Last week, a podcast guest asked me if I had any podcast recommendations.
Well, yes. Of course I do!
I get this question a lot and, although Earfluence’s shows are at the top of my list, I always start with the first podcast to ever wow me—and that I still consider the greatest podcast of all time—How I Built This, with Guy Raz.
If you haven’t heard the show, it’s an interview-style podcast where Guy Raz interviews some of the biggest names in the entrepreneurial space—like Sara Blakely, Jim Koch, Whitney Wolfe, Ben and Jerry— and dives deep into all the successes and failures that occurred before they became household names. So, when the team at WebsiteClosers.com came to me with the concept How I Built and Sold This, I was obviously pretty excited.
Then, they asked if I would be interested in hosting. A show where I get to interview entrepreneurs who took their business from concept to an ultimate sale? Yes please!
WebsiteClosers.com is an ecommerce brokerage that helps ecommerce companies sell to the right buyer, and The Deal Closers Podcast is all about how to make an ecommerce business profitable, scaleable and one day even sellable.
So far, the stories I’ve heard have been as incredible and inspirational as I thought they would be. We’ve published five episodes in a wide variety of markets: supplements, crypto, auto parts, beauty and outdoors.
On the latest episode in the series, we hear from someone who decided he would have a successful business if he could just grab an infinitesimal fraction of the $150B+ supplements industry.
It sounded like a crazy concept to me. The guy had no experience in supplements, had never sold a physical product, didn’t know any copackers and the industry he was tapping into is one of the most competitive out there.
And yet, he did it! He grabbed a little bit of market share, and it was enough to get noticed by a buyer. For the rest of the story, though, you’ll have to listen to the episode here.
The most impactful episode, though, has to be the story of Vilen Abrahamyan.
When Vilen immigrated to the U.S. from Armenia, he thought he was going to college, but didn’t register in time. So, instead of waiting around, he went to “YouTube University” and learned how to build and scale an ecommerce business.
The only thing he knew about the beauty industry was that there were inefficiencies in the market. Still, he built-up his website to the point where he was making five and sometimes six figures a day. A buyer noticed, and Vilen had a very successful exit at just 22 years old!
On the Deal Closers Podcast, we’ll continue to share these stories of how ecommerce companies built—and sold—their businesses. And with the proceeds from the sales and their entrepreneurial drives, maybe one day we’ll hear from these entrepreneurs on the original How I Built This.
