teaching sellers how to set up and manage their campaigns with his advanced Sponsored Products Academy training.
In 2018 he co-founded the agency Canopy Management with Brian Burt. In his Amazon career he has helped clients add an additional $3 billion to their bottom lines.
Brian Johnson is a master strategist with a deep understanding of the Amazon algorithm and what it truly takes to rank and make sales on the platform.
Last year he co-founded DeepM AI, a machine-learning solution that predicts organic rank opportunities for products sold on Amazon. The tool can see every competitor’s weakness in a product's subcategory to advise you what to exploit for better rank.
Brian has been the quiet force behind many successful brands on Amazon and has changed a lot of sellers lives.
Earlier this month, he and “the other Brian” launched a new podcast called Million Dollar Moment to highlight the triumphs and challenges entrepreneurs face in finding million dollar success.
He developed one of the very first tools called PPC Scope for managing sponsored product ads, and led the way teaching sellers how to set up and manage their campaigns with his advanced Sponsored Products Academy training.
In 2018 he co-founded the agency Canopy Management with Brian Burt. In his Amazon career he has helped clients add an additional $3 billion to their bottom lines.
Brian Johnson is a master strategist with a deep understanding of the Amazon algorithm and what it truly takes to rank and make sales on the platform.
Last year he co-founded DeepM AI, a machine-learning solution that predicts organic rank opportunities for products sold on Amazon. The tool can see every competitor’s weakness in a product's subcategory to advise you what to exploit for better rank.
Brian has been the quiet force behind many successful brands on Amazon and has changed a lot of sellers lives.
Earlier this month, he and “the other Brian” launched a new podcast called Million Dollar Moment to highlight the triumphs and challenges entrepreneurs face in finding million dollar success.
Travis Zigler
SEPT 5 2024
I first met Travis in 2016 in a private mastermind organized by the #2 affiliate for Amazing Selling Machine (another Dream 100 member, Brian Johnson, got me in - thanks Brian).
While everyone else was looking for the latest hack or black hat tactic to rank better, Dr. Zigler was building audiences and a real brand. He created blogs that solved pain points, drove traffic to them, then directed the readers to his products on Amazon. He was crushing it.
The company was called Eye Love. He met his wife at The Ohio State University where they were both studying to be optometrists (a year apart).
They opened a private eye clinic in the southeast after graduation and started a failed Amazon product line selling polarized sunglasses.
But they kept noticing a constant problem with dry eye for their clients in the eye clinic. The available drugs were expensive. So they developed a cheaper solution.
Their clients loved it. And so did the rest of the world when they launched the drops on Amazon, to the tune of $450,000 per month.
The company was called Eye Love (they also bought and rolled in another company in 2020 called MediViz).
The Eye Love name ruffled the feathers of Shire, who was running TV commercials featuring Jennifer Anniston and using the phrase “Eye Love.” The Ziglers fought back and Shire eventually offered to settle.
The Ziglers sold the business in 2021 to Acumen Health Holdings, and are now focusing on their life’s work and genuinely helping other sellers.
It’s about more than just money for the Zigler family. Every year they do mission trips to places like Jamaica, Peru, and Ecuador to provide free eye care for hundreds in impoverished villages.
Dr. Travis is also passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve financial freedom using Amazon. He loves helping them develop strategies about PPC, DSP and Attribution.
So he founded Profitable Pineapple Ads to help other sellers solve their PPC pains and grow their business. That business is now booming as well.
You will be challenged to find another human being as good as Travis and his wife Jenna in the Amazon space.
While everyone else was looking for the latest hack or black hat tactic to rank better, Dr. Zigler was building audiences and a real brand. He created blogs that solved pain points, drove traffic to them, then directed the readers to his products on Amazon. He was crushing it.
The company was called Eye Love. He met his wife at The Ohio State University where they were both studying to be optometrists (a year apart).
They opened a private eye clinic in the southeast after graduation and started a failed Amazon product line selling polarized sunglasses.
But they kept noticing a constant problem with dry eye for their clients in the eye clinic. The available drugs were expensive. So they developed a cheaper solution.
Their clients loved it. And so did the rest of the world when they launched the drops on Amazon, to the tune of $450,000 per month.
The company was called Eye Love (they also bought and rolled in another company in 2020 called MediViz).
The Eye Love name ruffled the feathers of Shire, who was running TV commercials featuring Jennifer Anniston and using the phrase “Eye Love.” The Ziglers fought back and Shire eventually offered to settle.
