Ten Years In The Making 007: Marketing, Memes and Making 8-Figure eCommerce Exits with Vigilance Co-Founder, Dennis Hegstad
Whether it’s scaling businesses to $100+ million valuations or growing Twitter accounts to millions of followers, Dennis Hegstad has built life-changing income streams across the eCommerce ecosystem.
Dennis founded and exited both LiveRecover and OrderBump — companies focused on the Shopify merchant market. In today’s episode, Dennis shares insights from his 14-year eCommerce journey, including how he came up with the ideas for his businesses, why he decided to bootstrap growth instead of raise with VCs, and how offer positioning can affect your perceived value.
You’ll also hear about how Dennis incorporates his Twitter success into his business, including his growth to making $10,000 per day, building more than a dozen accounts to 800,000+ followers, and how he used Twitter to sell a business.
Key Takeaways with Dennis Hegstad
- How Dennis looks at the value of bootstrapping vs. raising money with VCs.
- Tips for positioning your commissions to potential customers.
- Is growing on Twitter worth it for every founder?
- Why Dennis chose not to raise at a potential valuation of $100 million.
- What Dennis would do differently with his SMS marketing business if he could go back in time.
- How Dennis built and monetized a network of 12.5 million followers through Twitter meme accounts.
- Dennis’s eCommerce journey, moving from MySpace in 2008 to earning arbitrage ad revenue to selling two businesses in the Shopify merchant space.
- How other companies in his niche helped Dennis determine his product-market fit.
- The pros and cons of outsourcing work to the Philippines.
- The drawbacks of using Twitter ghostwriters to promote your personal brand.
Want the Full Show Notes?
To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit Retention.com/7
Rate & Review If you enjoyed today’s episode of Ten Years In The Making, hit the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.
Connect with Adam Robinson: LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtalksemail/
Get The Podcast on: