On today’s episode, Kunle, Co-Founder of Octillion, an acquisition platform company whose goal is to acquire clean food and beauty consumer brands. 2023 is a year of new opportunities and growth but where do we find them? Kunle, an advisor and coach in eCommerce, shares his insights in his first solo episode for 2023 in the eCommerce space. With his collective experience from doing podcast interviews, working with different experts, and his own experiences, he outlines ten hacks that may serve as guides for eCommerce companies in their marketing and operations aspects.  It’s an enriching episode as you’d hear Kunle talk more about 2023 macro trends, ways to up your marketing and operations standpoint, and giving value to consumers.-----------SPONSORS:This episode is brought to you by:KlaviyoThis episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

Welcome to the 2X eCommerce podcast ‘Best of 2022’ series. I am excited to share with you some of the most impactful episodes from 2022. It was such a great year for the podcast and it was so hard to make a choice as to which episodes to include in this series. All in all, there was so much content to choose from.  In 2022, we, as a collective, my amazing podcast guests, and I recorded a total of 63 episodes for a combined 3,325 hours of listening time, all of it is jampacked with the latest and greatest cross-functional eCommerce brand-building tips, tricks, and advice. Most importantly, the personal and sometimes deeply touching stories of the guests themselves. Stories of determination, trial, tribulation, defeat, picking yourself back up, brushing yourself off, and going on to achieve greatness.  Unique ways of thinking that shift the way we behave and change the way the world does things. Innovation, entrepreneurship, and building best-in-class customer-centric brands that deliver not only products but promises of a better world, a more sustainable future, healthier products, and healthier people.  As you can see, I had a tough decision to make when deciding which episodes to include in this ‘Best of 2022’ episode. I am confident that the episodes that I’ve selected will provide valuable insights and inspiration for anyone in the eCommerce industry. I’ve compiled my top 12 podcasts from the year into a series of mini-episodes from which you can expect to learn a ton. This is going to be an amazing episode so stay tuned, take out your notepad, or open up your notetaking app on your laptop or phone. There is going to be a lot to take away from this one and you don’t want to miss a second. Every mini-episode has something that will move the needle for your eCommerce business and add to your bottom line. Without further ado, let’s get started with the Best of 2X eCommerce 2022.-----------SPONSORS:This episode is brought to you by:KlaviyoThis episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform. This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk. Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x.   ★ Support this podcast ★

On today's episode, Kunle sits down with Jay Perkins, Co-Founder of Kettlebell Kings and Living Fit. Kettlebell Kings is a fitness company specializing in high-quality kettlebells, while Living Fit offers a range of non-kettlebell equipment, digital products, and training courses. Jay, along with some college friends, had a goal to start and build something while maintaining freedom and autonomy. They chose to start an eCommerce business selling kettlebells, a product they were already familiar with and enjoyed using. By using BigCommerce, they were able to start the business while continuing to learn and grow.Kettlebell Kings was established in 2012 and has seen continued success in the market. Jay notes that the kettlebell niche is "practically recession-proof." In 2021, Kettlebell Kings was acquired by an aggregator called Factory14, with a 5.5 EBITDA multiple.Throughout the episode, Kunle and Jay discuss the origins of Kettlebell Kings, strategies that helped the company maintain success during difficult times, and the impact of the supply chain, acquisition, and deal structure. They also touch on Living Fit, Jay's side project, and its marketing and product offerings.-----------SPONSORS:This episode is brought to you by:Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform. This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk. Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x.   ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Ayo, Co-Founder of Octillion Capital Partners, an e-Commerce acquisition company that helps in building sustainable and inclusive consumer brands. As 2022 comes to a close, Ayo and Kunle share their perspectives and reflections on the year that was. With their shared passion for sustainability and inclusivity, Kunle and Ayo reflect on their experience acquiring Lean Caffeine, a sustainable company formed in 2017. Ayo and Kunle also share the back story of coming across Lean Caffeine. Ayo emphasizes the clarity of values, direction, and criteria in acquiring a brand/company. They also look back on the key moments in acquiring Lean Caffeine, breaking down the deal structure and their takeaways being the leaders in Octillion. It’s a thoughtful episode as you’d hear Kunle and Ayo ponder on Octillion’s values and direction and their vision and aspirations for the company for the coming year.-----------SPONSORS:This episode is brought to you by:KlaviyoThis episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform. This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk. Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x.   ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Jim Dorey, Senior VP of Inserra Supermarkets Inc., a supermarket chain owned by a family and works with ShopRite and PriceRite. Every big hit story starts with a simple one. Jim Dorey’s success in working with two big retailers in the US started with him sitting in a corner of a small grocery store. Exposed to “people from all walks of life”, Jim became mindful and empathetic of people that come into the store and took the lessons he learned in building his life and his success. Equipped with discipline, lessons he learned early in his life, and the privilege of getting into Harvard Business School in an executive management program, Jim made his way up to being the president of PriceRite from being a Procurement Manager in Wakefern. He shares that it was self-discipline and a positive mindset that paved the way for him. Being able to recognize his mistakes and learn from other successful people’s mistakes led him to write his book, Just Keep Swimming. It’s a lesson-filled and inspiring episode as you’d hear Kunle and Jim talk about Jim’s journey to success, efficient resource allocation, and distribution, getting your CPG brand or FMCG noticed, and tips on establishing a capital stack for entrepreneurs. They also talk about building connections, radiating positive energy to people, gratitude, as well as learning from others’ mistakes.----------- SPONSORS:This episode is brought to you by:Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform. This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk. Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x.   ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by John Roman, Co-Founder & CEO of Battlbox, a subscription-based company with tactical and survival products perfect for outdoor enthusiasts but also caters to non-outdoor enthusiasts. Everything was normal until John decided, after graduating from university, that he wanted to become a professional poker player. He was fascinated with the game and got deep into it, playing 12 to 13 hours a day for 4.5 years. He may have lost money here and there but the skills that he acquired were invaluable and worth it. That same skill set was what catapulted him to become a successful entrepreneur. John invested in creating content showcasing Battlbox products with honest reviews from Youtube content creators. With this, Battlbox was able to build a community with people helping each other out. He has a great team and some of them were Battlbox’s best customers. The quality content led to their organic growth and landed them a Netflix series, as well. It’s an enlightening episode as you’d hear Kunle and John talk about how Battlbox organically grew their Youtube and TikTok subscribers, their steadily increasing revenue even through COVID, providing value to their customers through good service but most of all, through honest communication and constant testing.-----------SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by:Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform. This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk. Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Tray Brunner, Co-Founder & CEO of Bamboo Avenue, a sustainable athleisure brand, and Vybe Interior, an interior design company focusing on promoting local canvas art. Traveling was not one of Tray’s bucket lists but when he took an opportunity to study in Bangkok, his life changed forever. His life was not an easy one but it became a foundation of his leadership that later on would become material in establishing his businesses. His eyes were opened to different perspectives in life as he traveled while his heart found its better half, Mariah, who also is his business partner. Growing two seven-figure businesses, Tray managed to figure out what he needs to do by making sure he understands and tests his data. He combines his passion along with his experience working at Facebook and knowledge of DPA, Dynamic Product Ads. He is keen on ensuring that Bamboo Avenue products are truly of quality and sustainable, and not greenwashing. His other business, Vybe Interior, is partnering with artists from different countries by getting exclusive rights, and curating original canvas artworks that may soon become a household name. It’s an encouraging episode as you’d hear Kunle and Tray talk about his journey in life and what led him to start his own business, his insights in scaling and expanding a business, and his top tips for dealing with recession head-on. This is an episode for everyone, whether for someone who wants to start a new business, grow their own business or add another one.-----------SPONSORS:This episode is brought to you by:KlaviyoThis episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments.Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.GorgiasThis episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants.Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform.This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk.Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free.RechargeThis episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants.Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships.Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge.Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Johnathan Price, Founder & CEO of Down4Sound, a YouTube eCommerce company that serves car audio enthusiasts from around the globe. Success is not made overnight. Johnathan Price proves this adage. At an early age, his parents taught him that hard work and consistency create success and that kind of success is more fulfilling. Chopping cotton at the age of 14, a truck with a loud bassy noise piqued his curiosity until it became his hobby. After a nudge from the universe, Johnathan created Down4Sound, a company with a $20 million annual revenue. Originally, Jonathan created Down4Sound as a means to do something he is passionate about and catering to fellow car audio enthusiasts. Now, Down4Sound has been the fastest-growing car audio distributor in the history of car audio. Starting on YouTube and with the help of the right mentors, Johnathan creates videos that primarily show his passion for car audio with selling only as a secondary motivation. This episode is especially inspiring as Kunle and Johnathan talk about his humble beginnings, a bundle of words of wisdom and encouragement, Down4Sound’s team, supply chain, revenue stream, and content creation that would truly captivate customers. This is an amazing episode for aspiring entrepreneurs who need a gentle nudge to start a business they are passionate about. ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform. This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk. Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Chris Shipferling, Co-Founder of both South Col, an accelerator program that incubates retail business, and Global Wired Advisors, an eCommerce M&A firm that helps business owners sell their businesses. With the pandemic and recession happening hand-in-hand, Chris and his founding partners at Global Wired started to notice changes and slowdowns in the macro and micro-economic trends. Escala, a Tel-Aviv-based business consulting firm, presented the idea of incubating businesses to which later on, they created a joint venture and started South Col. With its name taken from Mt. Everest’s final base camp and known to be a No Man’s Land, South Col stands for the journey and hardships that businesses face, especially during a time of pandemic and recession. South Col provides that nudge to finally be at the top. With Escala’s systematization and South Col’s planning and strategics, retail businesses are “car-washed” to raise their value and create a better exit for its owners. It’s an enlightening episode as you’d hear Kunle and Chris talk more about South Col’s brand diligence, growth strategy, investment criteria, channel expansion, macro, and micro-economic trends, as well as different perspectives on the state of businesses during the pandemic and through a recession. ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by:  Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo.  Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments.  Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Gorgias  This episode is brought to you by Gorgias, the leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, live chat, and phone into one platform.  This saves your team hours per day & makes managing customer orders a breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so you can access customer information and even edit, return, refund, or create an order right from your helpdesk.  Go to Gorgias.com and mention 2x eCommerce Podcast for two months free. Recharge This episode is brought to you by Recharge, the leading subscriptions payment solution for Shopify merchants. Recharge helps eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Recharge powers the growth of over 15,000 subscription merchants and their communities—turning one-time transactions into long-term customer relationships. Turn transactions into relationships and experience seamless subscription commerce with Recharge. Find out more on rechargepayments.com/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

During this session you will learn how inflation impacts on different niches, what you need to be thinking about as an operator from a strategic standpoint in the current environment, how data drives commerce and equity, and more. The panelists will leave you with top financial resources and tools available to investors and operators, as well as their predictions on where we are headed.---This event has been proudly sponsored by our good friends at Richpanel.Not every customer query should turn into a support ticket. Richpanel is an all-in-one customer service platform for E-commerce brands that lets you cut down over 50% of tickets through self-service. We are grateful for their invaluable support as Platinum Commerce Accel Partners. ---We are extremely grateful for the support and partnership of our partners. Thank you for making this event a success.Gold Partners: Partner Hero – PartnerHero is a customer service outsourcing provider that’s built for the needs of scaling and high-growth startups. Partner Hero offer flexible terms, fast onboarding, and the ability to scale teams quickly; perfect for fast-growing DTC ecommerce businesses. CustomerLabs – CustomerLabs No-Code CDP platform help businesses utilise their first-party audience to drive higher their ROAS. CustomerLabs gives businesses the capabilities to sync and use their first-party audience in more than 100 marketing tools.  Copper Partners: Semrush – Semrush enables companies of all stripes, from startups, big name DTC brands, to B2B powerhouses, to ​​Do SEO, content marketing, competitor research, PPC and social media marketing from just one platform and get measurable results from online marketing. VideoWise – VideoWise enables retailers to create shoppable videos for Shopify to uplift conversions, sell more, and engage consumers with interactive experiences.Fera – Fera enables brands to earn their customers’ trust through beautiful, simple reviews for eCommerce. With Fera retailers can Easily collect, show & grow customer reviews, photos & videos for their business. Fera are trusted by thousands of top brands like Fiji Water, The Wonderful Company, and Bikini.com ★ Support this podcast ★