The Ziglers sold the business in 2021 to Acumen Health Holdings, and are now focusing on their life’s work and genuinely helping other sellers.
It’s about more than just money for the Zigler family. Every year they do mission trips to places like Jamaica, Peru, and Ecuador to provide free eye care for hundreds in impoverished villages.
Dr. Travis is also passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve financial freedom using Amazon. He loves helping them develop strategies about PPC, DSP and Attribution.
So he founded Profitable Pineapple Ads to help other sellers solve their PPC pains and grow their business. That business is now booming as well.
You will be challenged to find another human being as good as Travis and his wife Jenna in the Amazon space.
Jon Derkits
SEPT 12 2024
Jon Derkits is today’s inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100. Jon has funneled his 15 years of business and management experience into one simple mission statement: “I help brands of all sizes win on Amazon.”
I joined LinkedIn for the first time last August, and that’s where I stumbled upon Jon’s regular and insightful posts, as well as his weekly newsletter Best@Amazon (a real newsletter with implementable tactics, not a promotional email like so many).
If you are not following him on either LinkedIn (or X), you should be. He doesn’t like to be called an “Expert” or “Guru,” but his knowledge and skillset would be difficult for anybody to outclass.
Jon has a unique perspective, as he worked for Amazon Canada as head of the 3P Marketplace for three years where he recruited 25,000+ sellers to the platform. Today he still sells himself, he’s worked for and created a little aggregator then sold it, as well as an agency called Color More Lines.
Jon has a deep understanding of finance and numbers. He was a university economics teaching assistant in his younger days. Now he preaches how to think like Amazon and be "brilliant at the basics."
He works with large brands (including Anker, one of the top 10 third-party sellers on Amazon) as well as small brands to tap hidden growth opportunities and improve operations.
Besides his Amazon work, he’s also a mentor at Chicago-based incubator 1871, and an investor in early-stage digital startups.
I joined LinkedIn for the first time last August, and that’s where I stumbled upon Jon’s regular and insightful posts, as well as his weekly newsletter Best@Amazon (a real newsletter with implementable tactics, not a promotional email like so many).
If you are not following him on either LinkedIn (or X), you should be. He doesn’t like to be called an “Expert” or “Guru,” but his knowledge and skillset would be difficult for anybody to outclass.
Jon has a unique perspective, as he worked for Amazon Canada as head of the 3P Marketplace for three years where he recruited 25,000+ sellers to the platform. Today he still sells himself, he’s worked for and created a little aggregator then sold it, as well as an agency called Color More Lines.
Jon has a deep understanding of finance and numbers. He was a university economics teaching assistant in his younger days. Now he preaches how to think like Amazon and be "brilliant at the basics."
He works with large brands (including Anker, one of the top 10 third-party sellers on Amazon) as well as small brands to tap hidden growth opportunities and improve operations.
Besides his Amazon work, he’s also a mentor at Chicago-based incubator 1871, and an investor in early-stage digital startups.
Greg Mercer
OCT 10 2024
Greg Mercer is today's inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100.
Greg's journey is a testament to the power of entrepreneurial spirit and relentless innovation. As the founder and CEO of Jungle Scout, Greg, along with Helium 10 founders Manny Coats & Guillermo Puyol, revolutionized the Amazon selling landscape in 2015.
Greg transformed a simple Chrome extension into a powerhouse platform that now supports over 600,000 sellers worldwide (second only to Helium 10, the current market leader).
In 2015, frustrated by the tedious process of product research, Greg created Jungle Scout. What started as a personal tool to streamline his own Amazon business quickly caught the attention of other sellers. Within a month of launching a simple one-page WordPress site with a PayPal button, Greg had his first sale.
From those humble beginnings, Jungle Scout grew into a global company with hundreds of employees across 15 countries, all while he bootstrapped the company from its cashflow for the first six years.
Greg's success isn't just measured in dollars and cents. His commitment to empowering other entrepreneurs shines through in every aspect of Jungle Scout's operations. From educational content to cutting-edge software solutions, Greg and his team created an ecosystem that nurtures and supports aspiring e-commerce moguls.
In 2021, Greg's vision received a significant boost with a $110 million investment from Summit Partners. This funding not only allowed for the acquisition of Downstream Impact, an Amazon advertising tech company, but also paved the way for Jungle Scout's expansion into new marketplaces like Walmart.
