Side Hustle School Ep. 3154 - STORY: Civil Engineer Sells Hooded Baby Robes on Amazon
Aug 20, 2025
A civil engineer in Florida pivoted from selling hooded baby robes on Amazon to living in Bali and creating a groundbreaking app to help others find products. His venture exploded into a business with 80 employees and a user base of 100,000. The journey showcases the challenges of entrepreneurship, innovation, and a commitment to charitable initiatives, inspiring others to carve their own paths in e-commerce.
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From Kid Seller To Amazon Entrepreneur
- Greg Mercer started side hustles as a kid and later sold wholesale items on Amazon while working as a civil engineer.
- He and his wife quit their jobs and moved to Bali to scale the Amazon business full-time.
Data Aggregation Accelerates Product Discovery
- Scrolling Amazon and using complex spreadsheets is slow and error-prone for product discovery.
- Aggregating public Amazon data into a single tool can dramatically speed up finding viable products.
Validate With A Minimal Demo And Email List
- Validate demand before building by collecting emails from interested users with a simple demo or video.
- Start with a minimal implementation via a freelance developer to test early sales at a sensible price point.