Simple Modern Co-founder | Digital Sales: DTC & Amazon | Jesus Follower | Husband & Father x3 Boys | Professional Car Seat Installer | OU Alum
Jun 25 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
In 9 years, we've sold $500 million in drinkware at Simple Modern.
These principles have been critical to scaling the business:
1. Hire missionaries, not mercenaries. Employees passionate about your company's mission.
2. Customer trust is earned in drops, and lost in buckets.
3. Bootstrapped businesses handle cash better. When cash is precious, it’s invested well.
4. Transparency is the #1 quality desired in leaders. Be transparent, and people will follow.
Jun 6 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
We've increased website average order value from $10 to $60 in 4 years.
It's a DTC game changer. (A favorite chart of mine)
These changes made the difference:🧵👇
We started Simple Modern on Amazon. Our margins are low, making DTC tough.
Multiple unit orders explode margins. We pay $12 to ship 1 bottle and just $15 to ship 4.
AOV is key to drive up margins and invest in our website.
Here's how we increased AOV:
Apr 17 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
We toured an Amazon fulfillment center yesterday. It’s unbelievable.
Their inventory storage is counterintuitive. It’s organized randomness.
• Inventory is stored on moving shelves. Robots take shelves to the pick stations.
• Inventory is randomly placed on shelves, tracked by cameras.
• A SKU’s inventory is spread out across bins to always be close to a pick station.
• Shelves move over QR codes. Amazon always knows where everything is.
• Inventory counts are automated with cameras.
The computing that goes into the operation is incredible. Not sure it’d be possible without AWS.
The moving shelves take inventory to human pickers. Pickers remove the item in the order and place them in a bin.
Bin travel down miles of track to boxing stations.
Tracks either take the order to single unit boxing or multiple unit boxing.
Inventory is almost always moving.
Dec 28, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
We started Simple Modern with $200k.
In 8 years, we've sold half a billion dollars of insulated drinkware through Target, Amazon & DTC.
We're licensed with Disney, NFL & more.
Our best threads about how we did it:
Our biggest operational learnings from scaling the brand:
They're called the “Terrible-Twos” and “Threenagers” for a reason.
7 essential investments for parenting these emotional years:
I'm the father of 3 boys: 7, 5 and 3 years old. My last time to parent a toddler with my youngest.
It's hard, thankless work met with tantrums and defiance.
But Investing in your toddler builds a foundation for growth.
Here are 7 investments I make daily:
Jun 23, 2023 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
We've sold over $300 million on Amazon in 7 years.
The most interesting part?
We started Simple Modern as a marketplace seller (3p) and scaled it as a retail vendor (1p).
The ultimate comparison of Amazon Marketplace vs Retail:
What is the Difference?
Marketplace - 3rd party (3P)
Brands sell on Amazon, often paying Amazon to ship to customers (FBA). Amazon makes commission.
Vendor – 1st Party (1P)
Similar to traditional retail, like Target and Walmart. Amazon buys and owns inventory sold to customers.
Mar 14, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
DTC is TOUGH for retail focused brands.
This was our first $1+ million DTC revenue week.
Here's our website strategy that's working:
Mass retail is Simple Modern's strength.
Low margins help us dominate on Amazon and Target.
Demand capture is our specialty but DTC requires demand creation.
Creating demand often takes a huge ad budget, something we just don't have.
Our website must add unique value.
Feb 3, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Today, Simple Modern sells more drinkware than Yeti, Hydro Flask & Stanley on Amazon.
We started in 2015, bootstrapped.
21 unexpected learnings:
1. Privately-owned brands with no intent to sell are set best up to win long term.
2. Hire missionaries, not mercenaries. Employees passionate about your company's mission.
3. Bootstrapped businesses handle cash better. When cash is precious, it’s invested well.
4. Optimize for the second purchase. Lasting brands are built on loyal and repeat customers.
Jan 20, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Hyper growth on Amazon requires new products.
𝟑𝟎% of our revenue is from SKUs under a year old.
5 ways we fuel growth with new SKUs:
Amazon limits the market share listings can have.
They don't want one brand to have a monopoly.
We've experienced it.
Our goal is to maximize a product's market share within 2 years.
Keep launching products or stop growing.
Here's how:
Dec 31, 2022 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Simple Modern started on Amazon with $200k.
In 7 years, we sold $400,000,000 in Target, Walmart and Amazon.
We're now licensed with Disney, NFL, NBA, etc.
Our best threads about how we did it:
Quitting Amazon Advertising:
Our costs increased and we assumed customers would understand inflation.
We thought our improving brand awareness would help us to be able to charge more.
Where we went wrong was…
Our listings that depend on generic Amazon keyword volume drove less total profit after the price increases.
Customers searching generic terms are very price sensitive. Our brand strength doesn’t help us much there.
We dropped prices back down on these listings for Q4.
Dec 30, 2022 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
8 tweets from 2022 that I've bookmarked and have used a resource.
Here they are. Go ahead and follow the authors, you won't regret it:
1. Great thread by @TrungTPhan explaining how Apple's product strategy is to capture the essence of what customers want.
As a consumer brand operator, these are powerful thoughts. Focus on what customer truly want in a product.