Despite his meteoric rise, Greg remains grounded. He and his wife Elizabeth, integral to Jungle Scout's success, embody the digital nomad lifestyle they promote. Before settling down with offices in Austin, TX, they managed the business from Airbnbs around the world.
In May 2024, Greg stepped down as CEO of Jungle Scout, transitioning to a strategic role on the board of directors and is now working in a new pursuit and spending more time with his family.
Greg's journey is a testament to the power of entrepreneurial spirit and relentless innovation. As the founder and CEO of Jungle Scout, Greg, along with Helium 10 founders Manny Coats & Guillermo Puyol, revolutionized the Amazon selling landscape in 2015.
Greg transformed a simple Chrome extension into a powerhouse platform that now supports over 600,000 sellers worldwide (second only to Helium 10, the current market leader).
In 2015, frustrated by the tedious process of product research, Greg created Jungle Scout. What started as a personal tool to streamline his own Amazon business quickly caught the attention of other sellers. Within a month of launching a simple one-page WordPress site with a PayPal button, Greg had his first sale.
From those humble beginnings, Jungle Scout grew into a global company with hundreds of employees across 15 countries, all while he bootstrapped the company from its cashflow for the first six years.
Greg's success isn't just measured in dollars and cents. His commitment to empowering other entrepreneurs shines through in every aspect of Jungle Scout's operations. From educational content to cutting-edge software solutions, Greg and his team created an ecosystem that nurtures and supports aspiring e-commerce moguls.
In 2021, Greg's vision received a significant boost with a $110 million investment from Summit Partners. This funding not only allowed for the acquisition of Downstream Impact, an Amazon advertising tech company, but also paved the way for Jungle Scout's expansion into new marketplaces like Walmart.
Despite his meteoric rise, Greg remains grounded. He and his wife Elizabeth, integral to Jungle Scout's success, embody the digital nomad lifestyle they promote. Before settling down with offices in Austin, TX, they managed the business from Airbnbs around the world.
In May 2024, Greg stepped down as CEO of Jungle Scout, transitioning to a strategic role on the board of directors and is now working in a new pursuit and spending more time with his family.
Matt Kostan
DEC 5 2024
Matt Kostan is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, and brand creator. He is the CEO and co-founder of ProductPinion, a company that helps Amazon sellers increase their sales through testing and consumer insights.
Matt’s been selling on Amazon and Shopify for over 10 years, creating several 7-figure brands along the way. He has also launched 8 different successful Kickstarter campaigns.
The cool thing about Matt is everything he teaches and talks about is based on real experience. There’s no B.S. Unfortunately, many speakers and Amazon gurus do not teach from experience and actual results.
Matt’s in-the-weeds approach shines in his presentations, as he is always placing first or second in BDSS Hack contest webinars.
He loves to travel and experience new places (or maybe it is just to escape the cold winters in Canada). If you are coming to Iceland in April 2025 for BDSS XI, you’ll be able to meet him there (he won a ticket for having the best hack).
Matt’s been selling on Amazon and Shopify for over 10 years, creating several 7-figure brands along the way. He has also launched 8 different successful Kickstarter campaigns.
The cool thing about Matt is everything he teaches and talks about is based on real experience. There’s no B.S. Unfortunately, many speakers and Amazon gurus do not teach from experience and actual results.
Matt’s in-the-weeds approach shines in his presentations, as he is always placing first or second in BDSS Hack contest webinars.
He loves to travel and experience new places (or maybe it is just to escape the cold winters in Canada). If you are coming to Iceland in April 2025 for BDSS XI, you’ll be able to meet him there (he won a ticket for having the best hack).
Michelle Barnum Smith
JAN 2 2025
In the ever-evolving world of e-commerce, where innovation reigns supreme and the faint-hearted fall by the wayside, there stands a queen—poised, powerful, and trailblazing. Her name? Michelle Barnum Smith, once best known as the “Queen of Amazon Chat Marketing” but now is the reigning “Queen of TikTok Marketing.”
Michelle’s story isn’t one of overnight success. It’s one of grit, reinvention, and seeing opportunity where others see chaos.
Raised in a tiny farm town, Michelle didn’t take the conventional path to success. She skipped her last two years of high school, opting instead to attend college concurrently—a move that set the tone for a lifetime of breaking molds and defying expectations.
Her career began in the corporate trenches, working for Fortune 100 giants like Lenovo, IBM, and McAfee, crafting international marketing strategies and overseeing billion-dollar partnerships. For 12 years, Michelle climbed the corporate ladder, proving herself in a world where politics were thick, and opportunities for balance were thin. But when she started a family, she made the bold choice to leave it all behind to carve out her own path.
In 2012, Michelle launched her own marketing agency. She’ll tell you those early days were messy—full of learning curves and late nights. Five years later, in 2017, she discovered Facebook Messenger bots and everything changed.
It started with a simple click—a Facebook ad that led her down a rabbit hole of possibilities. “What is this coolness?” she wondered as she interacted with a seamless Messenger bot. Within months, Michelle had not only mastered the technology but had pioneered its application for Amazon sellers, helping them boost rankings, gather reviews, and drive sales faster than ever before.
Michelle didn’t just join the chatbot revolution—she led it. She created the "chat marketing" category on Upwork, which quickly became a magnet for Amazon sellers looking to revolutionize their strategies. Word spread, and soon Michelle was on stages across the globe, teaching thousands how to harness the power of ManyChat.
But Michelle’s genius didn’t stop at Messenger bots. When Dan Ashburn of Titan Network approached her in 2021 to head external marketing for a brand integration venture, it was a match made in heaven. With a lab-like environment to test and perfect her strategies, Michelle worked across hundreds of brands and thousands of products, refining tactics that now form the foundation of her TikTok Shop success framework.
Today, Michelle is empowering sellers to dominate the TikTok Shop marketplace with her battle-tested 5-step framework at TTShopSellers.com. Her methods, honed over years of experimentation and success, help sellers identify their most “TikTokable” products and unlock the platform’s vast potential.
Michelle is a featured expert at the BDSS Market Masters Think Tank and is a speaker at BDSS XI in Iceland in April 2025.
Michelle’s story isn’t one of overnight success. It’s one of grit, reinvention, and seeing opportunity where others see chaos.
Raised in a tiny farm town, Michelle didn’t take the conventional path to success. She skipped her last two years of high school, opting instead to attend college concurrently—a move that set the tone for a lifetime of breaking molds and defying expectations.
Her career began in the corporate trenches, working for Fortune 100 giants like Lenovo, IBM, and McAfee, crafting international marketing strategies and overseeing billion-dollar partnerships. For 12 years, Michelle climbed the corporate ladder, proving herself in a world where politics were thick, and opportunities for balance were thin. But when she started a family, she made the bold choice to leave it all behind to carve out her own path.
In 2012, Michelle launched her own marketing agency. She’ll tell you those early days were messy—full of learning curves and late nights. Five years later, in 2017, she discovered Facebook Messenger bots and everything changed.
It started with a simple click—a Facebook ad that led her down a rabbit hole of possibilities. “What is this coolness?” she wondered as she interacted with a seamless Messenger bot. Within months, Michelle had not only mastered the technology but had pioneered its application for Amazon sellers, helping them boost rankings, gather reviews, and drive sales faster than ever before.
Michelle didn’t just join the chatbot revolution—she led it. She created the "chat marketing" category on Upwork, which quickly became a magnet for Amazon sellers looking to revolutionize their strategies. Word spread, and soon Michelle was on stages across the globe, teaching thousands how to harness the power of ManyChat.
But Michelle’s genius didn’t stop at Messenger bots. When Dan Ashburn of Titan Network approached her in 2021 to head external marketing for a brand integration venture, it was a match made in heaven. With a lab-like environment to test and perfect her strategies, Michelle worked across hundreds of brands and thousands of products, refining tactics that now form the foundation of her TikTok Shop success framework.
Today, Michelle is empowering sellers to dominate the TikTok Shop marketplace with her battle-tested 5-step framework at TTShopSellers.com. Her methods, honed over years of experimentation and success, help sellers identify their most “TikTokable” products and unlock the platform’s vast potential.
Michelle is a featured expert at the BDSS Market Masters Think Tank and is a speaker at BDSS XI in Iceland in April 2025.
Melisa Vong
FEB 27 2025
It was 2015, and Melisa Vong was grinding away at a BMW dealership in downtown Toronto. The pay was barely enough to cover rent in the city, and every day felt like a step deeper into a career that wasn’t hers.
She wanted out. She wanted more. But like so many, she was stuck—until one night, an Amazon ad changed everything.
Skeptical but intrigued, Melisa went down a rabbit hole, watching YouTube videos, devouring every piece of information she could find. A few weeks later, fate intervened. Over a plate of wings, she sat across from someone who had been selling on Amazon for a few months. That dinner changed her life.
Melisa has always been an entrepreneur at heart.
Growing up in a single-parent household, she watched her mother work tirelessly to support their family. That instilled a relentless work ethic in her—a drive to create opportunities, not wait for them. She started her first business, Quint Beauty, while still in high school, and by the time she was in university, she was running multiple ventures, including a travel company.
She saw things differently—how brands positioned themselves, how marketing worked, how customers behaved. She wasn’t just looking for an escape from a job—she was building the foundation for something much bigger.
Her first Amazon brand, Namskara, a botanical skincare company, launched and hit $30,000 in sales in its first month—more than her entire annual salary at BMW. Within a year, she crossed the $1M mark. Soon after, she exited the company, a move that would become her signature.
But Melisa wasn’t done.
She co-founded Orphic Nutrition with former professional soccer player Bryce Alderson. This wasn’t just another supplement brand—it was built for longevity, fueled by her now battle-tested “Prime Product Method.” Three years later, Orphic Nutrition was acquired by SellerX. She is currently on her third exit.
Melisa has made over $20M selling on Amazon. But she isn’t just building brands—she’s rewriting the playbook.
Unlike most Amazon sellers who treat their success like a secret recipe, Melisa chose to share everything she learned. She’s trained thousands, built an e-commerce incubator through Buzz Ventures, and now consults for some of the biggest brands and influencers looking to crack the Amazon code.
She was voted best speaker at BDSS X in Hawaii, and is speaking in April at BDSS XI in Iceland. She was also an expert at last weekend’s Market Masters.
Her business philosophy? Execution over ideas. She believes that success isn’t about having the perfect plan—it’s about taking action, making adjustments, and moving forward.
And she doesn’t stop at e-commerce. Melisa is now expanding into new ventures, including escape rooms, combining her love for immersive experiences with her knack for building profitable businesses.
She’s built, scaled, and exited brands. She’s been on stages, mentored the next generation, and proven that success in business isn’t about luck—it’s about method, mindset, and execution. And now she’s part of the BDSS Dream 100.
She wanted out. She wanted more. But like so many, she was stuck—until one night, an Amazon ad changed everything.
Skeptical but intrigued, Melisa went down a rabbit hole, watching YouTube videos, devouring every piece of information she could find. A few weeks later, fate intervened. Over a plate of wings, she sat across from someone who had been selling on Amazon for a few months. That dinner changed her life.
Melisa has always been an entrepreneur at heart.
Growing up in a single-parent household, she watched her mother work tirelessly to support their family. That instilled a relentless work ethic in her—a drive to create opportunities, not wait for them. She started her first business, Quint Beauty, while still in high school, and by the time she was in university, she was running multiple ventures, including a travel company.
She saw things differently—how brands positioned themselves, how marketing worked, how customers behaved. She wasn’t just looking for an escape from a job—she was building the foundation for something much bigger.
Her first Amazon brand, Namskara, a botanical skincare company, launched and hit $30,000 in sales in its first month—more than her entire annual salary at BMW. Within a year, she crossed the $1M mark. Soon after, she exited the company, a move that would become her signature.
But Melisa wasn’t done.
She co-founded Orphic Nutrition with former professional soccer player Bryce Alderson. This wasn’t just another supplement brand—it was built for longevity, fueled by her now battle-tested “Prime Product Method.” Three years later, Orphic Nutrition was acquired by SellerX. She is currently on her third exit.
Melisa has made over $20M selling on Amazon. But she isn’t just building brands—she’s rewriting the playbook.
Unlike most Amazon sellers who treat their success like a secret recipe, Melisa chose to share everything she learned. She’s trained thousands, built an e-commerce incubator through Buzz Ventures, and now consults for some of the biggest brands and influencers looking to crack the Amazon code.
She was voted best speaker at BDSS X in Hawaii, and is speaking in April at BDSS XI in Iceland. She was also an expert at last weekend’s Market Masters.
Her business philosophy? Execution over ideas. She believes that success isn’t about having the perfect plan—it’s about taking action, making adjustments, and moving forward.
And she doesn’t stop at e-commerce. Melisa is now expanding into new ventures, including escape rooms, combining her love for immersive experiences with her knack for building profitable businesses.
She’s built, scaled, and exited brands. She’s been on stages, mentored the next generation, and proven that success in business isn’t about luck—it’s about method, mindset, and execution. And now she’s part of the BDSS Dream 100.
A new Dream 100 member is announced every 4 to 6 weeks!
Embark on a transformative journey and become a valued member of our community, where innovation meets collaboration, and together, we pave the way for unparalleled success.
